THIS WEEK'S EDUCATION RESEARCH REPORT
New approach urged for 'abysmal' K-12 writing instruction
Writing instruction in U.S. classrooms is "abysmal" and the Common Core State Standards don't go far enough to address glaring gaps for students and teachers, a Michigan State University education scholar argues.In a new study, Gary Troia calls for a fresh approach to professional development for teachers who must help students meet the new writing standards. His research, funded by the
Video captions improve comprehension, professor finds
A simple change -- switching on captions -- can make a big difference when students watch educational videos, an SF State professor has discovered.Robert Keith Collins, an assistant professor of American Indian studies, found that students' test scores and comprehension improved dramatically when captions were used while watching videos. The tool is often utilized for students with learning disabi
Peer-Mediated Academic Interventions for Secondary Struggling Learners Are Successful
This study presents a synthesis of the extant research on peer-mediated reading and math interventions for students in regular or alternative education settings with academic difficulties and disabilities in Grades 6 to 12 (ages 11–18. Interventions conducted between 2001 and 2012 targeting reading and math were included if they measured effects on at least one academic outcome measure. A total of
Literacy and Numeracy Are More Heritable In Elementary Students Than Intelligence
Because literacy and numeracy are the focus of teaching in schools, whereas general cognitive ability (g, intelligence) is not, it would be reasonable to expect that literacy and numeracy are less heritable than g. This study directly compares heritabilities of multiple measures of literacy, numeracy, and g in a United Kingdom sample of 7,500 pairs of twins assessed longitudinally at ages 7, 9, an
Preparation for Students with Disabilities Inclusion in Teacher Education Curricula
Inclusion of students with disabilities has been practiced and advocated for more than two decades in the United States. This practice involves the placement of students with disabilities in a general education classroom for part or all of the day, and the primary instructor is a general education teacher in collaboration with a special education teacher. This article reviews coursework related to
YESTERDAY
Associates Degree Is A Good Investment
A national review of community colleges and their graduates’ financial return on investment finds that California and Texas have the most institutions with graduates in the top tier of wage earners. Thirty states have some community colleges whose graduates’ median net lifetime earnings trail those of the state’s high school graduates.The median earnings of associate’s degree holders during their
OCT 10
Teachers Should Refrain from Self-Deprecation When Trying to Engage Students
A new study finds teachers need to thread the needle between chilly distance and over-exposure of their own foibles if they want to gain the confidence of their students and avoid disruptions in the classroom. The study, "The Relationship of Instructor Self-Disclosure, Nonverbal Immediacy, and Credibility to Student Incivility in the College Classroom," was published online today in the
US school superintendents peer pressure's influence\
A mathematician has calculated how peer pressure influences society.Professor Ernesto Estrada, of the University of Strathclyde's Department of Mathematics and Statistics, examined the effect of direct and indirect social influences – otherwise known as peer pressure – on how decisions are reached on important issues. Using mathematical models, he analysed data taken from 15 networks – including U
Changes In The Early Childhood Care and Education Workforce 1990 - 2010
Historically, the early childhood care and education (ECCE) workforce has been characterized as a low-education, low-compensation, low-stability workforce. In recent years, considerable investments have been made to correct this, but evidence is lacking about the extent to which these investments were accompanied by changes in the characteristics of the workforce. Using nationally representative d
Incorporating Access to More Effective Teachers into Assessments of Educational Resource Equity
To address gaps in achievement between more- and less-affluent students, states and districts need to ensure that high-poverty students and schools have equitable access to educational resources. Traditionally, assessments of resource equity have focused on per-pupil expenditures and more proximal inputs, such as teacher credentials and class size, despite the inconsistent and/or weak relationship
School-Based Accountability and the Distribution of Teacher Quality Across Grades in Elementary School
This study uses North Carolina data to explore whether the quality of teachers in the lower elementary grades (K–2) falls short of teacher quality in the upper grades (3–5) and to examine the hypothesis that school accountability pressures contribute to such quality shortfalls. The concern with the early grades arises from recent studies highlighting how children's experiences in those years have
The Determinants and Implications of Teacher Layoffs
Over 2,000 teachers in the state of Washington received reduction-in-force (RIF) notices across the 2008–09 and 2009–10 school years. This study links data on these RIF notices to an administrative data set that includes student, teacher, school, and district variables to determine the factors that predict the likelihood of a teacher receiving a RIF notice. Not surprisingly, the study finds that a
OCT 09
Time for the US to Reskill: What the Survey of Adult Skills Says
Simultaneous with the publication of the results from the Survey of Adult Skills, the OECD published a special report on the U.S. entitled, Time for the US to Reskill: What the Survey of Adult Skills Says, at the request of OVAE in the U.S. Department of Education.The report describes the main findings of the Survey of Adult Skills for the United States and compares them with the results from a se
Larger proportions of adults in the United States than in other countries have poor literacy and numeracy skills
This first OECD Skills Outlook presents the initial results of the Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC), which evaluates the skills of adults in 24 countries. It provides insights into the availability of some of the key skills and how they are used at work and at home. A major component is the direct assessment of key information-processing skills: literacy, numeracy and problem solving in the context
OCT 08
Gender Barriers, Not Families, to Blame for Shortage of Women in STEM Careers
Researchers at the University of Texas-Austin and Cornell University have published a new study examining the factors behind the shortage of women in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields. They find no evidence that women are opting out of the STEM workforce to start families, in contrast to the widespread perception that family factors account for the lack of women in STEM-relat
Study looks at attitudes toward drug use among high school seniors
High school seniors who frown upon the use of drugs are most likely to be female, nonsmokers or hold strong religious beliefs, according to a study by Joseph Palamar of New York University. Palamar examines how teenagers’ attitudes toward marijuana influenced their thoughts on the further use of other illicit drugs. The work appears online in the journal Prevention Science, published by Springer.T
School Debit Accounts Lead to Less Healthy Food Choices and Higher Calorie Meals!
Many school cafeterias adopt debit account payment systems as quick, convenient ways to keep lunch lines moving, but according to this study conducted by Cornell University’s Food and Brand Lab researchers, putting it on the debit account may impact the health of kids’ meals. Schools use debit systems without the option of paying with cash, students’ lunches contained fewer fruits and vegetables,
Is Beginning a BA Program a Good Investment?
Using data from California’s higher education systems, this paper estimates individuals’ and society’s economic returns to a Bachelor’s (BA) degree and evaluates the quality as an investment of a beginning a BA program . Most studies of the rate of return to college use a best-case scenario in which students earn a degree with certainty in four years. More realistic calculations that account for s
E-books and printed books in parent–child reading as support for children’s language
Early shared book reading activities are considered to be a promising context for supporting young children’s language development. In this study ninety low socioeconomic status preschoolers and their mothers were randomly assigned to one of three groups: (1) e-book reading; (2) printed book reading; (3) regular kindergarten literacy program (control). Mothers of children in the intervention group
Advocates for “Portfolio School Districts” Oversell their Product
‘Portfolio district’ reform is among the most dramatic and fast-growing changes to public schooling over the past decade. But its growth has not been matched by supporting research evidence. In fact, little research evidence is available at all to help policymakers consider the value of this highly promoted reform. Into this vacuum have stepped advocates offering sales-pitches, most notably in th
OCT 07
A Critique of NCTQ's Review of Teacher Preparation Programs
The National Council on Teacher Quality’s (NCTQ) recent review of university-based teacher preparation programs concluded the vast majority of such programs were inadequately preparing the nation’s teachers. According to this article, that study has a number of serious flaws that include narrow focus on inputs, lack of a strong research base, missing standards, omitted research, incorrect applicat
The Effects of Teacher Entry Portals on Student Achievement
The current teacher workforce is younger, less experienced, more likely to turnover, and more diverse in preparation experiences than the workforce of two decades ago. Research shows that inexperienced teachers are less effective, but we know little about the effectiveness of teachers with different types of preparation. This study classifies North Carolina public school teachers into portals—fixe
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
