THIS WEEK Education Research Report

Education Research Report

THIS WEEK 

Education Research Report

Science News from research organizations Finnish school students outperform US students on 'fake news' digital literacy tasks

by Jonathan Kantrowitz / 23h

A recent study revealed students at an international school in Finland significantly outperformed U.S. students on tasks which measure digital literacy in social media and online news. The researchers suggest this may be due to the Finnish and International Baccalaureate curricula's different way of facilitating students' critical thinking skills compared to the US system and curriculum. The resu

MAY 02

What happens when schools go solar?

by Jonathan Kantrowitz / 1d

Stanford's School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences Sunshine splashing onto school rooftops and campuses across the country is an undertapped resource that could help shrink electricity bills, new research suggests. The study , published in the April issue of the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Research Letters , shows taking advantage of all viable space for solar panels could allow

Gallup Poll: 54% Say Teachers Unprepared to Handle Discipline

by Jonathan Kantrowitz / 1d

Less than half of U.S. adults (43%) believe teachers are "very prepared" or "prepared" to handle discipline issues in the classroom -- while a slight majority, 54%, say they are "unprepared" or "very unprepared." When asked about six possible solutions to address discipline issues in schools, six in 10 Americans, the most for any solution suggested, say greater access to mental health services fo

Schools in high-poverty areas, which children of color disproportionately attend, most need the repairs that correlate with improved academic achievement

by Jonathan Kantrowitz / 2d

Summer is often a time to repair and improve school buildings or finish building new ones, but the nation’s K-12 schools — especially in low-income neighborhoods — have been neglected for years. The coming onset of summer provides a timely reminder that states should move more forcefully to help address the need. State cuts to K-12 education over the past decade have affected more than school ope

A Weak Defense of a Useless Report

by Jonathan Kantrowitz / 2d

In April, the National Education Policy Center published a review of a Mackinac Center for Public Policy report entitled The Michigan Context and Performance Report Card: High Schools 2018 . The report is the fourth in a series ranking Michigan high schools based on their test scores while controlling for the percentage of students eligible for free school lunches. These Mackinac reports have bee

MAY 01

Young children who are exposed to large amounts of adult speech tend to have better cognitive skills

by Jonathan Kantrowitz / 2d

Researchers have found that young children who are exposed to large amounts of adult speech tend to have better cognitive skills. The major new study, led by researchers at the University of York, identified a link between kids who heard high quantities of adult speech and their nonverbal abilities such as reasoning, numeracy and shape awareness. The researchers gained unprecedented insight into

Are Public School Teachers Adequately Compensated? xx

by Jonathan Kantrowitz / 2d

It is difficult to definitively answer the question of whether public school teachers are adequately compensated. To provide context for understanding the research on the adequacy of teacher compensation, this Center on Education Policy brie f describes how the public K-12 education system is funded (including how events how the Great Recession impact teacher compensation) and highlights recent a

How States are Responding to ESSA’s Evidence Requirements for School Improvement

by Jonathan Kantrowitz / 2d

This report, based on interviews with officials from seven state departments of education, explores state efforts to assist local educators with selecting evidence-based interventions to improve low-performing schools. The report also contains some recommendations for making research more accessible to educators. Several themes emerged across multiple state interviews that could be informative fo

Personalized Learning: The Promise and the Reality

by Jonathan Kantrowitz / 2d

Personalized learning programs are proliferating in schools across the United States, fueled by philanthropic dollars, tech industry lobbying, marketing by third-party vendors, and a policy environment that provides little guidance and few constraints. In Personalized Learning and the Digital Privatization of Curriculum and Teaching , Faith Boninger, Alex Molnar, and Christopher M. Saldaña, of th

APR 30

The impact of Take Stock in Children's® (TSIC's®) FLIGHT program

by Jonathan Kantrowitz / 3d

The What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) recently reviewed research that examined the impact of Take Stock in Children's ® ( TSIC's ® ) FLIGHT program on students’ college access and enrollment, general academic achievement (high school), and attendance (high school). The results are summarized in an intervention report released by the Institute of Education Sciences today . FLIGHT provides eligible st

Student Outcomes and Parent Teacher Home Visits

by Jonathan Kantrowitz / 3d

Parent Teacher Home Visits (PTHV) is a strategy for engaging educators and families as a team to support student achievement. The PTHV model developed from an understanding that family engagement is critical to student success. This study addresses the following research questions : 1 . To what extent does schools’ implementation of PTHV predict school - level outcomes? 2 . To what extent does st

Trial of the MindOut Program for Disadvantaged Post-Primary School Students

by Jonathan Kantrowitz / 3d

School-based social and emotional learning programs aim to provide students with the skills they need to deal with life challenges, thereby enhancing their social and emotional wellbeing, academic outcomes, and reducing their risk of mental health difficulties. While there is a robust evidence base on the effectiveness of these programs originating from the US, there is a relative paucity of rese

Research on Programs For Struggling Readers in Elementary Schools

by Jonathan Kantrowitz / 3d

This article reviews research on the outcomes of diverse reading approaches on the achievement of struggling readers in elementary schools. 61 studies of 48 different programs met rigorous standards. 84% were randomized experiments and 16% quasi-experiments. Outcomes were positive for one-to-one tutoring and were positive but not as large for one-to-small group tutoring. There were no differences

Effects of College-and Career-Ready Standards on Student Achievement: Significant negative effects for grade 4 reading; Negative effects were also observed for grade 8 reading, grade 4 math, and grade 8 math

by Jonathan Kantrowitz / 3d

Full report Since the release of the report A Nation at Risk, standards-based reforms have been a crucial part of federal and state efforts to improve education. College- and career-ready (CCR) standards--the focus of the current wave of standards-based reform—differ from states’ previous standards in importantways.Most notably,the new CCR standards were explicitly designed around thegoal of ensu

English Language Learners in America’s Great City Schools

by Jonathan Kantrowitz / 3d

In 2013, the Council of the Great City Schools (CGCS) published the first-ever report on English language learners (ELLs) enrolled in member districts, reporting on a range of indicators in addition to ELL enrollment and languages spoken by such students. This report updates most of the data presented in the 2013 Council ELL report, shedding light once again on ELL enrollment, student performance

Higher Education Trends

by Jonathan Kantrowitz / 3d

For 17 years, the New Media Consortium convened panels of experts from higher education and posed three key questions for them to discuss: What is on the five-year horizon for higher education institutions? Which trends and technology developments will drive educational change? What are the critical challenges and how can we strategize solutions? The resulting Horizon Report series charts the fiv

2018 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)

by Jonathan Kantrowitz / 3d

In 2018, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) administered the digitally based Technology and Engineering Literacy (TEL) assessment to better understand what U.S. students know and can do in the areas of technology and engineering. Eighth-grade students were presented with real-world technology and engineering challenges. They were asked to respond to questions aimed at assessin

APR 29

Education may be key to a healthier, wealthier US

by Jonathan Kantrowitz / 4d

According to the United States Department of Education, the U.S. high school graduation rate will reach an all-time high this year, which is good news for both our economy and health. Policy makers often use education policy to strengthen the workforce and boost earnings, productivity and employment. But earning a diploma may also lead to a longer, healthier life. A new study from the University

Being a car commuter with obesity linked to a 32% increased death risk

by Jonathan Kantrowitz / 4d

New research presented at this year's European Congress on Obesity in Glasgow, Scotland (28 April - 1 May) shows that individuals with obesity who commute by car have a 32% higher risk of death, from any cause, compared with those individuals with a normal weight and commute via cycling and walking. The study is by Edward Toke-Bjolgerud, University of Glasgow, UK, and colleagues. Previous work, u

'Pedigree is not destiny' when it comes to scholarly success

by Jonathan Kantrowitz / 4d

Santa Fe Institute IMAGE: For pairs of computer science faculty matched by (A,B) work environment prestige or (C,D) training environment prestige, (A) publication and (B) citation counts are statistically independent of differences in doctoral prestige... view more Credit: Samuel F. Way What matters more to a scientist's career success: where they currently work, or where they got their Ph.D.? It

Quality Rating Systems for Early Learning Programs

by Jonathan Kantrowitz / 5d

In several publications released today (April 29 th ), the Institute of Education Sciences describes the progress that Race to the Top—Early Learning Challenge (RTT-ELC) grantee states made in implementing rating systems to document and improve early learning program quality. The RTT-ELC grant program aimed to improve the school readiness of children, particularly those with high needs. A key pri

APR 26

State pre-K provision for 3-year-olds lags far behind

by Jonathan Kantrowitz / 7d

April 26, 2019 Infants and toddlers, preschoolers, and early elementary-aged children encompass the field of early childhood education, giving the impression that all children from birth through age 8, fit neatly into one of three categories. But state policies suggest something quite different for 3-year-old children as they often are neglected when state preschool programs are designed and fund

Special Ed: Varied State Criteria May Contribute to Differences in Percentages of Children Served

by Jonathan Kantrowitz / 7d

About 13 percent of children aged 3 through 21 enrolled in public schools received special education services in school year 2015-16, and about 3 percent of children from birth through age 2 received special education services.The percentage of the population served under IDEA varies across states. For example, in fall 2016, the percentages of the population aged 6 through 21 served in individual

APR 25

Severe Teacher Shortage Shows States Should Better Fund Schools

by Jonathan Kantrowitz / 8d

The country’s severe shortage of qualified public elementary and secondary school teachers, which a new Economic Policy Institute (EPI) report details, demonstrates states’ need to raise adequate revenue not only to boost teacher pay but also to provide the resources that high-quality schools require. While teacher protests over the last year helped encourage states to boost teacher pay, some sta

English Learners, One Study, and the Dangers of Translating Research into Practice

by Jonathan Kantrowitz / 8d

It hit the news with a bang : Immigrants learned English in half the time when they were held back in third grade, proclaimed one headline about the National Bureau of Economic Research working paper by David Figlio of Northwestern University and Umut Özek of the American Institutes for Research. Repeating 3rd Grade Could Help Struggling English-Learners, blared another. The findings , while clea

50-State Comparison: Postsecondary Campus Safety

by Jonathan Kantrowitz / 8d

When it comes to safety and students, a lot of public interest and media attention centers on K-12 schools. But college campuses face safety concerns, too, and state policies play an important role in setting standards and guidance for postsecondary institutions. This new 50-State Comparison captures state policies — pertaining to (1) guns on campus and (2) sexual assault involving students on or

Large negative effects of voucher usage after four years, especially in math.

by Jonathan Kantrowitz / 8d

The Louisiana Scholarship Program (LSP) offers publicly-funded vouchers to students in low-performing schools with family income no greater than 250 percent of the poverty line, allowing them to enroll in participating private schools. Established in 2008 as a pilot program in New Orleans, the LSP 

Education Research Report