Education Research Report:
THIS WEEK'S EDUCATION RESEARCH REPORT
How can we stlil raed words wehn teh lettres are jmbuled up?
Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 12 minutes ago
Researchers in the UK have taken an important step towards understanding how the human brain 'decodes' letters on a page to read a word. The work, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), will help psychologists unravel the subtle thinking mechanisms involved in reading, and could provide solutions for helping people who find it difficult to read, for example in conditions such as dyslexia. In order to read successfully, readers need not only to identify the letters in words, but also to accurately code the positions of those letters, so that they can distinguish... more »
Study identifies ways children can meet recommended activity goals
Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 14 minutes ago
Despite overwhelming evidence about the benefits of physical activity for children, most American youngsters are not meeting the federal recommendation of 60 minutes a day. A new study by a team of University of Tennessee researchers has identified specific ways—and estimated minutes for each approach—that can help children achieve the recommended daily physical activity goal. The results of various approaches, ranging from mandatory physical education in school to changes in playground designs, were published recently in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. The study was ...more »
Transforming Schools through Expanded Learning Time
Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 1 hour ago
Once among the highest-performing schools in Palmdale, a city 60 miles north of Los Angeles, Tumbleweed Elementary had fallen on tough times over the last decade. Then, in 2010, California labeled Tumbleweed “persistently low achieving,” ushering in a new era of school-wide transformation, featuring an expanded-time schedule, supported by federal funds. Today, with the benefits of more learning time and other key reforms, Tumbleweed is demonstrating dramatic improvement. This case study, the second in a series, takes you inside Tumbleweed’s turnaround. In the 2010-11 school year ... more »
International Gender Difference in Math and Reading Scores Persists Regardless of Nations’ Gender Equality Levels
Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 12 hours ago
Even in countries with high gender equality, sex differences in math and reading scores persisted in the 75 nations examined by a University of Missouri and University of Leeds study. Girls consistently scored higher in reading, while boys got higher scores in math, but these gaps are linked and vary with overall social and economic conditions of the nation. A better understanding of these gaps and how they are related could help educators design curricula to help students of both genders apply their talents and deal with their weaknesses. “Educational systems could be improved by... more »
Preschoolers know when they aren't sure
Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 1 day ago
Children as young as 3 years old know when they are not sure about a decision, and can use that uncertainty to guide decision making, according to new research from the Center for Mind and Brain at the University of California, Davis. "There is behavioral evidence that they can do this, but the literature has assumed that until late preschool, children cannot introspect and make a decision based on that introspection," said Simona Ghetti, professor of psychology at UC Davis and co-author of the study with graduate student Kristen Lyons, now an assistant professor at Metropolitan S... more »
Doctors caution against prescribing attention-boosting drugs for healthy kids
Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 1 day ago
The American Academy of Neurology (AAN), the world's largest professional association of neurologists, is releasing a position paper on how the practice of prescribing drugs to boost cognitive function, or memory and thinking abilities, in healthy children and teens is misguided. The statement is published in the March 13, 2013, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. This growing trend, in which teens use "study drugs" before tests and parents request ADHD drugs for kids who don't meet the criteria for the disorder, has made headlines r... more »
Sudden death in young athletes: Important causes not identified by the screening process
Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 2 days ago
Even though young athletes are required to receive health screens to be cleared to play sports, those tests failed to detect important cardiovascular abnormalities in cleared players, and many were allowed to play despite suspicions of dangerous cardiovascular conditions, according to a large registry study of patients who died from sudden death, being presented March 10 by Kevin Harris, MD, research cardiologist at the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation (MHIF). The data is being presented at the annual American College of Cardiology Scientific Sessions in San Francisco. Aort... more »
Ladders to Literacy has potentially negative effects on oral language, no discernilble effect in other areas
Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 2 days ago
The What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) has released an updated report on *Ladders to Literacy,* a supplemental early literacy curriculum composed of 60 activities designed to develop children’s print/book awareness, metalinguistic awareness, and oral language skills. The *Ladders to Literacy * activities can be implemented in a variety of early childhood settings and adapted for children with special needs. The WWC found that *Ladders to Literacy h*as potentially negative effects on oral language and no discernible effects on print knowledge, phonological processing, and math for presc... more »
“2013 State of Our Schools” Report: critical need to modernize school facilities to meet current health, safety standards.
Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 2 days ago
The Center for Green Schools at the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has released its first “State of our Schools” report, highlighting the critical need to modernize school facilities to meet current health, safety and educational standards. The report, featuring a foreword by former President Bill Clinton, states that schools are currently facing a $271 billion deferred maintenance bill just to bring the buildings up to working order – approximately $5,450 per student. The last comprehensive report on America’s school facilities was conducted by the Government Accountabili... more »
The Mathematics Curriculum Study Is Now Available
Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 2 days ago
The report, Algebra I and Geometry Curricula: Results From the 2005 High School Transcript Mathematics Curriculum Study, builds upon the results from NAEP’s previously released High School Transcript Study and looked at the math coursetaking patterns of America’s high school graduates to examine the content and challenge of Algebra I and Geometry courses in our nation’s public high schools. The report addresses three broad research questions: 1. What differences exist in Algebra I and Geometry course curricula? 2. How accurately do school course titles and descriptions reflect the... more »
Technology Counts 2013
Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 2 days ago
Technology Counts 2013—the 16th edition of Education Week’s annual report on educational technology tackles how school districts are working to incorporate more multimedia into classrooms, upgrade online professional development, and do a better job using data to improve student achievement. FEATURES IN THIS SPECIAL REPORT: School Districts Under Pressure to Modernize Schools are working to incorporate more multimedia into classrooms, upgrade online professional development, and do a better job using data to improve student achievement. Districts Place High Priority on 1-to-1 Compu... more »
School-based kitchen gardens are getting an A+
Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 1 week ago
Grow it, try it, and you just might like it is a motto many schools are embracing to encourage children to eat more fruits and vegetables. Through community-based kitchen garden programs, particularly those with dedicated cooking components, schools are successfully introducing students to healthier foods. In a new study released in the March/April 2013 issue of the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, researchers found that growing and then cooking the foods that kids grew increased their willingness to try new foods. A group of investigators from the University of Melbou... more »
ADHD symptoms persist for most young children despite treatment
Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 1 week ago
A study published in the March 2013 issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry found that 9 out of 10 young children with moderate to severe attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) continue to experience serious to severe symptoms and impairment long after their original diagnoses, and in many cases, despite treatment. The study, a federally funded multi-center study led by investigators at Johns Hopkins Children's Center, is the largest long-term analysis to date of preschoolers with ADHD, according to the researchers, and sheds much-ne... more »
Test-taking May Improve Learning in People of All Ages
Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 1 week ago
Older adults who haven’t been in school for a while are as capable of learning from tests as younger adults and college students, according to new research published by the American Psychological Association. No matter their age or if they work or go to college full time, people appear to learn more when tested on material, rather than simply rereading or restudying information, according to research published online in the APA journal Psychology and Aging®. "The use of testing as a way to learn new information has been thoroughly examined in young students. This research builds on... more »
The Effects of Texas's Targeted Pre-Kindergarten Program on Academic Performance
Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 1 week ago
This paper assesses the extent to which a large-scale public program, Texas's targeted pre-Kindergarten (pre-K), affects scores on math and reading achievement tests, the likelihood of being retained in grade, and the probability that a student receives special education services. The researchers find that having participated in Texas's targeted pre-K program is associated with increased scores on the math and reading sections of the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS), reductions in the likelihood of being retained in grade, and reductions in the probability of receiving s... more »
New Teachers' Early Results Predictive Of Long-Term Success
Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 1 week ago
This paper employs data from New York City to explores the extent to which measures of teacher effectiveness during the first two years reliably predicts future performance. The findings suggest that early career experiences may provide useful insights regarding future performance and offer opportunities to better understand how to improve teacher effectiveness. The paper presents evidence not only about the predictive power of early value-added scores, but also on the limitations and imprecision of those predictions. Related article
Postsecondary Education and Labor Market Outcomes in the U.S.
Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 1 week ago
In this paper, the authors seek to provide a fairly comprehensive and up-to-date snapshot of the most important postsecondary education and labor market outcomes in the U.S. using two nationally representative sources of data: The Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) and The National Educational Longitudinal Survey (NELS). This national overview can serve as an important benchmark for the growing literature using administrative state level data to explore educational outcomes. Postsecondary educational attainment has risen modestly over the past two decades, with g... more »
North Carolina’s Early College High Schools & College Preparedness
Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 1 week ago
Early College High Schools are small, innovative public schools that offer students the opportunity to earn both a high school diploma and two years of college credit in four or five years free-of-charge. The model has been replicated more than 230 times in 28 states and the District of Columbia. This working paper studies 33 Early Colleges in North Carolina to measure their effect on student progression through the mathematics and science pipelines each of which consist of three college-preparatory courses. The pipeline concept stresses the importance of when a student takes a co... more »
Evaluating teachers -- A snapshot
Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 1 week ago
Race to the Top and No Child Left Behind waiver requirements have prompted states to make major changes to teacher evaluation policies. This report offers state-by-state data that shows how often states evaluate teachers, how many levels states use to rate teachers, and how much of a teacher's evaluation is based on student data: Only 12 states have received approval from the U.S. Department of Education on their teacher-evaluation systems. Among the issues slowing the approval process are the use of students' test scores in evaluating teachers and how to evaluate teachers of su... more »
Dual Enrollment Programs and Courses for High School Students
Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 1 week ago
During the 2010-11 academic year, 53 percent of all institutions reported high school students took courses for college credit within or outside of dual enrollment programs. “Dual Enrollment Programs and Courses for High School Students at Postsecondary Institutions: 2010-11,” a First Look report from the Postsecondary Education Quick Information System (PEQIS) provides national data about enrollment in dual enrollment programs, eligibility requirements for participating in dual enrollment programs, the types of instructors in dual enrollment programs, and expenses paid by student... more »