bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The States’ Role in Improving Compensatory Education: Analysis of Current Trends and Suggestions for the Future
Authors: Plunkett Virginia R. L.
Published: March 2008

The passage of Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act in 1965 set the stage for a new era of state leadership in improving compensatory education. This article traces the development of state leadership in implementing the Title I/Chapter 1 program quality mandate up to 1988, when Congress added procedural and accountability requirements to make “program improvement” the centerpiece of the new legislation. It continues by describing the challenges now facing the states in implementing the program improvement process and how they are being met, and it concludes with suggestions for the future.
Santo Domingo School: A Rural Schoolwide Project Success
Authors: de Baca Mary Rose C , Rinaldi Cecilia , Billig Shelley H. , Kinnison Beatriz Martinez
Published: March 2008

A rural school serving a disadvantaged Native American population had a long history of high student absenteeism, low achievement, fragmented services, limited staff development, and a lack of strong ties among the school, parents, and community. Using the schoolwide-project option allowed in the 1988 Hawkins-Stafford Amendments to Chapter 1, the school restructured its compensatory and regular education services. After two years, the school experienced lower student absenteeism, higher achievement, increased student self-esteem, reduced numbers of referrals to special education, and increased parent and community involvement. The authors of this case study conclude that the schoolwide-project option was central to the school’s improvement efforts.
Teacher Participation in School Decision Making: Assessing Willingness to Participate
Authors: Smylie Mark A.
Published: March 2008

Increasing teacher involvement in school decision making ranks among the most promising educational reform strategies. Yet empirical data about the conditions under which teachers will actually participate, if given the opportunity, are quite limited. This article explores the organizational and psychological antecedents to teachers’ willingness to participate in personnel, curriculum and instruction, staff development, and general administrative decisions. Findings reveal that teachers vary in their willingness to participate in different decisions and that teacher-principal working relationships exert the greatest significant influence on willingness to participate across decision areas. Findings also suggest that willingness to participate may turn on reconciling competing professional beliefs and working relationships.
Notes: Deferred Salary Leaves in Education: A Canadian Alternative to Reductions in the Teaching Work Force
Authors: Jacobson Stephen L. , Kennedy Sylvia
Published: March 2008

A number of Canadian school districts have implemented deferred salary leave plans as an alternative to reducing the size of their teaching force. These plans, allowing teachers to defer a proportion of their salaries over several years to fund a year of leave, also provide educators with an added opportunity for personal and professional revitalization.
Productivity in Postsecondary Education: A New Approach
Authors: Massy William F. , Wilger Andrea K.
Published: March 2008

The purpose of this article is to develop a conceptual structure for examining college and university productivity and to propose an explanation for why productivity—as seen by those who pay for higher education—has declined. The authors examine public criticism of higher education and the accompanying loss of public trust. They argue that much of the problem results from the shift of faculty effort toward research and professional activity and away from undergraduate teaching—a phenomenon dubbed the academic ratchet.
Teachers Who Interrupt Their Careers: Characteristics of Those Who Return to the Classroom
Authors: Beaudin Barbara Q.
Published: March 2008

Using maximum likelihood logistic regression analysis, this study of public school teachers identifies the characteristics that distinguish teachers who return to the classroom after a career interruption from those who do not. Its purpose is to improve our ability to monitor and predict teacher supply and demand by determining areas that may be vulnerable to shortages in the future. The findings show that the teachers most likely to return are those with subject area specialties that provide limited opportunities for better paying employment outside of public schools, those who have more than 2 years of experience coupled with a master’s degree, and those who interrupted their careers at an older rather than a younger age. Although females return in higher proportions than males overall, this appears to be the result of females’ greater representation in areas with lower opportunity costs. Therefore, when subject area specialty is held constant, females and males return at approximately the same rates.
Developing a System of Education Indicators: Selecting, Implementing, and Reporting Indicators
Authors: Blank Rolf K.
Published: March 2008

National and state-level reports on education indicators have been produced since the mid-1980s. However, the debate continues over which education indicators to select and report. This paper outlines the lessons gained by a national organization in building an education indicators system through cooperation with federal and state education agencies. Three issues in the indicator development process are emphasized: (a) the role of a consensus process among educators, researchers, and policymakers in selecting and defining indicators, (b) how education indicators can be produced through a cooperative data system with states, and (c) methods for reporting indicators that increase their usefulness for policymakers and educators.
Notes: The Validity of the SAT at the University of Hawaii: A Riddle Wrapped in an Enigma
Authors: Wainer Howard , Saka Thomas , Donoghue John R.
Published: March 2008

Hawaii is unique in a variety of ways. One of these is the unusual ethnic mixture that makes up its population; under traditional definitions 76% of its population is “minority” and 24% is “White.” The performance of those of its high school students who go on to the University of Hawaii-Manoa on the SAT-Verbal is higher than the national mean, and on the SAT-Mathematical it is much higher. However, the correlation of SAT scores with first year grades has decreased to almost zero since 1982 among Hawaiian students (although among mainland students at UH it is the same as the national average).

In this article we provide the facts for a mystery regarding the low and decreasing validity of the SAT at the University of Hawaii among students from Hawaiian secondary schools. Moreover, while we are unable to provide a complete solution, we do eliminate one onerous suspect and provide an evocative hint.
Notes: Are They Schools of Choice? A Response to Sosniak and Ethington
Authors: Schiller Kathryn S. , Plank Stephen , Schneider Barbara
Published: March 2008

Sosniak and Ethington (1992) conclude that their analysis of the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS:88) provides “little support for the argument that public school choice, as currently implemented, is an inventive mechanism for altering the academic lives of students and teachers.” Three issues that bring their conclusion into question are addressed: (a) the method used to classify public schools of choice, (b) problems that arise because of the likelihood of a significant number of “schools within a school” in NELS:88 base-year school sample, and (c) the matching methodology employed in examining differences between “choice” and “non-choice” schools.
Philanthropy’s Paradox: Chicago School Reform
Authors: McKersie William S.
Published: March 2008

This article explores the role of Chicago’s foundations in the development, passage, and early implementation of the Chicago School Reform Act of 1988. Many researchers are examining the act’s history and effect, but the foundation role has largely been ignored. Writing as a participant-observer, the author contends that history should hold Chicago’s foundation community partially responsible for the act’s eventual success or failure, even though it played a small role in the act’s passage. Two factors created this paradox: The actions of a small group of funders prior to 1988 irrevocably linked the larger funder community to the act, and following the act’s passage, foundations quickly became vital to its implementation. Drawing on a new data base, the article highlights six characteristics of the behavior of Chicago’s foundations regarding reform. Weaving the Chicago story together with scholarly perspectives on the traditional foundation role in public affairs, the article closes with three guiding principles for foundations as they help develop and implement education reform policy.
The Impact of Age, Sex, and Ethnicity on Kindergarten Entry and Retention Decisions
Authors: Cosden Merith , Zimmer Jules , Tuss Paul
Published: March 2008

Kindergarten plays an important role in a child’s socialization to the school system. Increased academic accountability at upper grades has resulted in an “escalation” of the curriculum in many kindergarten programs. As a result of this policy, many parents are holding children out of school until they are more academically “ready.” Kindergarten retention for children who are not ready for first grade has also become a common practice, despite evidence that many children do not benefit from this intervention. The impact of these policies and practices on Anglo and Latino children was the focus of this study. Differences in the age of entry to kindergarten and the use of kindergarten retention as functions of a child’s sex and ethnicity were assessed in three school districts. The impact of these policies on early school failure and alternative methods for addressing diverse student needs are discussed.
Can Government Raise Child-Care Quality? The Influence of Family Demand, Poverty, and Policy
Authors: Fuller Bruce , Raudenbush Stephen W. , Wei Li-Ming , Holloway Susan D.
Published: March 2008

The quality of child-care centers and preschools—situated in a mixed market—varies enormously. Advocates for higher quality urge higher subsidies and stricter central regulation. Market advocates argue instead that local demand and parental-choice remedies will spark quality gains while ensuring competitive prices. Federal and state governments have responded with an array of policy interventions: targeting subsidies on preschools serving low-income families; enacting statewide quality standards; creating tax credits and vouchers for the “working poor” and middle-class families. This article assesses the influence of these alternative policies on preschool quality, based on a national survey of 1,805 centers in 36 states. Discrete policy effects are assessed after taking into account the influence of contextual sources of family demand: statewide levels of wealth, maternal employment, and poverty rates. Contrary to K–12 patterns, we find that center quality is higher in centers receiving greater subsidies. However, the subsidy effect depends on the particular indicator of quality being observed; effects are also conditioned by state-level contexts. Statewide sources of family demand, antecedent to policy interventions, help to raise certain facets of preschool quality. Tax credits hold no discernible influence on quality. Implications for building policy strategies in “managed choice” school settings are discussed.
Benchmarks of Change: Assessing Essential School Restructuring Efforts
Authors: Prestine Nona A. , Bowen Chuck
Published: March 2008

This study assesses the process of changing in four schools at the midpoint of a 5-year essential schools restructuring effort. Using cross-case analyses, organizational change processes are assessed using four benchmarks of change established by the Coalition of Essential Schools: substantial agreement, observable change, all-school participation, and systemic leadership. Factors affecting the change processes are identified. Conclusions about school restructuring-change processes are discussed in terms of the criteria established by the Coalition and the literature on change.
The Semantics of State Policy Making: The Case of “At Risk”
Authors: Placier Margaret L.
Published: March 2008

Definitions of key policy terms are important elements in policy construction. Accordingly, the power to define such terms is a linguistic marker of relationships among players in the policy process. Combining a linguistic framework with the cultural framework of Marshall, Mitchell, and Wirt (1989), this article traces definition of the term at risk in the context of one state, Arizona. Researchers in the Department of Education used the definition process as an opportunity to enhance the department’s prestige and power in relation to other policy-making bodies.
Notes: Integrating Community Service and Classroom Instruction Enhances Learning: Results From an Experiment
Authors: Markus Gregory B. , Howard Jeffrey P. F. , King David C.
Published: March 2008

To help inform discussion of the educational value of community service, we report results of an experiment in integrating service-learning into a large undergraduate political science course. Students in service-learning sections of the course were significantly more likely than those in the traditional discussion sections to report that they had performed up to their potential in the course, had learned to apply principles from the course to new situations, and had developed a greater awareness of societal problems. Classroom learning and course grades also increased significantly as a result of students’ participation in course-relevant community service. Finally, pre- and postsurvey data revealed significant effects of participation in community service upon students’ personal values and orientations. The experiential learning acquired through service appears to compensate for some pedagogical weaknesses of classroom instruction.
Involving Program Beneficiaries in the Early Stages of Evaluation: Issues of Consequential Validity and Influence
Authors: Brandon Paul R. , Lindberg Marlene A. , Wang Zhigang
Published: March 2008

Program decision makers are typically involved in many steps of participatory evaluations, including the specification of program attributes that evaluations address. Program beneficiaries should also participate in this early step, however, because their contributions broaden the scope of evaluations, thereby enhancing the consequential validity of findings. In this article, we discuss an approach for involving beneficiaries in specifying program attributes for evaluations to address. Methods are outlined for sharing influence among program decision makers and beneficiaries, with decision makers retaining the authority to make final decisions. We describe an evaluation in which this approach was applied, present evidence on how the approach enhanced consequential validity, and discuss the constraints on its use.
The Metric Matters: The Sensitivity of Conclusions About Growth in Student Achievement to Choice of Metric
Authors: Seltzer Michael H. , Frank Ken A. , Bryk Anthony S.
Published: March 2008

A central means of assessing the health of educational systems involves using longitudinal data to examine patterns of academic growth across a series of grades (e.g., the extent to which the range of achievement among students widens or narrows over time and whether students tend to “slump” in particular grades). The purpose of this article is to illustrate, through a series of analyses based on a longitudinal study of reading achievement in the Chicago Public Schools, that the conclusions one draws about patterns of academic growth and, in turn, the decisions one makes regarding the kinds of interventions that may be needed can be extremely sensitive to the metric used (i.e., whether achievement is measured using grade equivalents or based on item response theory metrics).
Federal Education Policy and Practice: Building Organizational Capacity Through Chapter 1
Authors: Timar Thomas
Published: March 2008

This article analyzes the effects of federal compensatory education policy on the capacity of schools to deliver high-quality services to poor children who have benefited only marginally from schooling. A major focus is federal assessment of Chapter 1 programs and how such assessment practices shape the organizational capacity of schools. Current assessment practices focus on student outcomes, thereby ignoring the inchoate mass of organizational variables that shapes the quality of instructional practices and student achievement. This article examines the policy history of Chapter 1 evaluation, particularly as evaluation relates to school improvement. It then proposes alternatives to current practice that focus on efforts to move evaluation from instantaneous and often misleading snapshots of performance to evaluation that informs federal policymakers of their ability to shape institutional competence and organizational capacity. While, as a practical and political matter, Chapter 1 assessment will continue to focus on individual student achievement, that assessment should be supplemented by evaluation that focuses on the capacity of Chapter 1 to shape the quality of educational practice in schools. Finally, the article proposes several conceptual models of organizational assessment that foster practices aligned with institutional capacity building.
Year-Round Schooling as an Avenue to Major Structural Reform
Authors: Gándara Patricia , Fish Judy
Published: March 2008

This article reports on a study that sought to experiment with multiple education reforms in the context of an extended school calendar year. Three schools, with very different characteristics, undertook to extend their school year to approximately 223 days (from the previous 180 days), reorganize funding to provide more days of schooling for many students, and increase the length of the work year, and consequently the salaries, of teachers. All three schools were able to demonstrate increases in academic achievement, a high level of parent and teacher satisfaction, and a cost-effective use of existing school facilities. Implications for education reform and year-round schooling are discussed.
State-Level Centralization and Policy Innovation in U.S. Postsecondary Education
Authors: Hearn James C. , Griswold Carolyn P.
Published: March 2008

This article examines the emergence of innovative policies in public postsecondary education systems. The findings, based on an analysis of recent data, suggest that states' postsecondary governance structures have influences on innovation that are independent of the other social, educational, and economic factors included in the model. For example, states with relatively centralized governance arrangements were found to be more likely than other states to impose mandatory student assessment. The policy implications of these findings are discussed.
The Value of an Internship Program for Beginning Teachers
Authors: Holdaway Edward A. , Johnson Neil A. , Ratsoy Eugene W. , Friesen David
Published: March 2008

Teacher education policy around the world is being challenged and changed, and the nature of teaching, learning, and learning to teach is being reassessed. A central element of the reforms is a focus on school-based preparation, including the use of internships. This article reports evaluation findings from a comprehensive internship program in Alberta, Canada, as a basis for assessing the value of internships for beginning teachers. Findings from nearly 6,000 respondents focus on the value of internships, supervision of interns, and policy development. The utility of various internship activities, such as skill development and formative reflection, is assessed. On the basis of these findings, recommendations for policy development are presented and potential impediments discussed.
Democratic Communities, Equity, and Excellence: A Deweyan Reframing of Educational Policy Analysis
Authors: Kahne Joseph
Published: March 2008

Concern for academic excellence and equity often structures the work of mainstream policy analysts. These matters certainly deserve careful attention, but this focus often obscures many other important concerns. In particular, analysts are often inattentive to the relation between educational policy and the creation of democratic communities. To highlight the impact of this omission, I examine mainstream debates over tracking policy. While exploring these debates, I consider how placing greater attention on Deweyan notions of democratic community might enrich policy dialogues and alter the form and focus of mainstream policy discussions.
Enacting Site-Based Management: A Political Utilities Analysis
Authors: Malen Betty
Published: March 2008

This article applies Hans Weiler's conception of the “political utilities” of decentralization to case study data on a school district's decision to enact site-based management. The article argues that site-based management may have considerable political utility in crisis contexts. Quite apart from its ability to improve school performance, it may bolster the district's ability to manage conflict and maintain legitimacy. These dual utilities may be more multifaceted than the orienting perspective posits and may be encumbered by dual liabilities that make this prominent reform a precarious as well as a potent political strategy.
New Boundaries for School-Based Management: The High Involvement Model
Authors: Wohlstetter Priscilla , Smyer Roxane , Mohrman Susan Albers
Published: March 2008

A major challenge facing reformers who are demanding high levels of performance from the educational system is to enable schools to make changes in the way they deliver services to create high performance. This article examines the utility of school-based management (SBM) as a means for generating school improvement and applies a model of high involvement management, developed in the private sector, to determine what makes SBM work and under what conditions. The analysis illustrates the importance of expanding the definition of SBM to include aspects of organizational redesign, beyond the traditional boundaries of shared power, in order to create the capacity within schools to develop high performance.
Open Enrollment in Massachusetts: Why Families Choose
Authors: Fossey Richard
Published: March 2008

In 1991, the Massachusetts legislature passed an open enrollment law permitting students to enroll in schools outside their home communities. This article describes a study of enrollment patterns under the open enrollment program as of fall 1992. The study compared certain characteristics of Massachusetts sending and receiving districts in those settings in which 20 or more school-choice students transferred from one district to another. This comparison revealed that families generally enrolled their children in the schools of communities having higher indicators of student performance and higher socioeconomic status than the districts they left.
Where Did the $800 Million Go? The First Year of New Jersey's Quality Education Act
Authors: Firestone William A. , Goertz Margaret E. , Nagle Brianna , Smelkinson Marcy F.
Published: March 2008

Passage of New Jersey's school finance reform law raised questions about whether it would equalize funding between rich and poor districts, whether poor districts would waste their increases, and whether equalization would impair richer districts. Budgetary and interview data from 11 districts of varying wealth suggest that in the first year the law only modestly increased fiscal equality. Poor districts used new funds to improve other programs and the material educational environment. Wealthier districts experienced only minor cuts, which resulted as much from residents' unwillingness to tax themselves to the level allowed by the state as from reduced state funds.
Spending School Reform Dollars in Kentucky: Familiar Patterns and New Programs, But Is This Reform?
Authors: Adams Jacob E.
Published: March 2008

School finance reform in Kentucky provided significant new general purpose and categorical revenues to school districts. This analysis of comparative case studies in four high- and low-wealth Kentucky districts asks: Did expenditures increase? Did expenditure patterns change? What did reform dollars buy? In short, expenditures increased in all districts, and spending patterns changed only incrementally, with slight percentage increases directed to instruction. Reform dollars purchased instructional materials, technology, and professional development; they compensated teachers; and they funded new, state-mandated programs. Still, nonprogrammatic financial reporting masked the extent to which reform dollars supported required changes in teaching and learning.
The Missing Link in School-Linked Social Service Programs
Authors: Smrekar Claire
Published: March 2008

States and local communities have responded to the urgent demand for better coordinated services by creating organizational linkages across schools and human service agencies. In the rush to promote schools as the linchpin for this policy proposal, however, critical issues related to the nature of interactions between families and schools have been mostly ignored by policy-makers and educators. This study of the Kentucky Family Resource Centers explores the effect of family-school interactions on school-linked service programs. The findings suggest the need to connect the dialogue on integrated services to the impulses of reform in school-family-community networks.
Parent Involvement and School Responsiveness: Facilitating the Home–School Connection in Schools of Choice
Authors: Bauch Patricia A. , Goldring Ellen B.
Published: March 2008

School choice advocates maintain that parents who choose their schools will be involved. This study asks: (a) What are the characteristics of families who prefer different types of choice arrangements and what are their reasons for choosing? (b) How are parents involved in their children’s education under different types of choice arrangements? (c) How do schools respond to parents under different types of choice arrangements? Findings reveal that religion, income, and ethnicity are important in understanding parents’ reasons for school choice and that school type is a major factor in understanding the relationships between parent involvement and school responsiveness.
Cognitive Effects of 2-Year and 4-Year Colleges: New Evidence
Authors: Pascarella Ernest , Bohr Louise , Nora Amaury , Terenzini Patrick
Published: March 2008

This study investigated the freshman-year cognitive impacts of five 2-year and six 4-year colleges drawn from all sections of the United States. Controlling for individual precollege ability, there was a general parity between 2-year and 4-year college students on end-of-freshman year reading comprehension, mathematics, critical thinking, and composite achievement. This general parity, however, masked conditional effects based on gender and ethnicity. Men benefited cognitively more from 2-year colleges, whereas women realized greater cognitive returns from 4-year colleges. Non-White students benefited more from a 2-year college, whereas the reverse was true for their White counterparts.
Linking Teacher Compensation to Teacher Career Development
Authors: Conley Sharon , Odden Allan
Published: March 2008

Pay can be primarily based on individual or organizational performance, job tasks, or skills and knowledge ( Lawler, 1990 ). This article suggests that teacher skill- and knowledge-based pay plans in education may be related to major demarcation points in teachers' career development. To illustrate the potential features of this approach, career ladder programs in three U.S. districts, as well as the Advanced Skills Teacher (AST) system in Australia, are described. Each plan includes three or four career stages that would qualify a teacher for a significant pay increment. Policy analysts should strategically consider how such systems might affect school culture, norms, and micropolitical processes.
The Quality of Information From NAEP: Two Examples of Work Done in Collaboration With Leigh Burstein
Authors: Koretz Daniel
Published: March 2008

This article summarizes two research efforts, both focusing on the mathematics assessments of the National Assessment of Educational Progress, that illustrate Leigh Burstein’s long-standing concern with the quality of information about the condition of education. 1 The first examined nonresponse to NAEP test items; it found that omit rates were highest for difficult constructed-response items and that African American and Hispanic students had higher omit rates than Whites. The second study evaluated the validity of the 1992 achievement level descriptions as characterizations of mathematics performance; it found that the descriptions and accompanying exemplar items were misleading. In response to these findings, a variety of recommendations were offered pertaining to test construction, standards setting, routine monitoring (and reporting) of data quality, and standards-based reporting of student performance.
Opportunity to Learn as a Research Concept and a Policy Instrument
Authors: McDonnell Lorraine M.
Published: March 2008

Opportunity to learn (OTL) is rare among the many concepts that education researchers use to depict the complexity of the schooling process. Although designed as a technical concept to ensure valid cross-national comparisons, OTL has changed how researchers, educators, and policymakers think about the determinants of student learning. This article examines the evolution of OTL from a research concept to a policy instrument. It describes OTL’s intellectual origins in the IEA studies and the role of OTL research in education indicator development. The article then outlines OTL’s emergence as a potential policy tool, and assesses its political and technical feasibility.
What Do International Assessments Imply for World-Class Standards?
Authors: Linn Robert L. , Baker Eva L.
Published: March 2008

The focus of this article is on the implications of international assessments in setting world-class performance standards. Illustrations of possible uses of results of recent international assessments as benchmarks against which to compare the achievement of U.S. students are presented. A distinction is made between defining a cutting score on an assessment and setting performance standards that indicate whether students have met established performance standards. Several characteristics of international assessments that affect their usefulness as the source of achievement benchmarks (e.g., the content coverage and weighting of the assessment tasks, the definition of the population to be assessed, and the quality of the samples obtained) are discussed.
Benchmarking Education Standards
Authors: Resnick Lauren B. , Nolan Katherine J. , Resnick Daniel P.
Published: March 2008

Recently, standards have become the currency of education reform efforts in the U.S. However, there is no international consensus on what constitutes “world-class” education. The New Standards Project has designed research to describe standards in other countries by using the case-study approach of ethnography to collect data (e.g., curricula, texts, exams, student work, and professional views). The review/analysis of the data is organized by a set of fundamental questions, the answers to which constitute a contextualized account of what students are expected to know and be able to do.
Former Teachers Who Return to Public Schools: District and Teacher Characteristics of Teachers Who Return to the Districts They Left
Authors: Beaudin Barbara Q.
Published: March 2008

This is a companion article to “Teachers Who Interrupt Their Careers: Characteristics of Those Who Return to the Classroom” ( Beaudin, 1993a ). The research summarized in the prior article was directed at understanding the composition of the teacher “reserve pool” at the state level. It examined teacher characteristics, experience, subject-area specialty, and opportunity costs that distinguished teachers who returned to public schools in Michigan from those who did not. In the following article, the analysis is conducted at the district level. Using maximum likelihood logistic regression analysis, district and teacher characteristics are identified that differentiate teachers who return to the districts they left from those who return to other public school districts in the state. The findings show teachers return to the districts they left if the districts paid higher first-year salaries and had higher levels of educational funding and higher pupil-teacher ratios than other districts in the state. More experienced teachers who interrupted their careers for one year, females, older, and Black teachers were more likely to return to the districts they left than to other school districts.
Aligning Teacher Compensation with Systemic School Reform: Skill-Based Pay and Group-Based Performance Rewards
Authors: Mohrman Allan M. , Mohrman Susan Albers , Odden Allan R.
Published: March 2008

Standards-based education reform requires that teachers develop a new array of professional knowledge and skills to teach a thinking-oriented curriculum, engage in the organization and management of schools, and produce higher levels of student achievement. Such a change is systemic and requires that all aspects of the school organization be restructured. This article describes a potential teacher compensation structure that is consistent with these types of systemic and normative changes and that is an example of the kinds of compensation practices they require for successful implementation. Our purpose is to spur systemic thinking about the role of compensation by offering a concrete proposal that includes skill- and competency-based pay as well as group performance awards.
Methodological Issues in the Design of Longitudinal Research: Principles and Recommendations for a Quantitative Study of Teachers’ Careers
Authors: Singer Judith D. , Willett John B.
Published: March 2008

In this paper, we initiate a discussion of the possible methodological features of a potential new national longitudinal study of teachers’ careers. We use a review of the substantive and methodological literatures and “pseudolongitudinal” analyses of data drawn from the National Center for Education Statistics’ Schools and Staffing Survey and Teacher Follow-Up Survey to support our arguments. Our presentation is framed by six key principles of research design that are then used to support concrete recommendations about whom should be studied, how often they should be observed, and for how long the study should continue. Our six design principles assert that, in the new study, we must collect truly longitudinal data, view time as both an outcome and a predictor, collect data on both time-varying and time-invariant measures, collect data prospectively whenever possible, collect data beginning in multiple base years, and collect data at all relevant levels of the organizational hierarchy. Although it is impossible to define a single research design that is optimal for answering all research questions about the teaching career, we recommend that the new study should sample from the population of teachers who are beginning their first, second, third, and subsequent spells, that each of these teachers be followed for at least 12 years (both in and out of teaching), and that they should be measured on at least six occasions during this period. We also recommend that the study be replicated starting in two, if not three, base years. We welcome public comment and discussion of our proposals.
Title I and Student Achievement: A Meta-Analysis of Federal Evaluation Results
Authors: Borman Geoffrey D. , D’Agostino Jerome V.
Published: March 2008

Despite the seeming wealth of Title I evaluation information, the educational effectiveness of the program has remained debatable. Inconsistent findings can be attributed to variations in evaluation methods. Nevertheless, results from key studies have contributed to a conventional wisdom concerning Title I and student achievement. In contrast to previous reviews, this study employed metaanalytic techniques to assess the overall impact of the program on achievement and to examine the effects of mediating methodological and programmatic factors. The data were derived from 17 federal studies, ranging from 1966 to 1993, from which 657 unique effect sizes were derived. Results indicated a modest overall impact of Title I. However, the mediating factors were significant predictors. After controlling for these effects, Title I effect sizes were more favorable as the program matured. This finding may be attributable to expanded federal oversight and the growing focus on program improvement that has evolved over the years.
Effects of Mandatory Basic Education for Adult AFDC Recipients
Authors: Friedlander Daniel , Martinson Karin
Published: March 2008

Only small education effects were found for a large-scale program requiring participation in basic education by adult welfare recipients without a high school diploma or with low reading or math pretest scores. Positive results found in some of the research sites suggest that, with a focused program effort, GED certificates and improved achievement test scores may be obtained for individuals with pretest scores that are relatively high for this population. Raising achievement levels and increasing GED receipt appreciably among the many welfare recipients with lower pretest scores will require substantially improved program effectiveness.
Gender and Racial/Ethnic Differences on Performance Assessments in Science
Authors: Klein Stephen P. , Jovanovic Jasna , Stecher Brian M. , McCaffrey Dan , Shavelson Richard J. , Haertel Edward , Solano-Flores Guillermo , Comfort Kathy
Published: March 2008

We examined whether the differences in mean scores among gender and racial/ethnic groups on science performance assessments are comparable to the differences that are typically found among these groups on traditional multiple-choice tests. To do this, several hands-on science performance assessments and other measures were administered to over 2,000 students in grades five, six, and nine as part of a field test of California’s statewide testing program. Girls tended to have higher overall mean scores than boys on the performance measures, but boys tended to score higher than girls on certain types of questions within a performance task. In contrast, differences in mean scores among racial/ethnic groups on one type of test (or question) were comparable to the differences among these groups on the other measures studied. Overall, the results suggest that the type of science test used is unlikely to have much effect on gender or racial/ethnic differences in scores.
The Equity Consequence of School Finance Reform in Kentucky
Authors: Adams Jacob E. , White William E.
Published: March 2008

This study examines the equity consequence of school finance policy changes in Kentucky. It incorporates traditional school finance concerns regarding equity targets, objects, principles, and statistics. It utilizes adjustments for district economies of scale and interdistrict price differences. Findings indicate that Kentucky experienced marked improvements in equity as a result of school finance reform, including a narrower dispersion of pupil revenue and greater fiscal neutrality. Equity improvements resulted from policy changes that effectively addressed disequalizing attributes of the pre-reform state aid formula. Manipulating this formula further could produce additional marginal gains in system equity but at substantial cost.
Reconstructing Conceptions of Local Capacity: The Local Education Agency’s Capacity for Ambitious Instructional Reform
Authors: Spillane James P. , Thompson Charles L.
Published: March 2008

In this article, the authors argue that the notion of local capacity needs to be rethought in light of the extraordinary demands for learning imposed on local educators by the current wave of instructional reforms. Confining their discussion to the local education agency (LEA), the authors argue that the LEA’s capacity to support ambitious instruction consists to a large degree of LEA leaders’ ability to learn new ideas from external policy and professional sources and to help others within the district learn these ideas. Drawing on a study of nine school districts, they identify three interrelated dimensions of this capacity—human capital, social capital, and financial resources.
Influencing Achievement Through High School Graduation Requirements
Authors: Chaney Bradford , Burgdorf Kenneth , Atash Nadir
Published: March 2008

Using data from the 1990 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and the 1990 High School Transcript Study, we compare students’ course-taking patterns with their NAEP achievement scores and with schools’ graduation requirements. We find relatively few students were affected by the requirements, either because students took more than was required or they took courses that did not affect their achievement. Those course sequences that were correlated with increases in students’ achievement scores suggested that students who were marginal in their motivation and skills could benefit by taking courses that were more demanding.
Does Teacher Empowerment Affect the Classroom? The Implications of Teacher Empowerment for Instructional Practice and Student Academic Performance
Authors: Marks Helen M. , Louis Karen Seashore
Published: March 2008

Findings from recent research about the relationship of teacher empowerment to other school reform objectives of interest, such as classroom practices or student academic performance, are mixed. This study investigates teacher empowerment in schools that have at least four years of experience with some form of decentralized or school-based management. Based on the assumption that participation in school decisionmaking can enhance teachers’ commitment, expertise, and, ultimately, student achievement, we hypothesize a positive relationship between empowerment and student performance through the linkages of school organization for instruction and pedagogical quality. The data we use to examine empowerment are drawn from a sample of 24 restructuring elementary, middle, and high schools—8 schools at each grade level. Most of the schools are urban, representing 16 states and 22 school districts. Data sources include teacher surveys, ratings of pedagogical quality, assessments of student academic performance, and case studies based on interviews and observations; the primary method of analysis is hierarchical linear modeling (HLM). The results suggest: (1) Overall, empowerment appears to be an important but not sufficient condition of obtaining real changes in teachers’ ways of working and their instructional practices; (2) The effects of empowerment on classroom practice vary depending on the domain in which teacher influence is focused; (3) Teacher empowerment affects pedagogical quality and student academic performance indirectly through school organization for instruction.
Has the Alternative Certification Policy Materialized Its Promise? A Comparison Between Traditionally and Alternatively Certified Teachers in Public Schools
Authors: Shen Jianping
Published: March 2008

The study compared the characteristics of traditionally certified (TC) and alternatively certified (AC) teachers by analyzing data from a nationally representative sample of public school teachers ( N = 14,721). The sample was constructed from the Schools and Staffing Survey 1993–1994, a national survey conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics. The findings supported some of the arguments for AC, such as alleviating teacher shortages in mathematics and science and in urban schools and diversifying the teaching force by recruiting more people of minorities into teaching. However, the findings also raised serious concerns regarding the impact of AC policy: (a) AC teachers appeared to have lower academic qualifications than did TC teachers; (b) AC policy failed to recruit a significant number of experienced personnel from other occupations, and a large number of fresh college graduates took advantage of AC policy to circumvent the traditional teacher education program; (c) A lower percentage of AC teachers treated teaching as a lifelong career than did TC teachers; and (d) A high percentage of AC teachers working in inner-city schools raised the important issue of educational equity.
Upgrading High School Mathematics Instruction: Improving Learning Opportunities for Low-Achieving, Low-Income Youth
Authors: Gamoran Adam , Porter Andrew C. , Smithson John , White Paula A.
Published: March 2008

Low-achieving, low-income students are typically tracked into dead-end math courses in high school. In this article, the authors evaluate the success of “transition” math courses in California and New York, which are designed to bridge the gap between elementary and college-preparatory mathematics and to provide access to more challenging and meaningful mathematics for students who enter high school with poor skills. The authors hypothesize that the transition courses—Math A in California and Stretch Regents and UCSMP Math in New York—allow students to keep pace with those who enter college-preparatory courses by covering rigorous mathematical content using a range of cognitive strategies. Data from 882 students in 48 math classes are analyzed using a three-level hierarchical linear model. The results show that growth in student achievement is significantly lower in general-track classes than in college-preparatory classes. Achievement in transition classes falls in between: not significantly lower than in college-preparatory classes, but not significantly greater than in general-track classes. More rigorous content coverage accounts for much of the achievement advantage of college-preparatory classes. The transition classes are judged a partial success in meeting their goal of upgrading the quality of mathematics instruction for low-achieving, low-income youth.
Who Receives Federal Title I Assistance? Examination of Program Funding by School Poverty Rate in New York State
Authors: Carmichael Paul H.
Published: March 2008

The distributional pattern of federal funding allocated through the Elementary and Secondary Education Act’s Title I program was examined for all public schools in New York State. Although Title I is a major vehicle for serving the needs of poor children and redressing educational inequity, the present findings suggest that poorer school districts may be ill-served by the present law in several ways: (1) The federal Title I program is widely distributed across New York State to 98% of school districts and to nearly 80% of all public schools; (2) regardless of the poverty rate for any given school district (including the most affluent districts), a clear majority of schools receive Title 1 funding; (3) some of the poorest districts may be unable to use Title I to serve many of their educationally disadvantaged children when an individual school’s poverty rate falls below the intradistrict average. Implications for children in poverty are discussed with reference to the most recent reauthorization of Title I (Improving America’s Schools Act of 1994).