ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Managing for Results in America's Great City Schools 2014: Results from Fiscal Year 2012-13. A Report of the Performance Measurement and Benchmarking Project
Author: Council of the Great City Schools
Date: 2014-10-00
Type: Numerical/Quantitative Data
Subjects: Urban Schools,Public Schools,School Districts,Educational Assessment,Benchmarking,Performance Based Assessment,Educational Indicators,Educational Administration,Educational Finance,Human Resources,Technology Uses in Education,Educational Improvement,Management Systems,Definitions,Accounting,Cost Effectiveness,Productivity,Costs,Money Management,Educational Equity (Finance),Compensation (Remuneration),Grants,Efficiency,Purchasing,Risk Management,Food Service,School Maintenance,School Safety,Student Transportation,Information Technology,Statistical Data,Surveys

In 2002 the &quot;Council of the Great City Schools&quot; and its members set out to develop performance measures that could be used to improve business operations in urban public school districts. The Council launched the &quot;Performance Measurement and Benchmarking Project&quot; to achieve these objectives. The purposes of the project was to: (1) Establish a common set of key performance indicators (KPIs) in a range of school operations, including business services, finances, human resources, and technology; (2) Use these KPIs to benchmark and compare the performance of the nation's largest urban public school systems; and (3) Use the results to improve operational performance in urban public schools. The project's teams have used a sophisticated approach to define, collect and validate school-system data. This process calls for each KPI to have a clearly defined purpose to justify its development, and extensive documentation of the metric definitions ensuring that the expertise of the technical teams is fully captured. From the KPI definitions, the surveys are developed and tested to ensure the comparability, integrity and validity of data across school districts. &quot;Council of the Great City Schools&quot; is pleased to present the 2014 edition of &quot;Managing for Results in America's Great City Schools&quot; and continues to improve the quality of service as it relates to the &quot;Performance Management and Benchmarking Project,&quot; which continues to provide a source of national benchmarks, and serves as an important tool for performance management. Highlights from the report include: (1) the turnaround time from initial release of surveys to the release of results has dramatically improved; (2) the launching of a new &quot;results preview&quot; feature that reduces the time for districts to see their own data to only about 24 hours after the data is submitted; (3) establishing a high level of stability and continuity from year to year; and (4) surveys used in the past two cycles were identical, making the data collection process more predictable for districts.
Making the Case: The Importance of a Rigorous Science Education. re:VISION No. 05
Author: Loney, Emily
Date: 2014-04-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Science Education,Science Achievement,Science Course Improvement Projects,Context Effect,Educational Assessment,Educational Indicators,Instructional Improvement,Classroom Techniques,Teacher Education,Teacher Education Programs,School Support,Best Practices,Outreach Programs,Leadership,State Action,Educational Change,Educational Strategies,Knowledge Economy

Innovation and ingenuity have long been hallmarks of the U.S.' economy. Our competitive strength is built on the legacy of great innovators--from Alexander Graham Bell and Lewis Latimer to the Wright brothers and Steve Jobs. The U.S. has prized its status as a leader in developing creative thinkers and entrepreneurs, but by many estimates, it is losing ground. In 2012, foreign companies filed more than half of U.S. technology patent applications, continuing a trend that first began in 2009. In addition, the U.S.' share of high-tech exports is decreasing. Today, China is the single largest exporter of high-tech products. A rigorous education is a key component of developing the next generation of entrepreneurs and scientists. In a recent survey, 97 percent of voters agreed that improving the quality of science education is important to our country's ability to compete globally. The education demands of careers are rapidly advancing, and jobs across the economy are requiring greater levels of technical skill and education than ever before. Unfortunately, recent data show that U.S. students are not prepared for these increasing demands. Our students do not have sufficient mastery of core science content to be prepared for college and careers, and the U.S. has fallen behind in science achievement on international assessments even as other countries accelerate. To ensure that students are capable of taking on the challenges of tomorrow, investing in a rigorous and focused science education is critical.
High-Quality College and Career Ready Assessments. re:VISION
Author: Martin, Michael
Date: 2015-01-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: College Readiness,Career Readiness,State Standards,Academic Standards,Educational Quality,Educational Policy,Quality Assurance,Educational Improvement,Academic Achievement,Achievement Rating,Test Construction,Alignment (Education),Cutting Scores,Thinking Skills,Performance Based Assessment,Writing Evaluation,Skill Analysis,Educational Practices,Educational Change,Change Strategies,Elementary Secondary Education,Higher Education,Educational Legislation,Federal Legislation,College Entrance Examinations

Assessments matter in education. Testing is nothing new; tests have been around as long as school itself. However, over the last 15 years, state assessments have grown to be an increasingly central, and often controversial, part of schooling. As states raise their standards, it is more important than ever to ask: What is a high-quality assessment? This year, more than three million students will graduate from public high schools in the United States. For the vast majority of these students, high school cannot be the end of their education. By 2020, the number of jobs requiring post-secondary education is predicted to reach 65 percent. According to one analysis, over a lifetime, workers with a college degree earn, on average, over one million dollars more than those with only a high school diploma. Employers increasingly require employees who have the ability to creatively solve non-routine problems, think critically, and communicate clearly. Current evidence indicates that too few students leave high school prepared for post-secondary education and the world of work. Only one in four students graduate from high school having met all four of the ACT College Readiness Benchmarks--a measure of preparedness for credit-bearing university and community college courses. Employers regularly struggle to find employees with the knowledge and skills necessary to be successful. More than one in five students fail to pass the assessment required for U.S. Army enlistment. Unfortunately, achievement gaps and inequity persist across lines of race, ethnicity, socio-economic status, and disability. In response to the need to improve outcomes for all students, states around the country have taken a first step: adopting higher subject matter or content standards aligned with the demands of college and career. Yet setting these new standards does not guarantee improved student outcomes and equity; a vital next step is adopting new assessments to measure the attainment of them. This brief will help state policymakers think about adopting and implementing high quality, college and career ready assessments through the lens of a small set of policy considerations.
College and Career Readiness: K-12 and Higher Education Collaborating for Student Success. coNCepts. Issue 5, Jan 2014
Author: Harris, Buddy
Date: 2014-01-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Career Readiness,College Readiness,Higher Education,Elementary Secondary Education,Success,College School Cooperation,Educational Policy,Labor Needs,Job Skills,Alignment (Education),Expectation,Credentials,Partnerships in Education,School Business Relationship,Change Strategies,Skilled Occupations

&quot;coNCepts&quot; is a state-specific policy primer of The Hunt Institute. Each issue focuses on a critical topic in education policy, highlights key research for North Carolina policymakers, and prompts discussion of solutions. This issue begins by describing North Carolina's economy as having experienced a remarkable transformation during the past 60 years. Best known for tobacco and hog production during the mid-20th century, North Carolina is now a leader in banking, medicine, bioengineering, and technology. Top-tier universities and research institutions, a favorable business climate, and abundant natural resources have drawn companies from all of over the world to relocate to North Carolina, bringing along career opportunities for well-trained, skilled workers. Unfortunately, too many students are not prepared to take advantage of these opportunities, either failing to earn a postsecondary degree or lacking the required skills to move into the workforce after graduating from high school. The stakes for North Carolina's students could not be higher. Experts predict that by 2018, 59 percent of all jobs in North Carolina will require some type of postsecondary degree or training, yet the state's workforce does not have the education required to meet this demand. In 2011, only 38 percent of North Carolinians age 25 to 64 had an associate's degree or higher, ranking North Carolina 27th out of 50 states. A more educated, highly skilled workforce, with students who graduate from high school college and career ready, depends on higher expectations and tougher standards. Whether planning to attend a four-year institution or certificate program for a skilled trade, North Carolina's students are being challenged by the academic rigor necessary for their success. Students need to leave each education level ready to meet the demands of the next, and this seamless transition requires cross-sector collaboration. This issue of &quot;coNCepts&quot; examines the ways North Carolina's K-12 and higher education systems are working together to ensure college and career readiness for all students by aligning K-12 with postsecondary expectations, creating clearly defined pathways for career training and college preparation, and forming robust partnerships with industry. Presented in this issue are: (1) Preparing For Changing Workforce Demands; and (2) Moving toward Readiness. Considerations for NC Policymakers are also presented.
Moving Forward: State Engagement with the Next Generation Science Standards. Special re:VISION Insert. Issue 5
Author: Hunt Institute
Date: 2014-00-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: State Standards,Science Education,Academic Standards,College Readiness,Career Readiness,Benchmarking,Hands on Science,Elementary Secondary Education,Curriculum Implementation,Alignment (Education),Case Studies,Science Curriculum

A rigorous K-12 science education builds student knowledge in core scientific content and equips students to analyze problems, use evidence, and investigate solutions. The education requirements of careers across the economy are increasing and all students--regardless of whether they pursue science as a career--need greater proficiency in the knowledge and practice of science to be fully ready for college and the workforce. A coalition of states joined forces from 2011 to 2013 to develop a new set of science standards, the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), which outline what it means to be fully college and career ready in science. These standards are internationally benchmarked and draw from the practices of the highest-performing countries on international assessments, such as Singapore, Finland, Korea, Canada, and Japan. The NGSS are structured so that students are asked to engage in hands-on practices as they learn subject-based content; through an emphasis on cross-cutting concepts, the standards also build students' knowledge of ideas that apply across science disciplines. The standards follow a clear developmental progression so that knowledge builds logically from kindergarten through twelfth grade. The Framework for K-12 Science Education, developed by the National Research Council and published in July 2011, forms the basis for the structure and scientific content of the NGSS. The Framework presents three key dimensions that are incorporated in each of the science standards: (1) Practices; (2) Cross-Cutting Concepts; and (3) Disciplinary Core Ideas. Twenty-six states voluntarily joined the process to develop science standards based on the Framework. As of March 2014, 11 states and the District of Columbia have officially adopted the NGSS, and each state is now developing its own implementation strategy. The case studies in this document provide a closer look at the strategies four states utilized through the NGSS writing and review process. The first two states, Rhode Island and California, have officially adopted the standards and are currently in the process of developing implementation plans. Minnesota and North Carolina were involved as lead states in the NGSS development process and provide useful examples of how state leaders are paving the way for a more rigorous K-12 science education.
The Path Forward: School Autonomy and Its Implications for the Future of Boston's Public Schools. Understanding Boston
Author: French, Dan
Date: 2014-06-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Public Schools,Urban Schools,Institutional Autonomy,School Based Management,Accountability,Mixed Methods Research,Academic Achievement,Elementary Secondary Education,School Districts,Traditional Schools

Boston Public Schools is at a crossroads. Nearly one-third of the system's schools operate under one of several &quot;autonomy&quot; structures, where school leaders have increased flexibility regarding staffing and other resources, and choice data indicate parents are far more likely to prefer these schools over so-called &quot;traditional&quot; schools. This paper explores the question of how Boston Public Schools can strengthen and support autonomy and accountability across its portfolio to promote innovation for equity and high performance. The findings and recommendations draw on detailed investigations of how five other urban school systems are navigating many of the same challenges that Boston faces today. The paper divides the research into six chapters. Chapter One: Introduction; Chapter Two: Methodology and Approach; Chapter Three: Findings from Boston; Chapter Four: Findings from Peer Districts; Chapter Five: A Proposed Path Forward; and Chapter Six: Conclusion. The paper also includes nineteen appendices: (1) Growth of Autonomous Schools in the Boston Public Schools; (2) Growth of Boston Student Population; 1990-2012, (3) Members of BPS Cross-Functional Working Group; (4) Boston Public Schools and Related Staff Interviewed for the Research; (5) Current Boston Public Schools School-Based Autonomies; (6) Growth in Scores by School Type and Subject; (7) Case Studies of BPS &quot;Top Quadrant Schools&quot;;;(8) Case Studies of Peer Districts; (9) Members of the Advisory Group; (10) Student Choice and Assignment by School Type; (11) Flexibilities Available through School Site Council Waivers; (12) BPS Principal Survey Results--Preferred Autonomies,; (13) School-by-School Demographic and Incoming Proficiency Data, SY2013-2014; (14) Extended Learning Time Analysis; (15) Time in School for Commonwealth Charters vs. BPS; (16) Teacher Demographics and Compensation Across School Types; (17) School Leader Experience, by School Type; (18) BPS Principal Survey Results--Evaluation of District Services, and (19) BPS Teacher Survey.
Romantic Knowledge. Research &amp; Occasional Paper Series: CSHE.5.15
Author: Pelfrey, Patricia A.
Date: 2015-04-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: English Literature,Self Concept,Educational Philosophy,Educational Attitudes,Intellectual Development,Authors,Learning Processes,Brain,Poetry,Cognitive Psychology

While British Romantic literature provides ample evidence of the pleasures of knowledge, it also reveals strong counter-evidence of its power to inflict a sense of intellectual impairment and diminution. This Romantic ambivalence sprang from a complex of ideas and anxieties about the potentially corrosive effects of certain kinds of education and learning on the brain, damage that could diminish cognitive vigor and distort the inner experience of identity. The collision between the image of the individual disempowered by knowledge and Enlightenment faith in its role as the engine of collective progress was intensified by the growing quantity of information, opinions, theories, and ideas that daily inundated the British reading public and critics alike. Discussions about education and learning became entangled with fundamental and sometimes contradictory assumptions about the nature of the self and attitudes toward social and intellectual improvement, all in the context of the need to bring order into a universe of knowledge that seemed to be expanding at a breakneck pace. The result was a variety of efforts by Romantic writers to define the norms and values that should govern the organization, diffusion, and control of knowledge. Long before C. P. Snow's &quot;The Two Cultures,&quot; the authors discussed in this paper were engaged in a broader discussion of education and learning that illuminates the tensions among different forms of knowledge and the distance between Romantic and modern perspectives.
Implementing the Common Core State Standards: Year Three Progress Report from the Great City Schools. Results from 2013-14 School Year
Author: Palacios, Moses
Date: 2014-12-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: State Standards,Academic Standards,Surveys,Public Schools,School Districts,Response Rates (Questionnaires),Curriculum Development,Program Implementation,English Language Learners,Disabilities,Stakeholders,Faculty Development,Educational Assessment,Parents,Parent Participation,School Community Relationship,Technology Integration,Alignment (Education),Measurement

Three years ago, the &quot;Council of the Great City Schools&quot; embarked on a multi-year initiative to help its member school districts implement the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). Part of this initiative involves annual surveys of progress urban public school districts were making in implementing the CCSS. With the support of the Bill &amp; Melinda Gates Foundation, this report presents the results from the third year of the project. The survey was sent to curriculum directors, research directors, ELL directors, special education directors, and communication directors between June-August 2014. Received were 59 responses from 39 districts, for a response rate of about 70 percent of CCSS districts. Although this year's response rate was lower than 2013, the report's findings are consistent with previous years. Survey results over the last three years show that districts are making strides toward implementing the Common Core State Standards, but the dimensions of this challenge are great. To continue the momentum, districts will need to redouble their efforts in a number of key areas including: (1) aligning their curriculum with the common core across all grade levels; (2) addressing the learning requirements of students with special needs; (3) helping schools integrate technology into classrooms and prepare for online assessments; (4) measuring implementation success using classroom observations and student work; and (5) more actively informing and engaging parents and the community. The following are appended: (1) Responses to Open-Ended Questions; and (2) Participating Districts.
Good News about Urban Public Schools
Author: Council of the Great City Schools
Date: 2014-10-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Urban Schools,Public Schools,Academic Achievement,Educational Trends,Success,Reading Achievement,Mathematics Achievement,Scores,Urban Education,Graduation Rate,Awards,Honors Curriculum,Student Transportation,Bus Transportation,Accreditation (Institutions),Reputation,Scholarships,Leadership,Accountability,Educational Innovation,Teacher Evaluation

For more than a century, urban public schools have provided economic opportunities through education to some of the nation's largest, most diverse, and neediest populations. By embracing these challenges, our nation's urban schools have provided the know-how and backbone upon which our cities have grown and thrived. In this report, the Council of the Great City Schools is sharing the stories and examples of accomplishments that represent the progress and good work that is going on in our urban schools. It is hoped that these stories will inspire similar successes in other cities as they create an image of urban public education that more completely and accurately reflects the hard-won successes of urban city schools.
Implementing Common Core Assessments: Challenges and Recommendations
Author: Council of the Great City Schools
Date: 2014-09-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: State Standards,Academic Standards,Educational Assessment,Program Implementation,Measures (Individuals),College Readiness,Career Readiness,Benchmarking,Federal Legislation,Educational Legislation,Federal Programs,Federal Aid

The United States is transforming how it assesses the academic attainment of its schoolchildren. These changes will come, in part, with the implementation of the new Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) and Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortia (SBAC) assessments in the spring of 2015, as well as other assessments developed by individual states to measure student performance on the Common Core State Standards or other college- and career-readiness benchmarks. The purpose of this booklet is to help school districts across the country, particularly those in our major cities, get ready for these assessments. The booklet will briefly summarize important features of both major common core assessments (PARCC and SBAC), outline major challenges that school districts will need to attend to when planning for these assessments, and present proposals and recommendations to school districts to help them in the planning process.