ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Evaluating Voucher Programs: The Milwaukee Parental Choice Program
Author: Witte, John F.
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: School Choice,Educational Vouchers,Program Evaluation,Academic Achievement,Comparative Analysis,Public Schools,Value Added Models,High School Graduates,Graduation Rate,College Attendance,Control Groups,Experimental Groups,Low Income Groups,Private Schools,Standardized Tests,Surveys,Interviews,Case Studies,Scores,Observation,Randomized Controlled Trials

This paper is the first summary of two studies and 10 years of evaluating the Milwaukee Parental Choice (voucher) Program (MPCP). This paper discusses school voucher evaluations in general terms and how these studies are carried out. The paper outlines the types of studies completed in &quot;Study I&quot; and &quot;Study II&quot; and the results of those studies. The focus of these studies was on student achievement comparisons between voucher and non-voucher public school students using value-added approaches over five-year periods. &quot;Study II&quot; was able--for the first time--to study high school graduation and college enrollment (attainment). Control groups for &quot;Study I&quot; were: a matched random sample of low-income Milwaukee Public School (MPS) students; and, as a secondary comparison, the entire MPS low-income student population. A more complex matching process was used to pick a control group matched to grade-level random samples of voucher students in &quot;Study II&quot;. Low-income students were offered educational vouchers in lieu of tuition to attend private schools in Milwaukee. In &quot;Study I&quot;, only secular private schools (23 at most) were in the program; in &quot;Study II&quot;, both secular and religious private schools were allowed (approximately 115) to enroll voucher students. Both studies were observational with suitable comparison groups. In both studies a wide range of data were collected over five-year periods including standardized test scores, parent and student surveys, teacher and administrator interviews, and school-level case studies. Both studies conclude that there were no major achievement (test score) differences between voucher and non-voucher samples, but that &quot;Study II&quot; voucher students graduated from high school and attended and persisted in four-year colleges at higher rates than their non-voucher MPS counterparts.
Fraction Development in Children: Importance of Building Numerical Magnitude Understanding
Author: Jordan, Nancy C.
Date: 2016-01-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Fractions,Numeracy,Numbers,Grade 3,Grade 4,Grade 5,Grade 6,Longitudinal Studies,Student Development,Theories,Predictor Variables,Multiple Regression Analysis,Mathematics Achievement,Elementary School Students,Middle School Students

This chapter situates fraction learning within the integrated theory of numerical development. We argue that the understanding of numerical magnitudes for whole numbers as well as for fractions is critical to fraction learning in particular and mathematics achievement more generally. Results from the Delaware Longitudinal Study, which examined domain-general and domain-specific predictors of fraction development between third and sixth grade, are highlighted. The findings support an approach to teaching fractions that centers on a number line. Implications for helping struggling learners are discussed.
Impacts of a Discussion-Based Academic Language Program on Classroom Interactions in 4th through 7th Grades
Author: LaRusso, Maria
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Classroom Communication,Discourse Communities,Discourse Analysis,Academic Discourse,Urban Schools,Elementary School Students,Middle School Students,Vocabulary Development,Language Acquisition,Classroom Observation Techniques,Teacher Student Relationship,Experimental Groups,Control Groups,Program Implementation,Program Effectiveness,Educational Quality,Interaction,Educational Practices,Outcomes of Education

This paper presents an exploratory analysis of treatment-control differences in the quality of classroom interactions in 4th through 7th grade urban classrooms. Word Generation (WG) is a research-based academic language program for middle school students designed to teach novel vocabulary and literacy through language arts, math, science, and social studies classes. Previous research found significant positive effects of WG on classroom discussion quality, and this study extends that work by examining whether specific classroom interactions that are integral to the WG program, such as those promoting analysis and inquiry or engaging adolescent perspectives, are higher quality in WG classrooms as compared to control classrooms. As part of the Institute of Education Sciences funded project &quot;Catalyzing Comprehension through Discussion and Debate&quot; (CCDD), the data for this study were collected as part of the impact evaluation of Word Generation conducted with students in 4th through 7th grades in K-8 urban schools across two states. The sample includes approximately 3,671 students and is socio-demographically diverse, including 85% low-income, 39% Latino/a, with 35% white students in one district, and 91% low income and 76% black students in the second district. Classroom observations were conducted in approximately 130 classrooms in each wave of data collection. The quality of classroom interactions was coded by research assistants who were trained and certified as reliable in the Classroom Assessment Scoring System: CLASS-Upper Elementary. Results provide evidence that classrooms utilizing the Word Generation program are characterized by higher quality classroom interactions, including specific classroom interactions that reflect key program ingredients, such as the selection of content and activities that are meaningful to adolescents and the emphasis on analysis and reasoning. When schools were in the second year of program implementation there were also higher quality classroom interactions observed in WG teachers' classrooms when they were implementing other curricula, as compared to control classrooms, suggesting that changes in teachers' practices and classroom dynamics carried over into other parts of the school day when WG was not being implemented.
Early College for All: Efforts to Scale up Early Colleges in Multiple Settings
Author: Edmunds, Julie A.
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: College School Cooperation,College Preparation,Models,Interviews,Quasiexperimental Design,Educational Change,Educational Practices,Change Strategies,High Schools,Dual Enrollment

Given the positive impacts of the small, stand-alone early college model and the desire to provide those benefits to more students, organizations have begun efforts to scale up the early college model in a variety of settings. These efforts have been supported by the federal government, particularly by the Investing in Innovation (i3) program. This paper will describe current efforts to take the early college model and apply it in multiple settings and It will describe programs being supported by three i3 grants, focusing on the commonalities of these three efforts. The specific questions addressed by this paper include: 1) How are providers conceptualizing the scaling up of the early college model? 2) What adaptations are expected as the model is being scaled up? 3) What are early lessons learned from the scale-up efforts? The results report that one of the primary lessons learned by project and school staff was the importance of early and frequent communication about the goals of the project and the importance of working with leadership at both the district and school levels.
A General Framework for Power Analysis to Detect the Moderator Effects in Two- and Three-Level Cluster Randomized Trials
Author: Dong, Nianbo
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Statistical Analysis,Randomized Controlled Trials,Effect Size,Computation,Educational Research

The purpose of this study is to propose a general framework for power analyses to detect the moderator effects in two- and three-level cluster randomized trials (CRTs). The study specifically aims to: (1) develop the statistical formulations for calculating statistical power, minimum detectable effect size (MDES) and its confidence interval to detect the moderation effects in two- and three-level CRTs, which include same and cross-level moderation, binary and continuous moderators, and covariates; and (2) operatize these formulas in the enhanced version of &quot;PowerUp!&quot; (Dong &amp; Maynard 2013) to create spreadsheets for calculating power, MDES, and other information. This study covers the same and cross-level moderation in two- and three-level CRTs. For the cross-level moderation, i.e., the moderator at the level lower than the treatment level, there are two options: the fixed slope and random slope of the moderator variable. The results of two-level CRTs with a treatment variable at Level 2 and a moderator at Level 1 are presented. The standard error formulas indicate that the standard error of the moderation effect estimate is not associated with the residual variance for the intercepts, but is associated with the residual variance at Level 1. This suggests that adding more covariates in the intercept model would not reduce the standard error or improve power to detect the moderation effect, which is different from the main effect analysis. However, adding more covariates at Level 1 that can further explain Level 1 variance would reduce the standard error and increase power. A table is appended.
Improving Quality and Child Outcomes in Early Childhood Education by Redefining the Role Afforded to Teachers in Professional Development: A Continuous Quality Improvement Learning Collaborative among Public Preschools in Chile
Author: Arbour, MaryCatherine
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Early Childhood Education,Preschool Teachers,Teacher Competencies,Faculty Development,Teacher Collaboration,Public Schools,Foreign Countries,Early Intervention,At Risk Students,Language Skills,Literacy Education,Child Development,Family Involvement,Teacher Role,Program Effectiveness,Low Income Groups,Interviews,Focus Groups,Regression (Statistics),English Curriculum,Second Language Learning,Surveys,Language Proficiency

Based on evidence derived from studies conducted mostly in the United States, many low- and middle-income countries are investing in early childhood education (ECE), with high expectations that it will improve academic outcomes, increase human capital, promote economic growth and reduce economic inequality. In Chile, there has been a great expansion of ECE provision. Still, children's language skills are below average, and there is a significant gap between socioeconomic groups. &quot;Un Buen Comienzo&quot; (&quot;A Good Start&quot;, UBC) was a cluster-randomized experiment of a two-year professional development program conducted in Chile that aimed to improve the quality of public preschool education and the outcomes of participating children. UBC provided 12 monthly workshops and 24 biweekly in-classroom teacher coaching sessions to promote adoption of strategies to improve children's language and literacy, with supporting interventions for children's health, socio-emotional development and family involvement. Findings suggest that Continuous Quality Improvement Learning Collaborative (CQI) works in part through changing the role of teachers in the school, supporting their own leadership and collaboration, and moving away from a culture of strict accountability (i.e. judgment) to one of facilitated and shared growth. Tables are appended.
Multilingual Literacy Skill Development in Kenya: Results from Medium Scale Randomized Controlled Trials
Author: Piper, Benjamin
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Literacy,Multilingualism,Skill Development,Randomized Controlled Trials,Slum Schools,Reading Fluency,Reading Comprehension,English,African Languages,Longitudinal Studies,Intervention,Program Effectiveness,Outcomes of Education,Transfer of Training,Reading Achievement,Elementary School Students

If children do not learn how to read in the first few years of primary school, they at greater risk of dropping out. It is therefore crucial to identify and test interventions that have the potential of making a large impact, can be implemented quickly, and are affordable to be taken to scale by the Kenyan government. This paper presents the findings of three randomized controlled trials designed to improve student literacy outcomes in Kenya. Two of the studies have multiple data points, two assessments measure outcomes in two languages, and the other in four languages. Random selection and assignment methods were utilized to assign clusters of schools to treatment and control conditions in Kenya. The treatment groups varied, but in several of them, the interventions implemented a targeted literacy and numeracy instructional program with student books, teachers' guides, ongoing teacher professional development and instructional supervision. The longitudinal results suggest that literacy acquisition in Kenya follows an unexpected path, and that additional research is required to understand what intervention points are available to more rapidly improve outcomes.
Bayesian Decision Theory Guiding Educational Decision-Making: Theories, Models and Application
Author: Pan, Yilin
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Bayesian Statistics,Decision Making,Educational Research,Research Methodology,Theories,Models,Statistical Analysis,Reading Programs,Selection

Given the importance of education and the growing public demand for improving education quality under tight budget constraints, there has been an emerging movement to call for research-informed decisions in educational resource allocation. Despite the abundance of rigorous studies on the effectiveness, cost, and implementation of educational interventions, school- and district-level practitioners find that the applicability of these studies to their decision-making problems in the real educational context can be limited. The purpose of this paper is to address three methodological challenges that hamper the influence of educational research on educational decision-making. These three methodological issues include how to generalize or extrapolate effectiveness and cost information from the evaluation site(s) to a specific context, how to incorporate information from multiple sources, and how to aggregate multiple consequences of an intervention into one framework. In particular, the author introduces Bayesian decision theory, a method that processes research findings and subjective judgments using a transparent mechanism, to address these three challenges so as to provide clear, localized direction for decision makers.
Aiding or Dissuading? The Effect of Maintaining Eligibility for Need-Based Financial Aid on Late Stage Persistence and Completion
Author: Mabel, Zachary A.
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Student Financial Aid,Eligibility,Academic Persistence,Graduation,Federal Aid,Grants,Undergraduate Students,Time to Degree,National Surveys

The returns to higher education have increased dramatically in recent decades with the rise of the global, knowledge-based economy. Research shows that the college earnings premium has increased more than 10 percent over the last fifteen years and that the returns to college are concentrated among completers. Despite these benefits, many students who attend college are withdrawing without experiencing the full returns on their investment. For decades financial aid has been a widely utilized policy tool to support college access and attainment, however, given the size of the subsidies and the troubling outcomes of college enrollees, understanding how financial aid impacts student progress to degree completion is critical. In this paper, the author sheds light on an important design consideration of need-based aid programs: &quot;the length of time for which grants should be made available.&quot; The findings contribute to the existing literature by estimating the late stage persistence and graduation effects of maintaining eligibility for aid as students near completion. Tables and figures are appended.
Measuring Student Success from a Developmental Mathematics Course at an Elite Public Institution
Author: Hsu, Julian
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Undergraduate Students,Student Placement,Developmental Programs,Remedial Mathematics,Colleges,Academic Achievement,Success,Student Evaluation,Course Selection (Students),Outcomes of Education,Measures (Individuals),Skill Development,Academic Persistence,Teacher Characteristics,Teacher Influence,Low Achievement,Low Income Students,First Generation College Students,Disproportionate Representation,Minority Group Students,Achievement Gap,STEM Education,Regression (Statistics),Comparative Analysis,Calculus

This paper asks whether placement recommendations for a developmental math course at an elite public institution impact students' future academic performance, course-taking, and college outcomes. Researchers use these specific outcomes to measure whether developmental courses help students develop the skills necessary to succeed in college, inspire them to take different courses, and help them graduate or persist in college. The study examines the ways in which instructor characteristics can drive these outcomes, and whether instruction at this university in a program for low-achieving students and particularly underprepared low-income, first-generation, and underrepresented minority students achieves its goal of reducing achievement gaps. This informs specific course and instructor policies to help underprepared students in their first semesters in college. The research setting is an elite public institution with a large number of students, with an undergraduate enrollment of over 20,000. Researchers gathered the administrative formulas the Office of the Registrar used to calculate student recommendations, and accessed student and instructor administrative data. A regression-discontinuity (RD) framework was used to overcome the hurdle of making estimations since students who take developmental courses are different from students who do not. With the RD strategy, researchers can measure the causal impact of receiving a recommendation for developmental courses. A linear regression was used on the selected sample to estimate the causal impact of the recommendation. Researchers included the index distance above and below the cutoff as additional controls. Using the linear regression and RD framework, results show that students who receive a Definite Recommendation to take Pre-Calculus are more likely to take Pre-Calculus compared to students who receive only a Tentative Recommendation. This shows these recommendations have a significant effect on students' course-taking decisions. Figures are appended.
Collaborative Stakeholder Engagement. Special Report
Author: Jordan, Matt
Date: 2016-06-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Stakeholders,Statewide Planning,Educational Policy,Models,Cooperative Planning,Partnerships in Education,Educational Planning,Change Strategies,State Programs

Stakeholder engagement and collaboration are essential to the development of an effective state plan. Engaging a diverse group of stakeholders tasked with working together to create education policies that will have a positive, lasting impact on students is not as easy as it sounds. Experts in the field argue that the traditional stakeholder engagement model alone will not produce the long-term outcomes states desire. This report offers a framework for going beyond simply engaging stakeholders for input to collaborating with them to create shared goals and better results.
Aligning Educational Outcomes and Practices. Occasional Paper #26
Author: Hutchings, Pat
Date: 2016-01-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Educational Practices,Outcomes of Education,Alignment (Education),Educational Objectives,Behavioral Objectives,Curriculum Design,Concept Mapping,Instructional Leadership,Teacher Leadership,Participative Decision Making,Student Participation,College Programs

The notion of alignment has become increasingly prominent in efforts to improve student learning today. The term, as used in this paper, refers to the linking of intended student learning outcomes with the processes and practices needed to foster those outcomes. Alignment is not a new idea, but it has become more salient as increasing numbers of campuses have devised institution-level learning outcomes, and as frameworks such as the Association of American Colleges and Universities' (AAC&amp;U) Essential Learning Outcomes (ELOs), Lumina Foundation's Degree Qualifications Profile (DQP), and Tuning USA have become widely known and adopted. It has also become more important as students swirl through multiple institutions, stop out and return, and take advantage of the growing set of providers offering courses, badges, and certificates. Seen from this perspective, alignment is a much-needed counter to fragmentation and incoherence. But achieving alignment isn't easy. In 2013 only four in ten institutions reported that the learning goals of all of their academic programs were aligned with the institution's stated learning outcomes. Drawing on work by the National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment (NILOA), this paper explores what campuses can do to facilitate this process in a way that makes a difference in the experience and achievements of learners. Specifically it reviews the use of curricular mapping as one prominent approach to achieving alignment; explores another approach that emerges more directly from the interests and work of faculty; proposes a number of implications for approaching the work of alignment; and concludes with an examination of the roles that students can play in our thinking about alignment. The aim of the paper is to begin to &quot;crack open&quot; this topic in ways that recognize its multiple levels, full range of contributors, and complexity.
Improving Teaching, Learning, and Assessment by Making Evidence of Achievement Transparent. Occasional Paper #25
Author: Eubanks, David
Date: 2015-05-00
Type: Guides - Non-Classroom
Subjects: Educational Improvement,Educational Practices,Program Implementation,Assignments,Credibility,Educational Benefits,Test Validity,Outcomes of Education,Achievement,College Outcomes Assessment,Information Utilization,Instructional Improvement,Student Evaluation,Technology Uses in Education,Higher Education

Technology can change higher education by empowering students to make an impact on the world as undergraduates. Done systematically, this would allow institutions to close the credibility gap with an increasingly dubious public. Authentic student achievements that are addressed to a &quot;real world&quot; audience can lead to richly detailed &quot;Resume 2.0&quot; portfolios of work that add value to degrees and the granting institutions. A guide is provided for implementation of new high-impact practices, including structured assignment creation.