Quality Counts 2014
Education Week's 18th annual edition, Quality Counts 2014, once again includes a detailed Education Week Research Center examination of state-level education outcomes. This year's installment reflects reconsideration of the framework that has guided the research center's work in previous years.
Recognizing that states, to a great degree, have moved ahead with elements of "standards-based reform" that earlier reports set out to track, this year's Quality Counts does not survey states in the policy category of standards, assessments, and accountability, and in the teaching profession.
In addition, because of U.S. Census Bureau data delays resulting from last fall's federal government shutdown, the print edition of Quality Counts 2014 does not include the annual Chance for Success Index, which is based to a large degree on Census data.
This year's online report does, however, continue the tradition of offering state scores and letter grades for three mainstay elements of Quality Counts: the Chance for Success Index, the K-12 Achievement Index, and school finance.
Grading Highlights
The K-12 Achievement Index scores states on a 100-point scale, against a wide range of 18 indicators or criteria. They include National Assessment of Educational Progress results, high school graduation rates, and Advanced Placement test scores.
The nation this year earns a score of 70.2 and a grade of C-minus, up slightly from 69.7 the last time the analysis was done, in Quality Counts 2012.
Massachusetts took first place with 83.7 points and a grade of B—it has taken the top spot ever since the index was introduced in 2008. Maryland and New Jersey were second and third, earning a B and a B-minus, respectively. By contrast, the District of Columbia and Mississippi both received F grades on this year's index.
In the school finance arena, states were assessed on eight indicators, half of which look at school spending patterns, the other half at the distribution of funding across a state's districts.
When it comes to finance, the United States as a whole earns a C, based on 2011 data, virtually unchanged from last year's report. Wyoming ranked first for the sixth year in
Study Shows ‘Readability’ Scores Are Largely Inaccurate
Teachers, parents and textbook companies use technical “readability” formulas to determine how difficult reading materials are and to set reading levels by age group. But new research from North Carolina State University shows that the readability formulas are usually inaccurate and offer little insight into which age groups will be able to read and understand a text.“Teachers often use readabilit
65 percent of schools in NCLB improvement were eased from those interventions under waivers
After years of arguing against No Child Left Behind (NCLB), over forty states are now taking a different approach to improving their low-performing schools. Armed with waivers from the federal law, these states are using school accountability systems based on relative, rather than absolute, measures of performance. As a result, school accountability today is dramatically different than it was a fe
Operational Authority, Support, and Monitoring of School Turnaround
Federal School Improvement Grants (SIG) support turnaround efforts in the nation’s lowest-performing schools. SIG emphasizes giving school leaders autonomy on matters such as staffing, calendars, and budgets, while also supporting and monitoring their progress. This evaluation brief, “Operational Authority, Support, and Monitoring of School Turnaround,” documents the implementation of policies and
JAN 07
Effects of grade skipping on adult STEM accomplishments among mathematically precocious youth
Using data from a 40-year longitudinal study, the authors of this study examined 3 related hypotheses about the effects of grade skipping on future educational and occupational outcomes in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). From a combined sample of 3,467 mathematically precocious students (top 1%), a combination of exact and propensity score matching was used to create bala
Gifted Children Are Getting Lost in the Shuffle
Gifted children are likely to be the next generation's innovators and leaders -- and yet, the exceptionally smart are often invisible in the classroom, lacking the curricula, teacher input and external motivation to reach full potential.This conclusion comes as the result of the largest scientific study of the profoundly gifted to date, a 30-year study conducted by researchers at Vanderbilt Univer
Report Examines Teach For America
Teach For America (TFA) is almost a quarter-century old. Since its launch, the program has experienced phenomenal growth, both in the numbers of participants and in the financial support it has received, and it has enjoyed extensive favorable publicity. Teach For America: A Return to the Evidence, a report authored by professors Julian Vasquez Heilig of the University of Texas and Su Jin Jez of Ca
untitled
School districts throughout the United States are increasingly providing greater autonomy to local public (non-charter) school principals. In 2005–06, Chicago Public Schools initiated the Autonomous Management and Performance Schools program, granting academic, programmatic, and operational freedoms to select principals. This paper provides evidence on how school leaders used their new autonomy an
KIPP Schools Boost Student Achievement
The Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP) is an influential and rapidly growing nationwide network of charter schools serving primarily disadvantaged minority students. Prominent elements of KIPP's educational model include high expectations for student achievement and behavior, and a substantial increase in time in school. KIPP is being watched closely by policy makers and educators as a possible mod
This Week's Education Research Report 1-4-14 #SOSCHAT #EDCHAT #P2
Education Research ReportTHIS WEEK'S EDUCATION RESEARCH REPORTStudy shows inflated praise can harm kids with low self-esteemParents and other adults heap the highest praise on children who are most likely to be hurt by the compliments, a new study finds.Researchers found that adults seem to naturally give more inflated praise to children with low self-esteem. But while children with high self-este
