Education Research Report:
THIS WEEK'S EDUCATION RESEARCH REPORT
Behavior problems, not depression, linked to lower grades for depressed youths
Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 1 day ago
Behavior problems, not depression, are linked to lower grades for depressed adolescents, according to a study in the December issue of the *Journal of Health and Social Behavior. * "Behavior problems including attention issues, delinquency, and substance use are associated with diminished achievement, but depression is not," said the study's lead author Jane D. McLeod, a sociology professor and an associate dean at Indiana University. "Certainly, there are depressed youths who have trouble in school, but it's likely because they are also using substances, engaging in delinquent acti... more »
State Spending on K-12 Assessment Systems
Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 1 day ago
In the coming years, states will need to make the most significant changes to their assessment systems in a decade as they implement the Common Core State Standards, a common framework for what students are expected to know that will replace existing standards in 45 states and the District of Columbia. The Common Core effort has prompted concerns about the cost of implementing the new standards and assessments, but there is little comprehensive up-to-date information on the costs of assessment systems currently in place throughout the country. This new report by Matthew Chingos of... more »
ENHANCING THE EFFICACY OF TEACHER INCENTIVES
Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 2 days ago
In recent years, a number of U.S. states and school districts have implemented teacher financial-incentive plans, also known as merit pay, with the goal of increasing student achievement. Some past studies have shown that such reform attempts, which pay teachers bonuses after their students hit certain goals, have had limited effects on student achievement. In Enhancing the Efficacy of Teacher Incentives Through Loss Aversion: A Field Experiment (NBER Working Paper No. 18237), co-authors Ronald Fryer, Jr., Steven Levitt, John List, and Sally Sadoff find that using an alternative "l...more »
Speedy Process for Common Standards Adoption
Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 2 days ago
[image: Speedy Process for Common Standards Adoption] by edweek.Learn about data visualization tools.
NYS charter schools may not under-enroll students with special needs
Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 2 days ago
A fresh examination of special education enrollment patterns in New York State suggests that charter schools may be doing better at enrolling students with special needs than many believe. The issue arises in part from a federal General Accounting Office (GAO) report that said, at the national level, charter schools enroll fewer students with special needs than schools run by districts. In the aggregate that may be true; but new research comparing New York State’s district-run schools with charter schools finds important variations in the enrollment patterns of students with specia... more »
NEW JERSEY CHARTER PUBLIC SCHOOLS SIGNIFICANTLY OUTPERFORM THEIR DISTRICT SCHOOL PEERS
Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 2 days ago
A new report released today by Stanford University’s Center for Research on Education Outcomes (CREDO) found that students in New Jersey charter public schools on average make larger learning gains in both reading and mathematics compared to their traditional district school peers. New Jersey charter school students on average gain an additional two months of learning per year in reading and an additional three months of learning per year in math compared to their district school counterparts. CREDO at Stanford University is the nation’s foremost independent analyst of charter s... more »
Current expenditures per pupil for public education
Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 2 days ago
This report presents state-level data on revenues by source and expenditures by function for public elementary and secondary education for school year 2009-10. Current expenditures per pupil for public elementary and secondary education were $10,652 on a national level in FY 10. Adjusting for inflation, per pupil state and local revenues decreased by 1 percent or more in 35 states and increased by 1 percent or more in 9 states from FY 09 to FY 10. Per pupil current expenditures decreased by 1 percent or more in 16 states and increased by 1 percent or more in 23 states from FY 09 to... more »
Unlocking Academic Potential of Students of Color Key to Future of American Economy
Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 3 days ago
As students of color and diverse ethnicities rapidly become the leading population of public school systems in numerous states, closing educational achievement gaps and providing a quality education to all students can secure the United State’s future economic prosperity, according to a new report from the Alliance for Excellent Education. Noting that two-thirds of the U.S. economy is driven by consumer spending, the report, Inseparable Imperatives: Equity in Education and the Future of the American Economy,argues that raising individuals’ education levels will boost their purchasi... more »
Snapshot of School Improvement Grants Data
Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 3 days ago
The U.S. Department of Education has released an early snapshot of student performance data at schools that have received federal School Improvement Grants (SIG) program funds, a key component of the Department’s blueprint for helping states and districts turn around the nation’s lowest-performing schools. Under the Obama Administration, the SIG program has invested up to $2 million per school at more than 1300 of the country’s lowest-performing schools. The data released today provides the first overview of performance for the first cohort of schools after one year of implementing... more »
States Report New High School Graduation Rates Using More Accurate, Common Measure
Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 3 days ago
Provisional Data File: SY2010-11 Four-Year Regulatory Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rates The U.S. Department of Education released data today detailing state four-year high school graduation rates in 2010-11 – the first year for which all states used a common, rigorous measure. The varying methods formerly used by states to report graduation rates made comparisons between states unreliable, while the new, common metric can be used by states, districts and schools to promote greater accountability and to develop strategies that will reduce dropout rates and increase graduation rates i...more »
Innovative treatment for developmental coordination disorder
Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 4 days ago
An Indiana University study in the *Journal of Child Neurology* proposes an innovative treatment for developmental coordination disorder, a potentially debilitating neurological disorder in which the development of a child's fine or gross motor skills, or both, is impaired. DCD strikes about one in 20 children, predominantly boys, and frequently occurs alongside ADHD, autism spectrum disorders and other better known conditions. Like ADHD, DCD has broad academic, social and emotional impact. It can severely affect reading, spelling and handwriting abilities; and insofar as children ... more »
Multi-touch, multi-user desks can boost skills in mathematics
Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 4 days ago
Researchers designing and testing the ‘classroom of the future’ have found that multi-touch, multi-user desks can boost skills in mathematics. New results from a 3-year project working with over 400 pupils, mostly 8-10 year olds, show that collaborative learning increases both fluency and flexibility in maths. It also shows that using an interactive ‘smart’ desk can have benefits over doing mathematics on paper. Using multi-touch desks in the new classroom, the children were able to work together in new ways to solve and answer questions and problems using inventive solutions. Seei... more »
Students are cheating, lying and stealing less than in previous years
Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 4 days ago
A survey of 23,000 high school students, which was conducted by the Los Angeles-based Josephson Institute of Ethics, reveals that for the first time in a decade *students are cheating, lying and stealing less than in previous years*. The Institute conducts the national survey every two years. *CHEATING:* *In 2010, 59 percent of students admitted they had cheated on an exam in the past year; in 2012 that rate dropped to 51 percent.*Students who copied another’s homework dropped 2 percent, from 34 percent in 2010 to 32 percent this year. Other good news: *LYING:* *Students who sai... more »
Teaching students about the benefits of post secondary education
Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 5 days ago
Information and College Access: Evidence from a Randomized Field Experiment High school students from disadvantaged high schools in Toronto were invited to take two surveys, about three weeks apart. Half of the students taking the first survey were also shown a 3 minute video about the benefits of post secondary education (PSE) and invited to try out a financial-aid calculator. Most students' perceived returns to PSE were high, even among those not expecting to continue. Those exposed to the video, especially those initially unsure about their own educational attainment, reported signific... more »
Dance boosts young girls' mental health
Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 1 week ago
Young girls can dance their way to better mental health. Symptoms like depression, stress, fatigue, and headaches are alleviated with regular dancing. This is shown in a study run by Anna Duberg, a physical therapist at Örebro University Hospital and a doctoral candidate at Örebro University in Sweden. Regular dance training can thereby be regarded as a strategy for preventing and treating low spirits and depression. Dance also brings enhanced self-esteem and a greater capacity to deal with everyday problems. The dance study included 112 Swedish girls 13 to 19 years of age. On mul... more »
Teens in arts report depressive symptoms
Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 1 week ago
Teens who participate in after-school arts activities such as music, drama and painting are more likely to report feeling depressed or sad than students who are not involved in these programs, according to new research published by the American Psychological Association. This is the first study to find that young people's casual involvement in the arts could be linked to depressive symptoms, according to the researchers. The article was published online in APA's journal Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts. "This is not to say that depression is a necessary condition ... more »
School Exclusion Policies Stigmatize Arrested Teens and Contribute to Educational Failure
Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 1 week ago
“Zero- tolerance” policies that rely heavily on suspensions and expulsions hinder teens who have been arrested from completing high school or pursuing a college degree, according to a new study from The University of Texas at Austin. In Chicago, 25,000 male adolescents are arrested each year. One quarter of these arrests occurred in school, according to the Chicago Police Department. The stigma of a public arrest can haunt an individual for years — ultimately stunting academic achievement and transition into adulthood, says David Kirk, associate professor in the Department of Socio... more »
Homework doesn’t improve course grades but could boost standardized test scores
Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 1 week ago
A study led by an Indiana University School of Education faculty member finds little correlation between time spent on homework and better course grades for math and science students, but a positive relationship between homework time and performance on standardized tests. "When Is Homework Worth the Time?" is a recently published work of Adam Maltese, assistant professor of science education in the IU School of Education, along with co-authors Robert H. Tai, associate professor of science education at the Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia, and Xitao Fan, dean ... more »