THIS WEEK'S EDUCATION RESEARCH REPORT
Small classes can have an important and lasting impact on student achievement
Small classes, especially in the first four years of school, can have an important and lasting impact on student achievement, a new report shows.In a review of over 100 papers from 1979-2014, education expert Dr David Zyngierfrom Monash University’s Faculty of Education looked at whether the conclusions reached on the effect of smaller class sizes still hold true today.“The question of class size
1in 5 students at an Ivy League college report ADHD medication misuse
Survey of college students shows 18 percent use stimulants to help them study, write papers Nearly one in five students at an Ivy League college reported misusing a prescription stimulant while studying, and one-third of students did not view such misuse as cheating, according to a study to be presented Saturday, May 3, at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) annual meeting in Vancouver, British
MAY 01
Promise Academy's Good Results - But at What Cost?
National Bureau of Economic Research summarizes a recent NBER Working Paperswhich it says is "of unusual interest, timeliness, and newsworthiness:"In The Medium-Term Impacts of High-Achieving Charter Schools on Non-Test Score OutcomesJr. analyze survey data from hundreds of students who applied to the Promise Academy, a charter middle school in the Harlem Children's Zone in New York City
Physical Fitness Tied to Academic Performance of Middle School Boys and Girls
This study examined the influence of physical and psychosocial variables on math and reading achievement test scores. Between 1 and 5 months prior to taking annual standardized reading and math tests, a sample of (N = 1,211) sixth through eight graders (53.7% girls; 57.2% White) self-reported levels of physical activity, academic self-beliefs, general self-esteem, and social support and participat
APR 30
Teacher Evaluations: Implementation and Impact of Race to the Top
The Race to the Top (RTT) initiative encouraged states to implement education policies in six core areas, including teacher evaluations. This brief describes the alignment of states’ teacher evaluation policies with the Race to the Top initiative as of spring 2012.Key findings include:- States reported requiring less than half of eight teacher evaluation policies aligned with RTT priorities, altho
APR 29
Girls make higher grades than boys in all school subjects
For math, science, boys lead on achievement tests while girls do better on classroom grades, research revealsDespite the stereotype that boys do better in math and science, girls have made higher grades than boys throughout their school years for nearly a century, according to a new analysis published by the American Psychological Association."Although gender differences follow essentially st
Proposals will enrich private charter schools’ corporate backers while doing little or nothing to help Milwaukee students
Wisconsin policymakers and advocates are debating proposals to close low-performing public schools, largely in Milwaukee, and replace them with privately run charter schools. In a new report, Do Poor Kids Deserve Lower-Quality Education Than Rich Kids? Evaluating School Privatization Proposals in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Economic Policy Institute research associate Gordon Lafer argues that these prop
Alternative Measures of Student Growth: What Can We Learn from Early Adopter Districts?
School districts across the country are incorporating measures of student achievement growth in teacher evaluations—but that’s a challenge in grades and subjects that lack standardized state assessments. In response, some districts have turned to alternative measures of student growth--that is, measures that rely on something other than state assessments in reading and math in grades 3–8.These alt
APR 28
Public High School Graduates and Dropouts from school years 2010-11 and 2011-12
This report presents information on high school graduation and dropout rates for school years 2010-11 and 2011-12. The brief report by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) indicates a national 4-year cohort graduation rate of 79% for school year 2010-11 and 80% for school year 2011-12. This indicates that 4 out of 5 high school students in the country receive a regular high school d
APR 25
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
