THIS WEEK'S EDUCATION RESEARCH REPORT
New NAEP Report Compares Today’s Student Performance With That of 40 Years Ago
Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 1 day ago
* Long-term trend assessment shows improvement for black and Hispanic students since the 1970s* Today’s 9-and 13-year-old students scored higher in reading and mathematics than their counterparts did 40 years ago according to The Nation’s Report Card: Trends in Academic Progress 2012, a long-term trend assessment designed to track changes in the achievement of students ages 9, 13 and 17 since the 1970s. However, 17-year-olds did not show similar gains. The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) long-term trend assessment is administered every four years and measures basic... more »
Teachers Spend $1.6 Billion of Their Own Money on Educational Products for their Classrooms
Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 2 days ago
The National School Supply and Equipment Association (NSSEA) has just released the *2013 NSSEA Retail Market Awareness Study* estimating that public school teachers spent $3.2 billion in educational products in the 2012-2013 school year, $1.6 billion of it from their own pockets. This study reports on teachers' knowledge of parent-teacher stores, including their spending patterns, funding sources, shopping preferences, and factors that influence their purchasing decisions. Other highlights: - On average, teachers surveyed said they spent a total of $268 on school supplies ... more »
Indicators of School Crime and Safety, 2012
Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 2 days ago
A joint effort by the Bureau of Justice Statistics and National Center for Education Statistics, this annual report examines crime occurring in school as well as on the way to and from school. This report presents data on crime at school from the perspectives of students, teachers, principals, and the general population from an array of sources--the National Crime Victimization Survey, the School Crime Supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey, the Youth Risk Behavior Survey, the School Survey on Crime and Safety and the School and Staffing Survey. Data on crime away fr... more »
The Magnitude of Student Sorting Within Schools
Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 2 days ago
The authors of this study use administrative data from three large urban school districts to describe student sorting within schools. Students are linked to each of their teachers and students’ classmates are identified. There are differences in the average achievement levels, racial composition, and socioeconomic composition of classrooms within schools. This sorting occurs even in self-contained elementary school classrooms and is much larger than would be expected were students assigned to classrooms randomly. Much of the racial and socioeconomic sorting is accounted for by d... more »
Language Intervention Levels Playing Field for English Language Learners
Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 3 days ago
A new approach to teaching pre-kindergarten could take a bite out of the achievement gap and level the playing field for America’s growing population of English language learners, according to a recently published study by researchers at Vanderbilt’s Peabody College of education and human development. “We are excited that we have helped teachers develop ways of teaching that result in such remarkable gains among children,” David K. Dickinson, professor of education and one of the project's leaders, said. “Our teachers are committed to continuing using the approaches that are workin... more »
SPATIAL TRAINING BOOSTS MATH SKILLS
Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 3 days ago
Training young children in spatial reasoning can improve their math performance, according to a groundbreaking study from Michigan State University education scholars. The researchers trained 6- to 8-year-olds in mental rotation, a spatial ability, and found their scores on addition and subtraction problems improved significantly. The mental rotation training involved imagining how two halves of an object would come together to make a whole, when the halves have been turned at an angle. Past research has found a link between spatial reasoning and math, but the MSU study is the fi... more »
Kids’ Reading Success Boosted by Long-Term Individualized Instruction
Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 3 days ago
Students who consistently receive individualized reading instruction from first through third grade become better readers than those who don’t, according to new research published in *Psychological Science*, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. These findings come after a three-year study that followed several hundred Floridian students, who received varying amounts of individualized instruction, from first to third grade. “Our results show that children need sustained, effective instruction from first through third grade if they are going to become proficient r... more »
Study finds improvement in the overall performance of charter schools since 2009
Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 3 days ago
*"Gains" include slower declines than traditional public schools 71% (math)-75% (reading) of charter schools aren't doing any better than traditional public schools 31% of charter schools significantly weaker in math "Gains" fueled by closing of the worst charter schools* A new, independent national study finds improvement in the overall performance of charter schools, driven in part by the presence of more high-performing charters and closure of underperforming charter schools. The National Charter School Study 2013, released by the Center for Research on Education Outcomes (CRE... more »
Value of education rises in crisis but investment in this area is falling
Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 3 days ago
The jobs gap between well-educated young people and those who left school early has continued to widen during the crisis. A good education is the best insurance against a lack of work experience, according to the latest edition of the OECD’s annual Education at a Glance. Unemployment rates are nearly three times higher among people without an upper secondary education (13% on average across OECD countries) than among those who have a tertiary education (5%). Between 2008 and 2011, the unemployment rate for the poorly-educated rose by around 4 percentage points, while it increased b... more »
Let’s Begin with the Letter People® has no discernible effects on oral language or phonological processing
Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 3 days ago
The What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) has an updated report on the preschool literacy programs Let’s Begin with the Letter People®. Let’s Begin with the Letter People® is an early childhood literacy curriculum that uses 26 thematic units (each of which covers a letter of the alphabet) to develop children’s language and early literacy skills. A major focus of the program is phonological awareness, including rhyming, word play, alliteration, and segmentation. The WWC found that Let’s Begin with the Letter People® has no discernible effects on oral language or phonological processing and... more »
Doors to Discovery™ has potentially positive effects on oral language and print knowledge
Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 3 days ago
The What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) has released an updated report on a preschool literacy programs, Doors to Discovery. Doors to Discovery™ is a preschool literacy curriculum that uses eight thematic units of activities to help children build fundamental early literacy skills in oral language, phonological awareness, concepts of print, alphabet knowledge, writing, and comprehension. The eight thematic units cover topics such as nature, friendship, communities, society, and health. Each unit is available as a kit that includes various teacher resources. The What Works Clearinghouse... more »
How School and District Leaders Support Classroom Teachers’ Work With English Language Learners
Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 4 days ago
This study examines the ways in which school and district leaders create systems of support for classroom teachers who work with linguistically diverse students. The authors attempt to uncover the intentional supports leaders put in place for classroom teachers and how this may be part of a broader teaching and learning effort. Through a qualitative case study of four districts serving different populations of English Learner (EL) students, the authors examine school and district leadership actions aimed at helping teachers provide instruction that is responsive to EL learning nee... more »
Quality Matters More Than Quantity for Word Learning
Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 4 days ago
Several studies have shown that how much parents say to their children when they are very young is a good predictor of children’s vocabulary at the point when they begin school. In turn, a child’s vocabulary size at school entry strongly predicts level of success throughout schooling even into high school and college. A new study by psychologists at the University of Pennsylvania now shows that early vocabulary improvement is likely to have more to do with the “quality” of the interactions in which the words are used rather than the sheer quantity of speech directed at young child... more »
Effectiveness of Cognitive Tutor Algebra I at Scale
Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 1 week ago
This article examines the effectiveness of a technology-based algebra curriculum in a wide variety of middle schools and high schools in seven states. Participating schools were matched into similar pairs and randomly assigned to either continue with the current algebra curriculum for two years or to adopt Cognitive Tutor Algebra I (CTAI), which uses a personalized, mastery-learning, blended-learning approach. Schools assigned to implement CTAI did so under conditions similar to schools that independently adopt it. Analysis of posttest outcomes on an algebra proficiency exam finds... more »
Mindfulness Can Increase Wellbeing and Reduce Stress in School Children
Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 1 week ago
Mindfulness -- a mental training that develops sustained attention that can change the ways people think, act and feel -- could reduce symptoms of stress and depression and promote wellbeing among school children, according to a new study published online by the *British Journal of Psychiatry. * With the summer exam season in full swing, school children are currently experiencing higher levels of stress than at any other time of year. The research showed that interventions to reduce stress in children have the biggest impact at this time of year. There is growing evidence that mind... more »
Student Engagement—Essential for Success in School—Is More Complex, Changeable Than Previously Thought
Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 1 week ago
*“Enhancing student engagement has been identified as the key to addressing problems of low achievement, high levels of student misbehavior, alienation, and high dropout rates.” – Pitt professor Ming-Te Wang* A student who shows up on time for school and listens respectfully in class might appear fully engaged to outside observers, including teachers. But other measures of student engagement, including the student’s emotional and cognitive involvement with the course material, may tell a different story—one that could help teachers recognize students who are becoming less invested ... more »
Bullying and suicide among youth is a public health problem
Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 1 week ago
*Expert research from CDC panel provides details and clarity, reports the Journal of Adolescent Health* Recent studies linking bullying and depression, coupled with extensive media coverage of bullying-related suicide among young people, led the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to assemble an expert panel to focus on these issues. This panel synthesized the latest research about the complex relationship between youth involvement in bullying and suicide-related behaviors. Three themes emerged: 1) Bullying among youth is a significant public health problem, with wides... more »
The vital role of the humanities and social sciences
Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 1 week ago
A new report by the American Academy of Arts & Sciences Commission on the Humanities and Social Science, titled The Heart of the Matter, looks at the vital role of the humanities and social sciences in preparing and sustaining Americans for the responsibility of productive citizenship in the United States and the world. The Heart of the Matter focuses on five areas of concern—K-12 Education; Two- and Four-Year Colleges; Research; Cultural Institutions and Lifelong Learning; and International Security and Competitiveness—and makes recommendations to achieve three goals: - Educ... more »
Foster Youth Face Significant Academic Hurdles
Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 1 week ago
A new study, Foster Youth Transitions, released by the Institute for Evidence-Based Change (IEBC), in conjunction with the University of California, Berkeley’s Center for Social Science Research (CSSR), examines the educational outcomes of foster youth in comparison to peers from similar disadvantaged backgrounds. Foster youth often experience instability and are deprived of support vital for the completion of educational milestones, such as high school graduation and college enrollment. Results from the study, a longitudinal survey which tracks the educational outcomes of more t... more »
The schools preparing teachers have become an industry of mediocrity
Jonathan Kantrowitz at Education Research Report - 1 week ago
The National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ)'s Teacher Prep Reviewreports that the colleges and universities producing America’s traditionally prepared teachers have become an industry of mediocrity, churning out first-year teachers with classroom management skills and content knowledge inadequate to thrive in classrooms with ever-increasing ethnic and socioeconomic student diversity. They assigned overall ratings based on a set of key standards for 608 institutions. Those ratings can be found at www.nctq.org/teacherPrep, where there is additional data on another 522 institutions.... more »