ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Successful Researcher-Practitioner RCT Partnership: Increasing Attendance by 15,000 Days
Author: Rogers, Todd
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Educational Research,Partnerships in Education,Randomized Controlled Trials,Attendance,Urban Schools,Educational Innovation,Elementary Schools,Middle Schools,High Schools,Parent School Relationship,Program Effectiveness

While the adjusted cohort graduation rate of students in the United States has reached 80 percent during the 2011-12 school year (Stetser &amp; Stillwell, 2014), in the School District of Philadelphia (SDP) only 57% of its students graduate from high school in four years, which is typical of large urban school districts (Swanson, 2009). Moreover, less than 20% of SDP students graduate high school, enroll in college, and persist to the second year (The School District of Philadelphia Action Plan, 2013). School attendance correlates with academic achievement and is also among the strongest predictors of high school graduation (Balfanz &amp; Byrnes, 2012; Byrnes &amp; Reyna, 2012). Educators care greatly about the amount of time students spend in the classroom because absenteeism results in substantial loss of classroom learning time. Teachers and administrators estimate that some students may lose not just days, but weeks of learning time, due to tardiness and absences. One of SDP's priorities is to improve student attendance as part of its Action Plan. The district created a task force dedicated to re-think the existing report card structure that is sent to guardians. Currently, student performance data (e.g., course grades and attendance) is presented to guardians in report cards in a way that is often convoluted and confusing. The task force intends to develop new formatting and, potentially, new content for the report cards. By making absenteeism information more meaningful, relevant, and contextualized, guardians might be enabled to take on a more active role in improving their student's attendance and academic performance. The Student Social Support R&amp;D Lab at Harvard (S3) and the Office of Research and Evaluation (ORE) at the School District of Philadelphia (SDP) collaborated on the &quot;SDP Attendance Project,&quot; a research project in the form of a randomized control trial (RCT) to study strategies to improve student attendance in SDP. The project developed a low-cost, easy-to-implement innovation that could be widely used to reduce student absences.
The Effect of an Analysis-of-Practice, Videocase-Based, Teacher Professional Development Program on Teacher and Student Outcomes
Author: Taylor, Joseph
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Faculty Development,Outcomes of Education,Science Instruction,Pedagogical Content Knowledge,Teaching Skills,Educational Change,Elementary School Teachers,Teacher Collaboration,Classroom Environment,Teaching Methods,Program Effectiveness,Science Achievement,Video Technology,Summer Programs,Tests,Scoring Rubrics,Grade 4,Grade 5

Over a decade ago, Borko (2004) raised the awareness of the education research community to the critical need for studies of teacher professional development (PD) programs. She states on page 13: &quot;My challenge to the educational research community is this: We have much work to do and many questions to answer in order to provide high-quality professional development to all teachers. It will take many different types of inquiries and a vast array of research tools to generate the rich source of knowledge needed to achieve this goal.&quot; Studies of PD programs clearly ensued from this charge, but there is evidence that few studies tested causal relationships between teacher PD programs and both teacher and student outcomes (Author, 2011; Yoon, et al., 2007) and even fewer used rigorous research designs. Traditional PD efforts seldom provide teachers with the necessary science content and pedagogical skills to help them teach in ways that support the kinds of student science learning called for in national reform efforts. These problems are especially prevalent for elementary teachers who have little training in science-specific pedagogy or in the science disciplines they are expected to teach (Fulp, 2002). There is a growing consensus that professional development should: (1) engage teachers actively in collaborative analyses of their practice; (2) treat content as central and intertwined with pedagogical issues; (3) enable teachers to see these issues as embedded in real classroom contexts; (4) focus on the content and curriculum teachers are teaching; and (5) be guided by an articulated model of teacher learning that specifies what knowledge and skills teachers will gain, what activities will lead to this learning, and how this new knowledge and skills will appear in their teaching practices. This research sought to address the question: what is the effect of [program name] on teacher and elementary school student outcomes compared to that of a PD program of equal duration that focuses only on content deepening? The student outcome of interest was science achievement and the teacher outcomes were content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge. One figure is appended.
Strengthening the Research Architecture for High Quality Universal Pre-K: Development of a Quality Monitoring Tool
Author: Rojas, Natalia
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: School Community Programs,Partnerships in Education,Preschool Education,Early Childhood Education,Research Needs,Action Research,Improvement Programs,Access to Education,Educational Quality,Progress Monitoring,Systems Development,Management Information Systems

The purpose of this presentation is to describe some of the activities of a partnership forged between NYU researchers and senior leaders in NYC that was intended to provide research infrastructure and capacity-building solutions while also addressing jointly identified research questions about the &quot;Pre-K for All&quot; (PKA) program. The focus has been to strengthen the research architecture so that the City can monitor and assess the PKA initiative. In addition, the authors have played a key role in providing technical assistance to the city in the roll-out of these early childhood services. As part of that technical assistance, one of the charges was to assist in the development and dissemination of a comprehensive set of quality standards for pre-K across all pre-K sites, as well as the development/refinement of a &quot;snapshot&quot; measure that can be used to assess PKA programs in meeting those standards. There are likely to be major benefits and risks for children entering the expanded PKA program. One major educational challenge for NYC is that the research architecture by which leaders can quantitatively monitor those potential benefits and risks is only in its earliest stages. The aim is to leverage the successful partnership that has been built over the past year of collaboration between researchers at the Institute of Human Development and Social Change at NYU and NYCs early education policy leaders in the Center for Economic Opportunity (CEO) at the Mayor's office and the Division of Early Childhood Education (DECE) at the Department of Education. The guiding principle of this work is to put &quot;science to work&quot; to jointly strengthen the research tools needed to answer policy and scholarly questions regarding the effectiveness of PKA while also enhancing the usability of those findings for the day-to-day work of practitioners and policymakers.
The What Works Clearinghouse: New Strategies to Support Non-Researchers in Using Rigorous Research in Education Decision-Making
Author: Seftor, Neil
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Clearinghouses,Federal Programs,Educational Research,Decision Making,Evidence Based Practice,Information Dissemination,Research and Development,Theory Practice Relationship

The What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) is a central and trusted source of information of scientific evidence for what works in education. Towards that end, the WWC summarizes research on a range of practices, programs, and policies (interventions) and disseminates that research in a variety of forms on the free public website. In recent years, the WWC has expanded its scope to include research on postsecondary education, interventions for teachers, and additional special education populations. The WWC has also focused its work on expanding resources to support a range of audiences in accessing, understanding, and applying research. New products, easy-to-use databases, and enhanced communication activities provide these much-needed supports for non-researchers. For example, the WWC has introduced several standards briefs, which each provide a detailed explanation of a WWC standard, such as attrition. The WWC also maintains databases to help users locate research studies or compare the demonstrated effectiveness of interventions on various outcomes, in various settings, and for different populations. In addition to supporting non-researchers in identifying appropriate interventions for their districts, schools, and classrooms, the WWC serves as a resource for researchers on how to conduct and report findings from high-quality research and on what topics rigorous research is particularly needed. In keeping with the theme of the conference, this presentation will describe new methods for communicating research information to practitioners and policymakers. The lessons from the WWC experience will be relevant to other education researchers who aim to share their research findings beyond the research community. Those who work closely with practitioners and policy makers will learn about several resources to which they can direct non-researchers for information about rigorous research designs and standards tailored to specific audiences. And all attendees will gain an updated understanding of the priorities and products offered by the WWC and ways in which they can engage with the WWC. One figure is appended.
The Uneven Implementation of Universal School Policies: Maternal Education and Florida's Mandatory Grade Retention Policy
Author: LiCalsi, Christina
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Educational Policy,Grade Repetition,Mothers,Parent Background,Educational Attainment,Grade 3,Public Schools,Elementary School Students,Socioeconomic Status,Differences

Research consistently demonstrates a strong, positive relationship between parents' socioeconomic status and children's educational achievement. This achievement gap is already present when children enter school in kindergarten and, despite the numerous policies aimed at leveling the educational playing field for disadvantaged students, it does not dissipate as children progress in their schooling (Duncan &amp; Magnuson, 2011). Universal educational policies are a popular tool to address inequalities, with the underlying belief being that disparities can be overcome by holding all students to the same high standards and ensuring that all families have access to the same opportunities. However, these policies may be ineffective--and may actually exacerbate inequality--if families of high-socioeconomic status are better able to advocate for their children, make informed decisions, circumvent policy, or take advantage of opportunities in their children's schooling. There is mounting evidence that parents' behavior regarding their child's schooling does in fact differ depending on socioeconomic status. Despite the potential for socioeconomic differences in parental knowledge, preferences, and behaviors to exacerbate inequality, there is little large scale empirical evidence on the impact of parents' socioeconomic status in the face of a broad policy that is intended to be enforced universally. The current examples from the literature have consisted of situations that either require an active choice by parents, in the case of school choice, or are cases where parents can choose to intervene regarding discretionary school decisions not based on formal policy. This paper builds upon the prior research into socioeconomic status, parental behavior, and academic achievement, by exploring the idea that due to these socioeconomic differences in behavior, seemingly universal educational policies may be differentially enforced for students of different backgrounds. The authors examine whether a statewide policy enacted in Florida in 2002, mandating that promotion to the fourth grade be conditional upon meeting a minimum standard of reading, resulted in differential retention dependent on mothers' level of education. Maternal education is used as the defining indicator of socioeconomic status because it has been found to be the strongest predictor of children's academic achievement (Haveman &amp; Wolfe, 1995) and the authors believe that the mechanisms which would likely lead to differential exemption, namely having the knowledge, agency, and desire to intervene in the policy's implementation, are most likely to be impacted by maternal educational attainment. Tables and figures are appended.
Approaches to Internal Testing and Assessment of Knowledge in Relation to the Pupils' Achievements in National Assessment of Knowledge
Author: Žakelj, Amalija
Date: 2012-00-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: National Competency Tests,Achievement Tests,Mathematics Tests,Mathematics Achievement,Language Tests,Correlation,Educational Practices,Test Preparation,Evaluation Methods,Student Evaluation,Comparative Testing,Foreign Countries,Elementary School Students,Middle School Students,High School Students

In this article we are presenting the results of the research &quot;The Connection between the Results in the National Assessment of Knowledge and the Pupils' Socio-cultural Environment, Instruction and Homework,&quot; taking place at the National Education Institute, Slovenia, in the years 2008/2009. In the introduction we are writing the importance of national assessment of knowledge in the primary school and presenting its significance in certain European countries. External knowledge assessment at the end of the primary school, being at present in Slovenia called &quot;national assessment of knowledge,&quot; has got since 2005/2006 an information and formation significance. The achievements in the &quot;national assessment of knowledge&quot; are not a part of the school mark, but additional information on pupils' knowledge. In the central part of the article we are presenting the findings of the study on the interconnectedness of approaches to internal (school) testing and assessment of knowledge with the school success of pupils in the national assessment of knowledge in mathematics and Slovenian language. The research has shown that none of the single elements can have a decisive influence on the results by itself, but rather interdependence between them. A change of one element can influence the structure and efficiency of other elements, thus their consistency is required. The results also show that pupils make differences between teachers of mathematics or Slovenian language, i.e., a closer cooperation with mathematical teachers than with Slovenian language teachers. [For complete volume, see ED567040.]
Scientific Reputation and &quot;The Golden Standards&quot;: Quality Management System Impact and the Teaching-Research Nexus
Author: Moraru, Luminita
Date: 2012-00-00
Type: Speeches/Meeting Papers
Subjects: Quality Assurance,Educational Quality,Instructional Effectiveness,Quality Control,Administrator Attitudes,Teacher Attitudes,College Administration,Educational Research,Productivity,Reputation,Academic Standards,Value Added Models,Theory Practice Relationship,Foreign Countries,Structured Interviews

In the academic environment the reputation is linked to research performance. However, the questions &quot;what reputation actually is, how it is formed and which are the best ways to measure it?&quot; still remain and they raise tension and confusion between academics. The evaluation methods tend to over emphasise research and fail to address the quality of teaching, mostly because measuring teaching quality is complex and difficult. Teaching matters in higher education institutions (HEIs) and the quality management system must be committed to capturing all the dimensions that affect quality teaching. [For complete volume, see ED567040.]
Structures of School Systems Worldwide: A Comparative Study
Author: Popov, Nikolay
Date: 2012-00-00
Type: Speeches/Meeting Papers
Subjects: Educational Practices,Comparative Education,Foreign Countries,Models,Educational Research,Educational Change,Concept Mapping,Research Methodology

In the past 20 years I have been examining the structures of school systems worldwide. This ongoing research has been enriched by the findings obtained from the lecture course on Comparative Education I have been delivering to students in the Bachelor and Master's Education Programs at Sofia University, Bulgaria. This paper presents some results of my comparative study on the structures of national school systems. The paper starts with an introduction to the reasons for concentrating on the structures of school systems, and then describes the study details, shows the main structural models and concrete structures and countries where each structure is used, and finally proposes to develop a world comparative structural research approach. [For complete volume, see ED567040.]
The Competencies of the Modern Teacher
Author: Nessipbayeva, Olga
Date: 2012-00-00
Type: Speeches/Meeting Papers
Subjects: Teacher Competencies,Teaching Skills,Educational Innovation,Creativity,Critical Thinking,Problem Solving,Faculty Development,Instructional Leadership,Teacher Student Relationship,Pedagogical Content Knowledge,Reflective Teaching,Classroom Techniques,Teacher Effectiveness,Educational Practices,Student Evaluation,Technological Literacy

The principal aim of this study is to consider the competencies of the modern teacher. To understand 21st-century instructional skills, we researched the following issues: students' skills; levels of teachers' professional growth; teachers' pedagogical culture; pedagogical innovations, and 21st-century teaching competencies. [For complete volume, see ED567040.]
Role Perceptions and Job Stress among Special Education School Principals: Do They Differ from Principals of Regular Schools?
Author: Gaziel, Haim Henry
Date: 2012-00-00
Type: Speeches/Meeting Papers
Subjects: Administrator Attitudes,Principals,Leadership Responsibility,Special Education,Special Schools,Stress Variables,Administrator Role,General Education,Hypothesis Testing,Foreign Countries,Questionnaires,Work Environment,Comparative Analysis

The objective of the present study was to compare principals' perceptions of their leadership roles in regular (Dovno, 1999) versus special education (Zaretzky, Faircloth &amp; Moreau, 2005) schools, and how these perceptions affect feelings of job stress (Friedman, 2001; Margalit, 1999). We predicted that regular school principals would differ in their perceived roles and job stress from their counterparts. Using data obtained from samples of principals in regular education (n = 104) and principals in special education (n = 60), hypotheses were examined and partially supported. Implications for school principals' training will be discussed further. [For complete volume, see ED567040.]
How Would Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) Enhance Assessment for Learning Mathematics by the Special Education Needs Students (SENS) in Secondary Education Sector
Author: Nwabude, Aaron A. R.
Date: 2012-00-00
Type: Speeches/Meeting Papers
Subjects: Educational Technology,Technology Uses in Education,Mathematics Instruction,Special Education,Secondary School Mathematics,Student Needs,Feedback (Response),Cooperative Learning,Student Participation,Foreign Countries,Case Studies,Interviews,Questionnaires,Observation,Statistical Analysis,Focus Groups

This paper is a pilot study that investigates how the use of virtual learning environment can enhance or support assessment &quot;for&quot; learning mathematics by the KS4 students with special education needs in school sector, and then reports the finding. A virtual learning environment is an electronic system that can provide online interaction of various kinds that can take place between learners and tutors, including online learning and assessment (JISC, 2003). It is a learning platform that supports teaching and learning programmes, such as AfL (assessment for learning). The platform also encourages personalised and collaborative learning, enabling students to carry out peer and self assessment. The finding suggests that VLE enhances assessment for Learning by offering instant feedback and feed-forward to SEN students who thus take responsibility for their own learning, and have also been motivated to correct their work. Furthermore, evidence of teacher-student interactivity which facilitates greater understanding of mathematical concepts is highlighted by the study. [For complete volume, see ED567040.]
Policy and Practice of Pre-Service and In-Service Teacher Training Programmes and Facilities in Nigeria
Author: Oyebade, Stephen A.
Date: 2012-00-00
Type: Speeches/Meeting Papers
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Teacher Qualifications,College Faculty,Teacher Certification,Teacher Education Programs,Educational Policy,Faculty Development,Educational Methods,Educational History,Educational Legislation,Graduate Study,Undergraduate Study,Access to Education,Educational Environment

This paper reviewed policy provisions for &quot;pre-service&quot; and &quot;in-service&quot; teacher training programmes and facilities in Nigeria. It also presented reviews on legislations, agencies involved in teacher affairs management in Nigeria, using the historical and case study approach. Data on teaching qualifications of University of Lagos (UNILAG) lecturers were extracted from the Handbook of School of Postgraduate Studies for 1983-1984, 1991-1995, 2007-2008, and 2009-2010 academic sessions. The paper found that some problems still existed despite efforts to improve the lot of the teaching profession namely: (i) qualified and interested Nigeria Certificate in Education (NCE) &quot;direct entry&quot; applicants in education are being short-changed yearly for reasons of limited spaces and carrying capacity as experienced in UNILAG; (ii) acute access problem into the regular &quot;direct entry&quot; bachelors programme led to disappointment of much younger, unemployed and inexperienced Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) candidates opting for &quot;sandwich programme&quot; in education; (iii) the bachelors' programme continued to be oversubscribed, leading to shortage of classrooms and lodging, poor quality of reading materials and stressful examination sessions; and (iv) the danger of &quot;teaching&quot; without teachers in Nigerian universities is obvious and ominous. In UNILAG, for instance, only in the faculty of education was found an appreciable number (77% and 68%) of teaching staff possessing requisite teaching certificates in 2008 and 2010 respectively. The study recommended that resources for teacher training must be provided urgently and facilities be provided accordingly. Also, any teacher at any level of education in Nigeria must be professionally qualified to be accountable and productive in the spirit and letter of Nigeria's Vision to be one of the greatest 20 economies in year 2020. [For complete volume, see ED567040.]