THIS WEEK'S EDUCATION RESEARCH REPORT
OCT 03
Reading literary fiction improves 'mind-reading' skills
Heated debates about the quantifiable value of arts and literature are a common feature of American social discourse. Now, two researchers from The New School for Social Research have published a paper in Science demonstrating that reading literary fiction enhances a set of skills and thought processes fundamental to complex social relationships—and functional societies.Ph.D. candidate David Comer
California lawsuit has significantly improved conditions in schools throughout the state
The ACLU of Southern California has released a report, “Williams v. California: Lessons From Nine Years of Implementation.” that examines the continuing impact of Williams, a class action lawsuit filed in 2000 by the American Civil Liberties Union, Public Advocates, and other civil rights organizations, along with the law firm Morrison & Foerster LLP, on behalf of public school students in Cal
OCT 02
Common Core Math Fails to Prepare Students for College
National mathematics standards adopted by 45 states and the District of Columbia that supporters say are designed to make high school graduates “college- and career-ready” and improve the critical science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) pipeline do not prepare students to study STEM or even be admitted to a selective four-year college, according to a new study, Lowering the Bar: How Commo
Making High-Poverty Schools Hunger Free
With nearly 16 million children in households that have trouble affording enough nutritious food at some point during the year, several states are taking advantage of a new federal option to reduce hunger and streamline their school meal programs, as a major new report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) explains.Community eligibility” is
Genetic Influences on Intelligence Increase as Children Get Older
Nature or Nurture?About 70 percent of a person’s intelligence can be explained by their DNA — and those genetic influences only get stronger with age, according to new research from The University of Texas at Austin.The study, authored by psychology researchers Elliot Tucker-Drob, Daniel Briley and Paige Harden, shows how genes can be stimulated or suppressed depending on the child's environment a
OCT 01
Teacher reports on preschoolers alone not useful to predict severity and diagnosis of ADHD
Sarah O'Neill, of The City College of New York, based on research she conducted at Queens College (CUNY), has published an article in Springer’s Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology examining how well parent, teacher, and clinician ratings of preschoolers’ behavior are able to predict severity and diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) at age six.Characterized by developmenta
Why the Gap? Special Education and New York City Charter Schools
This study, from the Center on Reinventing Public Education, uses NYC data to analyze the factors driving the gap in special education enrollment between charter and traditional public schools. Among the findings: * Students with disabilities are less likely to apply to charter schools in kindergarten than are regular enrollment students. This is the primary driver of the gap in special education
Succeeding in the City: A Report from the New York City Black and Latino Male High School Achievement Study
How do young Black and Latino males succeed?To answer this question, a new report is being issued today from the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education’s Center for the Study of Race and Equity in Education by the Center’s research team, led by Dr. Shaun Harper., The report is titled Succeeding in the City: A Report from the New York City Black and Latino Male High School Achievem
SEP 30
First global study confirms widely held practices on science, math, & reading education
It's a long held belief that parental and administrative support helps breed academic success; now there's data to back that up. A new study released today by the IEA and the TIMSS and PIRLS International Study Center at Boston College examines what makes up "cultural educational excellence" while quantifying the strengths of best practices at school, and at home."The data supports
Assessing the effectiveness of First Step to Success
This study examined the effects of First Step to Success (First Step), a school- and home-based program intended to improve outcomes for students with moderate to severe behavior problems who may be at risk for academic failure. Researchers randomly assigned 48 elementary schools either to receive the First Step program or to continue implementing regular instruction. Students in the intervention
Three studies of the NYC Bonus Program
In 2007, as part of its accountability system, the NYC Department of Education set school-level goals for student academic performance and growth for each school. Each year, it awarded Progress Report scores to schools based on three components: increased student achievement on state reading and math exams (25% of score), yearly student progress (60% of score), and measures of the learning environ
After Two Years, Three Elementary Math Curricula Outperform a Fourth
This comprehensive report analyzed the results for students using for diferent curricula.Three math curricula, Math Expressions, Saxon, and SFAW/envision improved 1st-through-2nd-grade math achievement by similar amounts. All three of the curricula outperformed Investigations. The findings also suggest that switching between some of the study’s curricula does not harm student achievement and can e
Instructional Practices and Student Math Achievement
This evaluation brief is directed to researchers and adds to the research base about instructional practices that are related to student achievement. Additional evidence on these relationships can suggest specific hypotheses for future study of instruction practices, which, in turn, will provide research evidence that could inform professional development of teachers and the writing of instruction
Instruction Time, Classroom Quality, and Academic Achievement
Many countries, American jurisdictions and charter schools haverecently embraced longer school days or more time devoted to coreacademic classes. Recent research generally supports the notion thatadditional time raises achievement, though difficulties isolating anexogenous source of variation raise questions about the strength ofmuch of the evidence. Moreover, it seems likely that the magnitudeof
SEP 26
School outreach program may reduce African-American student mobility
Outreach programs that build relationships between families and schools may reduce the number of students who change schools for reasons other than grade promotion, according to a new study from researchers at Rice University, the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Columbia University.The researchers used data from a five-year study that examined the negative consequences of students changing sch
Only 43 percent of SAT takers in the class of 2013 graduated from high school academically prepared for the rigors of college-level course work.
Data released today by the College Board reveals that only 43 percent of SAT® takers in the class of 2013 graduated from high school academically prepared for the rigors of college-level course work. This number has remained virtually unchanged during the last five years. The SAT Benchmark and College Readiness The College Board developed the SAT College and Career Readiness Benchmark to help seco
The numbers were worse for Ohio’s charter schools than publisc schools
This August, Ohio issued for the first time conventional A through F school grades along nine indicators of school performance. The new A-F school report cards follow Florida’s pioneering example of A-F accountability, and Ohio joins 9 other states which have implemented A-F report cards. Parsing Performance, Fordham Institue's annual analysis of Ohio's school performance, examines the state's new
SEP 25
Family Income and School Involvement = Black Male Success
This study sought to examine the various associations of the family behavior with the achievement of Black males. As one of the richest longitudinal family economic data sets, the Child Development Supplement to the Panel Study of Income Dynamics is used to estimate multilevel growth models of the math and reading achievement of Black males. Results suggest that the family’s permanent income has a
SEP 24
Responsive interactions key to toddlers' ability to learn language
Young children readily learn words from their parents, grandparents, and child care providers in live conversations, but learning from video has proven more difficult. A new study questioned why and found that it's the responsiveness of the interactions that's key: When we respond to children in timely and meaningful ways, they learn—even when that response comes from a screen.The study, by resear
Playing with blocks may help children's spatial and math thinking
Playing with blocks may help preschoolers develop the kinds of skills that support later learning in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), according to a new study by researchers at the University of Delaware and Temple University. And for low-income preschoolers, who lag in spatial skills, such play may be especially important.The study is published in the journal Child Development.M
Ohio: Affluent Blacks in Good Schools Still Are Falling Behind
Even if they come from affluent families or attend highly rated schools, black students in Ohio continue to lag far behind their white peers in school, according to a Columbus Dispatch analysis of data from state standardized exams.On more than two dozen state tests given to students in kindergarten through high school last year, the average passage rate among black students was 64 percent. On ave
How accurate are Florida Assessments for Instruction in Reading (FAIR) predictions?
This report analyzed student performance on the FAIR reading comprehension screen across grades 4-10 and the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) 2.0 to determine how well the FAIR and the 2011 FCAT 2.0 scores predicted 2012 FCAT 2.0 performance. The first key finding was that the reading comprehension screen of the Florida Assessments for Instruction in Reading (FAIR) was more accurate th
SEP 23
72% of College Admissions Officers Agree the Test Should Be Changed
The SAT and ACT®, the high-stakes admissions exams taken by millions of aspiring college students each year, will both look very different in two years — and that’s welcome news to college admissions officers. According to Kaplan Test Prep’s 2013 survey* of college admissions officers from 422 top schools across the country, 72% agree that “the SAT should be changed” — which aligns with the Colleg
Coordinating afterschool programs
A majority of U.S. cities with populations of 100,000 or more that were contacted for a recent study are coordinating afterschool programs to expand and improve services for young people who need them most, according to the study released today.More than three-quarters of the 100 cities where a knowledgeable respondent could be found report implementing at least some strategies to coordinate after
Avoiding "Low-Performing" = Positive Impact, Trying to Go Higher = Negative Impact
This study reviews the impact of accountability pressure in Texas public high schools in the 1990s on postsecondary attainment and earnings, using administrative data from the Texas Schools Project (TSP). The study finds that high schools respond to the risk of being rated Low-Performing by increasing student achievement on high-stakes exams. Years later, these students are more likely to have att