ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of Professional Development in the Use of Arts-Integrated Activities with Mathematics Content: Findings from the Evaluation of the Wolf Trap Arts in Education Model Development and Dissemination Grant. Final Grant Report
Author: Ludwig, Meredith
Date: 2015-01-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Art Education,Mathematics Instruction,Faculty Development,Summer Programs,Institutes (Training Programs),Preschool Teachers,Kindergarten,Integrated Activities,Program Evaluation,Program Effectiveness,Teaching Methods,Mathematics Achievement,Preschool Children,Young Children,Theater Arts,Artists,Teacher Collaboration,Coaching (Performance)

In 2010, the Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts, Institute for Early Learning Through the Arts (Wolf Trap), was awarded a U.S. Department of Education Arts in Education Model Development and Dissemination (AEMDD) grant. The purpose of the AEMDD grant was to develop, implement, and disseminate a research-based program of professional development that equips teachers to infuse mathematics instruction with performing arts strategies in their prekindergarten and kindergarten classrooms. The professional development program developed by Wolf Trap's project team includes annual summer institutes as well as in-classroom coaching during the school year. In the summer institutes, teaching artists in the disciplines of dance, music, and drama work with teachers in teams to develop standards based performing arts and mathematics experiences. During the school year, teachers and teaching artists work together in partnership, planning and implementing lessons in the classroom-a research-based strategy often called the artist residency model (Burnaford, 2007). American Institutes for Research (AIR) conducted a four-year evaluation of the Wolf Trap AEMDD grant project beginning in 2010 when the grant was awarded. The purpose of this evaluation was to examine the implementation of the Wolf Trap professional development program and assess its impact on teacher practice (use of performing arts strategies in particular) and students' mathematics knowledge. This report focuses on program impacts by addressing two research questions: (1) What was the impact of the Wolf Trap professional development on prekindergarten and kindergarten teachers' use of performing arts and mathematics strategies; and (2) To what extent did students in the study treatment schools demonstrate better mathematics knowledge than students in the control schools? Despite the limitations, this study produced promising evidence for the impacts of the Wolf Trap professional development program on both teaching and learning. Appended are: (1) Examples of Arts Integration Routines Observed in Classroom Observations; and (2) Statistical Models for Impact Analyses. [Although a grant number was not provided in this report, the contents of this publication were developed under a grant from the U.S. Department of Education. To view a related report &quot;Evaluation of Professional Development in the Use of Arts-Integrated Activities with Mathematics Content: Findings about Program Implementation&quot; see EJ1050560.]
Historical Development of NATO Stanag 6001 Language Standards and Common European Framework (CEF) and the Comparison of Their Current Status
Author: Solak, Ekrem
Date: 2011-01-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Second Language Learning,Guidelines,Educational History,Armed Forces,Military Personnel,Second Language Instruction,Language Proficiency,Rating Scales,Educational Change,Foreign Countries,Standards,Comparative Analysis,Language Tests

The aim of the article is to shed light on the historical development of language studies in military and social context and to compare the current status of NATO Stanag (Standard Agreement) 6001 language scale with Common European Framework (CEF). Language studies in military context date back to World War II and the emergence of Army Specialized Training Program (ASTP) can be considered the first initiative on this path. In 1976, NATO adopted a language proficiency scale related to the Interagency Language Roundtable's 1968 document and this scale was finally updated in 2003 and has been put into practice by member countries since then. On the other hand, in European context, language studies have undergone some changes since the signature of the European Cultural Convention in 1954. Finally, Common European Framework emerged for the standardization of language studies throughout Europe in 2001. When two scales are compared there are similarities in some aspects but minor differences especially in terminology and topics.
NATO Stanag Language Proficiency Levels for Joint Missions and Its Implementations at a State Organization
Author: Solak, Ekrem
Date: 2013-05-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Armed Forces,Language Proficiency,Second Language Learning,English (Second Language),Language of Instruction,Questionnaires,Language Tests,Second Language Instruction,Writing Skills,Oral Language,Skill Development,Instructional Materials,Military Personnel,International Cooperation,Law Enforcement

Turkish Armed Forces have been participating in joint missions together with other nations for decades. Since English is the medium of instruction in these missions, participating members should have NATO Standards in terms of language proficiency levels in four skills. Therefore, this study aims to specify personnel's views and their language proficiency levels in terms of NATO Stanag Level 3 objectives. Subjects are the personnel (n = 30) attending English courses at a state organization. NATO Stanag Level 3 questionnaire and NATO Stanag 6001 Level 3 exam were administered to them at the end of the English course. Findings prove that subjects need improvement in speaking and writing skills though they consider themselves comparatively better in reading and listening skills. As a result, it is suggested that four language skills should be taken into consideration in evaluation and the current materials should be supported by some auxiliary documents to meet professional needs.
A Study of Needs Analysis at Turkish Gendarmerie in Terms of English for Specific Purposes
Author: Solak, Ekrem
Date: 2012-10-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Needs Assessment,English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,Learning Experience,Questionnaires,Law Enforcement,Police,English for Special Purposes,Language Proficiency,Language Skills,International Cooperation,Armed Forces,Military Personnel

Problem Statement: English learning and teaching activities are crucial for Turkish Gendarmerie personnel serving both at home and in various regions of the world. However, there is no sound basis determining the language needs of the gendarmerie organization and personnel to lead them to accomplishment in joint missions. Purpose of Study: This paper aims to investigate the language needs of the Turkish Gendarmerie in terms of English for Specific Purposes. It is expected that determining the language needs of the organization on scientific basis helps to reshape the language curriculum of the gendarmerie and finally it will help the accomplishment of the joint missions in terms of language proficiency. Method: Two questionnaires were administered to 70 gendarmerie personnel who had English learning experience to understand the language needs of the organization. Then the collected data was presented through tables. Findings and Results: The data collected reveals that speaking and writing skills should be emphasized and taken into consideration in assessment. In addition, language materials need to be improved or be supplemented by auxiliary documents. Conclusion and Recommendations: The present study suggests that some steps need to be taken to improve the language proficiency of the gendarmerie personnel to meet the language requirements especially for joint missions. A new language teaching program should be prepared in terms of improving four language skills and topics should be introduced related to the gendarmerie jurisdiction.
Leadership by Consensus at MU: A Look at Two Leaders
Author: Bayar, Adem
Date: 2014-12-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Leadership Styles,Leadership Effectiveness,Leadership Qualities,Leadership Responsibility,Barriers,Performance Factors,College Administration,Conflict Resolution,Decision Making,Recognition (Achievement),Change Strategies,Qualitative Research,Semi Structured Interviews,Institutional Characteristics,Administrator Attitudes

The researchers are interested in the views and perceptions, about leadership, of two leaders within the University of Missouri at the Columbia campus. Therefore, the aim of this research is to understand and to compare and contrast the leadership styles of these two leaders. In order to reach the aim of this recent study, the researchers have addressed the following research question, &quot;How do you balance the needs of the various stakeholders as you are presented challenges and opportunities that require your leadership skills?&quot; in order to answer the main research question of this study, the following sub questions have been addressed: 1) What are the greatest challenges and opportunities you have faced as a leader?, 2) How do you facilitate negotiations between individuals or groups with competing values?, 3) How do you move the agenda forward to facilitate decision-making?, 4) What has been your greatest accomplishment?, and 5) What advice would you give to an incoming leader in this institution? The researchers have employed a qualitative research design in this study. For this aim, the researchers have conducted semi-structured interviews with two leaders within the University of Missouri system. The first interview has been conducted with President Tim Wolfe. The second interview has been conducted with Dr. Les Hall, interim dean of the medical school. Based on analysing the collected data, the researchers have recognized the importance of leadership for the benefits and endure of organizations. The researchers have also come to the conclusion that both leaders have some similarities and differences while they are leading.
An Analysis of Writing Dispositions of 6th Grade Students in Terms of Different Variables
Author: Tabak, Gurkan
Date: 2014-08-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Grade 6,Elementary School Students,Reading Attitudes,Academic Persistence,Statistical Analysis,Gender Differences,Family Income,Geographic Location,Reading Habits,Reading Materials,Books,Periodicals,Newspapers,Grade Point Average,Rating Scales,Scores

This research was conducted with an aim to analyze the writing dispositions of the 6th grade students in terms of different variables. The research was carried out based on the descriptive survey model. The participants of the research are composed of a total of 672 students as 342 male students and 330 female students from Ankara, Balikesir, Bartin, Adana, and Kayseri. The research data were obtained by the application of &quot;Personal Information Form&quot; developed by the researchers and &quot;Writing Disposition Scale&quot; developed by Piazza and Siebert (2008) and adapted to Turkish by Iseri and Ünal (2010). For the evaluation of the data, percent, frequency, average scores, t-tests of the independent groups, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and post-hoc tests as Scheffe and Dunnett-C, Kruskall-Wallis-H and Mann-Whitney-U tests were applied. As a result of the findings obtained, it was found out that the dispositions of the 6th grade students vary by gender, monthly income of the family, home city, frequency of reading books and whether they read a periodical on a regular basis whereas such writing dispositions of the 6th grades did not vary by GPA (grade-point average) and whether the family bought a newspaper for home on a regular basis.
Clout Goes to College: Admissions Scandal at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Author: Bayar, Adem
Date: 2015-04-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: College Applicants,College Admission,College Administration,Qualitative Research,Land Grant Universities,Ethics,College Students,Parents,Stakeholders,Alumni,College Faculty,Admissions Officers,College Presidents,Governing Boards,Lobbying,Political Power,State Government,State Officials

There is no doubt that most people in the world want to continue their education either undergraduate level or graduate level in the United States. To do that, application is the first and most important request. After applying for getting acceptance, the applicants must be patient and wait till hearing from university. This process takes some considered time and is named &quot;admission process&quot;. However, a scandal happened at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign a few years ago. This event has caused some serious debates regarding universities' admission policy and admission processes. In order to touch this undesired event, the researchers have conducted this current study. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to bring up the admissions scandal at the university of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. In order to reach the aim of this study, the researchers have tried to reach the answer of following research questions: 1) What is the scandal at the university of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign? and 2) What did people think and/or say about this scandal? In order to collect data, the researchers have employed a qualitative research design in this study with document analysis technique. Based on analyzing the collected data, the researchers have come to the conclusion that nobody approves this event and some people had resigned from their assignment after this event.
The Reading Strategies Used by Prospective English Teachers in Turkish ELT Context
Author: Solak, Ekrem
Date: 2014-00-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Preservice Teachers,English (Second Language),Second Language Instruction,Second Language Learning,Computer Software,Reading Strategies,Student Attitudes,Majors (Students),Teaching Skills,Language Teachers,Metacognition,Foreign Countries,Measures (Individuals),Reading Processes,Academic Discourse,Item Analysis,Statistical Data,Gender Differences,Questionnaires

The purpose of this research was to determine what types of reading strategies prospective English Teachers used to accomplish in their reading assignments and activities. The study was conducted at a state-run University, English Language Teaching Department in Turkey. The participants were 130 prospective English Teachers majoring English Language Teaching and taking up the lecture of teaching language skills. The Metacognitive Awareness of Reading Strategies Inventory (MARSI) was used to collect data about the use of reading strategies while reading academic or school-related materials. The data collected was measured in SPSS program. The results indicated that participants used each strategy effectively. As the most striking strategy, subjects underlined or circled information in the text to help them remember the information. While both genders preferred to take advantage of similar strategies in common, they mostly preferred to use problem solving strategies compared to other strategies.
The Content Analysis of the Research Papers on Foreign Language Education in Turkey
Author: Solak, Ekrem
Date: 2014-07-00
Type: Information Analyses
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,Qualitative Research,Undergraduate Students,Journal Articles,Authors,English (Second Language),Trend Analysis,Content Analysis,Classification,Periodicals,Turkish,Statistical Analysis,Sample Size,Educational History,Writing for Publication,Literature Reviews

The purpose of this study was to determine the trends of recent research papers in foreign language teaching in Turkish context and to give ideas to researchers and policy makers for future studies. Content Analysis method was used in this study. The focus of the study was 189 research papers published between 2009-2013 years in journals indexed in SSCI (94) and the ULAKBIM (95) database in Turkey. Research Papers Classification Form was used as data collection instrument. The papers were scanned in terms of year of the journal, authors, language of the paper, journal index, topic of the paper, research design, data collection tools, sample, sample size and data analysis method. The results revealed that the most frequently studied topics on foreign language teaching and learning from 2009 to 2013 were concept analysis, teaching and learning, the highest number of articles were published in 2013, most of the authors were Turkish, majority of the articles were published in English, quantitative method was used more than qualitative method in research design, undergraduates were the focus of attention as sample group and 31-100 sample size was preferred more than others. An appendix presents the titles of the journals scanned in this study (2009-2013).
A Closer Look at the Student Achievement Trends in the District of Columbia between 2006-07 and 2012-13. CALDER Working Paper No. 119
Author: Özek, Umut
Date: 2014-11-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Academic Achievement,Educational Trends,Urban Schools,Achievement Gains,Mathematics Achievement,Reading Achievement,Scores,Student Improvement,African American Students,Hispanic American Students,Advantaged,School Demography,Public Schools,Standardized Tests,Socioeconomic Status,Gender Differences,Charter Schools,Grade 3,Grade 4,Grade 5,Grade 6,Grade 7,Grade 8,Grade 10

In this paper, we present a closer look at the student achievement trends in the District of Columbia between 2006-07 and 2012-13. We have three main conclusions. First, we find that overall, math scores in the District have improved. The improvements in reading scores during this time frame, however, were primarily limited to the first year after the PERAA implementation. While almost all student subgroups have experienced test score gains in math, these improvements were higher among the more affluent black and Hispanic students. Second, we find that these observed trends in math scores persist even after controlling for the cross-cohort differences in observed student characteristics. In particular, the estimates indicate that less than 10 percent of the year-to-year improvements in test scores can be attributed to the changing student composition in the District over this time frame. Finally, we show that existing students have also experienced gains in math even though the students who are new to the District's public school system score at higher levels on standardized tests when compared to existing students. Appendix A presents Figure A1--Average NAEP Scores in the District between 2003 and 2013. Appendix B: Subgroup Analysis with Student Covariates contains Tables B1 through B7.
Combining Multiple Performance Measures: Do Common Approaches Undermine Districts' Personnel Evaluation Systems? CALDER Working Paper No. 118
Author: Hansen, Michael
Date: 2014-10-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Teacher Evaluation,Measures (Individuals),Error of Measurement,Teacher Effectiveness,Simulation,School Districts,Goodness of Fit,Evaluation Methods,Reliability,Principals

Teacher and principal evaluation systems now emerging in response to federal, state and/or local policy initiatives typically require that a component of teacher evaluation be based on multiple performance metrics, which must be combined to produce summative ratings of teacher effectiveness. Districts have utilized three common approaches to combine these multiple performance measures, all of which introduce bias and/or additional prediction error that was not present in the performance measures originally. This paper investigates whether the bias and error introduced by these approaches erodes the ability of evaluation systems to reliably identify high- and low-performing teachers. The analysis compares the expected differences in long-term teacher value-added among teachers identified as high- or low-performing under these three approaches, using simulated data based on estimated inter-correlations and reliability of measures in the Gates Foundation's Measures of Effective Teaching project. Based on the results of our simulation exercise presented here, we conclude these approaches can undermine the evaluation system's objectives in some contexts. Depending on the way these performance measures are actually combined to categorize teacher performance, the additional error and bias can be large enough to undermine the district's objectives. An appendix presents: (1) Correlation Matrix; and (2) Estimated Coefficients under the Error-Minimizing Approach.
Is It Worth It? Postsecondary Education and Labor Market Outcomes for the Disadvantaged. CALDER Working Paper No. 117
Author: Backes, Benjamin
Date: 2014-09-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Postsecondary Education,Labor Market,Minority Groups,Disadvantaged,Student Records,Unemployment,Academic Achievement,Achievement Gap,Educational Attainment,Regression (Statistics),Secondary Education

In this paper we examine a range of postsecondary education and labor market outcomes, with a particular focus on minorities and/or disadvantaged workers. We use administrative data from the state of Florida, where postsecondary student records have been linked to UI earnings data and also to secondary education records. Our main findings can be summarized as follows: 1) Gaps in secondary school achievement can account for a large portion of the variation in postsecondary attainment and labor market outcomes between the disadvantaged and other students, but meaningful gaps also &quot;exist&quot; within achievement groups, and 2) Earnings of the disadvantaged are hurt by low completion rates in postsecondary programs, poor performance during college, and not choosing high-earning fields. In particular, significant labor market premia can be earned in a variety of more technical certificate and Associate (AA) programs, even for those with weak earlier academic performance, but instead many disadvantaged (and other) students choose general humanities programs at the AA (and even the Bachelor's or BA) level with low completion rates and low compensation afterwards. A range of policies and practices might be used to improve student choices as well as their completion rates and earnings.
Implementing LCFF: Building Capacity to Realize the Promises of California's New Funding System. Policy and Practice Brief
Author: Knudson, Joel
Date: 2014-11-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Capacity Building,Educational Finance,Funding Formulas,Teachers,Administrators,Community Leaders,Teacher Role,Administrator Role,School Districts,Central Office Administrators,County School Districts,Community Organizations,Feedback (Response)

California's Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) has introduced changes that alter the conditions under which educators, administrators, and community leaders approach their roles in the K-12 education system. Consequently, leaders at all levels may need to build the capacity--both the knowledge and skills and the resources--that they need to fulfill the potential of the new funding formula. This brief, the second in a series from the California Collaborative exploring LCFF implementation issues, highlights some of those capacity needs. Recognizing and addressing the demands for improved capacity at all levels of the system will be essential for achieving success with the new funding system. [Additional funding for the development of this brief was provided by the California Education Policy Fund, and the Silver Giving Foundation.]