ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Pedagogical Effectiveness and Feasibility of Focus on Form vs. Focus on Meaning in a Reading Class: Compatibility of Teacher-Learner's Perspectives
Author: Abbasian, Gholam-Reza
Date: 2015-06-16
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Teaching Methods,Quasiexperimental Design,Adult Learning,English (Second Language),Comparative Analysis,Discussion (Teaching Technique),Scores,Student Attitudes,Teacher Attitudes,Reading Instruction,Foreign Countries,Language Proficiency,Questionnaires,Reading Comprehension,Control Groups,Experimental Groups,Story Telling,Reading Tests,Statistical Analysis,Pretests Posttests

Many empirical investigations have demonstrated that explicit Focus on Form (FOF) methods are more effective than implicit Focus on Meaning (FOM) methods (Norris &amp; Ortega, 2000), because in FOF instruction learners' attention is drawn to linguistic form while FOM instruction requires learners' attention to communicate (Ellis, 2001). However, this piece of research focused on both the effectiveness and feasibility study of FOF vs. FOM in reading class. In this quasi-experimental study, 20 adult EFL learners of pre-intermediate level were divided into two experimental groups which received two different types of instruction. During a ten-session treatment, the first group was provided with FOF instruction (Dictoglass task), while the second group was provided with FOM instruction (Discussion task). The results revealed a significant difference between two experimental groups. The FOF group scored significantly higher than the FOM group. Regarding the students and teachers' perspectives towards feasibility of FOF in reading class, the students believed that FOF was feasible in reading classes, while the teachers were not unanimous in this regard, but towards feasibility of FOM both groups held positive attitudes. Generally, the data revealed that both FOF and FOM have feasibility in reading classes. In terms of feasibility, both methods are equally well- functioning, but as to developing reading skill FOF proved a bit more effective than FOM.
The Industrial Manufacturing Technician Apprenticeship. Work-Based Learning in Action
Author: Scott, Geri
Date: 2016-07-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Case Studies,Manufacturing,Apprenticeships,Productivity,Problem Solving,Skill Development,Workplace Learning,Labor Turnover,Career Development,Employer Attitudes,Program Descriptions,On the Job Training,Futures (of Society),Wastes,Equipment,Maintenance,Skilled Workers,Unskilled Workers

This case study, one of a series of publications exploring effective and inclusive models of work-based learning, finds that entry-level occupations in manufacturing have historically been considered unskilled jobs for which little or no training is necessary. As a consequence, employers have experienced high turnover among new-hires, and incumbent workers have had limited opportunity to gain the skills needed for career advancement. The Industrial Manufacturing Technician (IMT) Apprenticeship program improves the knowledge and technical skills of manufacturing production workers, increasing their productivity and problem-solving skills, as well as their understanding of the overall manufacturing process, quality assurance practices, and basic equipment maintenance. Employers who have implemented the IMT Apprenticeship program report improved productivity, improved job retention, reduced scrap and waste, and less equipment downtime for maintenance. The IMT Apprenticeship program also prepares entry-level workers to be trained for very high-skilled technical manufacturing occupations, often with advanced standing, promoting career advancement for workers and helping to address severe skills shortages for employers.
Moving Every Child: Building a Data Culture to Promote Academic Growth. A Case Study of McKinney (Texas) Independent School District
Author: Northwest Evaluation Association
Date: 2013-03-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: School Districts,High Achievement,Public Schools,Equal Education,Student Evaluation,Data Collection,Empowerment,Curriculum Development,Academic Achievement,Educational Environment,Case Studies

Since 2000 the population in McKinney, Texas, has almost tripled. Remarkably, the school system has kept apace, opening a new school building almost every year. As the population of this Dallas-Fort Worth area bedroom community has diversified in recent decades, so has the student body of McKinney Independent School District (ISD). Despite the challenges inherent in a rapidly growing school district, McKinney ISD is one of the highest performing public school systems in the nation. The graduation rate is above 97% and SAT/ACT scores are consistently above the national average. A guiding principle in McKinney ISD is that students from all economic backgrounds can and should reach high levels of academic achievement. To that end, McKinney ISD has built a strong district culture around the use of assessment data to make informed decisions around curriculum and instruction. In four years of using Measures of Academic Progress® (MAP®) assessments, they have expanded their use of test data to guide all levels of district planning, from individual student goal setting to norms-based national comparisons. This report presents how the McKinney ISD has built data culture to promote academic growth.
Jobs to Manufacturing Careers: Work-Based Courses. Work-Based Learning in Action
Author: Kobes, Deborah
Date: 2016-07-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Case Studies,Manufacturing Industry,Workplace Learning,Community Colleges,Partnerships in Education,School Business Relationship,On the Job Training,Employees,Two Year College Students,Skilled Workers

This case study, one of a series of publications exploring effective and inclusive models of work-based learning, finds that work-based courses bring college to the production line by using the job as a learning lab. Work-based courses are an innovative way to give incumbent workers access to community college credits and degrees. They are community college courses that have been redesigned in partnership with employers so that competencies are taught not only in the classroom or lab but on the job itself. The students are enrolled for credit at the college but identify as workers who are learning on the job. Work-based courses are jointly developed by community colleges and employers and are adapted to meet employers' specific needs for skilled workers.
Expectations Meet Reality: The Underprepared Student and Community Colleges. 2016 National Report
Author: Center for Community College Student Engagement
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: College Readiness,College Preparation,College Graduates,Student Attitudes,College Faculty,Teacher Attitudes,Student Placement,Remedial Instruction,Evaluation Methods,Student Evaluation,Community Colleges,Two Year College Students,Required Courses,Acceleration (Education),Developmental Studies Programs,Computer Assisted Instruction,Partnerships in Education,Job Skills,Grade Point Average,College Entrance Examinations,Racial Differences,College School Cooperation,Surveys

Improving college completion is a shared objective of higher education. It is the focus of colleges, foundations, state governments, and the White House. Students have gotten the message--their aspirations are on the rise. But the nation's collective ambition far exceeds today's outcomes. Many students are not attaining their goals. College readiness is at the heart of this disconnect between aspirations and results. If student outcomes are to equal student aspirations, colleges must be more effective in helping underprepared students move into--and successfully complete--college-level work. This 2016 National Report presents innovative strategies that are showing promise-- multiple measures for assessing readiness, corequisite courses, redesigned math, accelerated developmental courses, computer-assisted developmental math, developmental education paired with workplace skills, high school partnerships, and improved preparation for placement tests. Examples of colleges that are having success with these strategies are provided. Along with these ongoing improvement efforts, colleges are encouraged to assess their own data; discuss data with faculty, students, and others; update processes based on new information; and continue to evaluate success over time. In this way, every college, and collectively the nation, can move toward the bold completion goals that will best serve the students.
A Missing Link for California's Pathways Movement: CTE Instructional Staff
Author: Lundy-Wagner, Valerie
Date: 2016-06-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Career Education,Technical Education,Career Development,Alignment (Education),Labor Force Development,Consortia,Faculty Development,Credentials,High Schools,Community Colleges,Supply and Demand

Recently, the State of California committed nearly one billion dollars to the development of career and technical education (CTE) pathways that lead to locally relevant, high-growth, high-demand careers. This investment represents a pivot from relatively disjointed approaches to CTE in high schools and community colleges, and reflects an aspiration to create a more integrated system that aligns the education systems with workforce needs while promoting equity. Between 2014 and 2015, the California Department of Education (CDE) funded 79 regional consortia through the California Career Pathways Trust (CCPT) initiative in two cohorts. The research and analysis in this report draw on interview data from CCPT Round 1 consortium leaders and other relevant reports, databases, and artifacts that inform grade 9-14 CTE pathways development. This brief highlights three challenges to increasing the supply of CTE pathways instructional staff in California: (1) Credentialing requirements for secondary schools and community colleges are discrete and disconnected; (2) There are few accelerated paths to building a CTE instructional staff pipeline; and (3) There are few data publicly available for understanding and matching the supply of and demand for CTE pathways staff. This brief notes key opportunities and considerations for state and local leaders as they pursue strategies for more systematically supporting grade 9-14 CTE instructional staff and pathways. Contains endnotes.
Prior Learning Assessment Practice Brief. Acceleration Strategies Series. TAACCCT Equipping Community Colleges for Success
Author: Jobs for the Future
Date: 2016-02-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Prior Learning,Acceleration (Education),Credentials,Adult Students,Employment Experience,College Credits,Community Colleges

This is the first brief in a series on strategies for Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College Career Training (TAACCCT) grantees and other educators. The Department of Labor's Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College Career Training (TAACCCT) program is providing nearly $2 billion in funds to build the capacity of the nation's community colleges. Grantees are using the funds to expand and improve their ability to deliver education and career training programs that can be completed in two years or less, are suited for workers who are eligible for training under the Trade Adjustment Assistance for Workers program as well as other adults, and prepare program participants for employment in high-wage, high-skill occupations. This practice brief explores TAACCCT grantees' use of Prior Learning Assessment to accelerate credential attainment for adult students who have considerable work experience. Contains endnotes.
Underprepared Learners Practice Brief. Acceleration Strategies Series. TAACCCT Equipping Community Colleges for Success
Author: Jobs for the Future
Date: 2016-02-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Community Colleges,Financial Support,Training,Adult Learning,Adult Students,College Preparation,Grants,Job Skills,Remedial Instruction,Developmental Studies Programs,Educational Change

This is the second brief in a series on strategies for Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College Career Training (TAACCCT) grantees and other educators. The Department of Labor's Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College Career Training (TAACCCT) program is providing nearly $2 billion in funds to build the capacity of the nation's community colleges. Grantees are using the funds to expand and improve their ability to deliver education and career training programs that can be completed in two years or less, are suited for workers who are eligible for training under the Trade Adjustment Assistance for Workers program as well as other adults, and prepare program participants for employment in high-wage, high-skill occupations. This brief explores models used by TAACCCT grantees to support adult learners who are underprepared for college-level work. Contains endnotes. [For the first report in the series, &quot;Prior Learning Assessment Practice Brief. Acceleration Strategies Series,&quot; see ED567856.]
Lessons from State Performance on NAEP: Why Some High-Poverty Students Score Better than Others
Author: Boser, Ulrich
Date: 2016-01-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Low Income Groups,Barriers,National Competency Tests,Achievement Gap,Academic Standards,Educational Change,Grade 4,Grade 8,Reading Achievement,Mathematics Achievement,Common Core State Standards,Educational History,Regression (Statistics),Standardized Tests,Accountability,Educational Equity (Finance),Scores,State Policy,Geographic Location

Students from low-income backgrounds face a variety of social and economic challenges that make it more difficult for them to achieve their potential. 2 To make matters worse, low-income students often attend public schools that receive less funding than schools serving more affluent students. It is also clear that some states do a far better job of educating low-income students than others. According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP, there is a massive gap between the states with the highest-performing low-income students and the states with the lowest. The Center for American Progress wanted to better understand the role of standards-based reform in promoting student outcomes. They studied the most recent NAEP data. Given previous research, they believed that they might find a strong connection between standards-based reform and student outcomes. Because it can be hard to make clear connections between policy and outcomes, some of the analysis is anecdotal in nature. The authors used more-empirical tools for the study, relying on a statistical approach known as a regression analysis to unpack the relationship between standards-based reform and student outcomes. For that part of the analysis, they looked specifically at the performance of low-income students on NAEP over time in relation to a state's standards-based reform efforts, as measured by the Education Counts database maintained by &quot;Education Week.&quot; Based on the analysis, it was found that: (1) Over the past decade, many states that have not fully embraced standards-based reform have fallen behind, while states that have thoughtfully pushed standards have shown clear gains; (2) Implementing standards-based reform significantly improved learning outcomes for low-income students in fourth-grade math and eighth-grade reading; and (3) States posting poor results are among those looking to leave the Common Core State Standards, or Common Core--a set of higher academic K-12 standards in reading and math--which were developed and adopted by governors and chief state school officers in 2010. Methodology is appended.
Taking Credit for Education: How to Fund Education Savings Accounts through Tax Credits. Policy Analysis No. 785
Author: Bedrick, Jason
Date: 2016-01-20
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Money Management,Tax Credits,Student Financial Aid,School Choice,Educational Legislation,Accountability,Financial Support,Investment,Educational Vouchers,Scholarships,Case Studies,Home Schooling,Constitutional Law

Every child deserves the chance at a great education and the American dream. Unfortunately, decades of student achievement data reveal that the increasingly costly U.S. district school system does not provide an excellent education for all students. State lawmakers around the country are now seeking ways to enhance the ability of families to choose among not only schools, but online classes, personal tutors, and other educational service providers. Lawmakers in five states have passed laws allowing eligible students to receive an Education Savings Account (ESA) instead of attending their assigned district school or a charter school. Under these ESA laws, the state deposits public funds into private bank accounts that parents can use to purchase a variety of educational products and services. However, nearly 40 states have constitutional provisions prohibiting the use of public funds at religious schools. These so-called Blaine amendments were originally motivated by anti-Catholic sentiment more than a century ago. State courts have interpreted some Blaine amendments in a manner that may pose an obstacle to private-school-choice laws, including ESAs. Fortunately, lawmakers can design ESAs to avoid such constitutional issues. This paper will explain how legislators can design an ESA that is privately funded through tax-credit-eligible contributions from taxpayers, similar to tax-credit scholarship programs around the country. Tax-credit-funded ESAs would empower families with more educational options while enhancing accountability and refraining from coercing anyone into financially supporting ideas they oppose. Because they are funded through voluntary contributions rather than public funds, tax-credit scholarships have a perfect record of constitutionality at the U.S. Supreme Court and at every state supreme court that has considered the issue. In Blaine amendment states, tax-credit ESAs could be a lifeline to families in need. The following are appended: (1) Transparency and Accountability; and (2) Resources.
Ready Texas: Stakeholder Convening. Proceedings Report
Author: Intercultural Development Research Association
Date: 2016-04-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Educational Legislation,State Legislation,High Schools,Curriculum Development,Educational Change,Program Implementation,College Readiness,Conferences (Gatherings),Access to Education,Educational Quality,Graduation Requirements,Educational Trends,Equal Education,STEM Education,Academic Aspiration,Educational Opportunities,Educational Objectives,Higher Education,Career Readiness,Stakeholders,Postsecondary Education

With the adoption of substantial changes to Texas high school curricula in 2013 (HB5), a central question for Texas policymakers, education and business leaders, families, and students is whether and how HB5 implementation impacts the state of college readiness and success in Texas. Comprehensive research is needed to understand the implications of HB5 implementation for various student groups and Texas as a whole. Some research and evaluation is already underway; other questions need to be examined. The Ready Texas: Stakeholder Convening brought together policymakers, education, community, business and family leaders in Austin in February 2016 to discuss the current status of HB5 implementation and research. The purpose was to gather input on key questions about implementation of HB5 to inform the design of a comprehensive study and to connect cross-sector leaders who are studying or working on various facets of the implementation. This work also will be of interest to educators, policymakers, and community, family, student and business leaders nationally who seek to assure that all students have access to high quality curricula and learning opportunities that prepare them for post-secondary access and success. The following are appended: (1) Speakers, Presenters and Roundtable Facilitators; and (2) Participants. [Speakers, presenters, and roundtable facilitators include: Sofia Bahena, Hector Bojorquez, David G. Hinojosa, Jesse Jai McNeil, Jr., Laurie Posner, Belinda Román, Michael Marder, Celina Moreno, Wynn Rosser, and Michael Seifert.]
Advancing Deeper Learning under ESSA: Seven Priorities. Turning the Corner Post-Conference Brief. Students at the Center
Author: Heller, Rafael
Date: 2016-03-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Educational Policy,Educational Planning,High Schools,Educational Opportunities,Educational Quality,Student Evaluation,Professionalism,Capacity Building,Barriers,Career Readiness,Partnerships in Education,College School Cooperation

This brief recommends seven ways for supporters of deeper learning to take advantage of the changing education policy landscape, as authority shifts from the federal government to states and local districts. The authors outline priorities to help the nation's high schools move from a largely inequitable system to one that prepares all students for college and careers, with the full range of academic, personal, and social skills needed for life success. The ideas grew out of &quot;Turning the Corner: Toward a New Policy Agenda for College, Career, &amp; Civic Readiness,&quot; a national meeting Jobs For the Future held in October 2015 that brought together over 100 influential figures from across the education world to discuss next steps for the deeper learning movement.
Designing Competency-Based Education for Underprepared College Learners. Next-Generation CBE
Author: Girardi, Amy
Date: 2016-07-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Competency Based Education,Access to Education,Interviews,Developmental Programs,Learning Readiness,Design Requirements,Mastery Learning,Media Adaptation,Student Centered Learning,Educational Technology,Academic Support Services,Delivery Systems,College Programs,Program Design

Competency-based education (CBE) is widely viewed as an innovative alternative to traditional higher education, yet most programs serve only a narrow slice of the postsecondary population. Few are intended for adults who need to boost basic skills in order to succeed in college coursework. However, if designed with the needs of a broader range of learners in mind, CBE could be an important piece of the national movement to increase educational access, equity, and credential attainment. This report is the first in a series that will zero in on the critical question of how to adapt CBE in order to expand access and increase success for this large and growing group. A list of experts interviewed for this paper is appended. Contains endnotes.