ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Childhood Obesity &amp; Dental Disease: Common Causes, Common Solutions. Oral Health &amp; Obesity Policy Brief
Author: Children Now
Date: 2011-02-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Prevention,Child Health,Dental Health,Dentistry,Obesity,Correlation,Intervention,Health Promotion,Physical Activity Level,Diseases,Public Health,Nutrition,Food,Low Income Groups,At Risk Persons,School Role,Public Policy

Too many California children suffer from high rates of preventable chronic conditions associated with childhood obesity and dental disease. The state is experiencing a crisis in both areas. Fortunately, common factors that contribute to both conditions--including the rates of breastfeeding, access to healthy food and the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages--can be addressed more effectively in order to reduce the prevalence of both childhood obesity and dental disease. Promising interventions at the state and local levels can be built upon to address these conditions. At the federal level, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) and First Lady Michelle Obama's &quot;Let's Move&quot; campaign present timely opportunities to address both childhood obesity and dental disease. This policy brief covers the intersections of childhood obesity and dental disease, and offers solutions that can promote the prevention of both. These conditions are not only costly to the children affected, but to the State as well. California has opportunities to promote prevention of these conditions by focusing on the common solutions associated with childhood obesity and dental disease. By improving coordination of existing services that currently treat each condition in isolation, the State could save money and more efficiently improve the overall health of children. Promising Interventions Address Both Issues is appended. (Contains 1 figure and 57 endnotes.)
Proposed State Budget Improves Outlook for Kids, but Leaves Much Work to Be Done
Author: Children Now
Date: 2013-02-04
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Budgeting,Educational Improvement,Children,Budgets,Retrenchment,Health Services,Education,Well Being,Elementary Secondary Education,School Funds,Funding Formulas,Patients,Child Health

For the first time in many years, the Administration's proposed state budget does not project a deficit. Painful budget cutting in recent years combined with voters passing Proposition 30 in November to generate revenues finally have put California on more stable fiscal ground. However, it is critical to recognize that kids have borne a disproportionate share of the cuts over time, and these cuts go largely unrestored in the 2013-2014 state budget proposal. As a result, all Californians will continue to pay for the long-term consequences of underinvesting in children's health, education, and overall well-being. This paper details these and other ways the January state budget proposal impacts kids.
The Nation's Report Card: Mega-States--An Analysis of Student Performance in the Five Most Heavily Populated States in the Nation. NCES 2013-450
Author: National Center for Education Statistics (ED)
Date: 2013-02-00
Type: Numerical/Quantitative Data
Subjects: Outcomes of Education,Public Schools,Federal State Relationship,English Language Learners,Low Income,Disadvantaged,Grade 4,Grade 8,National Competency Tests,Governing Boards,Educational Assessment,Reading Achievement,Science Achievement,Mathematics Achievement,Achievement Gains,Comparative Analysis,Statistical Significance,Academic Achievement

California, Florida, Illinois, New York, and Texas enroll close to 40 percent of the nation's public school students. The importance of these &quot;Mega-States&quot; goes beyond the sheer size of their population. They now serve more than half of the nation's English language learners (ELL), as well as some of the largest concentrations of children from lower-income families. As policymakers and educators look at the nation's changing demographics and explore ways to close achievement gaps, the educational progress of children in these states is of interest far beyond their state borders. That's why the National Center for Education Statistics and the National Assessment Governing Board focused this special report on educational outcomes in the five largest states. This report provides a more in-depth look into the performance of specific student groups and performance by subject, including: (1) recent assessments; (2) comparisons to the nation and among the five states; (3) highlights of gains for student groups, including those that performed higher than their peers in the nation; and (4) student performance at or above the NAEP &quot;Proficient level.&quot; The results presented by each subject area are for public school students only. The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reports results using widely accepted statistical standards; findings are reported based on a statistical significance level set at 0.05 with appropriate adjustments for multiple comparisons. Readers should note that writing results were not included in this report because the 2011 writing framework begins a new trend line. In addition, the 2011 computer-based writing assessment was not administered at the state level. Technical Notes are included. (Contains 19 figures, 7 tables, and 2 footnotes.)
Revised State Budget Sells Kids Short
Author: Children Now
Date: 2012-06-01
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Educational Finance,Access to Health Care,Taxes,Foster Care,Income,Early Childhood Education,Law Enforcement,Human Services,State Government,Budgets,Budgeting,Financial Support,Well Being,Social Services,State Legislation,Public Health,Child Welfare

The Administration's May Revision of the 2012-2013 state budget addresses a $15.7 billion shortfall through funding shifts, cuts, and new revenue sources that place children squarely in harms way. California's kids are already grossly underserved relative to the rest of the nation's children. If the May Revise budget is passed by the Legislature, the state's children would be forced to shoulder a huge portion of the proposal's $8.3 billion in cuts, including massive decreases in funding for early childhood programs, education, and health and human services. Moreover, the lion's share of the budget proposal's new revenues is contingent on the passage of a temporary sales and income tax measure that the Governor is placing on the November 2012 ballot. If the measure fails, the proposal includes an additional $6.1 billion in automatic &quot;trigger cuts&quot; to close the resulting revenue gap, with education bearing 90% ($5.6 billion) of the brunt of these cuts. This puts children's well-being at substantial additional risk. California ranks high among the 50 states in per capita state and local tax revenues. The state also ranks high on per capita spending on some government services, notably third in the nation on corrections and law enforcement. But for years, California has ranked among the lowest in per pupil spending on education and per capita spending on children's health. The lack of priority given to children is undermining the state's immediate and long-term stability. There is a little good news for children in the Administration's proposal, including realignment protections for foster care. However, these proposed gains are offset by other losses, such as a major backslide in access to quality early learning for vulnerable children and decreasing children's access to health care by moving children from Healthy Families to Medi-Cal for health coverage. This paper details these and other key components of the budget proposal impacting kids.
Analysis of 100 Years of Curriculum Designs
Author: Kelting-Gibson, Lynn
Date: 2013-01-00
Type: Information Analyses
Subjects: Curriculum Design,Content Analysis,Longitudinal Studies,Comparative Analysis,Educational Researchers,Educational Assessment,Instructional Effectiveness,Evidence,Educational History,Teachers,Educational Attitudes

Fifteen historical and contemporary curriculum designs were analyzed for elements of assessment that support student learning and inform instructional decisions. Educational researchers are purposely paying attention to the role assessment plays in a well-designed planning and teaching process. Assessment is a vital component to educational planning and teaching because it is a way to gather accurate evidence of student learning and information to inform instructional decisions. The purpose of this review was to analyze 100 years of curriculum designs to uncover elements of assessment that will support teachers in their desire to improve student learning. Throughout this research the author seeks to answer the question: Do historical and contemporary curriculum designs include elements of assessment that help teachers improve student learning? The results of the review reveal that assessment elements were addressed in all of the curricular designs analyzed, but not all elements of assessment were identified using similar terminology. Based on the analysis of this review, it is suggested that teachers not be particular about the terminology used to describe assessment elements, as all curriculum models discussed use one or more elements similar to the context of pre, formative, and summative assessments. (Contains 1 table.)
Canonical Correlational Models of Students' Perceptions of Assessment Tasks, Motivational Orientations, and Learning Strategies
Author: Alkharusi, Hussain
Date: 2013-01-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Grade 10,English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Student Attitudes,Language Tests,Student Motivation,Learning Strategies,Models,Self Efficacy

The present study aims at deriving correlational models of students' perceptions of assessment tasks, motivational orientations, and learning strategies using canonical analyses. Data were collected from 198 Omani tenth grade students. Results showed that high degrees of authenticity and transparency in assessment were associated with positive students' self-efficacy and task value. Also, high degrees of authenticity, transparency, and diversity in assessment were associated with a strong reliance on deep learning strategies; whereas a high degree of congruence with planned learning and a low degree of authenticity were associated with more reliance on surface learning strategies. Implications for classroom assessment practice and research were discussed. (Contains 4 tables.)
High Ability and Learner Characteristics
Author: Hindal, Huda
Date: 2013-01-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Gifted,Student Characteristics,Short Term Memory,Grade 7,Middle School Students,Factor Analysis,Tests,Recognition (Psychology),Recall (Psychology),Evaluation Criteria,Cognitive Processes

The outstandingly able learner has been conceptualised, in terms of test and examination performance, as the learner showing superior academic performance which is markedly better than that of peers and in ways regarded as of value by wider society. In Kuwait, such superior examination performance leads to a classification regarded as being &quot;gifted&quot;. This study looks at the inter-correlations between performance in various subjects in examinations and then considers how examination performance correlates with measures of working memory capacity, extent of field dependency, extent of divergency and visual-spatial abilities. A very large sample of grade 7 Kuwaiti students (aged approximately 13) was involved, the sample being selected in such a way that it contained a high proportion of those regarded as &quot;gifted&quot; under the procedures used in Kuwait. While specific learner characteristics have been related to examination performance, this study brings four different characteristics together to gain a picture of the way these characteristics may be seen in those who perform extremely well in examinations. Principal components analysis using varimax rotation, was used to look at the examination data and one factor accounted for 87% of the variance. A consideration of the examination papers led to the conclusion that the national examinations tested only recall-recognition. It was also found that those who performed best in all six subjects tended to be those who are highly divergent and strongly visual-spatial as well as those tending to have higher working memory capacities and being more field independent. The inter-correlations between the various learner characteristics are explained in terms of the way the  brain is known to process information. The implications of the findings for assessment and for the way high ability is considered are discussed. (Contains 11 tables and 2 figures.)
Enhancing Foreign Language Learning through Listening Strategies Delivered in L1: An Experimental Study
Author: Bozorgian, Hossein
Date: 2013-01-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Second Language Instruction,English (Second Language),Indo European Languages,Listening,Role,Control Groups,Listening Skills,Learning Strategies,Inferences,Units of Study,Identification,Repetition,Notetaking,Listening Comprehension Tests,Class Activities,Learning Activities,Teaching Methods,Speech

Listening used in language teaching refers to a complex process that allows us to understand spoken language. The current study, conducted in Iran with an experimental design, investigated the effectiveness of teaching listening strategies delivered in L1 (Persian) and its effect on listening comprehension in L2. Five listening strategies: Guessing, making inferences, identifying topics, repetition, and note-taking were taught over 14 weeks during a semester. Sixty lower intermediate female participants came from two EFL classrooms in an English language institute. The experimental class (n = 30) who listened to their classroom activities performed better (t value = 10.083) than the control class using a methodology that led learners through five listening strategies in Persian. The same teacher taught the students in the control class (n = 30), who listened to the same classroom listening activities without any of the above listening strategies. A pre and post listening test made by a group of experts in the language institute assessed the effect of teaching listening strategies delivered in L1. Results gathered on the post intervention listening test revealed that listening strategies delivered in L1 led to a statistically significant improvement in their discrete listening scores compared with the control group. (Contains 7 tables.)
Pre-Service Teachers: An Analysis of Reading Instruction in High Needs Districts Dual Language Classrooms
Author: Whitacre, Michael
Date: 2013-01-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Theory Practice Relationship,Reading Instruction,Teaching Methods,Student Teaching,Teaching Experience,Bilingual Education,Observation,Video Technology,Best Practices,English Language Learners,English (Second Language),Bilingual Teachers,Small Group Instruction,Focus Groups,Case Studies,Preservice Teachers,Measures (Individuals)

Pre-service teachers need opportunities to apply theory and connect to best practices as they teach in classroom settings be it, whole or small group.  For many pre-service teachers often times their experience is limited to simply watching instruction or working with small groups of students (Pryor &amp; Kuhn, 2004). The student teaching experience is a critical component of the teacher preparation program. Through the use of the English Language Learner Classroom Observation Instrument (ELLCOI), and researcher observation the hope is that these will aid in bringing to light the instructional activities used by pre-service teachers during reading instruction with ELLs. This study explores how pre-service bilingual teachers connect theory into practice by examining their instruction in the following categories: Instructional Practices, Interactive Teaching, English-Language Development, and Content Specific to Reading as listed in The English Language Learner Classroom Observation Instrument (ELLCOI) developed by Haager, Gersten, Baker, and Graves (2003). To capture these instructional events video tape recordings of eight South Texas pre-service teachers were taken during a reading language arts lesson in order to observe instruction in high need districts' dual language/bilingual classrooms. Data were compiled to capture the nature and quality of instruction on key essential elements, as well as reading instructional practices specific to the teaching/learning process in the dual language classroom. The findings portray the results of the ELLCOI with bilingual/ESL pre- service teachers and how they make sense of their instructional practices as a means to instruction in one-way dual language public school classrooms. (Contains 4 tables and 8 footnotes.)
Motivation to Read: How Does It Change for Struggling Readers with and without Disabilities?
Author: Melekoglu, Macid A.
Date: 2013-01-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Reading Motivation,Elementary School Students,Secondary School Students,Reading Difficulties,Special Needs Students,Disabilities,Reading Attitudes,Negative Attitudes,Reading Skills,Reading Strategies,Barriers,Reading Improvement,Adolescents,Grade 4,Grade 5,Grade 6,Grade 10,Grade 11,Grade 12

Lack of reading motivation impedes upper elementary and secondary school students' willingness to improve critical reading skills and strategies to be successful in school. Struggling readers often show a negative attitude towards reading tasks and manifest low motivation to read. Although the importance of motivation is clear, there is limited research on reading motivation of struggling adolescents with disabilities. This study examined whether reading motivation of struggling readers with and without disabilities significantly changed after an eighteen week period of reading instruction in two elementary schools and one high school in a Midwest state of the United States of America (USA). Findings yielded significant improvement in motivation for adolescents without disabilities while motivation scores declined for students with disabilities. An overview of students' answers to survey questions is provided and some evidence-based methods that teachers can utilize to improve reading motivation of upper elementary and high school students are summarized. (Contains 4 tables.)
Understanding Student Teachers' Behavioural Intention to Use Technology: Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) Validation and Testing
Author: Wong, Kung-Teck
Date: 2013-01-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Factor Analysis,Structural Equation Models,Student Teachers,Student Teacher Attitudes,Computer Uses in Education,Educational Technology,Technology Integration,Elementary Secondary Education,Intention,Usability,Context Effect,Test Validity,Testing,Models

This study sets out to validate and test the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) in the context of Malaysian student teachers' integration of their technology in teaching and learning. To establish factorial validity, data collected from 302 respondents were tested against the TAM using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and structural equation modelling (SEM) was used for model comparison and hypotheses testing. The goodness-of-fit test of the analysis shows partial support of the applicability of the TAM in a Malaysian context.  Overall, the TAM accounted for 37.3% of the variance in intention to use technology among student teachers and of the five hypotheses formulated, four are supported.  Perceived usefulness is a significant influence on attitude towards computer use and behavioural intention. Perceived ease of use significantly influences perceived usefulness, and finally, behavioural intention is found to be influenced by attitude towards computer use.  The findings of this research contribute to the literature by validating the TAM in the Malaysian context and provide several prominent implications for the research and practice of technology integration development. Appendix 1 presents &quot;Constructs and corresponding items.&quot; (Contains 6 tables and 3 figures.)
Tragic Accident or Wrongful Death? Assessing the Effectiveness of MIT's Responses in a High-Profile Student Suicide Crisis
Author: Hudson, Tara D.
Date: 2011-11-19
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Suicide,College Students,Crisis Management,Communication Strategies,Organizational Communication,Universities,Program Effectiveness,Stakeholders,Case Studies

Given the prevalence of mental health issues and suicidal ideation among U.S. college students, higher education institutions are likely to face a student suicide crisis at some point. The messages college administrators send in the aftermath of a student suicide crisis have the potential to placate or exacerbate the outrage that stakeholders feel; thus, these messages have the potential to minimize or aggravate the reputational and financial damage that institutions face in the wake of a student suicide. The purpose of this research was to explore the effectiveness of specific crisis communication strategies in reducing the impact of a high-profile social legitimacy crisis resulting from a student suicide, using the case of the six-year crisis at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) sparked by sophomore Elizabeth Shin's death in 2000. Data were drawn from MIT press releases and internal publications, news media accounts of the crisis, and legal documents in Shin v. MIT. Two theoretical frameworks drawn from the crisis communication literature, Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT) and Benoit and Brinson's (1994) typology of image restoration strategies, were applied to assess the effectiveness of MIT's response during the crisis. The results of this research show that MIT administrators chose minimally effective response strategies, chiefly excusing and scapegoating, which prolonged the crisis and likely increased the reputational and financial damage that resulted. By choosing more appropriate response strategies such as sympathy and apology, MIT may have been able to reduce the impact of the crisis. In the interest of risk management, college and university administrators can use the findings of this case study to inform their own planning for a student suicide crisis. (Contains 1 figure.)