THIS WEEK'S EDUCATION RESEARCH REPORT
Can We Identify a Successful Teacher Better, Faster, and Cheaper?
Teacher observations have become a national education phenomenon, mandated by federal policies and promoted by philanthropists. They are crucial components of teacher evaluation systems that often have high stakes for teachers and school systems, but have sparked little innovation. Recent calls to make teacher evaluations better, faster, and cheaper have been challenged as sitting outside the rese
SEP 11
High levels of physical activity are associated with better reading and arithmetic skills in the first 3 school years among boys
A recent Finnish study shows that higher levels of physical activity are related to better academic achievement during the first three school years particularly in boys. The study published in PLOS ONE was conducted in collaboration with the Physical Activity and Nutrition in Children (PANIC) Study conducted at the University of Eastern Finland and the First Steps Study at the University of Jyväsk
Childhood Mentors Have Positive Impact on Career Success
New research from North Carolina State University finds that young people who have had mentors are more likely to find work early in their careers that gives them more responsibility and autonomy – ultimately putting them on a path to more financially and personally rewarding careers.“We wanted to look at the long-term impacts on mentees in naturally occurring mentorship relationships, rather than
Alternative Education: Definition, Standards, and Practices - State by State
This study provides an overview of similarities and differences in how states and state education agencies define alternative education, as well as which states have alternative education standards and what those standards entail. The study reviewed information on alternative education definitions and programs from state and federal websites and from local school system websites in Maryland. Findi
SEP 10
Intervention in 6-month-olds with autism eliminates symptoms, developmental delay
'Infant Start' therapy removes disabling delay before most children are diagnosedTreatment at the earliest age when symptoms of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) appear – sometimes in infants as young as 6 months old – significantly reduces symptoms so that, by age 3, most who received the therapy had neither ASD nor developmental delay, a UC Davis MIND Institute research study has found.The treatmen
Study links skipping school, failing tests to more sex, less condom use in teenagers
What do skipping school, failing tests and engaging in risky sexual behavior have in common? Lots, according to Indiana University researchers who combed through 80,000 diary entries written by 14- to 17-year-old girls.Although the findings are intuitive, this is the first study to examine the day-to-day relationship between teenage girls' reports about school-related events, how they felt and the
Frequent cannabis use in adolescence linked with reduced educational attainment
Individuals who are daily users of cannabis before age 17 are over 60% less likely to complete high school or obtain a degree compared to those who have never used the drug, new research published in The Lancet Psychiatry journal shows. The large meta-analysis also indicates that daily users of cannabis during adolescence are seven times more likely to attempt suicide, have an 18 times greater cha
Daily before-school, aerobic activities to younger at-risk children could help in reducing the symptoms of ADHD
Paying attention all day in school as a kid isn’t easy, especially for those who are at a higher risk of ADHD, or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.A new study from Michigan State University and University of Vermont researchers shows that offering daily before-school, aerobic activities to younger at-risk children could help in reducing the symptoms of ADHD in the classroom and at home. Si
Teachers are quitting due to standardized testing and lack of voice in what they teach
Contrary to popular opinion, unruly students are not driving out teachers in droves from America’s urban school districts. Instead, teachers are quitting due to frustration with standardized testing, declining pay and benefits and lack of voice in what they teach.So finds a Michigan State University education scholar – and former high school teacher – in her latest research on teacher turnover, wh
Cyberbullying increases as students age
As students’ age they are verbally and physically bullied less but cyberbullied more, non-native English speakers are not bullied more often than native English speakers and bullying increases as students’ transition from elementary to middle school.Those are among the findings of a wide-ranging paper, “Examination of the Change in Latent Statuses in Bullying Behaviors Across Time,” recently (2014
Math placement decisions in middle school
Questions about how best to place students into appropriate middle grade math courses have been central to ongoing education policy and practice discussions in California and across the United States. Recent studies have shown that enrolling in algebra I in grade 8 works well for some students but backfires for others. This REL West report provides findings from a study of placements that were bas
Principals are less likely to use value-added measures for talent management decisions
This report describes how principals and central/home office staff in eight school systems across the country perceive the use of teacher effectiveness data for talent management decisions.Observation systems drive principals’ use of teacher effectiveness data. Principals have access to a variety of teacher effectiveness measures] but they rely most heavily on teacher observation data to m
SEP 09
Educational Placement of Students With Autism
Typically, child characteristics such as IQ and severity of autism symptoms are thought to determine educational placement. This study examines external factors, including state of residence and state funding formulas, to determine their potential influence on placement outcomes. Findings reveal that considerable variations exist among states in placing students with autism spectrum disorders in i
Two recent reports overreach in recommendations to improve recruiting of school principals
Two recent reports that recommend implementing measures intended to recruit and retain more effective school principals offer some sensible discussion of the working conditions principals face – but both reports then recommend remedies that go beyond the research evidence, according to a new review released today.Arnold Danzig, a professor of education and director of the EdD program in educationa
SEP 08
Most kids with asthma, food allergies lack school emergency plans
Schools without health plans are unprepared to handle life-threatening emergenciesOnly one in four students with asthma and half of children with food allergies have emergency health management plans in place at school, leaving schools inadequately prepared to manage daily needs and handle medical emergencies related to often life-threatening medical conditions, reports a new Northwestern Medicine
Schools that improve standardized achievement-test scores aren't improving cognitive skills
Cognitive skills predict academic performance, so schools that improve academic performance might also improve cognitive skills. To investigate the impact schools have on both academic performance and cognitive skills, an earlier study http://pss.sagepub.com/content/25/3/736.full.pdf+html related standardized achievement-test scores to measures of cognitive skills in a large sample (N = 1,367) of
Does Gifted Education Work? For Which Students?
Education policy makers have struggled for decades with the question of how to best serve high ability K‐12 students. As in the debate
over selective college admissions, a key issue is targeting. Should
gifted and talented programs be allocated on the basis of cognitive
ability, or a broader combination of ability and achievement? Should
there be a single admission threshold, or a lower ba
SEP 06
Students report greater learning gains in traditional science courses
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
