Education Research Report:
THIS WEEK'S EDUCATION RESEARCH REPORT
Social bullying prevalent in children's television
Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 18 hours ago
* 92 percent of the top 50 programs for children ages 2-11 show social bullying* Children ages 2-11 view an alarming amount of television shows that contain forms of social bullying or social aggression. Physical aggression in television for children is greatly documented, but this is the first in-depth analysis on children's exposure to behaviors like cruel gossiping and manipulation of friendship. Nicole Martins, Indiana University, and Barbara J. Wilson, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, published in the Journal of Communication a content analysis of the 50 most popular... more »
TEXAS PUBLIC EDUCATION CUTS: IMPACT ASSESSMENT
Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 21 hours ago
Texas’ 82nd Legislature reduced state spending on public education in 2010-2011 by $5.4 billion, including $4 billion from the Foundation School Program. Although the extent of the cuts has been widely discussed, comprehensive information is lacking on how the cuts were implemented by school districts and the impact on Texas’ schools and students. From January to September 2012, CHILDREN AT RISK conducted a mixed methods study, including a survey with a random stratified sample of school districts, to provide an objective assessment of the impact of state budget cuts on Texas’ s...more »
Do Teacher Rating Systems Work?
Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 22 hours ago
Last year, for the first time, every Michigan public school was required to measure teacher performance using four rating categories. The idea was that by expanding the range of ratings most districts use, teachers would get more individualized assessment and feedback on their strengths and weaknesses -- and appropriate professional development -- to help them improve, and in turn boost student learning. It hasn’t worked out that way. An Education Trust-Midwest survey of large Michigan school districts found that more than 99 percent of teachers were rated effective or highly eff... more »
A Dozen Economic Facts About K-12 Education
Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 22 hours ago
Education is a powerful force for promoting opportunity and growth. It is not surprising that an individual’s educational attainment is highly correlated with her income: college graduates generally earn more than less-educated Americans. What might be less obvious is that education is also a significant determinant of many other very important outcomes, including whether individuals marry, whether their children grow up in households with two parents, and even how long they will live. What’s more, on all of these dimensions, the gap between highly educated and less-educated Ameri... more »
Learning from the Successes and Failures of Charter Schools
Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 22 hours ago
The authors of these reports examined charter schools across the quality spectrum in order to learn which practices separate high-achieving from low-achieving schools. An expansive data collection and analysis project in New York City charter schools yielded an index of five educational practices that explains nearly half of the difference between high- and low-performing schools. They then looked at preliminary evidence from demonstration projects in Houston and Denver and find the effects on student achievement to be strikingly similar to those of many high-performing charter sc... more »
What measurements should be used in school-based fitness tests
Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 1 day ago
Fitness testing has traditionally focused on four aspects: heart and lung function, body composition, muscular and skeletal fitness, and flexibility.A committee convened by the Institute of Medicine undertook a comprehensive review of the science and found that it supports the use of specific ways to measure three of these components -- cardiorespiratory endurance, body composition, and musculoskeletal fitness -- in young people.These measurements should be used in national youth fitness surveys and school-based fitness tests, says the committee's report. Recent events underscore ... more »
Aggression Among Kindergartners
Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 1 day ago
Not all aggressive children are aggressive for the same reasons, according to Penn State researchers, who found that some kindergartners who are aggressive show low verbal abilities while others are more easily physiologically aroused. The findings suggest that different types of treatments may be needed to help kids with different underlying causes for problem behavior. "Aggressive responses to being frustrated are a normal part of early childhood, but children are increasingly expected to manage their emotions and control their behavior when they enter school," said Lisa Gatzke-K... more »
Personalizing Algebra Word Problems Improves Performance
Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 1 day ago
Example: *Original Problem* *One method for estimating the cost of new home construction is based on the proposed square footage of the home. Locally, the average cost per square foot is estimated to be $46.50.* *Sports* *You are working at the ticket office for a college football team. Each ticket to the first home football game costs $46.50.* *Music* *You are helping to organize a concert where some local R&B artists will be performing. Each ticket to the concert costs $46.50.* *Art* *You have been working for the school yearbook, taking pictures and designing pages, and now it’s ti... more »
Reimagining the K-12 Textbook in a Digital Age
Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 2 days ago
*State Leaders Stress Importance of Personalized Learning, Instructional Materials Innovation to Prepare Students for College, Careers * The State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA) released Out of Print: Reimagining the K-12 Textbook in a Digital Age. This report highlights the sea change underway in the multi-billion dollar U.S. K-12 instructional materials market enabled by recent technology and intellectual property rights innovations. With a focus on the ultimate impact on student learning, the report provides examples of lessons learned from recent digital a... more »
IMPROVED COMMUNICATION COULD REDUCE STD EPIDEMIC AMONG BLACK TEENAGERS
Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 3 days ago
Black urban teenagers from low-income families face a rate of sexually transmitted disease up to 10 times higher than their white counterparts, but recent studies at Oregon State University have identified approaches to prevention programs that might reduce this problem. The research, based on interviews of black adolescents ages 15-17 in San Francisco and Chicago, found that information from parents, teachers and other caring adults is actually listened to, more than the adults might think. And the problem of youth getting “mixed messages” from different entities, ranging from sch... more »
Three out of four young adults in Michigan lack the basic skills and qualifications to serve in the military
Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 3 days ago
Investing more in high-quality early education programs is essential to our national security, two retired generals from Michigan said today. They released a report at the Kinder Care at St. Johns Lutheran Church showing that military service is now out of reach for three out of four young adults in Michigan and called on the Governor and state legislature to increase early education funding by $140 million. “The Department of Defense estimates that 75 percent of young Americans are unable to serve in the military for three primary reasons: they have not graduated from high schoo... more »
SAT Minority Participation Up
Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 4 days ago
The SAT® Report on College & Career Readiness: 2012 provides students and families with helpful information about the role and value of the SAT in high schools and higher education, and shines a light on educational inequities that must be overcome to guarantee that all students are ready for, and succeed in, college. When used appropriately, the SAT can be a valuable tool for high school educators, college-bound students, and higher education. SAT Access & Equity More than ever, the population of students taking the SAT reflects the diverse makeup of America's classrooms. Among S... more »
Pre-K and Kindergarten Data Severely Lacking at Local Level
Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 4 days ago
Many states are failing to collect basic information about publicly funded early education programs for young children at the school district level, according to a new report released today from the New America Foundation’s Early Education Initiative. The report, Counting Kids and Tracking Funds in Pre-K and Kindergarten: Falling Short at the Local Level, which drew on data collected and displayed by the New America Foundation’s Federal Education Budget Project, found that nearly one-third of states with publicly funded pre-K programs do not make available school district-level da... more »
Colleges imroving graduation rates for African-American, Latino students
Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 1 week ago
Nationwide, college graduation rates are far too low, particularly among students of color, a fast-growing demographic in America. But two reports released by The Education Trust show that it doesn’t have to be that way. “Advancing to Completion: Increasing degree attainment by improving graduation rates and closing gaps for African-American students” and “Advancing to Completion: Increasing degree attainment by improving graduation rates and closing gaps for Hispanic students” spotlight colleges of all types that are producing better results by improving graduation rates and/or n... more »