ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Measuring Student Growth for Teachers in Non-Tested Grades and Subjects: A Primer
Author: ICF International
Date: 2010-00-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Educational Legislation,Federal Aid,Federal Legislation,Federal Programs,Growth Models,Academic Achievement,Achievement Gains,Nongraded Student Evaluation,Behavioral Objectives,Educational Assessment,Teacher Effectiveness

&quot;Race to the Top&quot;(RTT) asks that states &quot;design and implement rigorous, transparent, and fair evaluation systems for teachers and principals that differentiate effectiveness using multiple rating categories that take into account data on student growth…as a significant factor.&quot; In its definition of student growth, RTT makes the distinction between &quot;tested grades and subjects&quot; and &quot;non-tested grades and subjects.&quot; Tested grades and subjects afford relatively large and robust data sets that can be used to measure changes in students' academic achievement. For teachers who teach grades and subjects that do not require a test under ESEA, other measures would need to be used or developed. This raised the question: What options do state education agencies (SEAs) and/or local education agencies (LEAs) have when taking into account student growth in non-tested grades and subjects as part of a rigorous, transparent, and fair system for evaluating teachers and principals? This documents presents three general approaches that emerged in response to the challenge, though additional approaches are under investigation. SEAs and LEAs are alerted that these approaches are not mutually exclusive and it is likely that states and districts may want to use a variety of approaches to measuring student growth depending on the assessments available, the cost and benefits of each approach, and the contextual needs within the state. This documents describes the three approaches and offers different advantages to SEAs and LEAs for incorporation into teacher and principal evaluation systems. The document includes a glossary and a list of leading sources of information.
The Influences of Social Collaboration on Web 2.0 Self-Efficacy for Higher Education
Author: Turky, Mohamed Abdullah
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Web 2.0 Technologies,Self Efficacy,College Students,Foreign Countries,Cooperation,Questionnaires,Correlation,Interpersonal Relationship,Social Media,Technology Uses in Education,Educational Technology

The present study tries to research the relationship between Social Collaboration Activity and Web 2.0 Self-Efficacy for Higher Education student. It additionally looks to decide how Social Collaboration adds to the forecast of their sense Web 2.0 Self-Efficacy. The study reported in this paper was led to inspect the relationship Social Collaboration and their Web 2.0 Self-Efficacy in Staff of Training. To this end, 37 Higher Education students were chosen from Workforce of Instruction in Tanta College in Egypt. The members were requested that finish the on Web 2.0 Self-Efficacy Questionnaire. Information investigation and factual figuring's uncovered that there is a huge relationship between Social Collaboration and Web 2.0 Self-Efficacy. To explore of Web 2.0 Self-Efficacy may have more prescient force in foreseeing Higher Education student Social Collaboration, relapse examination was run. The major findings revealed that: Using Social Collaboration Activity Through Facebook Group enhanced the Web 2.0 Self-Efficacy for students. The conclusions and ramifications of the examination were talked about with reference to the prior discoveries. Questionnaire in Web 2.0 Efficiency is appended.
The Benefits of Computer-Generated Feedback for Mathematics Problem Solving
Author: Fyfe, Emily R.
Date: 2016-07-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Feedback (Response),Mathematics,Mathematics Instruction,Problem Solving,Experiments,Grade 2,Elementary School Students,Public Schools,Private Schools,Intervention,Pretests Posttests,Screening Tests,Equations (Mathematics),Tutors,Tutoring,Scores,Statistical Analysis,Regression (Statistics),Self Evaluation (Individuals)

The goal of the current research was to better understand when and why feedback has positive effects on learning and to identify features of feedback that may improve its efficacy. In a randomized experiment, second-grade children (N = 75) received instruction on a correct problem-solving strategy and then solved a set of relevant problems. Children were assigned to receive no feedback, immediate feedback, or summative feedback from the computer. On a posttest the following day, feedback resulted in higher scores relative to no feedback for children who started with low prior knowledge. Immediate feedback was particularly effective, facilitating mastery of the material for children with both low and high prior knowledge. Results suggest that minimal computer-generated feedback can be a powerful form of guidance during problem solving.
Providing Feedback on Computer-Based Algebra Homework in Middle-School Classrooms
Author: Fyfe, Emily R.
Date: 2016-10-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Algebra,Homework,Feedback (Response),Middle School Students,Pretests Posttests,Mathematics Instruction,Computer Assisted Instruction,Prior Learning,Grade 5,Grade 6,Problem Solving,Instructional Effectiveness,Mathematics Achievement,Grade 7

Homework is transforming at a rapid rate with continuous advances in educational technology. Computer-based homework, in particular, is gaining popularity across a range of schools, with little empirical evidence on how to optimize student learning. The current aim was to test the effects of different types of feedback on computer-based homework. In the study, middle school students completed a computer-based pretest, homework assignment, and posttest containing challenging algebraic problems. On the homework assignment, students were assigned to different feedback conditions. In Experiment 1 (N = 103), students received no feedback or correct-answer feedback after each problem. In Experiment 2 (N = 143), students received (1) no feedback, (2) correct-answer feedback, (3) try-again feedback, or (4) explanation feedback after each problem. For students with low prior knowledge, feedback resulted in better posttest performance than no feedback. However, students with high prior knowledge learned just as much whether they received feedback or not. Results suggest the provision of basic feedback on computer-based homework can benefit novice students' mathematics learning.
Early Math Trajectories: Low-Income Children's Mathematics Knowledge from Age 4 to 11
Author: Rittle-Johnson, Bethany
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Low Income Groups,Mathematics Achievement,Knowledge Level,Children,Preadolescents,Elementary School Students,Preschool Children,Middle School Students,Mathematical Concepts,Age Differences,Longitudinal Studies,Hypothesis Testing,Predictor Variables,Urban Schools,Standardized Tests,Achievement Tests

Early mathematics knowledge is a strong predictor of later academic achievement, but children from low-income families enter school with weak mathematics knowledge. An Early Math Trajectories model is proposed and evaluated within a longitudinal study of 517 low-income American children from age 4 to 11. This model includes a broad range of math topics, as well as potential pathways from preschool to middle-grades mathematics achievement. In preschool, nonsymbolic quantity, counting and patterning knowledge predicted fifth-grade mathematics achievement. By the end of first grade, symbolic mapping, calculation and patterning knowledge were the important predictors. Further, the first-grade predictors mediated the relation between preschool math knowledge and fifth-grade mathematics achievement. Findings support the Early Math Trajectories model among low-income children. [At time of submission to ERIC this article was in press with &quot;Child Development.&quot;]
Effectiveness of Four Instructional Programs Designed to Serve English Language Learners: Variation by Ethnicity and Initial English Proficiency
Author: Valentino, Rachel A.
Date: 2015-12-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Elementary School Students,Middle School Students,Academic Achievement,English Language Learners,English (Second Language),Program Effectiveness,Immersion Programs,Bilingual Education Programs,Language Tests,Comparative Analysis,Scores,Urban Schools,Language Arts,Hierarchical Linear Modeling,Models,Language Acquisition,Mathematics Achievement,Chinese,Spanish,Longitudinal Studies,Hispanic American Students,Chinese Americans,Parent Attitudes,English,Achievement Gains,Program Design,Statistical Analysis

This paper investigates the differences in academic achievement trajectories from elementary through middle school among English Learner students in four different instructional programs: English Immersion, Transitional Bilingual, Developmental Bilingual, and Dual Immersion programs. Comparing students with the same parental preferences but who attend different programs, we find that the ELA test scores of ELs in all bilingual programs grow at least as fast as, if not faster than those in English immersion. The same is generally true of math, with the exception of developmental bilingual programs, where average student scores grow more slowly than those of students in English immersion. Further, Latino ELs perform better longitudinally in both subjects when in bilingual programs than their Chinese EL counterparts. We find no differences in program effectiveness by ELs' initial English proficiency. The following are appended: (1) Early Childhood Development Inventory Analysis; and (2) Additional Tables with Complete Set of Models. [This article was published in &quot;Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis,&quot; v37 n4 p612-637 Dec 2015 (EJ1084502).]
Reclassification Patterns among Latino English Learner Students in Bilingual, Dual Immersion, and English Immersion Classrooms
Author: Umansky, Ilana M.
Date: 2014-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Hispanic American Students,Classification,Bilingual Education,Barriers,English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Language Proficiency,Accountability,Educational Policy,Educational Opportunities,Immersion Programs,Mainstreaming,English Language Learners,School Districts,Statistical Analysis

Schools are under increasing pressure to reclassify their English learner (EL) students to &quot;fluent English proficient&quot; status as quickly as possible. This article examines timing to reclassification among Latino ELs in four distinct linguistic instructional environments: English immersion, transitional bilingual, maintenance bilingual, and dual immersion. Using hazard analysis and 12 years of data from a large school district, the study investigates whether reclassification timing, patterns, or barriers differ by linguistic program. We find that Latino EL students enrolled in two-language programs are reclassified at a slower pace in elementary school but have higher overall reclassification, English proficiency, and academic threshold passage by the end of high school. We discuss the implications of these findings for accountability policies and educational opportunities in EL programs. [This paper was published in &quot;American Educational Research Journal&quot; (EJ1041160).]
Practical Issues in Estimating Achievement Gaps from Coarsened Data
Author: Reardon, Sean F.
Date: 2015-04-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Achievement Gap,Performance Factors,Educational Practices,Scores,Measurement Techniques,Error of Measurement,Sampling,Definitions,Nonparametric Statistics,Computation,Intervals,Mathematical Applications,Test Reliability,Data Analysis,Achievement Rating,Research Methodology

Ho and Reardon (2012) present methods for estimating achievement gaps when test scores are coarsened into a small number of ordered categories, preventing fine-grained distinctions between individual scores. They demonstrate that gaps can nonetheless be estimated with minimal bias across a broad range of simulated and real coarsened data scenarios. In this paper, we extend this previous work to obtain practical estimates of the imprecision imparted by the coarsening process and of the bias imparted by measurement error. In the first part of the paper, we derive standard error estimates and demonstrate that coarsening leads to only very modest increases in standard errors under a wide range of conditions. In the second part of the paper, we describe and evaluate a practical method for disattenuating gap estimates to account for bias due to measurement error. [This paper was published in &quot;Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics&quot; v40 n2 p158-189 Apr 2015 (EJ1057843).]
Essential Principles of Effective Evaluation
Author: Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Educational Principles,Evidence Based Practice,Benchmarking,Teacher Evaluation,Outcome Measures,Feedback (Response),Faculty Development,Management Information Systems,Evaluation,Educational Practices,Best Practices

The growth and learning of children is the primary responsibility of those who teach in our classrooms and lead our schools. Student growth and learning can be observed and measured. Educators, in partnership with students, parents and community, are accountable for ensuring the improvement of student achievement. Effective educator evaluation systems promote the improvement of professional practice resulting in the improvement of student performance. This document discusses the following essential principles found in an effective evaluation system: (1) Research-Based and Proven Performance Targets; (2) Differentiated Levels of Performance; (3) Probationary Period for New Educators; (4) Use of Measures of Student Growth in Learning; (5) Ongoing, Deliberate, Meaningful and Timely Feedback; (6) Standardized and Periodic Training for Evaluators; and (7) Evaluation Results to inform Personnel Employment Determinations, Decisions, and Policy.
Under What Assumptions Do Site-by-Treatment Instruments Identify Average Causal Effects?
Author: Reardon, Sean F.
Date: 2013-05-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Causal Models,Measures (Individuals),Research Design,Context Effect,Compliance (Psychology),Computation,Randomized Controlled Trials,Statistical Bias,Identification

The increasing availability of data from multi-site randomized trials provides a potential opportunity to use instrumental variables methods to study the effects of multiple hypothesized mediators of the effect of a treatment. We derive nine assumptions needed to identify the effects of multiple mediators when using site-by-treatment interactions to generate multiple instruments. Three of these assumptions are unique to the multiple-site, multiple-mediator case: 1) the assumption that the mediators act in parallel (no mediator affects another mediator); 2) the assumption that the site-average effect of the treatment on each mediator is independent of the site-average effect of each mediator on the outcome; and 3) the assumption that the site-by-compliance matrix has sufficient rank. The first two of these assumptions are non-trivial and cannot be empirically verified, suggesting that multiple-site, multiple-mediator instrumental variables models must be justified by strong theory. The following are appended: (1) Rationale for the Parallel Mediators Assumption; (2) Mean and Variance of MSMM-IV Estimations; and (3) Expressions for the Between-Site Compliance-Effect Covariance when P = 1 or P = 2. [This article was published in &quot;Sociological Methods and Research,&quot; v42 n2 p143-163 May 2013.]
&quot;Membership Has Its Privileges&quot;: Status Incentives and Categorical Inequality in Education
Author: Domina, Thurston
Date: 2016-05-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Rewards,Academic Achievement,High School Students,Regression (Statistics),Program Effectiveness,Social Status,Incentives,Standardized Tests,Scores,High Stakes Tests,Hypothesis Testing,Stereotypes,Racial Differences,Racial Bias,Ethnic Stereotypes,Asian American Students,White Students,Hispanic American Students,African American Students,Trend Analysis

Prizes--formal systems that publicly allocate rewards for exemplary behavior--play an increasingly important role in a wide array of social settings, including education. In this paper, we evaluate a prize system designed to boost achievement at two high schools by assigning students color-coded ID cards based on a previously low-stakes test. Average student achievement on this test increased in the ID card schools beyond what one would expect from contemporaneous changes in neighboring schools. However, regression discontinuity analyses indicate that the program created new inequalities between students who received low-status and high-status ID cards. These findings indicate that status-based incentives create categorical inequalities between prize winners and others even as they reorient behavior toward the goals they reward.
State Policies on School Climate and Bully Prevention Efforts: Challenges and Opportunities for Deepening State Policy Support for Safe and Civil Schools
Author: Piscatelli, Jennifer
Date: 2011-07-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Bullying,Prevention,Educational Environment,State Policy,School Districts,State Regulation,State Departments of Education,Geographic Location,School Safety,Measurement Techniques,Technical Assistance,Student Role

The National School Climate Center (NSCC) completed a 50-state policy scan on state school climate and anti-bullying policies to better understand the current state policy infrastructure supporting the development of positive school climates. This policy brief examines the current status of school climate and anti-bullying policies in each state, and provides policy examples and recommendations for policymakers, districts, schools, and school climate advocates to consider. In conducting the policy scan, policies were defined as a state's statutes, administrative code, state education standards, and rules/regulations. The scan revealed that most states (45) currently have policies in place to address school bullying, while only 24 states have a policy on school climate. Details of many of these policies are explored in this brief. In 2006, NSCC conducted a scan of state Department of Education policies on school climate, which investigated state Department policies and programs for their alignment with definitions and current research in the school climate field. It made suggestions for how school climate policies and programs could be better designed and aligned with what the research show effective school climate includes. This scan, in contrast, examines the prevalence of state policies on both school climate and school bullying, and what elements those policies contain.
Improving the Language Skills of Pre-Kindergarten Students: Preliminary Impacts of the &quot;Let&apos;s Know!&quot; Experimental Curriculum
Author: Johanson, Megan
Date: 2016-06-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Preschool Children,Language Skills,Skill Development,Oral Language,Experimental Curriculum,Text Structure,Low Income Students,Conventional Instruction,Intervention,Comprehension,Student Improvement,Preschool Education,Preschool Curriculum,Instructional Effectiveness,Vocabulary

Background: Improving children's oral language skills is an important focus of educational research and practice; however, relatively few interventions have demonstrated impacts on these skills. This work makes a unique contribution to our understanding of the effects of language-focused interventions in pre-kindergarten settings by examining impacts on both lower- and higher-level language skills as well as overall language comprehension. Objective: The goal is to assess the impacts of business-as-usual pre-kindergarten with implementation of two versions of an experimental curriculum supplement, Let's Know!, designed to enhance three component language skills (vocabulary, comprehension monitoring, and text-structure knowledge) and overall language comprehension in prekindergarteners. Methods: Eleven pre-kindergarten teachers and 49 low socioeconomic-status students participated. Teachers were randomly assigned to either business-as-usual, Let's Know! Broad, or Let's Know! Deep, unless they participated in a previous pilot study, in which case they were randomly assigned to either Let's Know! Broad or Deep. The Broad version included five different lesson types, whereas the Deep version included three lesson types with additional practice. Children's gains were assessed proximally with measures of vocabulary, comprehension monitoring, and text-structure knowledge and distally with a measure of language comprehension. Results: Children in both experimental versions significantly improved their vocabulary skills relative to children who received business-as-usual instruction. For comprehension monitoring, children who received the Deep and Broad versions improved their scores relative to BAU children for Units 1 and 3, respectively. Improvement in language comprehension was only found for children who received Let's Know! Deep compared with business-as-usual. Conclusion: This study provides initial evidence that the Let's Know! curricula may serve to foster young children's vocabulary, comprehension monitoring, and language comprehension skills. [Additional assistance in the writing of this article was provided by the Language and Reading Research Consortium (LARRC).] [This article was published in &quot;Child and Youth Care Forum,&quot; v45 n3 p367-392 Jun 2016 (see EJ1099507).]
Trends in Student Aid, 2013. Trends in Higher Education Series
Author: Baum, Sandy
Date: 2013-00-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Student Financial Aid,Federal Aid,Grants,Student Loan Programs,Tax Credits,Undergraduate Students,Graduate Students,Work Study Programs,Federal Programs,Debt (Financial),Federal Legislation,Full Time Equivalency,State Aid,Private Financial Support,Public Colleges,Private Colleges,College Graduates,Dropouts,Loan Repayment,Tuition,Fees,Enrollment,Educational Trends,Two Year Colleges

Trends in Student Aid, an annual College Board publication since 1983, is a compendium of detailed, up-to-date information on the funding that is available to help students pay for college. This report documents grant aid from federal and state governments, colleges and universities, employers, and other private sources, as well as loans, tax benefits, and Federal Work-Study Assistance. It examines changes in funding levels over time, reports on the distribution of aid across students with different incomes and attending different types of institutions, and tracks the debt students incur as they pursue their educational opportunities. Report findings are organized into the following categories: (1) Total Aid; (2) Federal Aid; (3) Grants; (4) Loans; (5) Education Tax Benefits and College Savings Plans; and (6) Inflation Adjustment. The dramatic economic disruptions of the Great Recession had a major impact on colleges and universities, their students, and the multifaceted financial aid system that has developed to help students and their families pay for higher education. The data reported in &quot;Trends in Student Aid 2013&quot; reveal that the sharp increases in federal grant aid and in student borrowing accompanying the financial crisis have not been repeated. Indeed, while the federal government continues to play a large and increased role in funding students, spending on both federal grants and federal loans decreased in 2012-13. [For &quot;Trends in Student Aid, 2012. Trends in Higher Education Series,&quot; see ED536570. For the companion report, &quot;Trends in College Pricing, 2013. Trends in Higher Education Series,&quot; see ED549554.]