Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Education Research Report: The schoolyard bully preying on the weak doesn't reflect reality in schools

Education Research Report: The schoolyard bully preying on the weak doesn't reflect reality in schools:

The schoolyard bully preying on the weak doesn't reflect reality in schools

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A new study commissioned by CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360°" found that the stereotype of the schoolyard bully preying on the weak doesn't reflect reality in schools.

Instead, the research shows that many students are involved in "social combat" -- a constant verbal, physical and cyber fight to the top of the school social hierarchy.

"Kids are caught up in patterns of cruelty and aggression that have to do with jockeying for status," explains Robert Faris, a sociologist whom "Anderson Cooper 360°" partnered with for the pilot study. "It's really not the kids that are psychologically troubled, who are on the margins or the fringes of the school's social life. It's the kids right in the middle, at the heart of things ... often, typically highly, well-liked popular kids who are engaging

Using State Assessments to Measure Student Achievement in Evaluations of Educational Interventions

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State assessments provide a relatively inexpensive and increasingly accessible source of data on student achievement. In the past, rigorous evaluations of educational interventions typically administered standardized tests selected by the researchers ("study-administered tests") to measure student achievement outcomes. Increasingly, researchers are turning to the lower cost option of using state assessments for measures of student achievement.

This NCEE Reference Report, Estimating the Impacts of Educational Interventions Using State Tests or Study-Administered Tests, identifies and describes factors that could affect the precision of impact estimates when evaluations use state assessments instead of study-administered tests. The study is based on data from three

Use of Private Loans in Postsecondary Education

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A new report on postsecondary private loan borrows found that the percentage of undergraduates who took out private loans rose from 5 percent to 14 percent from 2003–04 to 2007–08.

The Expansion of Private Loans in Postsecondary Education, a Statistics in Brief, examines trends in borrowing from commercial lenders for postsecondary education, the characteristics of undergraduate and graduate private loan borrowers, and combining private and federal loans. Results are based on nationally representative data collected through the 2003–04 and 2007–08 National Postsecondary Student Aid Studies (NPSAS:04 and NPSAS:08). Other findings include:

• Among full-time dependent undergraduates, higher percentages of students from lower middle-income (21

Pennsylvania's Cyber and Hybrid Schools

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An increasing number of parents are choosing one of Pennsylvania's 12 public cyber charter schools for their children every year. By allowing children to learn online and at home, cyber schools cater to students with a variety of unique needs: those who are either gifted or struggling academically; those who have demanding sports or performing arts schedules; children in rural areas with limited educational opportunities; and those who suffer from health problems. In the last 10 years, enrollment in public cyber schools has ballooned from 1,848 to 27,779 students.

Despite their popularity among parents and demonstrated academic successes, cyber schools have come under