THIS WEEK'S EDUCATION RESEARCH REPORT
Scholars have long argued that principals should be instructional leaders, but few studies have empirically linked specific instructional leadership behaviors to school performance. This study examines the associations between leadership behaviors and student achievement gains using a unique data source: in-person, full-day observations of approximately 100 urban principals collected over 3 school
Preschoolers’ emotion knowledge indirectly contributes to early school success
Differences in emotion knowledge by children’s age, gender, and socioeconomic risk status, as well as associations of emotion knowledge with executive control, social competence, and early classroom adjustment, were investigated in this study. On emotion knowledge, 4- and 5-year-olds scored higher than 3-year-olds, with girls showing this effect more strongly. Socioeconomic risk status and emotion
The Effect of Grade Placement on English Language Learners’ Academic Achievement
Many English Language Learners (ELLs) migrate to the United States at older ages and administrators must choose a grade in which to place these new entrants as soon as they register for school. This study estimates the effect of grade placement on the short-term academic performance of ELLs who enroll in the Miami-Dade County Public School system between the ages of 7 and 12 using a district polic
OCT 24
Participation in mindfulness-based program improves teacher well-being
Teacher well-being, efficacy, burnout-related stress, time-related stress and mindfulness significantly improve when teachers participate in the CARE (Cultivating Awareness and Resilience in Education) for Teachers program, according to Penn State researchers.CARE is a mindfulness-based professional development program designed to reduce stress and improve teachers' performance and classroom learn
U.S. States in a Global Context: Results from the NAEP-TIMSS Linking Study
With this new study, conducted in 2011, U.S. states can compare performance of their own students’ with those of various international educational entities. The linking study, an effort of the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), projects scores for the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) for each state, using data from the National Assessment of Educational P
OCT 23
Childhood participation in arts and crafts activities = more patents generated and businesses launched as adults
Good news for parents: Those pricey piano lessons or random toy parts littering your floors may one day lead to the next scientific breakthrough.That’s according to new Michigan State University research linking childhood participation in arts and crafts activities to patents generated and businesses launched as adults.In the study, which is published in the most recent edition of the journal Econ
College students are digitally distracted in class
The typical college student plays with his or her digital device an average of 11 times a day while in class, according to a new study by a University of Nebraska-Lincoln associate professor. More than 80 percent admit that their use of smart phones, tablets and laptops can interfere with their learning. More than a fourth say their grades suffer as a result. Barney McCoy, an associate p
Common Core in the Schools: A First Look at Reading Assignments
As forty-six states and the District of Columbia implement the Common Core State Standards, questions abound regarding implementation, including the implications for curriculum and pedagogy. In Common Core in the Schools: A First Look at Reading Assignments, researchers analyze what texts English teachers assign their students and the instructional techniques they used in the classroom. This study
OCT 22
Theatre Offers Promise for Youth with Autism
A novel autism intervention program using theatre to teach reciprocal communication skills is improving social deficits in adolescents with the disorder that now affects an estimated one in 88 children, Vanderbilt University researchers released today in the journal Autism Research.The newly released study assessed the effectiveness of a two-week theatre camp on children with autism spectrum disor
Effective Arts Integration Improves Test Scores
Effective classroom arts integration can reduce or eliminate educational achievement gaps for economically disadvantaged students, according to a Mississippi State University research report.In other words, when teachers reinforce academic concepts with the arts, students learn more and score higher on standardized tests.MSU’s John C. Stennis Institute of Government and Community Development gener
Spatial, written language skills predict math competence
Early math skills are emerging as important to later academic achievement. As many countries seek to strengthen their workforces in the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields, understanding the early contributions to math skills becomes increasingly vital. New longitudinal research from Finland has found that children's early spatial skills and knowledge of written letters
Report: ‘Excellence Gap’ Growing Among American Students
The circle of high-achieving American students is becoming a preserve for the white and well-off, with potentially severe consequences for the country’s promise of equal opportunity, according to a new report by UConn professor Jonathan Plucker and colleagues at two other universities.“Talent on the Sidelines: Excellence Gaps and the Persistence of America’s Permanent Talent Underclass” examines t
Poor housing quality = poor school performance
A new report from researchers at Boston College and Tufts University shows the distinct emotional and educational price children pay when their families live in run down apartments and homes.Data culled from a six-year study of 2,400 children, teens and young adults found emotional and behavioral symptoms such as anxiety, depression, lying and aggressive behavior are closely connected to poor hous
Baby's innate number sense predicts future math skill
Babies who are good at telling the difference between large and small groups of items even before learning how to count are more likely to do better with numbers in the future, according to new research from the Duke Institute for Brain Sciences.The use of Arabic numerals to represent different values is a characteristic unique to humans, not seen outside our species. But we aren't born with this
First-graders with attention problems lag for years afterward; second-graders, less so
When it comes to children's attention problems, the difference between first and second grade is profound, says a new study from Duke University.The study, which appears online in the November issue of the Journal of Attention Disorders, says the age at which attention problems emerge makes a critical difference in a child's later academic performance.When the problems emerged in first grade, chil
Poor uses of student data and punitive approaches to accountability
In a new report by two professors at Boston College, Data-Driven Improvement and Accountability, authors Andy Hargreaves, the Thomas More Brennan Professor of Education in the Lynch school of Education, and Henry Braun, the Boisi Professor of Education and Public Policy in the Lynch School of Education, find that the use of data in the U.S. is too often limited to simply measuring short-term gains
OCT 21
New Testing for Common Core State Standards Impacts Classroom Practices for Middle School Math Teachers
States across the country have started to implement the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM). But, according to a National Science Foundation-funded study, a large majority of middle school math teachers point to the new high-stakes tests and teacher evaluations associated with the CCSSM as challenges for implementing the new standards. In fact, most teachers reported that the conte
Student Financial Aid Data
This First Look is a product of the National Center for Education Statistics at the Institute of Education Sciences, part of the U.S. Department of Education. For the 2011-12 academic year, the average cost of attendance and the net price of attendance varied by institutional sector. Among full-time, first time degree/certificate-seeking undergraduate students receiving any grant aid, the average
Birth Order and School Performance
This study provides robust empirical evidence thatschool performance of children declines with birthorder as does the stringency of their parents' disciplinaryrestrictions. And, when asked how they will respond if a childbrought home bad grades, parents state that they would be less likelyto punish their later-born children.
The IMPACT of Incentives and Evaluations on Teacher Performance
Teachers in the United States are compensated largely on the basis of fixed schedules that reward experience and credentials. However, there is a growing interest in whether performance-based incentives based on rigorous teacher evaluations can improve teacher retention and performance. The evidence available to date has been mixed at best. This study presents novel evidence on this topic based on
OCT 18
Home schooled children leaner than traditionally schooled kids
The results of a recent study show kids that are home-schooled are leaner than kids attending traditional schools. The results challenge the theory that children spending more time at home may be at risk for excessive weight gain.The study was published in the journal Obesity and conducted by researchers from University of Colorado's Anschutz Health and Wellness Center (AHWC) and University of Ala
Video instruction could transform how schools serve teens with autism
Video-based teaching helps teens with autism learn important social skills, and the method eventually could be used widely by schools with limited resources, a Michigan State University researcher says.The diagnosis rate for Autism Spectrum Disorder for 14- to 17-year-olds has more than doubled in the past five years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Yet previous resear
Report details status of US secondary Earth science education
The Center for Geoscience Education and Public Understanding at the American Geosciences Institute has released a landmark report on the status of Earth Science education in U.S. middle and high schools, describing in detail significant gaps between identified priorities and lagging practice.The report, "Earth and Space Sciences Education in U.S. Secondary Schools: Key Indicators and Trends,&
Low Income Students Predominate in the South and the Southwest
The Southern Education Foundation ’s latest report, A New Majority: Low Income Students in the South and the Nation, analyzes where low income children go to school, what the trends are for low income in the schools, and what the policy implications of these trends are.Key findings:• A majority of public school children in 17 states, one-third of the 50 states across the nation, were low income st
OCT 17
Selected Statistics from the Common Core of Data: School Year 2011–12
This First Look report presents findings on the numbers and types of public elementary and secondary schools and local education agencies and public school student enrollment and staff in the United States for school year 2011–12.Findings include:• There were 98,328 operating public elementary/secondary schools in the school year 2011–12 that included 1,517 new schools that opened for the first ti
America’s Ninth Graders Two Years Later
High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS:09) First Follow-up: A First Look at Fall 2009 Ninth-Graders in 2012 introduces new data from the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 collected in the spring of 2012 when most sample members were in their 11th-grade year. The analyses examine students’ educational expectations; students’ math performance on an algebra assessment, including gains sinc
OCT 16
New Analysis of US Elementary School Mathematics Finds Half-Century of Problematic 'Strands' Structure
During the "New Math" movement of the 1960s, a team of mathematicians developed a new structure for elementary mathematics. Instead of having a single subject, namely, school arithmetic, as its central core, this new structure instead had eight "strands" that were supposed to tie together elementary mathematics content. The strands structure has persisted to this day. In an art
Charter schools pose greatest fiscal challenge to school districts in economically weak urban areas
The dramatic rise in charter school enrollments over the past decade is likely to create negative credit pressure on school districts in economically weak urban areas, says Moody's Investors Service in a new report. Charter schools tend to proliferate in areas where school districts already show a degree of underlying economic and demographic stress, says Moody's in the report "Charter School
NYS Teacher Evaluation Flawed Says Study
New York’s first attempt to grade teachers on their students’ progress was flawed in several key ways, a new study commissioned by the Lower Hudson Council of School Superintendents says.The state’s formula gave less credit to teachers serving disadvantaged students, judged some teachers on the performance of too few students, failed to measure key variables such as student mobility and did not cl
Differences in cognitive ability between low-income rural, urban children
Kids in rural poverty score lower on visual, higher on verbal tests of working memory than urban counterparts Studies have long shown a difference in cognitive ability between high- and low-income children, but for the first time, scientists have found a difference between low-income children growing up in rural areas and those growing up in urban environments.Researchers at Dartmouth College have
Teachers More Likely to Have Progressive Speech and Language Disorders
Mayo Clinic researchers have found a surprising occupational hazard for teachers: progressive speech and language disorders. The research, recently published in the American Journal of Alzheimer's Disease & Other Dementias, found that people with speech and language disorders are about 3.5 times more likely to be teachers than patients with Alzheimer's dementia. MULTIMEDIA ALERT: For audio and
Investing in our future: The evidence base on preschool education
The expansion of publicly-funded preschool education is currently the focus of a prominent debate. The research brief "Investing in Our Future: The Evidence Base on Preschool Education," authored by an interdisciplinary group of early childhood experts, reviews rigorous evidence on why early skills matter, which children benefit from preschool, the short- and long-term effects of prescho
74 percent of students agree that too many students in the local public schools are falling through the cracks
The Chalkboard Project partnered with DHM Research to survey 400 high school students across the state to gauge their opinions on education in Oregon. The survey asked a broad range of questions about their educational experiences and their thoughts about what is needed to strengthen the education system. The survey builds upon previous focus groups with students.“The voices of advocates, educator