THIS WEEK'S EDUCATION RESEARCH REPORT
Students taking traditional, in-class science courses reported higher perceived learning gains than students enrolled in online distance education science courses. Notably, African-American students taking traditional science courses self-reported greater affective and psychomotor learning gains than students taking online science courses.These are the key findings of a new study co-authored by a
Teacher Attrition and Mobility: Results From the 2012–13 Teacher Follow-up Survey
Of the 3,377,900 public school teachers who were teaching during the 2011–12 school year, 84 percent remained at the same school (“stayers”), 8 percent moved to a different school (“movers”), and 8 percent left the profession (“leavers”) during the following year. About 30 percent of public school teacher movers and 10 percent of public school teacher leavers left their 2011–12 positions involunta
Increasing course structure works disproportionately well for black students—halving the black–white achievement gap—and first-generation students
At the college level, the effectiveness of active-learning interventions is typically measured at the broadest scales: the achievement or retention of all students in a course. Coarse-grained measures like these cannot inform instructors about an intervention's relative effectiveness for the different student populations in their classrooms or about the proximate factors responsible for the observ
Assessing children in kindergarten
In contemporary kindergarten classrooms, children’s literacy abilities are often assessed by tests used to determine a child’s ‘readiness’ for school. Readiness often means letter identification, phonemic awareness, letter-writing, and other functions related to language mechanics. A new paper (http://ecl.sagepub.com/content/early/2014/09/03/1468798414548778.full.pdf+html) investigates the assess
SEP 03
Music Enrichment Programs Improve the Neural Encoding of Speech in At-Risk Children
Musicians are often reported to have enhanced neurophysiological functions, especially in the auditory system. Musical training is thought to improve nervous system function by focusing attention on meaningful acoustic cues, and these improvements in auditory processing cascade to language and cognitive skills. Correlational studies have reported musician enhancements in a variety of populations a
SEP 02
Head Start attendance leads to large and statistically significant gains in cognitive achievement during the pre-school period
This study provides the first comprehensive analysis of the distributional effects of Head Start, using the first national randomized experiment of the Head Start program (the Head Start Impact Study). The authors find that (the experimentally manipulated) Head Start attendance leads to large and statistically significant gains in cognitive achievement during the pre-school period and that th
Intensive support poigram of at-risk HS student proves very successful
Pathways to Education: An Integrated Approach to Helping At-RiskHigh School Students by Philip Oreopoulos, Robert S. Brown, Adam M. Lavecchia describes Pathways to Education, a comprehensive youth support program developed to improve academic outcomes among those entering high school from very poor social-economic backgrounds. The program includes proactive mentoring to each student, daily t
AUG 28
Social class makes a difference in how children tackle classroom problems
An Indiana University study has found that social class can account for differences in how parents coach their children to manage classroom challenges. Such differences can affect a child's education by reproducing inequalities in the classroom."Parents have different beliefs on how to deal with challenges in the classroom," said Jessica McCrory Calarco, assistant professor in IU Bloomin
AUG 27
My New Education Books
I am pleased to announce my latest venture - Tsadek Press. The first four Tsadek Press books on education are now available as pdf’s:1. Preschool-Kindergarten Education – Latest Research http://tsadekpress.blogspot.com/2014/08/preschool-and-kindergarten-education.html2. Teaching Reading, Writing and Arithmetic – Latest Researchhttp://tsadekpress.blogspot.com/2014/08/teaching-reading-writing-an
AUG 26
Delayi Start Times of Middle and High Schools to Combat Teen Sleep Deprivation
Studies show that adolescents who don’t get enough sleep often suffer physical and mental health problems, an increased risk of automobile accidents and a decline in academic performance. But getting enough sleep each night can be hard for teens whose natural sleep cycles make it difficult for them to fall asleep before 11 p.m. – and who face a first-period class at 7:30 a.m. or earlier the next d
AUG 25
Latino Children Make Greatest Gains in NC Pre-K
A new summary of 12 years of research on North Carolina’s pre-kindergarten program for at-risk 4-year-olds shows that “dual-language learners” make the greatest academic progress in the program. According to the report from UNC's Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute (FPG), while students in NC Pre-K advance across all spheres of learning, the program is especially beneficial for the sta
Affirmative actions helps disadvantaged student without hindering advantaged students
In this study 5th through 8th grade students were paid based on their performance on a national mathematics exam relative to other competitor students. The researchers observed the use of a study website as students prepare for the exam to evaluate "investment" in the preparation process.An affirmative action (AA) element was introduced for "disadvantaged" students by reserving
AUG 21
Teacher attendance rert
This report breaks down teacher attendance for 40 districts in the nation's largest cities in the 2012-2013 school year. The report identifies districts with the greatest percentage of teachers with excellent attendance as well as those with the biggest percentages of chronically absent teachers. In addition to identifying districts that are leaders and laggards in school attendance, the report ta