ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Implementing a Conditional Cash Transfer Program in Two American Cities: Early Lessons from Family Rewards 2.0
Author: Dechausay, Nadine
Date: 2014-10-00
Type: Tests/Questionnaires
Subjects: Urban Areas,Poverty Programs,Welfare Services,Family Programs,Rewards,Urban Programs,Program Effectiveness,Health,Employment,Guidance,Education,Comparative Analysis

In 2007, New York City launched the first test of a conditional cash transfer program in the United States. Called Family Rewards, the program sought to break the intergenerational cycle of poverty by offering cash assistance to poor families to reduce immediate hardship, but conditioned this assistance on families' efforts to improve their health, further their children's education, and increase parents' work and earnings, in the hope of reducing poverty over the long term. The program had positive effects on some outcomes, but left others unchanged. Building on the lessons learned from that evaluation led to the next iteration and test of the model--called Family Rewards 2.0, the subject of this report. Family Rewards 2.0 was launched in July 2011 in the Bronx, New York and Memphis, Tennessee. While still offering rewards in the areas of children's education, family health, and parents' work, Family Rewards 2.0 has fewer rewards in each domain, offers the education rewards only to high school students, makes the rewards more timely by paying them each month, and includes family guidance. The addition of guidance, or having staff members actively help families develop strategies to earn rewards, represents the biggest change to the original model. MDRC is evaluating the program through a randomized controlled trial involving approximately 1,200 families in each city, half of whom can receive the cash rewards if they meet the required conditions, and half of whom have been assigned to a control group that cannot receive the rewards. This report presents early findings on the program's implementation and families' receipt of rewards during the first two years. Appendices include: (1) Supplementary Exhibits for Chapter 1; (2) Supplementary Exhibits for Chapter 2; (3) Supplementary Exhibits for Chapter 3; and (4) Supplementary Exhibits for Chapter 4.
Three Approaches to Preschoolers' Social and Emotional Competence: A Summary of Impact and Implementation Findings from Head Start CARES
Author: MDRC
Date: 2015-04-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Early Intervention,Preschool Children,Early Childhood Education,Social Development,Emotional Development,Teacher Education,Thinking Skills,Play,Program Effectiveness,Control Groups,Experimental Groups,Comparative Analysis,Program Implementation,Classroom Techniques,Peer Relationship,Interaction,Disadvantaged Youth

This summary describes the Head Start CARES research project, which evaluated three classroom-based approaches to enhancing children's social-emotional development: (1) The Incredible Years Teacher Training Program; (2) Preschool PATHS (Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies); and (3) Tools of the Mind--Play. The three social-emotional approaches tested in Head Start CARES were called &quot;enhancements&quot; because they complemented and enriched classroom practices that already existed. The effects, or &quot;impacts,&quot; of the enhancements were rigorously evaluated by randomly assigning approximately 100 Head Start centers to one of the three enhancements (the program group) or to a control group that continued with &quot;business as usual.&quot; On average, coaches and trainers rated implementation across the year for each enhancement at or above a satisfactory threshold for quality implementation. Compared with the control classrooms, each enhancement also improved the specific teacher practice it was meant to affect: The Incredible Years improved teachers' classroom management; PATHS bolstered teachers' social-emotional instruction; and Tools of the Mind--Play increased the degree to which teachers structured peer interactions and play. Two of the three enhancements also showed consistent positive impacts on a range of children's social-emotional outcomes in preschool, although not always as predicted.
Mapping Success: Performance-Based Scholarships, Student Services, and Developmental Math at Hillsborough Community College
Author: Sommo, Colleen
Date: 2014-10-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Community Colleges,Remedial Mathematics,Scholarships,Two Year College Students,Low Income Groups,Performance,Demonstration Programs,Program Effectiveness,Cost Effectiveness

In 2010, Hillsborough Community College (HCC), a large multicampus institution in Tampa, Florida, worked with MDRC to create the Mathematics Access Performance Scholarship (MAPS) program to help academically underprepared community college students succeed in developmental math. MAPS provides an incentive for low-income students referred to developmental math to take their math courses early and consecutively, get help with math in an on-campus Math Lab, and strive for passing grades or better, in exchange for a modest scholarship contingent on performance. MAPS is part of the national Performance-Based Scholarship (PBS) Demonstration, which is testing performance-based scholarships with varying student populations and program requirements. MAPS offered eligible students the opportunity to earn a performance-based scholarship of up to $1,800 ($600 per semester for three semesters) for successfully completing a three-course sequence--comprising Beginning Algebra, Intermediate Algebra, and a first-level college math course--within a period of three consecutive semesters plus a summer term. MAPS is the only program in the PBS Demonstration that provides an incentive for a specified course sequence. MDRC used a random assignment design to study the effects of MAPS compared with HCC's standard services. Academic outcomes were tracked for all sample members for two years. The findings at HCC, like those across the PBS Demonstration, are modest but positive: (1) More than 90 percent of program group students earned a MAPS award in the first semester, but scholarship receipt rates declined in the second and third semesters; (2) MAPS students were much more likely to visit a Math Lab than control group students; (3) MAPS helped move students further along in the math course sequence, and MAPS students also accumulated more credits overall -- in part because of their greater progress in math; and (4) The program had no discernible impact on students' retention. Appendices include: (1) Selected Baseline Characteristics, by Research Group; (2) Survey Response Analysis; (3) Impact Tables; and (4) Key Cost Terms.
Cognitive Predictors of Calculations and Number Line Estimation with Whole Numbers and Fractions among At-Risk Students
Author: Namkung, Jessica M.
Date: 2015-04-29
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Predictor Variables,At Risk Students,Grade 4,Elementary School Students,Computation,Mathematics Skills,Cognitive Processes,Structural Equation Models,Path Analysis,Mathematical Logic,Logical Thinking,Tutoring,Control Groups,Experimental Groups,Comparative Analysis,Short Term Memory,Disabilities

The purpose of this study was to examine the cognitive predictors of calculations and number line estimation with whole numbers and fractions. At-risk 4th-grade students (N = 139) were assessed on 7 domain-general abilities (i.e., working memory, processing speed, concept formation, language, attentive behavior, and nonverbal reasoning) and incoming calculation skill at the start of 4th grade. Then, they were assessed on whole-number and fraction calculation and number line estimation measures at the end of 4th grade. Structural equation modeling and path analysis indicated that processing speed, attentive behavior, and incoming calculation skill were significant predictors of whole-number calculations whereas language, in addition to processing speed and attentive behavior, significantly predicted fraction calculations. In terms of number line estimation, nonverbal reasoning significantly predicted both whole-number and fraction outcome, with numerical working memory predicting whole-number number line estimation and language predicting fraction number line estimation. Findings are discussed in terms of distinctions between whole-number and fraction development and between calculations and number line learning. [At time of submission to ERIC this article was in press with &quot;Journal of Educational Psychology.&quot;]
Inmates' Attitudes toward Pre-Release Educational and Vocational Programs
Author: Baskas, Richard S.
Date: 2015-09-29
Type: Information Analyses
Subjects: Institutionalized Persons,Educational Attitudes,Vocational Education,Participation,Literature Reviews,Correctional Education,Correctional Rehabilitation,Positive Attitudes,Negative Attitudes,Educational Opportunities,Educational Development,Postsecondary Education,High School Equivalency Programs

Some or all of the pre-release educational and vocational programs that are offered in state and federal prisons are free. Though these inmates are required to participate in these programs before they re-enter society, their attitudes regarding their participation in these programs are mixed. This study reveals literature of what attitudes some inmates may have towards pre-release educational and vocational programs and the manifestations of these attitudes. Review of the literature was conducted through Google Scholar and ERIC and revealed a number of scholarly articles. Inmates share both positive and negative attitudes with regards to pre-release educational and vocational programs in federal and state prison institutions. To a degree prison staff can provide more opportunities to improve inmates' attitudes towards pre-release educational and vocational programs within the combines of the prison environment.
Virtual Learning Ecosystems: A Proposed Framework for Integrating Educational Games, E-Learning Methods, and Virtual Community Platforms
Author: Washington, Christopher
Date: 2015-08-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Electronic Learning,Ecology,Educational Games,Outcomes of Education,Instructional Design,Educational Technology,Learning Activities,Learner Engagement,Instructional Improvement

Digitally delivered learning shows the promise of enhancing learner motivation and engagement, advancing critical thinking skills, encouraging reflection and knowledge sharing, and improving professional self-efficacy. Digital learning objects take many forms including interactive media, apps and games, video and other e-learning activities and exercises. The author proposes the use of affordance-based design as an approach to effectively integrate learning objects and experiences into a comprehensive virtual learning ecosystem. The framework enables designers to engage in the purposeful integration of a variety of game types, e-learning methods, and virtual community platforms based on social, technical and educational affordances related to outcome expectancies. Implications of the model for instructional design, instructor training and development, learner involvement in improving instruction, and learner engagement are discussed.
Why High School Students Feel Mathematics Difficult? An Exploration of Affective Beliefs
Author: Gafoor, K. Abdul
Date: 2015-08-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Mathematics Instruction,Questionnaires,Student Surveys,High School Students,Student Attitudes,Negative Attitudes,Difficulty Level,Mathematics Skills,Learning Strategies,Foreign Countries,Student Interests

Mathematics is an indispensable subject of school curriculum and is important in daily living as well as in the study of other subjects. However, there is a common belief that majority of the students dislike mathematics, owing to an array of factors related to instruction and learners' cognitive, affective and psychomotor attributes, subject matter and the learning environment. This paper elaborates on the affective factors influencing learning of school mathematics as perceived by the learners. A questionnaire survey was conducted on a random sample of 51 standard IX students to obtain data on their mathematics related expectancies, task value beliefs, self-efficacy beliefs, epistemological beliefs, goal orientation, interest and anxiety. Among these students, 88% selected mathematics as the subject hated by them and only 6% report they like mathematics. Major reasons to dislike mathematics were related to difficulty in understanding the subject matter, and teacher or instructional related factors. When 20% rated mathematics as a very difficult subject, 54% reported medium difficulty, with only 10% considering it as an easy subject. Around 42% fail to identify the ways to solve problems provided in their textbook. A large division of students use blind strategies in learning mathematics and possess less adaptive self efficacy beliefs and epistemological beliefs. Implications are added.
Language Testing: The State of the Art. An Online Interview with James Dean Brown
Author: Brown, James Dean
Date: 2015-10-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Interviews,Language Tests,English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Language Proficiency,Student Placement,Language Aptitude,Achievement Tests,Testing Problems,Test Validity,Language Planning,Models,Native Speakers,Portfolios (Background Materials)

In this interview, JD Brown reflects on language testing/assessment. He suggests that language testing can be seen as a continuum with hard core positivist approaches at one end and post modernist interpretive perspectives at the other, and also argues that norm referencing (be it proficiency, placement, or aptitude testing) and criterion referencing (be it diagnostics, progress, or achievement testing) fall on this continuum. He further suggests that evaluation is done at the level of program or course but that assessment is focused on the classroom, and then argues that both assessment and evaluation exploit measurement and testing albeit to different effects. He then comments on his views about high-stakes and low-stakes testing as well as washback, and finally expresses serious concerns about the impacts of language policy on language testing by calling the current NS models into question. Relating his concerns to validity issues, he suggests that language testers need to consider other options to the NS model to serve the needs of speakers of other Englishes.
The School Museum as a Catalyst for a Renewal of the Teaching of History of Education. Practices and Experiences from the University of Macerata, Italy
Author: Brunelli, Marta
Date: 2015-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Museums,Educational History,History Instruction,Teaching Methods,Universities,Higher Education,Elementary Secondary Education,Inservice Teacher Education,Community Involvement,Adult Education

The article presents the educational activities that, since its establishment, the Museum of the School of the University of Macerata has developed with particular attention to university and school students. As a result of a fruitful synthesis of the most recent trends in History of Education, Heritage Education and finally in History Teaching, education based on historical-educational heritage offers the opportunity to rethink the teaching of the history of education itself, from many viewpoints: by enriching in a more operational and participatory manner the ways of transmitting the theoretical (i.e. historical) and methodological contents of the discipline, on the one hand; on the other, by promoting the museum environment as a laboratory to develop cross-curricular teaching competences, crucial for educators of today; and finally, by making the history of the school &quot;tangible&quot; and closer to a wider audience, while strengthening the importance and role of education in society.
GED 21st Century Learning Pathways Pilots. Final Report
Author: Rutschow, Elizabeth Zachry
Date: 2014-09-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: High School Equivalency Programs,Tests,Thinking Skills,Writing Skills,Job Skills,Writing Instruction,Curriculum Development,Elementary Secondary Education,Adult Basic Education,Mathematics Instruction,Alignment (Education),State Standards,School Districts,Adult Education,Secondary Education,Literacy Education,Test Preparation,Focus Groups,Interviews,Program Implementation,Administrator Attitudes,Student Attitudes,Teacher Attitudes

For the nearly 39 million U.S. adults who do not have a high school diploma, the General Educational Development (GED) programs and exam have served as the main avenue for improving individuals' skills and helping them earn a high school credential. However, few students who start these programs ever get this credential, and even fewer advance to the postsecondary education and higher-level training programs that could increase their earning potential. In response to this challenge, the American Council on Education (ACE) partnered with Pearson Inc. to release a new more rigorous GED test in 2014 that assessed the crucial thinking, writing, and analytical skills considered essential for success in today's labor market. In addition, ACE partnered with the New York City Department of Education's District 79 (D79), Office for Adult and Continuing Education (OACE), and MDRC to create the Learning Pathways Pilots, a project aimed at improving students' preparation for this new more rigorous exam. The pilots focused on revising a K-12 writing curriculum (based on the Writers Express [WEX]) and an adult basic education math curriculum (based on Extending Mathematical Power [EMPower]) to align with the Common Core State Standards. This report details the findings from MDRC's evaluation of the implementation of these curricula over the course of the 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 academic years. Overall, the study found that the curricula were implemented broadly throughout both school districts and reached thousands of students. While the Learning Pathways Pilots were successful in implementing more rigorous curricula in adult education classrooms, the experience also points to several ways that adult education practices might be modified to further facilitate new curricular reforms. These include the development of shorter lesson sequences that align with adult students' attendance patterns; providing additional out-of-classroom support to give absent students the opportunity to work on course materials; and increasing faculty participation in decision-making about curricula, which may foster instructors' ownership of reforms.
Chasing the College Dream in Hard Economic Times. Issue Brief
Author: Buddin, Richard
Date: 2014-05-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Economic Climate,Retrenchment,High School Students,College Bound Students,Paying for College,Family Financial Resources,Census Figures,Community Surveys,Tuition,Statistical Data,Student Financial Aid,Family Income,Enrollment Rate,Minority Group Students

Slow economic growth in the past several years has strained the financial resources of many American families and heightened financial burdens for families hoping to support their children's college education. These economic struggles come at a critical time for high school students who rely on family resources to fund large portions of college expenses. This study focuses on how the economic downturn has affected the family financial resources of high school students and their cost of attending college. The primary data source is the US Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS) for 2006 through 2012.13 The ACS provides detailed annual data on high school students and their families. The report also uses information on student race/ethnicity to assess whether the economic slowdown had a differential effect on some groups of students. Alternative estimates of college tuition costs are drawn from the US Department of Education's Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), the College Board, and the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Finally, annual college enrollment rates are drawn from the ACS. This study tracks family finances and tuition from the period before the Great Recession through the continuing economic slowdown in 2012. Findings indicate that despite more limited resources, more families--including minority families who on average have lower family incomes--opted to send their student to college. This suggests that efforts to increase information and access to financial aid have been moderately successful at offsetting some of the effects of the economic downturn. More research is needed to determine how the recession has affected the institutions students chose. For example, although enrollment rates rose, students may be opting for less-expensive schools, such as two-year institutions instead of four-year institutions, public universities instead of private ones, or colleges closer to home.
Missing the Mark: Students Gain Little from Mandating Extra Math and Science Courses. ACT Policy Brief
Author: Buddin, Richard
Date: 2014-08-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: STEM Education,High School Graduates,Required Courses,Graduation Requirements,Outcomes of Education,Educational Legislation,State Legislation,Educational Change,Educational Policy,Public Schools,Achievement Gains,Mathematics Achievement,Science Achievement,Enrollment Trends,Higher Education,Program Effectiveness,State Policy,College Readiness,Career Readiness,Scores,College Entrance Examinations,College Preparation

For several decades, policymakers have embraced the goal of preparing students for college and careers, particularly for careers in the area of mathematics and science. The recent emphasis on these STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) subjects is due to the growth of STEM occupations and the perceived shortage of qualified workers to fill these positions. There is a concern that many students do not currently have the level of STEM capabilities necessary for high-skill STEM professions such as engineering or even for low-skill STEM positions in fields such as manufacturing. Using student-level data for nine Illinois high school graduation classes, this report examines the relationship between high school graduation requirements and student outcomes and assesses how changes in math and science requirements affected student outcomes. In August 2005, Illinois enacted Public Act 94-0676 aimed at increasing the rigor of high school by mandating more stringent high school graduation requirements. This study used ACT, National Student Clearinghouse, and Illinois State Board of Education survey data to examine the effects of the reform for public school students. Three questions were addressed: (1) Have the new graduation requirements increased math and science course taking; (2) Has student achievement improved in math and science because of the policy change; and (3) Have college enrollment trends been affected by the new law? A brief overview of each question is provided along with an examination of the law's effectiveness. Findings seem to indicate that state policymakers may be unrealistic in expecting that raising math and science graduation requirements alone through state policy will improve student outcomes. Overall, as states try to increase the preparedness of students for college and career, course requirements alone may not be a sufficient mechanism for change. Exposing students to advanced material is an important first step, but we must recognize that better preparation, better instruction, better student commitment, better parental support, and a host of other factors are needed for students to master these advanced skills.