ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Accountability and Teacher Practice: Investigating the Impact of a New State Test and the Timing of State Test Adoption on Teacher Time Use
Author: Cocke, Erin F.
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: High Stakes Tests,Accountability,Context Effect,Teacher Behavior,Resource Allocation,Time Management,State Programs,Elementary School Teachers,Testing,Science Tests,Social Studies,Program Effectiveness

There is much debate over the impact of high stakes testing as well as a growing body of research focused on both the intended and unintended consequences of these tests. One claim of both the popular media and education researchers is that high stakes tests have led to curricular narrowing--the idea that school time is increasingly allocated to tested subjects to the detriment of non tested ones (Dillon, 2006; Center for Education Policy, 2006; West, 2007). In order to investigate the effects of testing on the allocation of instructional time, the authors analyze changing trends in reported teacher time use in situations where testing in new subjects has been recently added. This study uses the three most recent waves (1999-2000, 2003-2004 and 2007, 2008) of the Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) data to explore the how the addition of tests in science and social studies over time have impacted teacher time use within states. This exploration of the impact of a state test in science and social studies on teacher time use indicates that for states that added a test in science there is a small impact of this test on reported teacher time use in science. In addition, there is no significant impact of a new test in social studies on teacher time use in social studies. These results are in contrast with prior work finding a significant impact of a test in social studies and science on reported teacher time in these subjects (West, 2007). One obvious conclusion is that the content of what teachers are teaching matters and is driving change in student test scores rather than the actual time spent teaching each subject. However, this small impact could also be due to the lack of federal pressure currently associated with social studies and science tests, as these tests do not yet impact whether a school meets Average Yearly Progress. Teacher behavior may understandably be more responsive to high pressure accountability than to accountability without sanctions attached. (Contains 4 figures and 2 footnotes.)
&quot;Defining School Value-Added: Do Schools that Appear Strong on One Measure Appear Strong on Another?&quot;
Author: Atteberry, Allison
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: School Effectiveness,Educational Assessment,Outcomes of Education,School Districts,Causal Models,Achievement Rating,Institutional Characteristics,Measurement

This project considers the common practice of using a single measure of school value-added as a sufficient characterization of the effectiveness of public high schools. By making the definition of a school's &quot;causal effect&quot; more explicit--and then modifying that definition--the author explores whether a single value-added measure is suitable for policy purposes. The author uses student-level administrative data provided by four large California school districts. Preliminary results indicate that the full specification of the school causal effect does change the rankings of schools within these four districts. If one believes that each of these definitions captures an element of the public high school's responsibility, one single measure of school value added may be insufficient for accountability policy purposes. (Contains 5 figures and 6 endnotes.)
Games Schools Play: How Schools near the Proficiency Threshold Respond to Accountability Pressures under No Child Left Behind
Author: Wong, Vivian C.
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Evidence,Federal Legislation,Accountability,Academic Achievement,Identification,Elementary Schools,Middle Schools,Data Collection,Reading Achievement,Mathematics Achievement,Educational Strategies

The purpose of this paper is to explore state and school responses to accountability pressures under the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). Section 2 presents a framework for summarizing the many positive and negative ways in which states, schools, and teachers respond to accountability pressures under NCLB. Section 3 focuses on state accountability policies that in recent years have become more relaxed in allowing schools to lower proficiency thresholds, but also more stringent in the specificity of their requirements. The paper argues that schools with proficiency scores just below state accountability cutoffs have the most incentive to engage in gaming practices, and that these schools have capitalized on recent changes in state policies to introduce new methods for gaming. Using data from Pennsylvania, the paper provides empirical evidence that schools just below the state threshold engage in gaming practices and suggest mechanisms that these schools employ. (Contains 1 figure and 1 table.)
Evaluating Value-Added Methods of Estimating of Teacher Performance
Author: Guarino, Cassandra M.
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Instructional Effectiveness,Educational Indicators,Program Evaluation,Models,Academic Achievement,Research Design,Teacher Effectiveness,Grouping (Instructional Purposes)

Accurate indicators of educational effectiveness are needed to advance national policy goals of raising student achievement and closing social/cultural based achievement gaps. If constructed and used appropriately, such indicators for both program evaluation and the evaluation of teacher and school performance could have a transformative effect on the nature and outcomes of teaching and learning. Measures based on value-added models of student achievement (VAMs) are gaining increasing acceptance among policymakers as an improvement over conventional indicators of performance. This paper is the first in a series of papers that aims to resolve controversies surrounding VAMs. The authors' research question is: How well do different estimators perform in estimating teacher effects in a commonly used VAM framework? The authors focus their study on six estimators--most of which are commonly used in the research literature and in policy applications involving teacher effects. They answer their research questions by first outlining the assumptions that must be met for each estimator to have good statistical properties in the context of a fairly common theoretical framework. They then apply the estimators to the task of recovering teacher effects in simulated data. They apply the estimators to different types of data, where each data set is generated to violate or maintain specific assumptions in the attempt to mimic different types of student grouping and teacher assignment scenarios, and compare their performance. They use simulated data and conduct the research at Michigan State University. It is clear from this study that many VAMs hold promise: they may be capable of overcoming obstacles presented by non-random assignment and provide valuable information. Given their context-dependency, however, caution must be applied in interpreting the findings that VAMs, as currently applied in practice and in the research literature, are producing. They may best be viewed as suggestive evidence of effects, at this point. In addition, methods of constructing estimates of teacher effects that they can trust for high-stakes evaluative purposes must be further studied. Clearly, although value-added measures of teacher performance hold promise, before they can be used for policy purposes, more research is needed. There is much left to investigate. (Contains 3 tables.)
An Experimental Study of the Project CRISS Reading Program on Grade 9 Reading Achievement in Rural High Schools. Final Report NCEE 2011-4007
Author: Kushman, Jim
Date: 2011-04-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Secondary School Teachers,Faculty Development,Reading,Program Evaluation,Effect Size,Program Effectiveness,Reading Programs,Reading Achievement,Reading Research,High Schools,Rural Schools,Control Groups,Reading Comprehension,Poverty,Writing Strategies,Grade 9,Gender Differences

Students entering high school face many new academic challenges. One of the most important is their ability to read and understand more complex text in literature, mathematics, science, and social studies courses as they navigate through a rigorous high school curriculum. The Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Northwest conducted a study to examine the effectiveness of a teacher professional development program called Project CRISS, which stands for Creating Independence through Student-owned Strategies. Through Project CRISS, high school teachers learn how to apply research-based learning principles and reading/writing strategies in all major subject or content areas using materials, training, and follow-up support provided by the developer. The pretest and posttest were administered in the fall and spring, respectively, of the second implementation year of the treatment. It was hypothesized that by year 2 of the treatment, teachers would have had familiarity with how to use the Project CRISS instructional methods, given the training and guided coaching they received during the first year of implementation. During the second year, when student impact was assessed, the model specified that teachers would continue to receive some training from the national trainer and technical assistance from the district-certified, in-school local facilitator. There was no statistically significant difference between the treatment group and control group on the mean reading comprehension scores. Because random selection was conducted within a blocking design defined by cohorts, poverty status, and state, a sensitivity analysis was performed to determine whether explicit modeling of the effect size variability across blocks would alter the substantive result. The substantive result remained the same: there was no statistically significant treatment effect. In addition to the main impact analysis, one exploratory research question was addressed: does the impact of Project CRISS on student reading comprehension differ for boys and girls? Concerning the moderating effect of gender, no statistically significant impact difference was found between boys and girls. Appendices include: (1) Statistical power analysis; (2) Teacher questionnaire for treatment schools; (3) Missing data imputation procedures; (4) Project CRISS full implementation model description; and (5) Complete multilevel model results for impact analysis. (Contains 3 figures, 18 tables and 4 endnotes.)
Across the Great Divide: Perspectives of CEOs and College Presidents on America's Higher Education and Skills Gap
Author: Bridgeland, John
Date: 2011-03-00
Type: Numerical/Quantitative Data
Subjects: Higher Education,College Presidents,Achievement Gap,Skill Analysis,Skill Development,Administrator Attitudes,Organizational Objectives,Educational Objectives,Barriers,Change Strategies,Educational Change,Graduation Rate,Employer Attitudes,Labor Force Development,School Business Relationship,Institutional Role,Enrollment Management

While access to higher education has expanded significantly in the United States over the last century, a new crisis has emerged: disturbing numbers of students who enroll in post-secondary education are failing to complete their degrees with huge consequences to them, society, and the economy. Today, more than 70 percent of high school graduates enroll in some kind of advanced education within two years. Yet, just over one-half of bachelor's degree candidates complete their degree within six years, and less than one-third of associate's degree candidates earn their degree within three years. America has a serious college completion crisis. Stagnant college completion rates are not only a problem for those students who, by dropping out, earn less over the course of their lives than those who graduate, but also to the economy as a whole, which is less competitive without a workforce prepared to meet the demands of the nation's employers. Nearly two-thirds of job openings in the next decade will require some post-secondary education. To fill these jobs, the US will need to accelerate its progress and produce 3 million more students who graduate with a post-secondary degree by the end of this decade. America's companies and higher education institutions have significant roles to play in meeting this challenge and in shaping the workforce of the future. To better understand the views of these two critical groups of leaders, Civic Enterprises and Hart Research surveyed a national cross section of 450 business leaders and 751 post-secondary leaders at community colleges, private sector career colleges, and less selective four-year institutions for their perspectives on the challenges, goals, and work ahead to cross the great divide. This report offers a clear-eyed view of the state of American education, where business and higher education leaders can make a difference, and a roadmap for focusing on what needs to be done to prepare future workers for the demands of tomorrow's economy. A bibliography is included. (Contains 43 footnotes.) [This report was co-produced by Corporate Voices for Working Families in association with the Institute for a Competitive Workforce, the US Chamber of Commerce, and the Peter D. Hart Research Associates.]
Education at a Glance 2010: OECD Indicators
Author: Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development
Date: 2010-00-00
Type: Numerical/Quantitative Data
Subjects: Educational Objectives,Outcomes of Education,Educational Indicators,Foreign Countries,Educational Demand,Educational Policy,Cross Cultural Studies,Academic Achievement,Education Work Relationship,Employment Qualifications,Spreadsheets,Educational Attainment,Adults,Trend Analysis,Secondary Education,Postsecondary Education,Graduation Rate,Age Differences,Foreign Students,Adult Education,Gender Differences,Employment Level,Unemployment,Economic Factors,Income,Wages,Social Influences,Public Health,Correlation,Trust (Psychology),Politics,Salaries,Costs,Expenditures,Expenditure per Student,Financial Support,Student Financial Aid,Paying for College,Resource Allocation,Access to Education,Enrollment Trends,Student Participation,Study Abroad,Student Characteristics,Educational Environment,Time,Teacher Student Ratio,Class Size,Teacher Salaries,Faculty Workload,Teaching Conditions,School Choice,Parent Influence,Parent Participation,High Schools,Colleges

Across OECD countries, governments are seeking policies to make education more effective while searching for additional resources to meet the increasing demand for education. The 2010 edition of "Education at a Glance: OECD Indicators" enables countries to see themselves in the light of other countries' performance. It provides a rich, comparable and up-to-date array of indicators on systems and represents the consensus of professional thinking on how to measure the current state of education internationally. The indicators show who participates in education, how much is spent on it and how education systems operate. They also illustrate a wide range of educational outcomes, comparing, for example, student performance in key subject areas and the impact of education on earnings and on adults' chances of employment. The Excel[TM] spreadsheets used to create the tables and charts in this book are available via the StatLinks printed in this book. (Contains 121 tables.)
Thinking about Science and Christian Orthodox Beliefs: A Survey Study of Teacher Beliefs
Author: Cobern, William W.
Date: 2011-04-11
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Christianity,Standards,Beliefs,Preservice Teachers,Elementary School Teachers,Teacher Attitudes,Creationism,Science History,Historians,Science and Society,Religious Factors,War,Figurative Language

Since its origination in the late 19th Century, the warfare metaphor has been used to characterize the relationship between science and religion, especially orthodox Christianity. Though thoroughly discredited by historians of science, the ideological descendants of Thomas Huxley, who spoke of science in quasi-religious terms, have kept the warfare metaphor alive. On the other hand, there are substantial numbers of Christians who at least appear to oppose science given their high-profile opposition to the general theory of evolution. The purpose of the research reported in this paper was to examine this specific question: is anti-science sentiment associated with increasing orthodox Christian belief? Two validated, published instruments were used: "The Thinking about Science Survey Instrument" and the "Christian Fundamentalist Belief Scale." The subjects for the study were 970 preservice elementary teachers. The analysis did not show that anti-science sentiment increases with increasing Christian belief. Subjects with strong Christian beliefs were found to be just as supportive of science, if not more so, than subjects with no Christian beliefs. The study concludes with a caution against projecting attitudes toward science "on the whole" based on attitudes specifically toward evolution. (Contains 5 tables, 5 figures, and 18 notes.)
Quantity and Quality of Diagrams Used in Math Word Problem Solving: A Comparison between New Zealand and Japanese Students
Author: Manalo, Emmanuel
Date: 2006-12-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Problem Solving,Word Problems (Mathematics),Secondary School Students,Mathematics Instruction,Visual Aids,Mathematics Skills,Secondary School Mathematics,Comparative Analysis,Difficulty Level

It is generally considered that diagram use aids efficacy of math word problem solving. While understanding diagrams is considered important in both New Zealand and Japanese secondary schools, there is an additional emphasis in New Zealand schools for students to appreciate their use as tools for problem solving and communication. This study examined whether there are actual differences in the amount and quality of diagrams that students in New Zealand and Japan use when given math word problems to solve. The participants were 614 secondary school students from New Zealand and Japan, aged 13 to 15 years old, who were given one- and two-object math word problems (involving length or non-length components) to solve. The findings were that while the New Zealand students evidenced greater diagram use and provided more correct answers, they produced significantly more high quality diagrams only for the easiest problems given (the one-object problems with length story context). One implication of the findings is that greater emphasis needs to be placed on, and/or more effective strategies need to be used in, developing New Zealand students' skills in the use of diagrams for solving more complex types of problems. (Contains 5 tables.) [This paper has been published as: Manalo, E., &amp; Uesaka, Y. (2006). Quantity and quality of diagrams used in math word problem solving: A comparison between New Zealand and Japanese students. &quot;Refereed papers of the NZARE (New Zealand Association for Research in Education) National Conference 2006&quot; (CD-ROM; ISSN 1176-4902). Wellington, New Zealand: NZARE.]
The Claims of Games: A Comprehensive Review and Directions for Future Research
Author: Mishra, Punya
Date: 2007-00-00
Type: Information Analyses
Subjects: Grounded Theory,Educational Games,Psychology,Pedagogical Content Knowledge,Literature Reviews,Educational Research,Research Needs,Research Problems,Instructional Design,Learning Strategies,Teaching Methods,Computer Uses in Education,Instructional Effectiveness,Classification

Educational games have become the lightning rod for learning and preparing a future  skilled workforce. Both the people, who argue against and for games agree that learning is possible, but what is learned is another issue. However, the claims about games for learning lacks substantial research and for the most part remains merely philosophical arguments. We report the results of an extensive review of these claims in the literature. Our grounded theory analysis leads to a broad two-fold categorization scheme (physiological and psychological claims) with the psychological group having four subcategories of claims. We discuss the strengths and weaknesses of existing research as well as point to areas for future research. In particular, we draw attention to the lack of attention paid to the demands of subject matter and argue for a greater emphasis on the development of technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPCK) in the design of learning games. (Contains 2 figures.) [This paper has been published as: Mishra, P., Foster, A. N. (2007). The claims of games: A comprehensive review and directions for future research. IN R. Carlsen, K. McFerrin, J. Price, R. Weber & D.A. Willis (Eds.) Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education: 2007 18th International Conference. San Antonio, Texas, Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE).]
WWC Quick Review of the Report &quot;Achievement Effects of Four Early Elementary School Math Curricula: Findings for First and Second Graders&quot;
Author: What Works Clearinghouse (ED)
Date: 2011-04-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Grade 2,Grade 1,Elementary School Students,Mathematics Achievement,Mathematics Education,Mathematics Instruction,Elementary School Mathematics,Comparative Analysis,Mathematics Curriculum,Scores,Problem Solving

The study examined the relative effectiveness of four early elementary school math curricula: Investigations in Number, Data, and Space; Math Expressions; Saxon Math; and Scott Foresman-Addison Wesley Mathematics. The study analyzed data on more than 8,000 first- and second-grade students in 110 schools in 12 districts in 10 states. In each of the participating school districts, schools were randomly assigned to use one of the four curricula. A random sample of approximately 10 students per classroom was included in the analysis. The study measured the relative effects of the four curricula by comparing end-of-year test scores on a nationally normed math assessment developed for the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten (ECLS-K) for first graders and on a similar assessment adapted for this study for second graders. For first graders, the authors found no statistically significant differences in student math achievement among the curricula after adjusting results for multiple curricula comparisons within the same analysis. For second graders, one difference was statistically significant after taking multiple curricula comparisons into account. Second-grade students attending Saxon Math schools scored 0.17 standard deviations higher than students attending Scott Foresman-Addison Wesley Mathematics schools, roughly equivalent to moving a student from the 50th to the 57th percentile in math achievement. The research described in this report meets WWC evidence standards. This was a well-implemented randomized controlled trial. [The following study is reviewed in this intervention report: Agodini, R., Harris, B., Thomas, M., Murphy, R., Gallagher, L., &amp; Pendleton, A. (2010). Achievement effects of four early elementary school math curricula: Findings for first and second graders (NCEE 2011-4001). Washington, DC: National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. A copy of this study can be accessed at ED512551. An earlier report in this series focused on one cohort of first graders: &quot;Achievement effects of four elementary school math curricula: Findings from first graders in 39 schools (NCEE 2009-4052).&quot; This report may be found at ED504418.