THIS WEEK'S EDUCATION RESEARCH REPORT
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NEPC report finds 44% of charter school students in 2011-12 attended schools operated by EMOsA new National Education Policy Center report published today shows that across the nation, schools managed by for-profit firms such as K12 Inc, National Heritage Academies and Charter Schools USA, as well as nonprofit education management organizations (EMOs) such as KIPP, continue to increase the number of students they enroll, despite a scarcity of evidence showing positive results. Students across 35 states and the District of Columbia now attend schools managed by these non-government entities. Ok
More than 50 years after Brown v. Board, African American students continue to trail their White peers on a variety of important educational indicators. In this article, the authors investigate the political foundations of the racial “achievement gap” in American education. Using variation in high school graduation rates across the states, the authors first assess whether state policymakers are attentive to the educational needs of struggling African American students. The authors find evidence that state policymaking attention to teacher quality—an issue education research shows is essential
The literature on preparing teachers for urban schools provides a rationale for helping candidates understand the particular cultures of students. However, research has not sufficiently “unpacked” features of the setting that programs can address; nor has it discussed how programs tailor teaching approaches to their specific contexts. Drawing from program descriptions, syllabi, and interviews, this article describes the “context-specific” approach of the University of Chicago Urban Teacher Education Program that prepares teachers for Chicago Public Schools and ways that it helps candidates mak
NOV 27
Improving High School Graduation Rates in Rhode Island
This Issue Brief presents detailed graduation and dropout rates for every school anddistrict in Rhode Island, research on warning signs and risk factors of dropping out, andkey strategies for dropout intervention and recovery, increased graduation rates, andcollege readiness. Rhode Island’s four‐year graduation rate has been steadily increasingin recent years, from 70% in 2007 to 77% in 2012. Disp
NOV 26
Study finds 1 in 10 high school students hurt by dating partners
One in 10 high school youth in the U.S. reports having been hit or physically hurt by a dating partner in the past year, according to a new study led by a Boston University School of Public Health researcher.In a study published in the Journal of School Violence, Emily Rothman and Ziming Xuan, faculty at Boston University, analyzed data from 100,901 students who participated in the national Youth
Video game play may provide learning, health, social benefits, review finds
Playing video games, including violent shooter games, may boost children's learning, health and social skills, according to a review of research on the positive effects of video game play to be published by the American Psychological Association.The study comes out as debate continues among psychologists and other health professionals regarding the effects of violent media on youth. An APA task fo
New Report Details States' Progress on College and Career Readiness
With all 50 states and the District of Columbia having adopted college- and career-ready standards, Achieve's eighth annual "Closing the Expectations Gap" report, released today, shows how all states are aligning those standards with policies and practice to better ensure that all students are academically prepared for life after high school. "All 50 states deserve credit for conf
STEM Attrition among college students
This Statistical Analysis Report presents the most recent national statistics on beginning bachelor’s and associate’s degree students’ entrance into, and attrition from, STEM fields. Using recent transcript data, it provides a first look at STEM coursetaking and examines how participation and performance in undergraduate STEM coursework, along with other factors, are associated with STEM attrition
More research is needed to determine if Reading Mastery works for beginning readers
Reading Mastery, one of several curriculum components that constitute the Direct Instruction program from SRA/McGraw-Hill, is designed to provide systematic instruction in reading to students in grades K–6. Reading Mastery, which can be used as an intervention program for struggling readers, as a supplement to a core reading program, or as a stand-alone reading program, is available in three versi
Reciprocal teaching: more research is needed to determine effectiveness
Reciprocal teaching is an instructional method designed to help teach reading comprehension skills to students with adequate decoding proficiency. During initial instructional sessions, the teacher introduces four comprehension strategies: summarizing, questioning, clarifying, and predicting. Then, the teacher and student read several passages that include narrative or informational text. The teac
School climate key to prevent bullying
To effectively prevent bullying schools need to understand positive school climate, use reliable measures to evaluate school climate and use effective prevention and intervention programs to improve the climate, according to a recent paper published in the journal “Theory Into Practice.”In recent years, there has been an increased interest in reducing bullying behavior by school personnel, parents
NOV 25
School Climate Key to Preventing Bullying
To effectively prevent bullying schools need to understand positive school climate, use reliable measures to evaluate school climate and use effective prevention and intervention programs to improve the climate, according to a recent paper, “The Critical Role of School Climate in Effective Bullying Prevention,” published in the journal “Theory Into Practice.”In recent years, there has been an incr
ADHD study: Expensive training programs don't help kids' grades, behavior
Many parents spend thousands of dollars on computer-based training programs that claim to help children with ADHD succeed in the classroom and in peer relationships while reducing hyperactivity and inattentiveness. But a University of Central Florida researcher says parents are better off saving their hard-earned cash.Psychology professor Mark Rapport's research team spent two years analyzing the
NOV 23
Daily Online Testing in Large Classes: Boosting College Performance while Reducing Achievement Gaps
An in-class computer-based system, that included daily online testing, was introduced to two large university classes. This study examined subsequent improvements in academic performance and reductions in the achievement gaps between lower- and upper-middle class students in academic performance. Students (N = 901) brought laptop computers to classes and took daily quizzes that provided immediate
Closing Achievement Gaps Through California’s Use of Intensive Technical Assistance
One of the enduring problems in education is the persistence of achievement gaps between White, wealthy, native English-speaking students and their counterparts who are minority, lower-income, or English language learners. This study shows that one intensive technical assistance (TA) intervention—California’s District Assistance and Intervention Teams (DAITs)—implemented in conjunction with a high
NOV 22
Different types of teacher-child interactions support children's development in different areas
Teachers' daily interactions with children are crucial to making sure they're ready for school. Many state early childhood systems and the federal Office of Head Start consider teacher-child interactions when they measure programs' quality. But research hasn't always been clear about which aspects of interactions are most important to how children do academically and socially. A new study that use
Preschoolers exposure to television can stall their cognitive development
Television is a powerful agent of development for children, particularly those in preschool. But when could too much TV be detrimental to a young child's mind? A recent paper published in the Journal of Communication found that preschoolers who have a TV in their bedroom and are exposed to more background TV have a weaker understanding of other people's beliefs and desires.Amy Nathanson, Molly Sha
Increases in ADHD diagnoses among US children
A new study published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (JAACAP) found that an estimated two million more children in the United States (U.S.) have been diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) between 2003-04 and 2011-12. One million more U.S. children were taking medication for ADHD between 2003-04 and 2011-12. According to the study
On average, School Improvement Grant (SIG) schools improve
The U.S. Department of Education has released the 2011-12 school and district-level state assessment data and a brief analysis of School Improvement Grant (SIG) schools. The Department’s analysis compares the average proficiency rates of SIG schools in the 2011-12 school year to rates in the year prior to receiving grants.The SIG program is a key component of the Department’s strategy for helping
NOV 20
Research Shows IB Extended Essay Improves Student Approach to Learning in Higher Education
A recently completed research project conducted by researchers from McGill University in Canada, Warwick University in the United Kingdom, and University of Virginia in the United States, involved a series of studies on the extended essay, a critical component of the International Baccalaureate's Diploma Programme (DP) for students age 16-19. The overall aim was to explore learning outcomes attrib
Children's cardiovascular fitness declining
Many kids don't run as far or fast as their parents did, according to research presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2013.The decline in running fitness may indicate worse health in adulthood, the researchers said."If a young person is generally unfit now, then they are more likely to develop conditions like heart disease later in life," said Grant Tomkinson,
Cyberbullying among youth: A comprehensive review of current international research
Cyberbullying research is rapidly expanding with many studies being published from around the world in the past five or six years. This article reviews the current international literature published in English, with particular attention to the following themes: The relationship of cyberbullying to the more traditional face-to-face bullying, including differences and similarities; the impacts of cy
Larger Classes with Effective Teachers Lead to Significant Gains in Student Achievement
Thomas B. Fordham Institute has released a new study, Right-sizing the Classroom: Making the Most of Great Teachers, that concludes that schools can achieve significant student-achievement gains if they place more students in the classrooms of highly effective teachers and fewer students in classrooms of less effective teachers. In the eighth grade, assigning up to twelve more students than averag
NOV 19
Trends in career and technical education
Overall coursetaking in Career and Technical Education (CTE) has declined. From 1990 to 2009, the average number of CTE credits earned by U.S. public high school graduates declined, from 4.2 to 3.6, while the average number of credits earned in other subject areas increased.* Coursetaking in occupational areas, such as agriculture and natural resources or business, dropped from 2.7 to 2.5 credit.
This article in The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science January 2014 ,examines how the rise in incarceration and its disproportionate concentration among low-skill, young African American men influences estimates of educational attainment in the United States. Although official statistics show a declining racial gap in high school dropout in recent years, conventional data sources exclude the incarcerated population from sample data. Those exclusions underestimate the extent of racial inequality in high school graduation and underestimate the dropout rate among young black men by as much as 40 percent. America’s prisons and jails have become repositories for high school dropouts, thereby obscuring the degree of disadvantage faced by black men in the contemporary United States and the relative competitiveness of the U.S. workforce.
This article in The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science January 2014, examines how the rise in incarceration and its disproportionate concentration among low-skill, young African American men influences estimates of educational attainment in the United States. Although official statistics show a declining racial gap in high school dropout in recent years, conventional da