ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Update with 2009-10 Data and Five-Year Trends: How Many Schools Have Not Made Adequate Yearly Progress?
Author: Usher, Alexandra
Date: 2011-04-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Public Schools,Test Results,Federal Legislation,Educational Improvement,Federal Programs,Educational Indicators,Nonprofit Organizations,Educational Legislation,Elementary Secondary Education,Accountability,Academic Achievement,School Districts,Educational Trends,Trend Analysis

Recently, much attention has focused on the number of schools in the nation failing to make adequate yearly progress (AYP) in raising student achievement under the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). The Obama Administration has projected a dramatic increase in this number as 2014--the year when 100% of students are expected to score proficient on state tests--draws nearer. Testifying before Congress this March, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan warned that &quot;we did an analysis which shows that next year the number of schools not meeting their goals under NCLB could double to over 80 percent--even if we assume that all schools will gain as much as the top quartile in the state. So let me repeat that: four out of five schools in America may not meet their goals under NCLB by next year&quot; (Duncan, 2011). President Obama reiterated this warning in a March 14 speech on education (Obama, 2011). The Center on Education Policy (CEP), an independent nonprofit organization, has been monitoring national AYP data going back to 2005. This spring, CEP updated the four-year trends described in its December 2010 AYP report by adding a fifth year of data on the estimated number of schools in the nation and each state that did not make AYP in 2010, based on tests administered in 2009-10. Here are the main findings: (1) An estimated 38% of the nation's public schools did not make AYP in 2010. This marks an increase from 33% in 2009 and is the highest percentage since NCLB took effect; (2) In 12 states and the District of Columbia, at least half of the public schools did not make AYP in 2010. In a majority of the states (39 and D.C.), at least one-fourth of the schools did not make AYP; and (3) The percentage of public schools not making AYP in 2010 varied greatly by state, from about 5% in Texas to about 91% in D.C. Estimated percentage and number of schools in each state that did not make AYP based on test results for 2010 are appended. (Contains 1 figure, 1 table, and 1 footnote.) [For the companion report, &quot;State Policy Differences Greatly Impact AYP Numbers. A Background Paper from the Center on Education Policy,&quot; see ED518992.
&quot;If We Only Told Our Story Better...&quot;: Re-Envisioning State-University Relations through the Lens of Public Engagement. WISCAPE Viewpoints
Author: Weerts, David J.
Date: 2011-04-26
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Higher Education,Public Relations,Marketing,Private Financial Support,Colleges,Universities,Legislators,Community Cooperation,Partnerships in Education,Academic Achievement,Scholarship,Economic Impact

A prevailing notion among higher education leaders is that public relations and marketing efforts must be intensified to boost legislative support for colleges and universities. However, this view fails to consider whether the academy might increase its standing among legislators and the general public by becoming more productively engaged in state problems. By embracing the principles of public engagement, universities could position themselves as solutions to problems and leverage public and private support for research, teaching, and service in relation to public interests. (Contains 1 figure, 1 table, and 16 notes.)
Teaching Practices and Peer Network Features in Elementary Classrooms
Author: Gest, Scott D.
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Elementary School Teachers,Teacher Influence,Teaching Methods,Teacher Student Relationship,Social Environment,Social Networks,Social Support Groups,Peer Relationship,Friendship,Elementary School Students,Grade 1,Grade 3,Grade 5,Student Attitudes,Academic Achievement

The long-term goal of this program of research is to clarify how teachers may influence features of peer networks that, in turn, may affect students' perceptions of social support, achievement-related beliefs and academic achievement. As a first step in this process, in this study the authors focus on identifying teaching practices that are associated with features of classroom peer networks. They expected that both general patterns of teacher-student interaction and more active attempts to manage the social network would be associated with the overall richness and hierarchical organization of friendship ties in elementary school classrooms. They expected that general levels of emotional support would be especially relevant in setting a positive emotional context for the development of rich friendship ties. They expected that teachers more explicit efforts to promote friendships and to reduce behavioral disruptions by separating students at risk of behavior problems would foster a setting more conducive to friendship development. They expected that teachers who sought to counteract the predominance of academic skills as a social organizer--structurally built in to most classrooms in the form of instructional reading groups--would serve to counteract strong hierarchies in the friendship network. Appended are: (1) References; and (2) Tables and Figures. (Contains 2 tables.)
Students' Perceptions of Social Relatedness in the Classroom: The Roles of Student-Teacher Interaction Quality, Children's Aggressive Behaviors, and Peer Rejection
Author: Madill, Rebecca A.
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Teacher Student Relationship,Aggression,Student Behavior,Peer Relationship,Rejection (Psychology),Teaching Methods,Social Environment,Classroom Environment,Elementary School Teachers,Elementary School Students,Grade 1,Grade 3,Grade 5

This study contributes to the literature clarifying teaching practices in elementary classrooms that promote students' social relatedness. The focus on teaching practices reflects the need to understand malleable elements of the classroom, which can then be targeted for professional development. Specifically, this study examines whether children in classes characterized by high-quality student-teacher interactions, as measured at the global (i.e., whole classroom) level, perceive more supportive relationships with both their teacher and fellow classmates. (Contains 2 tables.)
Rimac: A Natural-Language Dialogue System that Engages Students in Deep Reasoning Dialogues about Physics
Author: Katz, Sandra
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Natural Language Processing,Physics,Logical Thinking,Intelligent Tutoring Systems,High School Students,Undergraduate Students,Science Instruction

The natural-language tutorial dialogue system that the authors are developing will allow them to focus on the nature of interactivity during tutoring as a malleable factor. Specifically, it will serve as a research platform for studies that manipulate the frequency and types of verbal alignment processes that take place during tutoring, such as abstraction and specification, and thereby enable us to test their prediction that the benefits of &quot;interactivity&quot; hinge on the nature, frequency, and appropriateness of its occurrence. The purpose of this poster is to introduce the Rimac project and system to the education research community. Since this study is in an early stage, the authors do not yet have findings and conclusions to report. The proposed poster will describe the project goals, illustrate Rimac with sample reflective dialogues, and describe the &quot;decision rules&quot; guiding automated abstraction and specification of student input that we derive from human tutorial dialogues, and teachers' feedback on the system. (Contains 2 figures.)
Preschool Center Quality and School Readiness: Quality Main Effects and Variation by Demographic and Child Characteristics
Author: Dang, Tran T.
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Preschool Education,Educational Quality,School Readiness,Preschool Children,Individual Characteristics,Longitudinal Studies,Meta Analysis,Databases

The aim of this paper is to address two research questions related to the policy goal of having all children ready to learn at kindergarten entry. First, to what extent are children's cognitive and achievement skills higher when they experience higher quality preschools? Second, are the effects of preschool center quality on these school readiness skills different by demographic (i.e. race/ethnicity, gender, maternal education) or child characteristics (i.e. child's initial cognitive/achievement skills, attention, problem behaviors)? All data included in these secondary data analyses were collected in preschool center-based care. This paper applies meta-analytic techniques to summarize results from original analyses of four longitudinal databases to estimate variation in preschool program quality impacts by demographic and child characteristics. The consistency of the generally null results and the precision with which they are estimated across the four databases, multiple outcomes, and multiple child care quality measures suggests the following: (1) there are at best very modest preschool center quality main effects on both cognitive and achievement child outcomes and (2) there is generally an absence of &quot;differential&quot; preschool center quality effects on school readiness for subgroups of children defined by demographic or child characteristics. However, readers should bear in mind that preschool center quality may not be adequately measured in currently available databases. (Contains 4 tables and 3 figures.)
The Extent of Late-Hiring and Its Relationship with Teacher Turnover: Evidence from Michigan
Author: Jones, Nathan D.
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Public School Teachers,Elementary School Teachers,Secondary School Teachers,Faculty Mobility,Teacher Persistence,Teacher Selection,Comparative Analysis

This paper explores how late hiring impacts teachers' retention decisions. The authors situate their research questions at the teacher-level, distinguishing their current analyses from most existing studies of late hiring. This choice provides several methodological advantages. Most notably, teacher-level examination allows comparison of teachers hired on-time with those hired late within the same school, addressing the non-random nature of hiring, and providing a clearer picture of the relationship between late hiring and turnover. (Contains 6 tables and 9 footnotes.)
Development of the Teachers Supporting Teachers in Urban Schools Program: What Iterative Research Designs Can Teach Us
Author: Shernoff, Elisa S.
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Beginning Teachers,Elementary School Teachers,Mentors,Urban Schools,Faculty Development,Models,Classroom Techniques,Student Motivation,Coaching (Performance),Teacher Attitudes,Program Effectiveness,Program Development,Faculty Mobility

The &quot;Teachers Supporting Teachers in Urban Schools Project&quot; is a 3-year study funded by the Institute of Education Sciences (Development and Innovation Study) and designed to enhance new teachers' effectiveness around the two strongest empirical predictors of attrition--classroom management and engaging learners--and connectedness to colleagues given the central role that cohesion, trust, and belongingness plays in teaching (Bryk &amp; Schneider, 2002; Kardos et al., 2001). The professional development model includes linking new teachers with peer-nominated key opinion leader (KOL) mentors identified through sociometric interviews and an external coach who work together to: (1) provide intensive support in evidence-based practices for classroom management and engaging learners, and (2) connect teachers with their larger network of colleagues as a mechanism for enhancing teacher retention and long-term commitment to teaching. Using an iterative research design, year 1 activities include partnering with one urban school to develop and implement the professional development model. Year 1 activities will guide the development and refinement of the key components of the model which will then be implemented in two additional schools during subsequent funding years. Although science behind intervention development is limited, intervention development studies play a key role in creating feasible, acceptable, effective interventions that can be implemented in the natural settings for which those interventions were designed (Fixsen et al., 2005). Therefore, the primary goal of the proposed presentation includes illustrating the systematic, yet complex process of program development and early implementation of a multicomponent teacher professional development model. Utilizing year 1 data from a 3-year study, the four aims of the current presentation include: (1) describing the conceptual framework and key components of the professional development model; (2) describing new teachers' initial experiences working in urban schools, including perceptions regarding effectiveness (i.e., classroom management and motivating learners) and connectedness (i.e., cohesion and trust with colleagues); (3) examining the extent to which the professional development model was delivered as intended (fidelity); and (4) evaluating acceptability of the service model by consumers and other key stakeholders. (Contains 1 figure.)
Preliminary Analysis of a Randomized Trial of Computer Attention Training in Children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
Author: Steiner, N.
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder,Computer Assisted Instruction,Attention,Behavior Modification,Cognitive Restructuring,Instructional Effectiveness,Elementary School Students,Mathematics Achievement

Clinically significant attention problems among children present a significant obstacle to increasing student achievement. Computer-based attention training holds great promise as a way for schools to address this problem. The aim of this project is to evaluate the efficacy of two computer-based attention training systems in schools. One program uses neurofeedback (NFB) to train children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) to focus on a task, and the other uses a Standard Computer Format (SCF) for cognitive retraining. The authors hypothesize that 1) both treatments will result in improvement in ADHD symptoms compared to a control condition; and 2) both treatments will result in improvement in academic outcomes compared to a control condition. This research is on-going and takes place in 19 elementary schools that accepted to participate in the project. The schools are part of two school systems in the greater Boston area. The authors' preliminary data from this four-year study evaluating the efficacy of two computer-based attention training systems in schools shows significant results as well as promising trends. As this is a preliminary analysis of preliminary data they have not addressed all of the study's aims and have not yet compared data between the three intervention groups. Teacher report of ADHD symptoms, math achievement by students, and objective classroom observations for their first wave were analyzed. The authors' preliminary data on these outcome measures suggest that computer-based attention training programs offered in an elementary school setting may be effective in reducing symptoms of ADHD and improved math achievement. (Contains 1 figure and 4 tables.)
Bell to Bell: Measuring Classroom Time Usage
Author: Walkup, John R.
Date: 2009-01-11
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Time on Task,Measurement,Learner Engagement,Student Behavior,Classroom Observation Techniques

This article discusses research in classroom time usage and the benefits and weaknesses of prior research in this area. The article addresses in particular how to precisely measure the use of time in classrooms and how to address the issue of partial engagement, in which only a portion of the class is academically engaged. The article defines three engagement indices that account for the range of attentiveness found in school children. A classroom observation instrument introduced in this article provides a means for education researchers and school staff to classroom timing measurements and display the results visually. Education researchers can use the tools provided in this article to measure the impact of various reform efforts on classroom effectiveness; school administrators can use these tools to monitor the efficiency of their teachers' use of classroom time. (Contains 5 figures.)
Possible Reasons for Students' Ineffective Reading of Their First-Year University Mathematics Textbooks. Technical Report. No. 2011-2
Author: Shepherd, Mary D.
Date: 2011-04-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Reading Comprehension,Textbooks,Metacognition,Calculus,Content Area Reading,Reading Difficulties,Reading Skills,Scores,College Entrance Examinations,Mathematics Instruction,Readability,Undergraduate Students,College Mathematics

This paper reports the observed behaviors and difficulties that eleven precalculus and  calculus students exhibited in reading new passages from their mathematics textbooks.  To gauge the effectiveness of these students' reading, we asked them to attempt  straightforward mathematical tasks, based directly on what they had just read. These  students had high ACT mathematics and high ACT reading comprehension test scores  and used many of the helpful metacognitive strategies developed in reading comprehension research. However, they were not effective readers of their mathematics textbooks. In discussing this, we draw on the psychology literature to suggest that cognitive gaps, that is, periods of lapsed or diminished focus, during reading may explain some of the ineffectiveness of the students' reading. Finally, we suggest some implications for teaching and pose questions for future research. Appended to this document are: (1) Precalculus Reading Passages; (2) Calculus Reading Passages with Interruptions; and (3) Debriefing Questions. (Contains 2 tables and 13 endnotes.)
Mathematical Connections: A Study of Effective Calculator Use in Secondary Mathematics Classrooms
Author: Clark, Jeff
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Calculators,Mathematics Instruction,Secondary School Mathematics,Technology Uses in Education,Problem Solving,Equations (Mathematics),Algebra,Mathematics Achievement,Mathematics Skills

Mathematics teachers face the challenge of integrating calculator use in their classrooms. Calculators provide advantages for students when performing calculations and they can provide teachers with a versatile instructional tool. Students face high-stakes mathematics tests each year in middle school and must take Regents and college entrance exams during their high school career. It is important to properly integrate calculator use so that students can derive the full benefit of familiarity with the instrument while maintaining a high level of student proficiency with paper and pencil calculations. The goal of my study was to investigate how a student can best learn with the aid of a calculator. I wanted to find out the proper balance of calculator use combined with paper and pencil techniques that work together to give students enduring lessons. Three appendixes present: (1) Consent Letter to School Administrator; (2) Consent Letter to Parents; and (3) Sample Assessment Questions. (Contains 2 tables.)
Olympian Parents Answer the Question of How Parents Contribute towards Their Child's Academic Productivity
Author: Campbell, James Reed
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Information Analyses
Subjects: Parent Participation,Academic Achievement,Parent Student Relationship,Theories,Models,National Surveys,Educational Research,Literature Reviews

How do parents contribute toward their child's academic productivity? This article analyzes studies conducted over the last 30 years on this topic. During these three decades a number of theories and theoretical frameworks have been developed to answer this fundamental question. There have been nine national studies published and six reviews of the literature about parent involvement. What has proven effective in terms of children's achievement? The results of the national studies and the reviews show that home-based frameworks consistently show positive results whereas school-based frameworks show mostly non significant or inconsistent results. The article concludes that more research is needed with home-based paradigms and challenges the educational community to find ways to communicate the information derived to parents. (Contains 7 tables and 1 figure.)
The Effectiveness of Teaching Traditional Grammar on Writing Composition at the High School Level
Author: Jaeger, Gina
Date: 2011-05-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: English Curriculum,Community Needs,Grammar,Traditional Grammar,Teaching Methods,Writing Instruction,English Instruction,Writing (Composition),High Schools,Instructional Effectiveness,Models,English Teachers

Traditional grammar instruction is a challenging element of the English curriculum; both students and teachers struggle with the rules and dull nature of grammar. However, understanding grammar is important because students need to understand the language they speak in order to be effective communicators, and teachers provide grammar instruction with the express purpose of improving students' writing. The problem lies in the method of instruction; does traditional grammar instruction improve the quality of students' writing? This study examines the effectiveness of traditional grammar instruction on improving the quality of students' writing. Earlier studies conclude that traditional grammar instruction has little to no effect on composition. The findings parallel the previous research, and the English community needs to reevaluate their pedagogical approach to grammar instruction.
The Affects on Preschool Students When Social Skills Lessons Are Introduced
Author: Davis, Pamela J.
Date: 2011-05-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Feedback (Response),Interpersonal Competence,Preschool Children,Skill Development,Peer Relationship,Journal Writing,Diaries,Behavior Modification,Student Behavior,Pretests Posttests,Surveys,Parents,Program Effectiveness,Social Development

This study was conducted to see what happens when preschool students were exposed to social skills lessons. The students that were selected attended preschool full day and year round. The students were given a pre survey on skills. The lessons consisted of six lessons that students seemed to struggle in. Books and activities were provided each week around a certain skill. Students were monitored each day on how they socialize with their classmates. Journals, behavioral logs, target sheets, etc. were used to measure student improvement. At the end of the six weeks, students were given the post survey and compared their answers. Students were able to give more appropriate answers in the post survey. Parents were given a survey and feedback was welcomed. The results showed that most students benefited from the teaching targets and some needed additional practice. Students displayed other social skills that I could teach if given more time. This study was insightful and gave good teaching experience. An appendix presents: the pre & post student survey, parent survey, and daily/weekly behavior log. (Contains 3 graphs.)