THIS WEEK'S EDUCATION RESEARCH REPORT
Trial of Professional Development for Interdisciplinary Civic Education: Impacts on Humanities Teachers and Their Students
Billions of dollars are spent annually on professional development (PD) for educators, yet few randomized controlled trials have demonstrated the ultimate impact PD has on student learning. This study used a school-level, randomized, experimental design to investigate impacts of a PD intervention in two areas: (a) teacher self-efficacy, burnout, and professional engagement and satisfaction; and (b
1 in 13 U.S. Schoolkids Takes Psych Meds: Report
More than 7 percent of American schoolchildren are taking at least one medication for emotional or behavioral difficulties, a new government report shows.Apparently, the medications are working: More than half of the parents said the drugs are helping their children, according to the report."We can't advise parents on what they should do, but I think it's positive that over half of parents re
APR 24
Taking a walk may lead to more creativity than sitting, study finds
When the task at hand requires some imagination, taking a walk may lead to more creative thinking than sitting, according to research published by the American Psychological Association."Many people anecdotally claim they do their best thinking when walking," said Marily Oppezzo, PhD, of Santa Clara University. "With this study, we finally may be taking a step or two toward discover
Take Notes by Hand for Better Long-Term Comprehension
Dust off those Bic ballpoints and college-ruled notebooks — research shows that taking notes by hand is better than taking notes on a laptop for remembering conceptual information over the long term. The findings are published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.Walk into any university lecture hall and you’re likely to see row upon row of students sitt
Preventable Failure: Improvements in Long-Term Outcomes when High Schools Focused on the Ninth Grade Year
In 2007, CPS launched a major effort, centered on keeping more ninth-graders on track to graduation. Freshmen are considered on track if they have enough credits to be promoted to tenth grade and have earned no more than one semester F in a core course. The effort was a response to research from UChicago CCSR showing that students who end their ninth-grade year on track are almost four times mor
APR 23
Part-time and community college enrollments decline
Complete articleAs the U.S. economy improves, more high school graduates are choosing work over college. Just under 66 percent of the class of 2013 was enrolled in college last fall, the lowest share of new graduates since 2006 and the third decline in the past four years, according to data released Tuesday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Among all 16- to 24-year-olds, school enrollment experie
Differentiated Instruction, Professional Development, and Teacher Efficacy
Teachers often struggle to provide all students access to specific learning activities that work best for them—and what works best for some students will not work for others. Differentiating instruction makes sense because it offers different paths to understanding content, process, and products, considering what is appropriate given a child’s profile of strengths, interests, and styles.This study
APR 22
Speed-Reading Apps May Impair Reading Comprehension by Limiting Ability to Backtrack
To address the fact that many of us are on the go and pressed for time, app developers have devised speed-reading software that eliminates the time we supposedly waste by moving our eyes as we read. But don’t throw away your books, papers, and e-readers just yet — research suggests that the eye movements we make during reading actually play a critical role in our ability to understand what we’ve
The Texas Ten Percent Plan’s Significant Impact on College Enrollment
Texas created the Texas Ten Percent Plan in 1997 as a way to maintain diversity in its public universities. The program provides students in the top 10 percent of their high school class with automatic admission to any public university in the state, including the state’s flagship colleges -- the University of Texas at Austin and Texas A&M.In a new study appearing in the Summer 2014 issue
APR 21
Teachers' scare tactics may lead to lower exam scores
As the school year winds down and final exams loom, teachers may want to avoid reminding students of the bad consequences of failing a test because doing so could lead to lower scores, according to new research published by American Psychological Association (APA)."Teachers are desperately keen to motivate their students in the best possible way but may not be aware of how messages they commu
Promise Scholarship Programs as Place-Making Policy: Evidence from School Enrollment and Housing Price
Following the example of the Kalamazoo Promise initiated in 2005, place-based "Promise'' scholarship programs have proliferated over the past 8 years. These programs guarantee money towards the costs of attendance at selected colleges and universities provided that a student has resided and attended school within a particular public school district continuously for at least the four years p
APR 18
Latest trends show decrease in school-aged bullying and fighting
New research from the American Journal of Public Health finds a decrease in bullying and physical fighting among middle and high school students. However, the prevalence of carrying weapons increased among white students.Using survey data from the Health Behavior in School-Aged Children study, researchers analyzed trends in bullying, physical fighting and carrying of weapons among sixth- through 1
Moderators of Middle School Transition Effects on Academic Achievement
The academic impact of the transition from elementary to middle school has significant consequences for many early adolescents. This study examines academic growth across the transition, as well as sociodemographic moderators. Rather than defining the transition effect as a decline in student achievement between fifth and sixth grade, these data demonstrate the transition effect as an interruption
