ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Constrained Curriculum in High Schools: The Changing Math Standards and Student Achievement, High School Graduation and College Continuation
Author: Daun-Barnett, Nathan
Date: 2012-02-20
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: High Schools,Mathematics Education,Graduation Rate,Educational Objectives,Outcomes of Education,Graduation,College Attendance,Exit Examinations,Public Policy,Secondary School Curriculum,College Bound Students,Educational Policy,Policy Analysis,Academic Standards,Standardized Tests,Graduation Requirements,National Surveys,Scores,Predictor Variables,Statistical Analysis,Regression (Statistics),Barriers,Program Effectiveness,Curriculum Evaluation

Mathematics education is a critical public policy issue in the U.S. and the pressures facing students and schools are compounded by increasing expectations for college attendance after high school. In this study, we examine whether policy efforts to constrain the high school curriculum in terms of course requirements and mandatory exit exams affects three educational outcomes--test scores on SAT math, high school completion, and college continuation rates. We employ two complementary analytic methods--fixed effects and difference in differences (DID)--on panel data for all 50 states from 1990 to 2008. Our findings suggest that within states both policies may prevent some students from completing high school, particularly in the near term, but both policies appear to increase the proportion of students who continue on to college if they do graduate from high school. The DID analyses provide more support for math course requirement policies than mandatory exit exams, but the effects are modest. Both the DID and fixed effects analyses confirm the importance of school funding in the improvement of high school graduation rates and test scores. (Contains 4 tables and 1 footnote.)
The Impact of Statewide Exit Exams: A Descriptive Case Study of Three German States with Differing Low Stakes Exam Regimes
Author: van Ackeren, Isabell
Date: 2012-03-20
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Testing,Academic Achievement,Exit Examinations,Program Effectiveness,Grading,Case Studies,Foreign Countries,College Preparation,Program Evaluation,Administrative Organization,Change Strategies,Academic Standards,State Standards,Alignment (Education),Educational Policy,Policy Analysis,Program Administration,Test Format,Student Surveys,Teacher Surveys,Delivery Systems,Evaluation Criteria,Evaluation Methods,Educational Assessment,Educational Indicators

In this article we present results from a study investigating the impact of three state exit exam systems on teaching and learning in college-preparatory schools. The study compares one state with a traditionally more centralized exam regime, one state that is more de-centralized and one state that has recently switched to more centralized testing. The German Abitur is a cognitively rather complex exam that is largely unstandardized as measured by the standards of international testing regimes. Moreover, performance differences in system monitoring tests between states with different exam regimes can only be found for mathematical literacy. Therefore, centrally regulated topics and grading criteria--as opposed to exams that are locally designed and reviewed centrally--make little difference in softer subjects with a more open canon, but seem to have a stronger impact in mathematics. Against this background and taking an international perspective, we argue that an overall low stakes testing regime might be the first step towards a good compromise between local flexibility for students' interests on one hand, and rigor as well as a healthy dose of performance motivation on the other hand. (Contains 1 figure, 7 tables, and 7 footnotes.)
Recess and Reading Achievement of Early Childhood Students in Public Schools
Author: Yesil Dagli, Ummuhan
Date: 2012-04-10
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Reading Achievement,Academic Achievement,Early Childhood Education,Public Schools,Recess Breaks,Age Differences,Gender Differences,Individual Differences,Racial Differences,Socioeconomic Status,Family Characteristics,Time Perspective,Time Factors (Learning),Incidence,Policy Analysis,Educational Policy,Educational Practices,Scores,Predictor Variables,Achievement Gains,Schematic Studies,Foreign Countries,Kindergarten

In recent years, schools have tended to eliminate recess period and to devote more time to instruction in order to increase academic achievement. Using a nationally representative sample, this study examined reading scores of students who experienced different numbers of recess days in a week, and different number of times and length of recess in a day. Students' gender, race, family socioeconomic status, initial reading scores, and age were controlled. Findings showed no significant main effects of recess; however, students who were exposed to a 16-30 minutes recess period tended to perform better. An interaction effect of race and the length of recess was found. It was concluded that recess does not have a significant effect on reading achievement. In other words, it does not improve or hurt academic achievement, but provides an opportunity for children to be physically active, play and socialize--just to be a child. (Contains 3 figures and 3 tables.)
Social Networking Postings: Views from School Principals
Author: Griffin, Marlynn M.
Date: 2012-04-20
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Social Networks,Elementary Secondary Education,Teacher Selection,Drinking,Disabilities,Measures (Individuals),Citations (References),Principals,Questionnaires,Dismissal (Personnel),Minority Groups,Sexuality,Language Usage,Violence,Antisocial Behavior,Homosexuality,Internet,School Policy,Administrator Attitudes,Preservice Teachers

Numerous recent media accounts indicate that teachers are being fired, put on probation, or otherwise censured because of information found on their social networking sites (SNS). While the literature in business, psychology, and pharmacy shows initial investigations of the impact of SNS information on hiring decisions, this area has not been investigated in the field of education. Data from pre-service teachers' SNS were compiled into a 51-item questionnaire and K-12 school principals rated each statement on its likelihood to influence a hiring decision if it were found on the SNS of a teacher applying for a position at his or her school. The statements included on the questionnaire included sexual talk, swearing, violent language, references to drugs and/or alcohol use, and language that could be considered pejorative to individuals with disabilities, persons of color and/or homosexual individuals. The findings of this preliminary study indicate that of the 51 statements, 28 had average ratings in the moderate-to-significant impact on hiring decision range and 22 had average ratings in the minor-to-moderate impact on hiring decision range. Only one item of the 51 fell in the no impact-to-minor impact on hiring decision range. Findings are discussed in relation to professional dispositions, categories of information that may influence hiring decisions, and internet use policies. Implications based on the data from this study include the need to develop state and university policies for SNS use. Finally, the results of this study indicate that further research into hiring administrators' use of data from SNS in hiring decisions is warranted. (Contains 6 footnotes and 4 tables.)
The SAS Education Value-Added Assessment System (SAS[R] EVAAS[R]) in the Houston Independent School District (HISD): Intended and Unintended Consequences
Author: Amrein-Beardsley, Audrey
Date: 2012-04-30
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Evidence,Urban Schools,Private Schools,Program Effectiveness,School Districts,Accountability,Teaching Methods,Educational Policy,Policy Analysis,Program Implementation,Teacher Evaluation,Merit Rating,Teacher Effectiveness,Evaluation Methods,Evaluation Criteria,Contracts,Case Studies,Test Reliability,Test Bias,Test Validity,Attribution Theory,Performance Factors,Formative Evaluation,Teacher Surveys

The SAS Educational Value-Added Assessment System (SAS[R] EVAAS[R]) is the most widely used value-added system in the country. It is also self-proclaimed as "the most robust and reliable" system available, with its greatest benefit to help educators improve their teaching practices. This study critically examined the effects of SAS[R] EVAAS[R] as experienced by teachers, in one of the largest, high-needs urban school districts in the nation--the Houston Independent School District (HISD). Using a multiple methods approach, this study critically analyzed retrospective quantitative and qualitative data to better comprehend and understand the evidence collected from four teachers whose contracts were not renewed in the summer of 2011, in part given their low SAS[R] EVAAS[R] scores. This study also suggests some intended and unintended effects that seem to be occurring as a result of SAS[R] EVAAS[R] implementation in HISD. In addition to issues with reliability, bias, teacher attribution, and validity, high-stakes use of SAS[R] EVAAS[R] in this district seems to be exacerbating unintended effects. (Contains 1 figure, 4 tables, and 2 footnotes.)
Professional Learning Activities in Context: A Statewide Survey of Middle School Mathematics Teachers
Author: Akiba, Motoko
Date: 2012-05-20
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Mathematics Education,Mentors,Learning Activities,Teacher Qualifications,Teacher Collaboration,Mathematics Teachers,Faculty Development,Professional Development,State Surveys,Middle School Teachers,Time Factors (Learning),Time on Task,Teacher Characteristics,Context Effect,College Programs,Conferences (Gatherings),Coaching (Performance),Interpersonal Communication,Case Studies,Performance Factors,Change Strategies,Teacher Participation

Based on a statewide survey of professional learning activities among 577 middle school mathematics teachers in Missouri, this study examined two questions: 1) What professional learning activities do middle school math teachers participate in and how much time do they spend in these activities?, and 2) How are teacher qualifications and contextual characteristics associated with the amount of their professional learning activities? The study examined seven types of formal and informal professional learning activities: 1) professional development programs, 2) teacher collaboration, 3) university courses, 4) professional conferences, 5) mentoring/coaching, 6) informal communications, and 7) individual learning activities. The study found that middle school mathematics teachers spend the greatest amount of time involved in teacher collaboration, professional development programs, and individual learning activities. In addition, mathematics teachers in high-poverty and ethnically diverse districts tend to spend more time in formal learning activities such as professional development programs, teacher collaboration, and mentoring/coaching than do mathematics teachers in wealthier and less diverse districts. To promote a greater level of teachers' participation in shared learning activities, it is important for district and school administrators to offer professional learning activities that meet mathematics teachers' learning needs for understanding students' mathematical knowledge and thinking. (Contains 5 tables.)
Identifying Personal and Contextual Factors that Contribute to Attrition Rates for Texas Public School Teachers
Author: Sass, Daniel A.
Date: 2012-05-30
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Public School Teachers,Teacher Persistence,Faculty Mobility,Public Policy,Performance Factors,Predictor Variables,Teacher Characteristics,Investigations,Data Analysis,State Surveys,Case Records,Dropout Characteristics,Potential Dropouts,Individual Characteristics,Institutional Characteristics,Accountability,Statistical Analysis,Educational Policy

Teacher attrition is a significant problem facing schools, with a large percentage of teachers leaving the profession within their first few years. Given the need to retain high-quality teachers, research is needed to identify those teachers with higher retention rates. Using survival analyses and a large state dataset, researchers examined teacher data to identify those teacher and school variables associated with attrition. Unique to this study was the investigation of testing era (basic competency vs. higher standards based), school districts' yearly ratings based on state-mandated testing, and charter school status. Analyses revealed that teacher attrition was greater during the high stakes-testing era, at low-performing schools, and for charter schools; however, beginning teacher age, gender, and school level moderated several attrition rates. Implications for public policy are discussed. (Contains 1 figure, 4 tables, 1 footnote.)
Arts-Based Research: Weaving Magic and Meaning
Author: Greenwood, Janinka
Date: 2012-03-31
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Educational Research,Theater Arts,Case Studies,Culture,Identification,Ethnic Groups,Pacific Islanders,Minority Groups,Asians,Teachers,Foreign Students,Capacity Building,Trust (Psychology),Teacher Workshops,Instruction,Learning,Foreign Countries

What kinds of things do we research when we use arts-based research? And when we apply arts-based research to educational contexts, what kinds of contributions to the scholarship of learning and teaching can we make? Taking as its basis three case studies in which art processes were used to investigate culture and identity, this essay examines the kinds of questions arts-based research might seek to answer. At the same time as it acknowledges the value of the less definable and often holistic kinds of knowing that may result through the use of art tools and aesthetic analysis, it also argues for the usefulness of strategic focus on specific frames of investigation and specific outcomes. It further examines the relationship between arts-based research and learning.
Education and/as Art: A Found Poetry Suite
Author: Prendergast, Monica
Date: 2012-04-05
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Figurative Language,Poetry,Art,Education

Embracing "metaphor as method" (Prendergast, 2005; see also Prendergast, 2006a, 2006b, 2008a), which I suggest is a key characteristic of thinking poetically and doing poetic inquiry, is the process conveyed in this suite of found poems. The investigation began with a cross-disciplinary scholarly database search on the term "education as art" that asked: How has education been conceived as artful over time? This search led to (sadly but unsurprisingly) very few sources that explicitly employ this metaphor. However, what was discovered was powerful enough to warrant interpretation through poetic transcription and representation in a suite of found poems. These poems reveal the frustration, even rage, of those who wish to re-vision education as artful. They also reveal hopeful (perhaps utopian) views of what education could look like if re-conceived as the enculturation of artists. These found poems were presented as part of a keynote lecture to Ph.D. education students at the University of Minho, Braga, Portugal in April of 2011.
Becoming Theatrical: Performing Narrative Research, Staging Visual Representation
Author: Valle, Jan W.
Date: 2012-06-01
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Theater Arts,Story Telling,Research,Visual Arts,Cooperation,Authors,Artists,Mothers,Experience,Special Education,Performance,Audience Participation

This article describes a collaborative project among the author of a book about mothers and special education (based on a collection of oral narratives of mothers who represent diverse generations, races, and social classes), a playwright, and an artist. Together, they created a theatrical and visual staging of the author's narrative research. The staged reading included a post-performance discussion with the cast, two mothers whose narratives appear in the work, the co-authors and the audience. This discussion indicated a positive response to this alternative form of research representation and generated meaningful dialogue about mothers' experiences with special education and its unintended consequences in the lives of their families. (Contains 1 footnote.)
Art Education as Multiprofessional Collaboration
Author: Nevanen, Saila
Date: 2011-01-30
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Art Education,Educational Cooperation,Artists,Preschool Teachers,Kindergarten,Preschool Education,Integrated Activities,Teaching Methods,Program Effectiveness,Foreign Countries

In this article we explore the realisation of an art education project as multiprofessional cooperation. The multiprofessional collaboration pair in this study consisted of an artist working together with a teacher. This resulted in activities, which all actors, artists, teachers and administrators saw to be at an especially high level, both artistically and to the practice of teaching. Actually they all thought that the targets, which were set to the project, were clearly surpassed. At its best this working method connected artistic work with the pedagogic knowledge and experience of the children's group work. The work required common planning, flexibility from the traditional methods and culture together with a long-lasting timeframe, (1-2.5 year per each of the sub projects), which made it possible to try to develop new methods. In setting the aims and evaluating the results, the artist's highlighted the artistic significance, while the teachers focused on the instrumental values of art. In the end, both teachers and artists were satisfied with the results. (Contains 4 figures and 2 footnotes.)
The Destinee Project: Shaping Meaning through Narratives
Author: Thorne, Michelle Moore
Date: 2012-04-05
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Teacher Student Relationship,Poetry,Diaries,Story Telling,Writing (Composition),Theater Arts,Art Education,Secondary School Teachers,High School Students,Journal Writing

Using narrative method in the form of journaling has the power to shape identity and relationships between teachers and students. This article reflects on such journaling and the process of writing poetry to create a space of understanding between two very different people who found themselves in the relationship of teacher and student. "The Destinee Project" is a collection of poetry based on my journaling and narrative inquiry as I seek to deal with the experience of transition of my school and the struggles of my students. In the past ten years, our school has transitioned from an affluent homogenous group to an extremely diverse urban Title I school. My interaction with Destinee and my reflection on our experience together has helped shape my approach to students and parents. I hope to inspire others to engage in journaling and experience the efficacy of writing about classroom experiences.
Drama at a Time of Crisis: Actor Training, Performance Study and the Creative Workplace
Author: Freeman, John
Date: 2012-06-01
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Drama,Performance,Creativity,Higher Education,College Instruction,Activism,Student Recruitment,Employment,Student Costs,Learning

At a time when our graduates are facing a world of ever more perplexing change and when funding for university arts is coming increasingly under threat, this paper is perhaps a means of reminding ourselves of our subject's strength... of its value to university curricula and its clear contribution to the international creative economies. In this sense, the following paragraphs are as much about sharing with colleagues what it is that the study of performance does well as with making suggestions for enhancement. Notwithstanding this, the article concludes by suggesting ways in which deep approach learning can be applied to the study of performance, and its argument throughout is that performance study and actor training are weakened by boutique borrowing and the making of false promise. (Contains 2 footnotes.)
The Achievement Gap between White and Non-White Students
Author: Rojas-LeBouef, Ana
Date: 2012-00-00
Type: Information Analyses
Subjects: Achievement Gap,Academic Achievement,White Students,Limited English Speaking,Reading Achievement,Mathematics Achievement,Grade 5,Equal Education,Hispanic American Students,Scores,Educational Indicators,Mathematics Tests,Reading Tests,Minority Groups,Test Results

This Collection contains three seminal modules by Authors Ana Rojas-LeBouef and John R. Slate, professors and researchers from Sam Houston State University in Texas. They are nationally recognized scholars in the area of the academic inequity between White and Non-White students. This paper is divided into three chapters. Chapter 1--The Achievement Gap between White and Non-White Students: A Conceptual Analysis--discusses the results of numerous studies in which the achievement gap and related variables were analyzed, and also demonstrates the continued presence of an achievement gap among Whites, non-Whites, and students with a label of Limited English Proficient (LEP). Chapter 2--Reading and Math Differences Between Hispanic and White Students in Texas: A 16-Year Analysis--examines differences in academic achievement among students who were White or Hispanic using archival data from the Texas Education Agency's (TEA) Academic Excellence Indicator System (AEIS). Data examined were fifth grade reading and math passing rates from the 1993 through the 2009 school years. Chapter 3--Reading and Math Differences Between Hispanic Students and Students Who Are Limited English Proficient: A Lack of Equity--examines differences in academic achievement among students who are Hispanic or designated as being Limited English Proficient (LEP), using archival data from the Texas Education Agency's (TEA) Academic Excellence Indicator System (AEIS). Data examined were fifth grade reading and math test scores from the most recent 7 years of statewide data. (Contains 36 footnotes, 4 figures, and 16 tables.)
Characteristics of Effective Principals in High-Poverty South Carolina Elementary Schools
Author: Suber, Cleve
Date: 2012-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Report Cards,Poverty,School Culture,Federal Legislation,Teacher Persistence,Educational Quality,Faculty Mobility,Principals,Academic Achievement,Administrator Characteristics,Institutional Characteristics,Articulation (Education),Faculty Development,High Achievement,Disadvantaged Schools,Recognition (Achievement),Administrator Effectiveness

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001(NCLB) changed the landscape of education nationally. The purpose of this law is to provide a high-quality education to children regardless of their race, socioeconomic status, ability, or background. Effective School Research suggests that successful student learning is linked to the following school characteristics: alignment of instruction and assessment, focused professional development, effective monitoring of instruction, reduction of teacher attrition, and a positive school culture. Successful school principals are closely involved with the teachers' instruction and student learning in their schools. There are few high-poverty, high-performing schools within South Carolina based on school report card data. This study will identify the characteristics of principals, whose schools were identified as high poverty, high-performing according to the South Carolina Department of Education. The principals were identified by school awards received from the State for their perceived effectiveness. (Contains 5 tables and 3 footnotes.)