THIS WEEK'S EDUCATION RESEARCH REPORT
The Impact of Chicago's Small High School Initiative
Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 20 hours ago
This project examines the effects of the introduction of new small high schools on student performance in the Chicago Public School (CPS) district. Specifically, the authors investigate whether students attending small high schools have better graduation/enrollment rates and achievement than similar students who attend regular CPS high schools. The authors show that students who choose to attend a small school are more disadvantaged on average. To address the selection problem, the authors use an instrumental variables strategy and compare students who live in the same neighborho... more »
Prescription for double-dose algebra proves effective
Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 1 day ago
Martin Gartzman sat in his dentist’s waiting room last fall when he read a study in Education Next that nearly brought him to tears. A decade ago, in his former position as chief math and science officer for Chicago Public Schools, Gartzman spearheaded an attempt to decrease ninth-grade algebra failure rates, an issue he calls “an incredibly vexing problem.” His idea was to provide extra time for struggling students by having them take two consecutive periods of algebra. Gartzman had been under the impression that the double-dose algebra program he had instituted had only marginal ... more »
The High School Course-Taking of Students Labeled With a Learning Disability
Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 1 day ago
Placement of some students into the courses needed only for high school graduation and others into those that prepare them for college constitutes academic stratification. This study uses data from the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 to investigate whether students labeled with learning disabilities complete fewer academic courses by the end of high school compared to their peers who are not labeled. Results indicate large disparities in completion of college preparatory coursework, especially in math, science, and foreign language, even net of students’ academic preparation... more »
Effectiveness of Two Reading Programs Examined
Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 3 days ago
The WWC has released two reports that review the research on programs designed to improve reading skills, Read Naturally and Fast ForWord®. Read Naturally is a supplemental reading program designed to improve the reading fluency, accuracy, and comprehension of elementary and middle school students using a combination of books, audio CDs, and computer software. The WWC found that Read Naturally has potentially positive effects on general literacy achievement for adolescent readers. Read the full WWC report at http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/interventionreport.aspx?sid=625. Fast ForWord® ... more »
Brown Center Report on American Education
Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 4 days ago
The 2013 Brown Center Report on American Education on Education has been released. PART I: The Latest TIMSS and PIRLS Scores PART II: The Resurgence of Ability Grouping and Persistence of Tracking PART III: Advanced Math in Eighth Grade Part I examines the latest results from the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) and Trends in International Math and Science Study (TIMSS) released in December, 2012. The U.S. did relatively well, posting gains in reading, math, and science. Finland made headlines by registering declines from the last time it took the TIMSS mat...more »
Mindfulness at school reduces likelihood of depression-related symptoms in adolescents
Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 6 days ago
Mindfulness is a form of meditation therapy focused on exercising 'attentiveness'. Depression is often rooted in a downward spiral of negative feelings and worries. Once a person learns to more quickly recognise these feelings and thoughts, he or she can intervene before depression sinks in. While mindfulness has already been widely tested and applied in patients with depression, this is the first time the method has been studied in a large group of adolescents in a school-based setting, using a randomised controlled design. The study was carried out at five middle schools in Flan... more »
Dating in middle school leads to higher dropout, drug-use rates
Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 6 days ago
Students who date in middle school have significantly worse study skills, are four times more likely to drop out of school and report twice as much alcohol, tobacco and marijuana use than their single classmates, according to new research from the University of Georgia. "Romantic relationships are a hallmark of adolescence, but very few studies have examined how adolescents differ in the development of these relationships," said Pamela Orpinas, study author and professor in the College of Public Health and head of the Department of Health Promotion and Behavior. Orpinas followed a... more »
Teen sexting, the gender gap
Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 6 days ago
Sexting: Involves sending sexually explicit messages and/or photographs, primarily between mobile phones using the SMS system was first reported in 2005. It is an obvious portmanteau of "sex" and "texting"; the word was added to the Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary in August 2012. 4% of mobile phone-owning teens claim to have sent sexually suggestive, nude or nearly nude images or videos of themselves to someone else via a mobile device while 15% claim to have received such material from someone they know. With contract cell phones and cheaper multimedia messaging services ... more »
How can we stlil raed words wehn teh lettres are jmbuled up?
Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 6 days 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 - 6 days 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 - 6 days 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 - 1 week 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 week 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 week 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 - 1 week 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 - 1 week 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 - 1 week 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 - 1 week 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 - 1 week 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 »