ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Cracking the Illiteracy Kernel: Need for a New Model
Author: Gafoor, K. Abdul
Date: 2011-02-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Illiteracy,Adult Literacy,Reading Programs,Program Evaluation,Program Effectiveness,Adult Learning,Adult Students,Barriers,Reading Achievement

This paper discusses the need for new model and approach to solve the problem of illiteracy of the most backward section of the society-women among scheduled and other backward classes. The empirical support for the study is testing, interview and observation conducted on the present status of 100 from among 1,500 adult learners who attended a total primary education programme designated as &quot;yothirgamaya Programme&quot;, in Nilambur Grama Panchayat in 2007, the first local body to be declared as acquired &quot;Total Primary Education&quot; in the most literate state of India, i.e., Kerala. While the participants of the programme commented positively about the impact of the programme, the specific retention of the acquired abilities in terms of reading and writing of Malayalam and functional use of arithmetic is found too feeble. Though the programme has employed the mass movement through campaign mode, utilizing nearly one local facilitator per every 10 adult-learners, based on well-prepared study materials and the strategies that are known to generate involvement of the participants, spending almost 15 hundred rupees per the learner; the outcome is found not retainable. Impediments in the development of literacy among the most backward classes are discussed and a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods for literacy assessment is recommended.
Can Learning Disabilities Explain Low Literacy Performance?
Author: McKenna, Gregory S.
Date: 2010-09-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Intervention,Remedial Reading,Learning Disabilities,Foreign Countries,Correlation,Adult Literacy,Reading Skills,Prose,Age Differences,Educational Attainment,Disabilities,Self Disclosure (Individuals),Predictor Variables,Trend Analysis,Gender Differences,Income,Employment Level,Parents,Recreational Reading,Reading Habits

The primary purpose of this report is to explore within the Canadian context the relationship between Self-Reported Learning Disabilities (SRLD) and low literacy performance using the Canadian portion of the public data set from the 2003 International Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey (IALSS). Two primary research questions related to SRLD were asked: (1) What is the influence of SRLD status on prose literacy scores after controlling for a number of variables known to impact on prose literacy? and 2) Are variables most strongly associated with self-reported LD the same as those for low literacy skill? In answering the first question it was found that a difference of 33 points existed between the mean prose score of those with a SRLD and those without, in favour of those without. However, after controlling for a number of variables known to influence prose literacy the difference fell to approximately 15 points. Results from answering the second question indicate that higher levels of SRLD are present for, but not limited to, those: 1) in the younger age cohort, (2) with lower levels of education, (3) with various co-occurring disabilities, and (4) who received remedial reading while in school. Moreover, remedial reading is the variable that most clearly differentiates those who report a LD compared to  those who do not. Reporting a LD was predictive of whether remedial services were received and yet when looking at mean prose scores at each literacy level by LD status and Remedial services, little difference in outcomes was observed. The observed trends strongly suggest that both Learning Disability and low literacy should be recognized as being so closely related that differentiating between them given the current state of assessment procedures and intervention strategies is unnecessary and overly burdensome to both individuals and the larger education system as a whole. It needs to be acknowledged that LD is not the only reason for poorly developed reading skills and that it is better to provide assistance to all who need it by tailoring services according to need. This may have significant policy implications regarding the value of identification, diagnosis and funding related to those who meet the current definitional criteria for diagnosis of a Learning Disabilities. A bibliography is included. (Contains 9 tables, 3 figures and 4 footnotes.)
Facilities Performance Indicators Report, 2008-09
Author: Hills, Christina, Ed.
Date: 2010-00-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Colleges,School Maintenance,Facility Guidelines,Educational Facilities,Performance Technology,Data Interpretation,Classification,Surveys,Regional Characteristics,Computer Software

This paper features another expanded Web-based Facilities Performance Indicators Report (FPI). The purpose of APPA's Facilities Performance Indicators is to provide a representative set of statistics about facilities in educational institutions. The 2008-09 iteration of the Web-based Facilities Performance Indicators Survey was posted and available to facilities professionals at more than 3,000 institutions in the Fall of 2009. The 2008-09 Report provides the updated Cohort Report, more preference capabilities, new Report Dashboard dials and charting software as well as enhanced capabilities for the Executive Level Presentation and the debut of the new Executive Level Dashboards. Appendices include: (1) 2008-09 Facilities Performance Indicators Participants; and (2) History of the Facilities Performance Indicators Survey and Report. [For &quot;Facilities Performance Indicators Report, 2006-07&quot;, see ED500470.]
Projections of Education Statistics to 2019. Thirty-Eighth Edition. NCES 2011-017
Author: Hussar, William J.
Date: 2011-03-00
Type: Numerical/Quantitative Data
Subjects: School Statistics,Elementary Secondary Education,Enrollment Projections,Educational Trends,Computation,Futures (of Society),High School Graduates,Ethnicity,Race,Elementary Schools,Secondary Schools,Elementary School Teachers,Secondary School Teachers,Expenditures

&quot;Projections of Education Statistics to 2019&quot; is the 38th report in a series begun in 1964. It includes statistics on elementary and secondary schools and degree-granting institutions. This report provides revisions of projections shown in &quot;Projections of Education Statistics to 2018.&quot; Included are projections of enrollment, graduates, teachers, and expenditures to the year 2019. This is the first edition of the &quot;Projections of Education Statistics&quot; to include projections of elementary and secondary school enrollment and high school graduates by race/ethnicity. In addition to projections at the national level, the report includes projections of public elementary and secondary school enrollment and public high school graduates to the year 2019 at the state level. The projections in this report were produced by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) to provide researchers, policy analysts, and others with state-level projections developed using a consistent methodology. Six appendixes are included: (1) Introduction to Projection Methodology; (2) Supplementary Tables; (3) Data Sources; (4) References; (5) List of Abbreviations; and (6) Glossary. (Contains 69 tables, 7 exhibits, and 28 figures.) [For &quot;Projections of Education Statistics to 2018. Thirty-Seventh Edition. NCES 2009-062,&quot; see ED506451.]
Teacher Layoffs: An Empirical Illustration of Seniority vs. Measures of Effectiveness. Brief 12
Author: Boyd, Donald J.
Date: 2010-07-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Class Size,Teacher Effectiveness,Job Layoff,Tenure,Academic Achievement,Achievement Rating,Personnel Policy,Simulation,Elementary School Teachers,Policy Analysis,Personnel Management,Employment Practices,Merit Rating,Teacher Evaluation,Measures (Individuals)

This policy brief, a quick look at some aspects of the debate, illustrates the differences in New York City public schools that would result when layoffs are determined by seniority in comparison to a measure of teacher effectiveness. Due to data limitations and an interest in simplicity, this analysis employs the value added of teachers using the 4th and 5th grade math and ELA (English Language Arts) achievement of their students. Unsurprisingly, the authors find that layoffs determined by a measure of teacher effectiveness result in a more effective workforce than would be the case with seniority-based layoffs. However, they were surprised by facets of the empirical results. First, assuming readily available measures of teacher effectiveness actually measure true teacher effectiveness, an assumption to which they return in this brief, the differences between seniority and effectiveness-based layoffs are larger and more persistent than they anticipated. Second, even though seniority-based layoffs imply laying off more teachers, the differential effect on class size is very small in their simulations, though it would be larger for larger budget reductions. Third, there is a somewhat greater school-level concentration of layoffs in a seniority-based system, though with a few notable exceptions, both methods result in fairly dispersed layoffs, with the vast majority of schools having no more than one layoff in grades four and five combined. As a result of the limited applicability of teacher value-added measures to the full population of teachers as well as concerns about potential mismeasurement of effectiveness associated with using value-added measures even when available, neither seniority nor measures of value added to student achievement should be the sole criterion determining layoffs. However, ignoring effectiveness measures completely, as seniority-based systems do, is also problematic. Instead, the use of multiple measures of effectiveness for layoff decisions holds promise for softening the detrimental effect of layoffs. Teacher Value-Added Estimation is appended. (Contains 1 figure and 9 notes.)
Learning to Read: A Guide to Federal Funding for Grade-Level Reading Proficiency
Author: Hayes, Cheryl D.
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Guides - Non-Classroom
Subjects: Educational Finance,Resource Allocation,Funding Formulas,Eligibility,Grantsmanship,Financial Support,Strategic Planning,Profiles,Information Sources,Program Descriptions,Educational Resources,Federal Aid,Reading Improvement,Reading Achievement,Program Guides,Federal Programs,Early Reading,Emergent Literacy

The audience for this guide is state, local, and program leaders who want to learn more about federal funding sources that can support early literacy programs and systems reform. Funding available through federal programs can help address the underlying causes of children failing to learn to read by the end of third grade, such as limited access to quality early care and education. It can support remediation strategies, such as reversing summer learning loss, that affect early literacy. It can also support investments in systems and organizational capacity building in states and communities that are necessary to strengthen, coordinate, and expand proven approaches. The guide profiles 103 federal programs that can help promote grade-level reading proficiency directly or indirectly. It is structured to help state and local leaders quickly and easily grasp the: (1) specific program goals each funding stream can support; (2) organizations, programs, and service providers eligible to apply for funds; (3) children and families who qualify for program support; (4) application requirements; (5) average grant and contract amounts; (6) basis for allocating funds; and (7) administrative and reporting requirements. Many governors, mayors, state advisory councils, and other community-based collaborative groups are developing strategic plans for financing ambitious early literacy initiatives. Fiscal mapping provides a sound basis for helping state and local leaders grasp the public funding streams that can support their goals and assess the extent to which they are productively tapping these sources. It can also help state and local leaders clarify how they are currently allocating resources and whether these spending patterns align with their policy, program, and systems reform plans. Information in this federal funding guide provides a foundation for leaders to map existing federal funding flowing to their states and communities so they can evaluate the adequacy, durability, and flexibility of available resources. In the process, it can also help them identify other potentially productive funding sources to pursue in an effort to make the best use of all available resources. Appendices include: (1) Federal Funding Programs Aligned with Goal Areas and Purposes; (2) Funding Programs by Federal Agency; (3) Funding Programs Listed by Funding Type; and (4) Funding Sources That Have Matching Requirements. (Contains 7 tables, 1 figure and 32 footnotes.)
Roadmap for Ensuring America's Future by Increasing Latino College Completion
Author: Santiago, Deborah A.
Date: 2011-03-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: College Preparation,Educational Attainment,Hispanic Americans,College Graduates,Access to Education,Academic Persistence,Educational Policy,Graduation Rate,Public Policy,Profiles,Benchmarking,Debt (Financial),Paying for College,Equal Education,College Attendance,Higher Education

The nation cannot reach its degree attainment goals without substantially increasing Latino college completion. While all groups will have to increase college degree attainment to meet the goals, increasing Latino educational attainment is crucial for the U.S. to meet its future societal and workforce needs for three main reasons: (1) the Latino population is growing rapidly and will make up a greater percent of the U.S. population by 2020; (2) Latino educational attainment is currently lower than that of other groups; and, (3) many economically competitive jobs in the U.S. will soon require education beyond a high school degree. For these reasons, "Excelencia in Education" and its partners are focusing intentionally on increasing Latino degree attainment. This paper presents a roadmap that serves as a tool for stimulating dialogue in communities across the nation about action needed to increase degree attainment generally, and Latino degree attainment specifically. The roadmap addresses college preparation, as well as access, persistence, and degree attainment for traditional college-age students along with older students. It is also designed to complement broader efforts by partners as well as others, to meet the nation's goals for degree attainment. Understanding what policies and practices are effective in enrolling, retaining, and graduating Latino students is directly relevant to communities only now beginning to experience growth in the number of their non-traditional students as well as those with long histories of growth. This paper offers policy recommendations that inform conversations and efforts to increase degree attainment of Hispanic students throughout higher education. Four levels of policy are considered: (1) community; (2) college/institution; (3) state; and, (4) federal. Recommendations may be appropriate for more than one level of policy.
Assessing the Determinants and Implications of Teacher Layoffs. Working Paper 55
Author: Goldhaber, Dan
Date: 2010-12-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Teacher Effectiveness,Job Layoff,Teacher Competencies,Predictor Variables,Personnel Policy,Tenure,Credentials,Maximum Likelihood Statistics,Teacher Evaluation,Personnel Management,Data Analysis,Statistical Data,Simulation,Critical Incidents Method

Over 2000 teachers in the state of Washington received reduction-in-force (RIF) notices in the past two years. The authors link data on these RIF notices to a unique dataset that includes student, teacher, school, and district variables to determine the factors that predict the likelihood of a teacher receiving a RIF notice. They find a teacher's seniority is the greatest predictor, but (all else equal) teachers with a master's degree and teachers credentialed in the &quot;high-needs areas&quot; of math, science, and special education were less likely to receive a RIF notice. Value-added measures of teacher effectiveness can be calculated for a subset of the teachers and these show no relationship between effectiveness and the likelihood of receiving a RIF notice. Finally, simulations suggest that a very different group of teachers would be targeted for layoffs under an effectiveness-based layoff scenario than under the seniority-driven system that exists today. (Contains 3 figures, 7 tables and 68 footnotes.)
District of Columbia Charter Schools: Criteria for Awarding School Buildings to Charter Schools Needs Additional Transparency. Report to Congressional Committees. GAO-11-263
Author: Scott, George A.
Date: 2011-03-00
Type: Numerical/Quantitative Data
Subjects: Charter Schools,School Restructuring,Real Estate,Boards of Education,School Buildings,Interviews,Audits (Verification),Educational Assessment,Educational Indicators,Educational Resources,Resource Allocation,Delivery Systems,Performance Factors,Benchmarking,Accountability,Evaluation Criteria,Operations Research,Institutional Characteristics,Position Papers,Administrator Attitudes,Change Strategies

Almost 40 percent of all public school students in the District of Columbia (D.C. or District) were enrolled in charter schools in the 2010-11 school year. The D.C. School Reform Act established the Public Charter School Board (PCSB) for the purpose of authorizing and overseeing charter schools. Congress required GAO (US Government Accountability Office) to conduct a management evaluation of PCSB. GAO addresses the following: (1) the mechanisms in place to review the performance and operations of PCSB, (2) the procedures and processes PCSB has in place to oversee and monitor the operations of D.C. charter schools, and (3) the resources available to charter schools for their operations and facilities. GAO interviewed officials from D.C. agencies and 7 charter schools and reviewed oversight procedures for PCSB and charter schools. GAO also reviewed the processes for providing resources to charter schools and analyzed data on these resources. GAO recommends that the Mayor of the District of Columbia direct the Department of Real Estate Services to disclose all factors considered in reviewing charter school offers for former D.C. school buildings and make available to schools, in writing, the reasons the offers were rejected. The District agreed with our recommendations and noted that the Department of Real Estate Services has already taken steps to improve the process for awarding former D.C. school buildings to charter schools. Appended are: (1) D.C. Charter School Characteristics; (2) Description of Academic and Nonacademic Components of the Performance Management Framework as of December 2010; (3) Comments from Public Charter School Board; (4) Comments from the District of Columbia Mayor's Office; and (5) GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments. (Contains 6 tables, 5 figures and 27 footnotes.)
Building the Foundations: Outcomes from the Adult Language, Literacy and Numeracy Search Conference. Discussion Paper
Author: National Centre for Vocational Education Research
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Numeracy,Foreign Countries,Adult Literacy,Politics of Education,Public Policy,Vocational Education,Productivity,Labor Force,Outcomes of Education,Educational Finance,Financial Support,Program Effectiveness,Program Evaluation,Workplace Learning,Education Work Relationship

Adult language, literacy and numeracy are essential ingredients for greater workforce participation, productivity and social inclusion. Both national and international research demonstrate the relationship between increasing levels of language, literacy and numeracy proficiency and positive outcomes for individuals, as well as for communities and the economy. Yet, even with this knowledge, there is still much that is unknown or requires broader debate. For example, what is the extent of adult language, literacy and numeracy provision in Australia? Whose responsibility is it to provide language, literacy and numeracy training in the workplace? Is there a need for targeted funding? What are the longer-term outcomes of literacy and numeracy programs? What programs work best for different types of learners? How can individuals quantify the civic and social benefits of improved literacy and numeracy? Following on from the May 2010 announcement of a $120 million investment by the Australian Government in adult literacy and numeracy activities, the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) hosted a forum on behalf of the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations on 13 September 2010 to explore these questions and to determine what needs to be done to find the answers. This paper presents a summary of those discussions and recommendations for future action. Background papers prepared for the forum are also provided in chapters 1-6. Forum participants emphasised that, while literacy should be everyone's business, for those concerned with public policy the focus should be on: (1) targeting those most in need; (2) finding sustainable funding models; and (3) measuring success. To do this will require further effort to better understand what is currently being done to address literacy and numeracy problems across the country and how to make adult literacy and numeracy a more prominent issue in the community and, in response, to devise sound strategies to implement and measure the impact of new activities. Individual chapters contain footnotes and references. (Contains 1 table and 8 figures.)
The Economic Value of Higher Teacher Quality. Working Paper 56
Author: Hanushek, Eric A.
Date: 2010-12-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Economic Progress,Teacher Effectiveness,Economic Impact,Academic Achievement,Alternative Assessment,Teacher Evaluation,Teacher Competencies,Educational Quality,Educational Assessment,Educational Indicators,Personnel Policy,Salary Wage Differentials,Teacher Certification,Educational Benefits,Cost Effectiveness

Most analyses of teacher quality end without any assessment of the economic value of altered teacher quality. This paper combines information about teacher effectiveness with the economic impact of higher achievement. It begins with an overview of what is known about the relationship between teacher quality and student achievement, which provides the basis for consideration of the derived demand for teachers which comes from their impact on economic outcomes. Alternative valuation methods are based on the impact of increased achievement on individual earnings and on the impact of low teacher effectiveness on economic growth through aggregate achievement. A teacher one standard deviation above the mean effectiveness annually generates marginal gains of over $400,000 in present value of student future earnings with a class size of 20 and proportionately higher with larger class sizes. Alternatively, replacing the bottom 5-8 percent of teachers with average teachers could move the U.S. near the top of international math and science rankings with a present value of $100 trillion. (Contains 3 tables, 3 figures and 44 footnotes.)