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Saturday, August 3, 2013

This Week's Education Research Report 8-3-13 #SOSCHAT #EDCHAT #P2


THIS WEEK'S EDUCATION RESEARCH REPORT



Gallup Poll: Only 35% of New Teachers Fully Engaged in Their Job, Drops Even Lower in Later Years
According to a new Gallup Poll, U.S. teachers for grades K-12 with less than one year of experience are the most engaged at work, at 35.1%. Engagement drops to 30.9% for teachers who have been on the job for one to three years and falls further to 27.9% for educators with three to five years of experience. Engagement picks back up slightly for those who have been teaching for more than five years.
Early College, Early Success: Early College High School Initiative Impact Study
The studyAmerican Institutes for Research and SRI. (2013). Early college, early success: Early college high school initiative impact study. Washington, DC: American Institutes for Research. What is the study about? The study authors examined whether attending Early College High Schools increased postsecondary outcomes. As defined in this study, Early Colleges are high schools that partner with loc

JUL 31

Student characteristics predict university graduation odds
According to new research, characteristics known about a student before he or she even enters a college classroom can accurately predict graduation rates. This new study, published in SAGE Open, finds that characteristics such as fulltime enrollment status, race, transfer credits, and expected family contribution predict successful graduation from college.Researcher Tim Gramling, LP.D., conducted

JUL 30

Early school engagement helps youths avoid problem behaviors and eventual dropout
Help your teenager stay engaged in school and he or she will be less likely to drop out. That's the conclusion of a new longitudinal study that found that teens who were less engaged in school tended to engage in more delinquency and substance use over time, and that lower levels of engagement and greater problem behaviors in turn predicted a higher likelihood of dropping out of school. Specifical
Measuring Teacher Effectiveness of Special Education Teachers
While teacher quality is recognized as a critical component in school reform and the pursuit of new teacher evaluation systems has gained national attention, the question of whether proposed teacher assessment models recognize and account for the unique roles and responsibilities of special education teachers has gone largely unnoticed. The purpose of this article is to (a) provide a review of cur

JUL 29

Early Warning Indicators of Dropouts
Each school year, roughly a thousand students drop out of Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS). However, unlike other large, urban school districts where students who drop out skip school and are suspended often (Balfanz & Byrnes, 2010), students who drop out of MCPS are present in school; they just are not doing well academically. According to the end-of-year MCPS attendance files provided

JUL 26

Gesturing children perform well on cognitive tasks
In the first study of its kind, SF State researchers have shown that younger children who use gestures outperform their peers in a problem-solving task.The task itself is relatively simple -- sorting cards printed with colored shapes first by color, and then by shape. But the switch from color to shape can be tricky for children younger than 5, says Professor of Psychology Patricia Miller.In a new
Specialized curricula at MPS enhancing college enrollment
A report released by the Milwaukee-based Public Policy Forum finds that Milwaukee Public Schools students recently enrolled in Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, Project Lead the Way, and Career and Technical Education curricula were more likely to attend college than students who had not been exposed to such curricula. The report also cautions, however, that the positive impacts ass

JUL 23

Synthesis of Research on Early Intervention and Early Childhood Education
The Institute of Education Sciences has released a research synthesis report focusing on early intervention and early childhood education. The report describes what has been learned from research grants on early intervention and early childhood education funded by the Institute’s National Center for Education Research and National Center for Special Education Research, and published in peer-review

JUL 19

High School Socioeconomic Segregation and Student Attainment
Using data from the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002, this study examines the association between high school socioeconomic segregation and student attainment outcomes and the mechanisms that mediate those relationships. The results show that socioeconomic segregation has a strong association with high school graduation and college enrollment. Controlling for an array of student and school fac
Equity or Marginalization? The High School Course-Taking of Students Labeled With a Learning Disability
Placement of some students into the courses needed only for high school graduation and others into those that prepare them for college constitutes academic stratification. This study uses data from the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 to investigate whether students labeled with learning disabilities complete fewer academic courses by the end of high school compared to their peers who are not

JUL 18

IB Middle Years Programme Develops Students and Teachers Eager to Learn and Take on New Challenges
The International Baccalaureate (IB) has announced new research findings that aim to provide deeper understanding of how students in the Middle Years Programme (MYP) are influenced to become lifelong learners and active global citizens through participation in the MYP. The study, conducted by Julie Wade and Natalie L. Wolanin, found that MYP students identified the rigour and challenge of MYP cour
Children with ear deformity may need intervention to improve school performance
Children born with a complete absence of the external ear canal, even if only one ear is affected, are more likely than their peers to struggle in school, according to new research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.Hearing amplification and corrective surgery are available for the condition, called aural atresia. But many children with single ear atresia (unilateral atresia)
Singing helps students tune into a foreign language, study shows
Singing in a foreign language can significantly improve learning how to speak it, according to a new study.Adults who listened to short Hungarian phrases and then sang them back performed better than those who spoke the phrases, researchers found.People who sang the phrases back also fared better than those who repeated the phrases by speaking them rhythmically.Three randomly assigned groups of tw

JUL 17

The Political Foundations of the Black–White Education Achievement Gap
More than 50 years after Brown v. Board, African American students continue to trail their White peers on a variety of important educational indicators. In this article, the authors investigate the political foundations of the racial “achievement gap” in American education. Using variation in high school graduation rates across the states, they first assess whether state policymakers are attentive
Exploring Key Levers to Boost College Readiness Among Black and Latino Males
College readiness is becoming an increasingly important standard by which to measure school success and student achievement. While high school graduation and dropout prevention remain critical issues for educators, there is a substantial gap in outcomes between students who only earn a high school diploma and those who go on to obtain a college degree. For example, young adults with a bachelor’s d
AP Exams and Personality Traits Help Predict Long-Term Success in College
Long-term success in college may be better predicted with Advanced Placement (AP) exams and personality traits in combination with standard admission practices, according to new research from the Georgia Institute of Technology and Rice University.The study showed that prediction of student graduation may be significantly improved by including in the college admission process consideration of AP e

All Week 8-3-13 @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER


@ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER

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Brian Jones interviewed by Reclaiming the Conversation on Education
“The students, the learners themselves have to have power.” Brian P. Jones Saw this on Tumblr this morning and wanted to disseminate it. Last spring I participated in a conference at Barnard College called Reclaiming the Conversation on Education. At one point, someone pulled me into a classroom to do an interview about the landscape […]
Let the Excuses Begin: Defending the Status Quo!
Smells like a lot of excuses coming from the “no excuses” crowd—and a heaping serving of status quo gravy on top: The most embarrassing posting on Education Week ever (and that’s saying a lot): Rick and Tony
James Baldwin (Aug. 2, 1924 – Dec. 1, 1987) | the becoming radical
James Baldwin (Aug. 2, 1924 – Dec. 1, 1987) | the becoming radical.
Reflections on BOCES PD re: Second Grade Math
Yesterday, I went to a BOCES offered “training” in the Math Modules for second grade. I made the choice to attend this and the upcoming one about ELA modules simply because I wanted to see and hear what other teachers are saying AND to find out what the BOCES employees have been told in Albany. […]

AUG 01

Control for this!
Last night my wife had a totally different idea than I about how to handle a parenting situation.  I insisted that my “Dad way” was needed.  My wife simply looked at me (the wrong way) and I decided to loudly (yell) say that I “was sick of being undermined when it comes to being a […]
Why Can’t DFER Deal Will Education Evidence?
Mac LeBuhn, of Democrats for Education Reform (DFER), started his six-part book club series on Jal Mehta’s The Allure of Order with the solid statement on its conclusion that the standards-based accountability policy paradigm “is an ill-conceived and inadequate response to America’s domestic and international achievement gaps.” But, LeBuhn downplays Mehta’s findings. Mehta, for instance, […]
“Track and Improve Your School Culture”
LiveSchool is a start-up in the total surveillance urban school business that offers a tech tool for meting out rewards and punishments.  It is unapologetically based on the “banking model” of education, and it has been embraced by Bloomberg and other Wall Street hustlers as a way to make a dirty buck on the backs […]
#TFA neophytes will now get to adopt wards of the state. No joke.
You too can become a surrogate for any child who is a ward of the state of IL. It’s just that easy. See here to “join.” Submit your own proposal to be a surrogate parent. Why would we let TFA do this? Because poor kids, that’s why.
I had to try to DCSD school choice selector.
Edushyster brought me to this and I had to try it out for myself. This has to be one of the most inane ideas I’ve seen a while, and I want to know what bonehead earning six figures came up with this: the School Choice Selector. Here’s the opening image: First, you have to sort […]
From St. Louis’s Leafy Suburbs: Equal Education for All Unless You’re Black or Poor
“I think that any time you disturb a culture — you’re bringing in a variable that is unknown — I think it has the ability to create some unrest because you don’t know how the variable’s going to play out in the culture you already have.” No, that wasn’t George Wallace in 1963–that was Pam […]
John Merrow, Welcome to Our World of the Ignored
At his Taking Note blog, John Merrow laments: “The op-ed below has been rejected by four newspapers, three of them national publications. One editor’s rejection note said that Michelle Rhee was not a national story.” On Twitter, Rachel Levy, though, noted: “That @John_Merrow story that no one will print? I did so 2.5 yrs ago.” Her […]

JUL 31

Humility: A Lesson Most Needed and Least Often Acknowledged | the becoming radical
The list of what public schools need in the US is long and complex, but a great starting point would be lessons in humility for those who have decided they know best when all the evidence suggests otherwise. READ FULL POST HERE: Humility: A Lesson Most Needed and Least Often Acknowledged | the becoming radical.
Kindergarten CCSS madness? Buckle up Robin!
My recent post of first grade vocabulary from the New York State Education Department’s EngageNY website created a tremendous discussion.  Is Common Core curriculum produced by Core Knowledge© age appropriate?  Is this a symptom of the Common Core in general?  Does the Common Core address the cognitive development of primary aged students? Once again the […]
Hear that folks? A wonk at AEI says we can draw any conclusions we want about data
Fantastic. Phew. .@kevincarey1 Not defending or disparaging. You can come to whatever conclusion you like based on the data. point was, look it up. — Andrew P. Kelly (@AndrewPKelly) July 31, 2013
The “New Paternalism” versus the Fordham Institute’s Assault on Teachers
I have fond childhood memories of my Hog Nosed snake, and how he would alternately strike out like a rattlesnake and then flop on his back, playing possum.  I loved that critter and it is in the same spirit that I address the theorizing of Mike “the New Paternalist” Petrilli.  Petrilli will alternately exhibit the […]
Bennett and Flo Rida, match made in heaven #NCSC13
What happened in IN, you know, with former state supe Bennett and fixing the grades of a big donor’s charter school? Didn’t I just wax philosophical about my previous reverence for those in “Central Office?” I did. But these are the ones that fudge data and school grades. Where do they get these people, anyway? In […]
My appearance on Baltimore’s @marcsteiner show. Thanks, brother.
Check it out here or listen below. There was a time that I revered those that made it into “Central Office.” The pay is good, often in the six figures. You wear suits. People ask your opinion. But then I grew up. How do people get these jobs? Hard work, sure enough. But these aren’t, […]
Barbara Madeloni running for MTA President
Friend and stalwart sister in arms Barbara Madeloni is running for President of the Massachusetts Teachers Association. If you’re in the state, or know someone who is, consider throwing your support behind this campaign. 

JUL 30

Parcc 90210
PARCC will be field testing its assessments in fourteen states and DC next spring. Normally I would be firing up the opt out machine to protest another waste of my children’s time but a fellow education advocate gave me a different idea: She stated “the only thing worse than no data is bad data” referencing how […]
With support from @drjohnthompson, the case of the missing teaching experience #optorcop
This is really the last time I need to comment on this because we have to move on. I told you, dear reader, of my attendance at a recent Fordham event on the potential for opt outs of test-based accountability.  Here’s video of my question, comment. When I try to assert my credibility in debates […]
To follow up on Chris Cerrone’s great post on #ECE
Chris Cerrone has a great post up including some examples of first-grade vocabulary from CCSS. Can it be argued as a good thing that first graders are now going to be taught the meaning of Ziggurat? I thought the CCSS was not supposed to be a checklist of things. Check out our most recent interview […]

JUL 29

Holy Mesopotamia Batman: First Grade CCSS vocabulary.
I have been giving the New York State Education Department’s new Common Core curriculum modules a study over the last few weeks. I see these modules as an insulting scripted curriculum that favors test preparation skills over learning.  I teach middle school social studies so new reforms such as the Common Core have not had […]
Hey… hey power? Meet truth. Watch this exchange. Amazing.
Former school employee, not sure if she was a teacher or not, but she’s absolutely right: middling class individuals are held to a standard such that private or public errors in judgment have the potential for long-lasting consequences. Then you have this guy, blasts his junk all over the Internet, and he wants the highest […]

JUL 26

Attended the @educationgadfly event on #optorcop yesterday. Nice people, here’s my rant
Here’s a link to video of the event at the Fordham Institute on a debate about opting out of test-based accountability in education reform. I’ll have to watch the video to see if my question/comment was recorded. I’m still kicking myself because I feel like I botched it. I was a little nervous and my […]