ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Authenticity, Autonomy and Altruism: Keys for Transformation
Author: Clarken, Rodney
Date: 2011-03-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Altruism,Personal Autonomy,Well Being,Interpersonal Relationship,Classroom Environment,Individual Development,Teacher Student Relationship,Affective Behavior,Cognitive Development

The value of authentic knowing, autonomous behavior and altruistic motivation is presented. Authenticity, autonomy and altruism are primary human capacities and keys for individual and collective transformation. Realizing the full development of these three basic potentialities can serve as goals and standards for well-being. Authenticity, autonomy and altruism are described, ways of developing them explored and their role in relationships and classrooms discussed.
Resetting Race to the Top: Why the Future of the Competition Depends on Improving the Scoring Process. Policy Brief
Author: New Teacher Project
Date: 2010-12-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Federal Programs,Competition,Federal Aid,Educational Improvement,Models,Educational Change,State Government,Scoring,Politics of Education,Incentives,Grants,Program Evaluation,Identification,Peer Evaluation,Decision Making Skills,Reliability,Evaluators

Race to the Top represented a new paradigm in federal education. Instead of spreading relatively modest dollars evenly across all jurisdictions through funding formulas--as virtually all federal education funding has been and continues to be spent--a small number of successful states received all of the available funding, and in turn made it available only to local districts that voluntarily agreed to participate in the state's plan. The approach hinged on a review process that could credibly identify the best applications. The New Teacher Project actively participated in the Race to the Top process. Prior to the first application deadline, the New Teacher Project published a summary of the contest guidance and a set of policy recommendations for states. It collaborated with many states on their applications and, in April, it analyzed the scores of the first round finalists. At the time, it commended Secretary of Education Arne Duncan for setting a bold vision for reform and holding a high bar for state applicants. But it also identified a series of potentially serious problems in the scoring process. The second round of Race to the Top winners were named early this fall and, in November, the Department of Education announced that it would conduct a &quot;lessons learned&quot; review of its competitive grant programs, including Race to the Top. This analysis of the second round scoring process suggests a number of critical issues that such a review should consider carefully and attempt to rectify. This report concludes that many winners submitted ambitious proposals backed up by serious plans for implementation, and that there remains much to celebrate about the contest's impact. However, it also finds that the scoring problems of the first round persisted, leading to results that do not fully align with the stated goals or spirit of the program. This analysis is not intended to invalidate the plans or achievements of the Round 2 winners or to belittle the hard work or competence of the Race to the Top reviewers. This report's goal in exploring these issues is to ensure that competitive funding in general, including Race to the Top, continues to be a viable vehicle for supporting the transformation of schools. The policy breakthroughs sparked by Race to the Top before a single penny was spent prove the power of this approach. The solution requires an improved scoring process that restores credibility in the contest and inspires states to race with confidence. (Contains 2 footnotes.)
State Board of Education Guidelines for a School Improvement Planning Process
Author: Washington State Board of Education
Date: 2004-01-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Academic Achievement,School Districts,Educational Change,Guidelines,Educational Improvement,Educational Environment,Educational Planning,Program Effectiveness,School Safety,School Effectiveness,High Achievement,Educational Indicators,Educational Administration

Beginning with the 2003-2004 school year, school districts are required to assure the  State Board of Education (SBE) that each school in their district has in place a school improvement plan/process (SIP) that includes a continuous improvement process. This assurance is noted on the Minimum Basic Education Requirement Compliance Report, that school districts submit annually to the SBE. School improvement plans must promote a positive impact on student learning, be data driven, and be based on the characteristics of effective schools (including safe and healthy supportive learning environments) as identified by the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction's Office. This document includes the following information: (1) An Overview; (2) State Board of Education Guidelines for a School Improvement Planning Process; (3) SBE Policy: WAC 180-16-220; (4) Nine Characteristics of High Performing Schools; (5) State board of Education Learning Support and Improvement Committee.
The Effectiveness of Mandatory-Random Student Drug Testing
Author: James-Burdumy, Susanne
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Extracurricular Activities,Student Attitudes,Testing,Program Effectiveness,Drug Use Testing,High Schools,Program Evaluation,Comparative Analysis,High School Students,Drug Use,Substance Abuse,Grants,Program Implementation,Drinking,Smoking,Measurement Techniques,Measures (Individuals),Educational Attitudes

One approach some U.S. schools now use to combat high rates of adolescent substance use is school-based mandatory-random student drug testing (MRSDT). Under MRSDT, students and their parents sign consent forms agreeing to the students' participation in random drug testing as a condition of participating in athletics and other school-sponsored competitive extracurricular activities. This study is the largest experimental evaluation to date of school-based MRSDT. The study tested the effectiveness of MRSDT in reducing substance use among high school students. The results of this study found that students subject to MRSDT reported less substance use than comparable students in schools without MRSDT. However, the program had no spillover effects on the substance use reported by students not subject to testing and had no effect on any group of students' intentions to use substances. The program had no unintentional effects on the proportion of students participating in activities subject to drug testing or on students' attitudes toward school and perceived consequences of substance use.
Identification of Students with Specific Learning Disabilities. State of Washington Severe Discrepancy Tables. WAC 392-172-130. Revised
Author: Bergeson, Terry
Date: 2004-10-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Learning Disabilities,Special Education,Disability Identification,Academic Achievement,Regression (Statistics),Cognitive Ability,State Regulation,Measures (Individuals),Intelligence,Intelligence Tests

The State of Washington special education regulations address the eligibility determination  for specific learning disabilities and require the development of regression tables for  calculating a severe discrepancy between intellectual ability and academic achievement.  The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) Special Education, with the assistance of the Washington State Association of School Psychologists (WSASP) Assessment Review Committee, has updated the severe discrepancy tables to incorporate newly introduced measures. Instructions and other explanatory information have also been revised. This publication supersedes all previous severe discrepancy tables.
Teacher Evaluation 2.0
Author: New Teacher Project
Date: 2010-00-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Academic Achievement,School Districts,Teacher Evaluation,Teacher Effectiveness,Educational Quality,Unions,Evaluation,Educational Change,Outcomes of Education,Standards,Leaders

Everyone agrees that teacher evaluations are broken. So how can states and school districts fix them? This guide proposes six design standards that any rigorous and fair evaluation system should meet. It offers states and school districts a blueprint for better evaluations that can help every teacher thrive in the classroom--and give every student the best chance at success.
A Smarter Teacher Layoff System: How Quality-Based Layoffs Can Help Schools Keep Great Teachers in Tough Economic Times. Policy Brief
Author: New Teacher Project
Date: 2010-03-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Teacher Effectiveness,Employment Level,Job Layoff,Teacher Attitudes,Teacher Surveys,Criteria

The current economic downturn has forced school districts across the country to deal with massive budget cuts over the past two years. In some cases, these cuts led districts to make the wrenching decision to lay off teachers. The basic principle is "last hired, first fired;" newer teachers are laid off before more veteran teachers, regardless of how well they do their jobs. Layoffs are not good for anyone, but they are worse when they result in the loss of top teachers. With so many jobs--and so many children's futures--potentially at stake, districts and teachers unions must act now to reform these outdated rules so that schools will be able to hold on to their most effective teachers if layoffs become necessary. This is especially critical for schools serving students who already face severe educational disadvantages. The first step in designing a smarter layoff system is to solicit input from those it will affect most directly: teachers themselves. Last spring, The New Teacher Project did just that by surveying more than 9,000 teachers in two large urban districts about layoff policies. Teachers in these two districts overwhelmingly rejected quality-blind layoff rules. The results of this survey provide a roadmap for implementing layoff rules that teachers will support and will allow schools to retain their best teachers. Under a quality-based system, layoffs would be made according to several factors, each weighted in accordance with existing research and teacher input. (Contains 2 figures and 13 footnotes.)
How Federal Education Policy Can Reverse the Widget Effect: Transforming ESEA Title II to Improve Teacher Effectiveness and Student Outcomes. Policy Brief
Author: New Teacher Project
Date: 2010-02-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Teacher Effectiveness,Teacher Evaluation,Systems Approach,Educational Policy,Federal Government,Instructional Effectiveness,Attitude Measures,Teaching (Occupation),Public Opinion,Measures (Individuals),Teacher Characteristics,Evaluators,Elementary Secondary Education,Performance Based Assessment,Management Development

In June 2009, The New Teacher Project's study, &quot;The Widget Effect: Our National Failure to Acknowledge and Act on Differences in Teacher Effectiveness&quot;, drew national attention to the issue of ineffective teacher evaluation systems. The study documents how teacher evaluation systems ignore variations in performance, giving virtually all teachers positive ratings despite the fact that teachers and principals both say poor performance is common. As a result, excellence goes unrecognized, poor performance goes unaddressed, and a teacher's instructional effectiveness almost never factors into critical decisions such as how teachers are hired, developed or retained. To reverse the &quot;widget effect,&quot; the study recommends that states and school districts: (1) Adopt a comprehensive performance evaluation system; (2) Train administrators and other evaluators; (3) Integrate the performance evaluation system; and (4) Address consistently ineffective teaching. The New Teacher Project believes that the widget effect represents the single greatest challenge to improving teacher effectiveness and eliminating educational inequality. Until a teacher's effectiveness is accurately measured and matters in decision-making, the nation's schools will never be able to build a thriving teacher workforce capable of realizing sustainable improvement or closing the achievement gap. Shifting federal education policy to focus on measuring and responding strategically to differences in teacher effectiveness is essential, and the upcoming reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) creates an opportunity to realize this shift. (Contains 5 footnotes.)
Teacher Training, Classroom Consultation, and Child Outcomes in the Foundations of Learning Project
Author: Lloyd, Chrishana M.
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Intervention,Program Effectiveness,Teaching Methods,Program Implementation,Consultation Programs,Teacher Education,Coaching (Performance),Student Behavior,Pretests Posttests,Classroom Techniques,Interviews,Classroom Observation Techniques,Teacher Surveys,Educational Improvement,Improvement Programs

This presentation will answer the following research questions: (1) What was the intended implementation of the training and coaching component of Foundations of Learning (FOL)?; (2) To what extent was the training and consultation implemented as intended?; and (3) How did the combined training and coaching model utilized in the FOL project influence children's behavior and approaches to learning? FOL emerged from early lessons from CSRP, a randomized trial of 18 Head Start centers directed by Dr. Cybele Raver that tested the effectiveness of a uniquely designed two-pronged integrated strategy that combined teacher training and classroom consultation (most models only utilize one of these methods). The FOL project was launched in Newark, New Jersey, in two phases: a smaller-scale pilot phase during the 2006-2007 school year, followed by a second larger scale phase in the 2007-2008 school year. In Chicago, Illinois, the project was launched during the 2008-2009 academic year. The implementation and impact findings in Chicago, coupled with the earlier analysis of the Chicago School Readiness Project and FOL-Newark, indicate a positive benefit to classrooms and students for the combined training and consultation model. Classrooms appear to be better managed by teachers, and students are more positively engaged and exhibit less conflictual behavior. Notably, having an explicit and manualized process for consultation and clear standards and access to support about the various phases of consultation, was a critical driver of the intervention implementation process and provided a standard from which to understand if consultation occurred as intended. However, the data varied slightly across these studies and follow up data is limited in FOL. Further studies would benefit from a consistency in measures across sites and include pre and post measurement of both classrooms and children. As mentioned in the finding sections, independent observations and assessments appear to be less biased, more fine-tuned instruments for illustrating the differences across groups of children and classrooms. In addition, while there has been some focus and follow up on outcomes for children beyond the intervention year, further data collection on the impact of the model on teachers in subsequent years could more fully illustrate the model's potential impact. (Contains 1 figure and 3 tables.)
The High-Stakes Effects of &quot;Low-Stakes&quot; Testing
Author: Papay, John P.
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Standardized Tests,Mathematics Tests,Scores,Labeling (of Persons),Enrollment,Postsecondary Education,Enrollment Influences,Low Income Groups,Urban Youth,Grade 8,Grade 10,Students

In this paper, the authors examine how information that students receive about their academic performance affects their decisions to enroll in post-secondary education. In particular, they look at one specific piece of data--student performance on the state standardized mathematics test in grades 8 and 10 in Massachusetts. One key feature of such test-based accountability systems is that every student receives not only a test score but also a label based on their performance (for example, Failing, Needs Improvement, Proficient, or Advanced). The state assigns the labels by determining three cut-points that divide the fine-grained test score distribution into four regions. Given that understanding detailed test information can be a costly task, it makes sense to have a parsimonious summary that is easy for parents and students to interpret. To summarize, their specific research questions are: (1) Does the performance label information that urban, low-income students receive on the Massachusetts state mathematics test affect their post-secondary plans and their college enrollment decisions?; (2) Are the college enrollment decisions of students who did not initially plan to attend a four-year college more sensitive to new performance information than the decisions of students with college-going plans?; and (3) Does prior test performance shed light on the relative importance of encouragement and discouragement effects for particular students? (Contains 4 tables.)
Examining the Efficacy of &quot;Foundations of Science Literacy&quot;: Exploring Contextual Factors
Author: Gropen, Jess
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Instructional Effectiveness,Preschool Education,Science Instruction,Preschool Teachers,Faculty Development,Scientific Literacy,Preschool Children,Scientific Concepts,Inquiry,Student Characteristics,Context Effect,Educational Quality

The authors are responding to the critical need for empirical evidence on effective strategies to improve preschool science instruction in preschool. By focusing on the Head Start community, &quot;Foundations of Science Literacy (FSL)&quot; is a credit-bearing professional development course that directly addresses the achievement gap in early science education. The program not only addresses an urgent need of great significance, it also integrates the resources, structure, and support that preschool teachers need to improve early science learning and teaching. Based on many years of experience, they have learned that episodic workshops, offered without a sound curriculum or credit, do little to change teachers' classroom practice. In sharp contrast, the great promise of FSL is that it includes several features that create a comprehensive approach. The present study was designed to test the impact of &quot;FSL&quot; on (1) preschool teachers' knowledge of scientific concepts and pedagogy of teaching science to preschoolers, and ultimately (2) preschool children's understanding of science and improved scientific thinking. By implementing a randomized-controlled study, they can examine the impacts of FSL on preschool children, and begin to understand which factors effectively play a role in linking teacher professional development to children's scientific thinking capacities. (Contains 7 tables.)
The Case Against Quality-Blind Teacher Layoffs: Why Layoff Policies That Ignore Teacher Quality Need to End Now
Author: New Teacher Project
Date: 2011-02-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Teacher Effectiveness,School Districts,Job Layoff,Federal Aid,Educational Quality,Teaching Experience,Budgets,Retrenchment,Teacher Salaries,Educational Policy,Decision Making,Academic Achievement,Status

Over the past two years, federal stimulus funding has protected schools from some of the worst effects of the recession. But as federal support wanes and states face looming deficits, deep cuts are becoming unavoidable. School districts will almost certainly be forced to lay off teachers to make ends meet. Given decades of research showing that the quality of education a child receives depends more on the quality of his or her teacher than any other school factor, one might assume that schools would do everything possible to protect their best teachers from being cut. Unfortunately, most layoff decisions will completely ignore a teacher's performance. In fact, in 14 states, it is illegal for schools to consider any factor other than a teacher's length of service when making layoff decisions. The newest teachers always get cut first, even if they are "Teacher of the Year" award winners. Ignoring teacher performance in layoffs is a prime example of the "widget effect"--treating teachers like interchangeable parts. Quality-blind layoff policies threaten to make this year's layoffs catastrophic. Talented new teachers will lose their jobs while less effective teachers remain. More job losses will be necessary to meet budget reduction goals, because the least senior teachers are also the lowest-paid. As is all too common, the most disadvantaged students will be hit hardest, because they tend to have the newest teachers. These outcomes are intolerable. States and school districts still have time to put common sense back into their layoff policies. This document summarizes recent research on the effects of quality-blind layoffs and explains why layoff decisions should be based on what teachers achieve with their students, not when they started teaching.
Freeing Schools from Washington's Education Overreach. WebMemo. No. 3214
Author: Marshall, Jennifer A.
Date: 2011-04-06
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Intervention,Elementary Secondary Education,Governance,Educational Quality,Educational Change,Education,School Districts,Accountability,Federal Legislation,Achievement Gap,Outcomes of Education

Renewed interest in restoring constitutional principles has sharpened debate on a variety of policy issues. Education is no exception. The Constitution does not provide for a federal role in education, and public schools have traditionally been under the jurisdiction of local authorities. Washington's intervention seems to have brought out the worst in education governance. It has led to ever-increasing spending and bureaucratic bloat while undermining schools' direct accountability to parents and taxpayers. Federal intervention also creates a compliance burden, sapping time and money that could be more effectively deployed to achieve educational excellence. Congress can take steps now to set a course that will get Washington out of the way of local schools and restore constitutional governance in education. These steps are: (1) Take stock of and lead Americans in conversation about the toll federal intervention is taking on local schools; (2) Allow states to opt out of federal K-12 programs and direct funding to state education priorities; (3) Make way for state systemic reform; (4) Simplify Title I and make it student-centered; and (5) Advance parental choice in education where appropriate. (Contains 23 footnotes.)
Scaling Up an Effective Pre-K Mathematics Intervention: Mediators and Child Outcomes
Author: Klein, Alice
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Control Groups,Mathematics Education,School Readiness,Intervention,Measures (Individuals),Preschool Children,Preschool Education,Instructional Effectiveness,Program Effectiveness,Mathematics Achievement

Due to the socioeconomic status-related gap in early mathematical knowledge and the need to improve low-income children's readiness for school mathematics, the authors developed an intervention, &quot;Pre-K Mathematics&quot;, and rigorously evaluated it over several studies. This math intervention has been found to be highly effective at improving pre-k children's mathematical knowledge relative to a control group. In this presentation, the authors examine the pre-k mathematics intervention implemented at a customary level of scale and at a distance from the developer. Analyses will examine (1) effectiveness at scale across varied contexts, and (2) classroom practices that mediate, at least in part, effective math outcomes for young children.