When Betsy DeVos "Likes" Your "Research"… | Eclectablog

When Betsy DeVos "Likes" Your "Research"… | Eclectablog

When Betsy DeVos "Likes" Your "Research"…

The New York Post recently published an eye-catching headline (“Case closed: Charter schools deliver more education ‘bang’ for the buck“) about a new “research study” (more on that in a bit…) from Corey DeAngelis and Patrick Wolf, from the Walton Family Foundation-funded “Department of Education Reform”, not to be confused with an actual school or college of education, that…you know…prepares teachers…or…teaches stuff, on the…checks notes…efficiency of charter schools?

Now, when someone starts talking to me about “efficiency” in education, I know they don’t know the first thing about education…or kids…or teachers…or learning. Because education is not about being “efficient”–it’s about helping children become who they want to become, and building relationships along the way. And there’s a huge, school-shaped gulf of difference between the two.

If you’re doubting me, try this little thought experiment: think about something you really value and like to do…playing golf, enjoying a good meal, spending time with loved ones, curling up with a good book in front of a roaring fire in a cabin next to a lake. Got your’s? Good.

Now, think about whether it would ever occur to you to think about, or concern yourself, with doing that thing “efficiently.”

Would you try to spend as little time as possible doing that thing, thereby maximizing your ROI (“return on investment,” a business term, not an educational term, and one of the main “research CONTINUE READING: When Betsy DeVos "Likes" Your "Research"… | Eclectablog

LeBron James; I Promise School Lives Up to Its Name, Shows Tremendous Promise

LeBron James; I Promise School Lives Up to Its Name, Shows Tremendous Promise

LeBron's I Promise School Boasts 'Extraordinary' Results

NBA players are lauded for their otherworldly feats on the court, but oftentimes their accomplishments elsewhere go unsung. The Los Angeles Lakers had more than their fair share of struggles this season, but thankfully their superstar forward LeBron James has plenty to brag about off the court.

USA Today reports that his I Promise School, the public school he founded for at-risk students in conjunction with his own LeBron James Family Foundation and Akron Public Schools, is off to an excellent start.

MAP (measures of academic progress) testing from the fall to the winter period at the school showed improvement, according to the Akron Public Schools Office of School Improvement:

90% of students – who started the school year at least one year behind grade level – met or exceeded their expected growth in math and reading.

Test scores increased at a rate higher than 99 out of 100 schools, per Northwest Evaluation (NWEA) school norms.

Third-graders went from the first percentile to the 18th percentile in math, moving from intensive tier of support to targeted levels of support.

Fourth-graders went from the second percentile to the 30th percentile in math, going from intensive tier of support to low universal tier of support.

All IPS students were below grade level in reading, and in the latest testing scores, 23% of students scored at or above the 25th percentile in reading, putting them at or near grade level.

In layman’s terms, the above means the students are doing the damn thang.

“It’s encouraging to see growth, but by no means are we out of the woods,” Keith Liechty, a coordinator in Akron public school system’s Office of School Improvement, told The New York Times. “The goal is for these students to be at grade level, and we’re not there yet. This just tells us we’re going in the right direction.”

I think it’s safe to call the year-round school—which provides education, career and emotional support for parents, as well as daily breakfast, lunch and snacks for students—a resounding success thus far. The bulk of the CONTINUE READING: LeBron James; I Promise School Lives Up to Its Name, Shows Tremendous Promise

9 Things Educators Can Do to Liberate the Minds of Black Children - Philly's 7th Ward

9 Things Educators Can Do to Liberate the Minds of Black Children - Philly's 7th Ward

9 THINGS EDUCATORS CAN DO TO LIBERATE THE MINDS OF BLACK CHILDREN

We must be about the business of liberating the minds of Black children. In order for that to occur, the minds of all Blacks who interact with them must also be liberated. There is no other way. – Bobby E. Wright

Recently, my mother and I were discussing the revolutionary psychologist, Bobby E. Wright, who spoke about the sacred role of educators of Black children, which led me to pen this blog.

I have previously written what I believe are some of the conditions Black children need in order to be successful in public schools. Warm demanders, crafters of the school-to-activism pipeline, and educators with high levels of self-efficacy, growth mindsets, and cultural contexts are at an absolute premium. We need educators with a revolutionary mindset to ensure our students are successful.

While there are plenty of people who espouse the need for students to have a mindset conducive to learning, far more important are the mindsets and actions of the educators who choose to lead classrooms full of Black and Brown children – today the majority of our pupils are students of color and are being taught by White educators and sometimes, educators of color with White mindsets engulfed in whiteness (white supremacy).

Over the past twenty-six years in public education, here are a few things that I found that are inextricably linked to the mindsets of educators who are successful with Black children.

1. Love. A deep, intense, and unwavering love. An undying love for the people will yield benefits. Benefits that can’t be captured in organized, but inept powerpoint slide presentations, Excel documents, or endless CONTINUE READING: 9 Things Educators Can Do to Liberate the Minds of Black Children - Philly's 7th Ward

What Does it Mean to Teach Peace? - LA Progressive

What Does it Mean to Teach Peace?  - LA Progressive

What Does it Mean to Teach Peace? 

Depending on your age, people associate peace with protesting the Vietnam War, songs, movies and marches of the 1960’s, the time before 9/11, quiet getaway retreats, or their yoga class. So what does it mean to teach peace and howwould one do it? I think the why is obvious.

I have been teaching all my life – first more than a decade at the high school level and after that, college students. Most of my courses were writing, composition, and literature, but at a certain point in my career I heard about the field of Peace Studies, and I wanted to learn more. I went back to school, completed the most meaningful coursework I have ever undertaken, and began teaching peace. People frequently ask me what it means to teach peace, or even what specifically I teach.

Violent conflict is not inevitable. Just as people can be taught to kill in the armed services, they can be taught to use other methods of interaction.

Here’s the short version. Conflict is not bad; conflict is necessary for all people to have a voice, but conflict is not the same as violence. Violent conflict is not inevitable. Just as people can be taught to kill in the armed services, they can be taught to use other methods of interaction. Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution includes concepts, history, and strategies so that people can learn to stop being violent. My goal is for people to stop killing each other.

Course readings reveal misleading anthropological research which is currently undergoing revision. Humans likely do not come from such violent beginnings. This is a well-entrenched myth, but one that is easy to maintain by those whose plan is to perpetuate armed conflict. The course includes the CONTINUE READING: What Does it Mean to Teach Peace?  - LA Progressive

CURMUDGUCATION: Obstacles To Building Better Writers

CURMUDGUCATION: Obstacles To Building Better Writers

Obstacles To Building Better Writers

Writing well is one of the great uber-skills, a quality that will open an infinite number of doors in a student's life. Unfortunately, we are living through a golden age of bad writing instruction, driven by high stakes testing and shrunken, meager ideas about the very purpose of education.

In 39 years, I had some success in teaching students to be better writers. If you are a teacher intent on building better writers in your classroom, there are several positive steps to take, but we'll get back to those another day. The first step is to avoid several major obstacles that will thwart your progress and send you down paths that do not lead to your desired destination.

There Is Little Useful Research Base To Help You

These days we call for research and evidence to support instructional approaches in the classroom, but there is no meaningful research to speak of when it comes to writing. The available research is based primarily on the one question--does this technique raise test scores. That's generally problematic, but it's particularly problematic because there is no good standardized test of writing, because there is no good simple objective standardized measure of good writing. The closest we come are tests that run writing samples past experienced human readers (not tests that run writing samples past scorers who are briefly trained and given simple instructions to follow), and then we will still deal with some bias.

Look, we know there are no universally agreed-upon objective measures of writing. Pick any writer, no matter how revered and successful, from Shakespeare to Hemmingway, and I will find you experts who can explain why that beloved scribe is really a hack. The canon is full of writers who CONTINUE READING: CURMUDGUCATION: Obstacles To Building Better Writers

Sacramento City Unified teachers union offers to meet with district | The Sacramento Bee

Sacramento City Unified teachers union offers to meet with district | The Sacramento Bee

A day after strike, Sacramento City Unified teachers union offers to meet with district

One day after a teachers strike alleging unfair labor practices by the Sacramento City Unified School District, and the district’s call for a “cease-fire,” the teachers union sent a letter chiding the district but suggesting they meet at the end of the month.

“A new direction begins with the district reaffirming its obligation to abide by our contract and to remedy the unlawful, unfair labor practices, including the unlawful layoffs of both certificated and classified staff,” read SCTA’s letter to Superintendent Jorge Aguilar.

The union proposed two dates – April 23 or April 24 – to meet with the district and their appointed state mediator, Joseph Rios.

District officials said they want to solve their fiscal problems, and will review the letter and respond accordingly.

Friday afternoon, it was still unclear how many of the district’s 42,000 students attended classes and how many substitute and replacement teachers worked during Thursday’s one-day strike. The district said it was still processing attendance data from its 75 schools. Employees who process that data, and other administrative officials, worked as substitutes and monitors at school sites before returning to their regular duties in the evening, according to the district.

The district does not report students’ attendance on a daily basis to the Sacramento County of Education, but in three periods over a year, according to SCOE.

The teachers say they are striking because the district conducted unfair labor practices by not honoring their contract.

After the strike concluded Thursday, the district sent a news release saying it had dropped a plan to file its own unfair labor practices claim against the union for what the district considered an illegal strike.

In the release, school board President Jessie Ryan called for a “cease-fire” with the union. “Teachers are the heartbeat of our schools and we need them back in the classroom,” she said.

In its letter to Aguilar on Friday, the union said it was not aware of Ryan’s call for a cease-fire Thursday until reporters asked for comment. However, it sought confirmation of “the District’s agreement to meet and the meeting location to take the necessary first steps toward a more constructive relationship moving forward.”

Several important dates in the coming months:

• April 24: Certificated staff who received layoff notices will have hearings before any layoffs in the district are finalized.
• May 2: The judge appointed arbitrator who is mediating a salary schedule dispute between the district and the union will finalize his decision. The arbitrator’s decision is binding.
• June 20: The district must present a balanced budget by this deadline. If it fails to resolve its $35 million budget gap, it will face a takeover by the state.

FOLLOW MORE OF OUR REPORTING ON Sacramento City Unified teachers union offers to meet with district | The Sacramento Bee

Education Research Report

Education Research Report

Education Research Report

The critically important role rest may play in learning

by Jonathan Kantrowitz / 45min

In a study of healthy volunteers, National Institutes of Health researchers found that our brains may solidify the memories of new skills we just practiced a few seconds earlier by taking a short rest. The results highlight the critically important role rest may play in learning. "Everyone thinks you need to 'practice, practice, practice' when learning something new. Instead, we found that restin

APR 11

Autism rate rises 43 percent in New Jersey

by Jonathan Kantrowitz / 1d

A new report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which uses research by Rutgers University, shows a significant increase in the percentage of 4-year-old children with autism spectrum disorder in New Jersey. The study found the rate increased 43 percent from 2010 to 2014 in the state. The report, released April 11, found that about one in 59 children has autism. New Jersey's rate wa

Gender gap in spatial reasoning starts in elementary school

by Jonathan Kantrowitz / 1d

It is well-established that, on average, men outperform women on a spatial reasoning task known as mental rotation -- imagining multi-dimensional objects from different points of view. Men are not, however, born with this advantage, suggests a major meta-analysis by psychologists at Emory University. Instead, males gain a slight advantage in mental-rotation performance during the first years of f

2019 NATIONAL REPORT Maximizing the Relationship Between Mindset and Student Success

by Jonathan Kantrowitz / 2d

Complete report New findings from the Center for Community College Student Engagement(CCCSE) indicate that mindset may play an important role in student engagement. Students who have more productive mindsets are more engaged and have higher GPAs. Thus, understanding mindset—and helping students improve their academic mindsets—may open new avenues for improving student success. While there is a gr

50-State Comparison: States’ School Improvement Policies

by Jonathan Kantrowitz / 2d

Using school accountability systems and other metrics, all states identify the lowest-performing schools for more intensive improvement strategies. Improvement strategies can include forms of alternative governance of the school, often referred to as turnaround strategies . States may also require low-performing schools to develop a school improvement plan, which may be based on a needs assessmen

APR 10

Teaching styles and achievement: Student and teacher perspectives

by Jonathan Kantrowitz / 2d

This study analyzes the relationship between the use of modern and traditional teaching styles and the achievement in math and reading in primary education. Teamwork and class discussions—modern practices—are strongly related to better achievement, while rote learning and individual work—traditional practices—to lower achievement. But that association is only significant when using students’ repo

The effect of online testing on measured student achievement

by Jonathan Kantrowitz / 2d

Nearly two dozen states now administer online exams to deliver testing to K-12 students. These tests have real consequences: their results feed into accountability systems, which have been used for more than a decade to hold schools and districts accountable for their students’ learning. This study examines the rollout of computer-based testing in Massachusetts over 2 years to investigate test mo

An important part of the gender gap in the salaries of K-12 educator stems from male educators having additional income

by Jonathan Kantrowitz / 2d

This study e xamines gender gaps in the salaries of K-12 educators. This is an occupation where direct gender discrimination is less likely since salaries are determined by a union pay scale and women constitute the majority of employers. Using data from the American Community Survey (ACS), researchers find a gender gap of $12,000 in the personal income of K-12 educators, with only part of this g

Financial bonus to National Board certified teachers in high poverty schools - no detectible effects on student test achievement

by Jonathan Kantrowitz / 2d

This study examines a teacher incentive policy in Washington State that awards a financial bonus to National Board certified teachers in high poverty schools. Researchers find that the bonus policy increased the proportion of certified teachers in bonus-eligible schools by improving hiring, increasing certification rates of incumbent teachers, and reducing turnover. Depending on the method, they

More women needed in top education leadership roles

by Jonathan Kantrowitz / 2d

Women comprise the majority of the education workforce—except at the very top. A new report from Chiefs for Change, a bipartisan network of state and district education leaders, provides a detailed, state-by-state analysis of inequities in education leadership and outlines solutions to help more women, and women of color in particular, become district superintendents and state chiefs. The report,

State policies and practices in the selection and implementation of digital instructional materials

by Jonathan Kantrowitz / 2d

A new report, State K12 Instructional Materials Leadership Trends Snapshot summarizes current state policies and practices in the selection and implementation of digital instructional materials. This report is based on the 2019 updates to the Digital Instructional Materials Acquisition Policies for States (DMAPS) online portal. Since its inception in 2015, DMAPS has been updated annually and expa

Best Practices Around the Nation for Driving Broadband Connectivity and Access for Students

by Jonathan Kantrowitz / 2d

SETDA, the principal membership association of U.S. state and territorial digital learning leaders, today released a new national report, State K-12 Broadband Leadership: Driving Connectivity, Access and Student Success . This report highlights the powerful impact of state leadership in driving critical policy decisions at the state level to support broadband networks, bandwidth capacity, Wi-Fi i

The annual State Higher Education Finance (SHEF) report

by Jonathan Kantrowitz / 3d

For sixteen years, the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association (SHEEO) has produced the annual State Higher Education Finance (SHEF) report to broaden understanding and enable analysis of state-level and national funding and enrollment trends over time. The SHEF report provides the earliest possible review of state funding for higher education for the most recently completed fiscal

Early Adolescents’ Adjustment at School

by Jonathan Kantrowitz / 3d

This study examined group differences by grade (fifth graders in elementary school and sixth graders in middle school) and gender in academic (behavioral and emotional engagement, academic self-concept, and worry) and socio-emotional adjustment (self-esteem, social satisfaction, social self-concept, and worry). Self-report data were collected from 1,003 students in the fall and spring of the scho

APR 09

New to college? Spend some time alone

by Jonathan Kantrowitz / 3d

IMAGE: Spending time alone isn't necessarily bad, especially for first-year college students. A new study shows that a positive motivation for seeking solitude can be a predictor for successful adjustment to... view more Credit: University of Rochester photo / J. Adam Fenster Transitioning from high school to college can be stressful. Trying to fit in, making new friends, missing old ones and hom

Mishandled Guns in Schools

by Jonathan Kantrowitz / 3d

A comprehensive analysis finds there have been more than 60 publicly-reported incidents of mishandled guns at schools in the last five years, including: A teacher’s loaded gun falling from his waistband during a cartwheel. A student grabbing an officer’s gun while the officer attempted to subdue the student. A teacher unintentionally firing a gun in class during a safety demonstration. Until very

Countries that help working class students get into university have happier citizens

by Jonathan Kantrowitz / 4d

A study has shown that 'inclusive' educational policies that help working class students access higher education, such as delaying streaming children according to their ability until they are older, lowering the cost of private education, and increasing the intake of universities so that more students can attend all act to reduce the 'happiness gap' between the rich and poor. Research shows that

APR 08

Estimates of emergency department visits for suicide attempts, thoughts among kids, teens JAMA Pediatrics

by Jonathan Kantrowitz / 4d

Many children with suicide attempts/suicidal thoughts present to emergency departments (EDs). An analysis of U.S. ED data from 2007 to 2015 estimates annual visits almost doubled from 580,000 to 1.12 million for suicide attempts/suicidal thoughts by children ages 5 to 18 years. As a proportion of all pediatric encounters in EDs, suicide attempts/suicidal thoughts increased from 2.17 percent in 20

Privately funded CT RISE program raises a number of key issues in public education

by Jonathan Kantrowitz / 4d

Complete report The CT RISE program interacts with a number of key issues in public education, including: how we define, quantify, and measure student learning; teacher autonomy; teacher morale; student data privacy; and the role of philanthropists and other external and private interests in our public schools. This report takes CT RISE as a concrete and revealing case study. NHPS (New Haven Publ

Children starting school today will graduate better prepared for their futures if they have a strong social and emotional foundation

by Jonathan Kantrowitz / 4d

The future of learning is here. As schools and educators consider how to approach the rapidly changing realities of education, new research suggests children starting school today will graduate better prepared for their futures if they have a strong social and emotional foundation, developed in a personalised learning environment. This new research draws on multiple sources, including a collabora

Principal Pipelines: A Feasible, Affordable, and Effective Way for Districts to Improve Schools

by Jonathan Kantrowitz / 4d

Research across the decades has confirmed that effective school leadership is associated with better outcomes for students and schools. A high-quality school leader affects dozens of teachers and hundreds or thousands of students. It is a pivotal role. From 2011 to 2016, The Wallace Foundation, through its Principal Pipeline Initiative (PPI), provided funding and technical assistance to support s

Attending school with crime-prone peers, rather than living in the same neighborhood increases arrest rates at age 19 - 21

by Jonathan Kantrowitz / 5d

This paper examines how elementary-aged peers affect cognitive and non-cognitive outcomes from adolescence to adulthood. Results indicate exposure to these peers reduces achievement and increases antisocial behavior during middle and high school. More importantly, the researchers estimate that a five percentage point increase in school and neighborhood crime-prone peers increases arrest rates at

Risk Preferences of Children and Adolescents in Relation to Gender, Cognitive Skills, Soft Skills, and Executive Functions

by Jonathan Kantrowitz / 5d

This study involves experiments eliciting risk preferences with over 1,400 children and adolescents aged 3-15 years old and an assessment of cognitive and executive function skills. The researchers find that adolescent girls display significantly greater risk aversion than adolescent boys. This pattern is not observed among young children, suggesting that the gender gap in risk preferences emerge

APR 05

Screen time -- even before bed -- has little impact on teen well-being

by Jonathan Kantrowitz / 7d

Data from more than 17,000 teenagers show little evidence of a relationship between screen time and well-being in adolescents . The study, published in Psychological Science , a journal of the Association for Psychological Science , casts doubt on the widely accepted notion that spending time online, gaming, or watching TV, especially before bedtime, can damage young people's mental health. "Impl

Many fields that support a significant number of U.S. jobs see little CTE course-taking in high school,

by Jonathan Kantrowitz / 8d

The recent reauthorization of the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act—the principal federal education program supporting career and technical education (CTE)—expressly aims to “align workforce skills with labor market needs.” How Aligned is Career and Technical Education to Local Labor Markets? , co-authored by Pepperdine University associate professor Cameron Sublett and Fordham I

Education Research Report