ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Charter Schools and Higher Education Authorizers. A Research for Action Policy Note
Author: Research for Action
Date: 2014-01-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Charter Schools,Higher Education,State Legislation,Enrollment,Institutional Evaluation,Colleges,Public Officials,Government Role,Educational Legislation,Educational Finance,Educational Administration,Educational Policy,Criteria,College Role

Charter school authorization, accountability, and funding will be key features of education policy debates in Pennsylvania over the next several months. One proposed policy, Senate Bill 1085, would amend significant aspects of the state's charter school law, including the system for charter school approval, specific criteria for evaluating proposed charter schools, policies concerning enrollment caps, and requirements for financial and other reporting. The legislation would also establish a Charter School Funding Advisory Commission comprised of representatives appointed by the Governor and General Assembly. This brief focuses on one element of the legislation receiving particular attention: a proposal to allow higher education institutions--public and private, non-profit and for-profit--to authorize charter schools. It also provides important background from non-partisan sources and state agency websites to inform policymakers and the public on this aspect of the legislation. A list of sources is provided.
Enacting Common Core Instruction: A Comparative Study of the Use of LDC Literacy Tools in Three Sites
Author: Beaver, Jessica K.
Date: 2014-06-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: State Standards,Academic Standards,Alignment (Education),Best Practices,Program Implementation,Case Studies,School Districts,Urban Schools,Suburban Schools,Educational Administration,Instructional Leadership,Faculty Development,Leadership Responsibility,Teacher Leadership,Learning Modules,Partnerships in Education,Literacy Education

As of the writing of this report, the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) are being implemented in 45 states and the District of Columbia. Approaches to implementing the standards, however, are highly varied. For the past 3 years, Research For Action (RFA) has been tracking how one approach to implementing the literacy standards--the Literacy Design Collaborative (LDC)--has played out in diverse settings. In this document, the authors show how three of these settings--a medium-size urban/suburban district (Kenton County, Kentucky), a large urban district (Hillsborough County, Florida), and a regional educational service agency (Lancaster-Lebanon Intermediate Unit 13, Pennsylvania)--used LDC to help teachers align instruction with the CCSS. Their research shows that there are some best practices that are shared across all sites. Yet they also find that adapting to unique contextual factors is an integral part of successful implementation; and that there remain opportunities for further consideration and development at all sites. The cross-case study report is intended as a resource that can assist policymakers and education leaders in understanding the variation of best practices in LDC implementation, and also as a &quot;road map&quot; for sites that are considering adopting LDC tools. Four appendixes are included: (1) Data/Methodology; (2) Background Information; (3) Profile of Three Sites; and (4) Special Thanks.
A Brief Review of PSAP's Position Paper &quot;One City, Two Systems of Schools&quot;
Author: Westmaas, Lucas
Date: 2014-12-00
Type: Opinion Papers
Subjects: Educational Policy,Position Papers,Special Education,Low Achievement,Low Income Groups,Disadvantaged Youth,Elementary Schools,Secondary Schools,At Risk Students,Minority Group Students,English Language Learners

A position paper released on December 5, 2014 by the Philadelphia School Advocacy Partners (PSAP), the advocacy arm of the Philadelphia School Partnership (PSP), calls for an &quot;aggressive expansion of schools that are achieving results for low-income and minority students&quot; (p. 2). The document describes what it terms &quot;high-impact&quot; schools and &quot;underperforming&quot; schools. The author(s) states: &quot;For poor and minority students in Philadelphia, there really are two kinds of schools: those that work and those that don't...variation in outcomes is not dependent on school type, student income levels, or other out-of-school factors (p. 2).&quot; Research for Action (RFA) found a number of issues with the claims made by PSAP. Specifically: (1) PSAP argued that the populations served by the two groups of schools are essentially identical, but omits discussion of several important differences between the groups--primarily in the special education population and in the grade levels served; (2) PSAP made questionable decisions about which schools to include in their &quot;underperforming&quot; sample and failed to detail their rationale for doing so; and (3) RFA was not able to reconstruct PSAP's calculations of the percentage of students who are eligible for free lunch. This document argues that the data presented by PSAP are not nearly sufficient to support their sweeping conclusions.
Teacher Effectiveness: An Update on Pennsylvania's Teacher Evaluation System. Issue Brief
Author: Research for Action, Pennsylvania Clearinghouse for Education Research (PACER)
Date: 2013-12-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Teacher Effectiveness,Teacher Evaluation,Evaluation Methods,Academic Achievement,Educational Policy,Public Schools,State Standards,State Policy,Observation,Performance Based Assessment,Achievement Rating,Evaluation Criteria,Educational Change,Educational Practices,Teacher Influence

Act 82 of 2012 established new standards for Pennsylvania's teacher evaluation system, including the incorporation of student performance measures in ratings decisions. Since 2009, approximately 35 states have amended teacher evaluation systems, with student achievement playing an increasingly prominent role. This count includes neighboring states--such as New Jersey, New York, and Ohio--which base between 40 and 50 percent of teacher effectiveness ratings on student achievement. Changes to teacher evaluation policy have been motivated in large part by U.S. Department of Education's priorities, including the issuance of waivers from certain &quot;No Child Left Behind&quot; requirements. States receiving a waiver, including Pennsylvania, are required to &quot;develop and implement teacher and principal evaluation and support systems that include student achievement growth as a factor.&quot; The nonpartisan Center on Education Policy reported that ten states amended their plans for a new teacher evaluation system due to the waiver policy alone.v Likewise, the Race to the Top (RTTT) competition emphasized teacher and principal evaluation systems based on student achievement. This policy brief provides a closer look at Pennsylvania's new teacher evaluation system and the efforts of the Pittsburgh Public Schools--the state's second-largest district and an early adopter of revised evaluation standards--to implement reforms. It concludes with implications for state policymakers, district leaders, and education stakeholders.
Enacting Common Core Instruction: How School District Leadership Drove Implementation of LDC and MDC in Kenton County, KY
Author: Research for Action
Date: 2012-12-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Academic Standards,State Standards,Instructional Leadership,Educational Change,Program Implementation,Educational Strategies,Literacy,English Instruction,Mathematics Instruction,Faculty Development,Curriculum Design,Formative Evaluation,Case Studies,Alignment (Education),Standardized Tests,Administrator Role,School Districts,Elementary Secondary Education

Funded by The Bill &amp; Melinda Gates Foundation, the Literacy Design Collaborative (LDC) and Math Design Collaborative (MDC) offer a set of instructional and formative assessment tools in literacy and math, which were developed to help educators better prepare all students to meet the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and succeed beyond high school. Following two years of extensive data collection in eight sites throughout the country, Research for Action (RFA) is producing four case studies to illustrate how the LDC and MDC tools have been adopted in different settings and contexts, and which approaches and supports have contributed to the successful adoption and use of the tools. The case studies provide a set of &quot;road maps&quot; for other sites that will be adopting or scaling up the tools. They are grounded in the three overlapping conditions found to be necessary for effective scale-up of these tools: (1) Effective leadership at multiple levels; (2) Alignment with the CCSS, curricula, and state assessments; and (3) Meaningful and ongoing professional learning opportunities (PLOs). These conditions provide the organizing framework for the case studies and guide RFA's analysis of the strategic approaches undertaken by state, regional, local, and network entities that enabled strong initial implementation. Each case study illustrates how the tools were implemented and scaled under a specific set of circumstances that are likely to be applicable to many other sites. As such, they are intended to inform further exploration and discussion on how to effectively rollout the LDC and MDC tools across a wide range of districts and schools. This document describes how Kenton County, Kentucky used district-level leadership to roll out the LDC and MDC tools. It is comprised of the following sections: (1) A brief overview of the educational reform context in Kentucky and Kenton County; (2) A description of the central role of Kenton County district leaders in shaping the early success of MDC and LDC implementation; and (3) An overview and description of seven district-led strategies that have impacted early adoption and success of the MDC and LDC initiatives.
Teacher Effectiveness: The National Picture and Pennsylvania Context. Issue Brief
Author: Research for Action, Pennsylvania Clearinghouse for Education Research (PACER)
Date: 2011-09-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Teacher Effectiveness,Educational Policy,State Policy,Policy Formation,Evidence,Best Practices,Educational Research,Educational Change,Teacher Evaluation,Evaluation Methods,Classroom Observation Techniques,Teacher Qualifications,Teaching Experience,Educational Attainment,Merit Pay,Achievement Gains,Outcome Measures,Documentation,State Standards,Academic Achievement,State Legislation

Two decades of research have documented what now is common knowledge: no in-school factor matters more to students' educational experiences and outcomes than the effectiveness of their teacher. As a result, the national airspace is increasingly crowded with proposed reforms and initiatives designed to boost teacher performance, including new evaluation systems and increased accountability. This activity was crystallized by the U.S. Department of Education's 2010 Race to the Top competition, which emphasized the development of evaluation systems that involve measures of student growth. PACER's goal is to inform state education policy discussions using rigorous, objective research. This issue brief presents a summary of research and emerging practices in other states and districts designed to provide state lawmakers, legislative staff, State Board of Education members, Department of Education officials, and other key stakeholders information they need to ensure the effectiveness of their reform efforts. The roughly two dozen works cited include newspaper coverage; government documents (e.g., federal agency guidance); research syntheses from non-partisan sources such as the Consortium for Policy Research in Education and the National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality; original research by Research for Action (RFA) scholars; and rigorous, peer-reviewed works from some of the nation's most respected education researchers. A list of works cited and notes is provided.
Youth Courts and Their Educational Value: An Examination of Youth Courts in Chester, Pennsylvania
Author: Norton, Michael H.
Date: 2013-03-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Academic Achievement,Student Surveys,Models,Law Enforcement,Program Effectiveness,Interpersonal Competence,Volunteers,Recidivism,Peer Influence,Juvenile Justice,Adolescents,Discipline,Interviews,High School Students,Budgets,Zero Tolerance Policy,Empathy,Responsibility,Intervention,Juvenile Courts,Prevention,Graduation Rate,Dropout Rate,Surveys,Focus Groups,Observation,Documentation,Content Analysis,Individual Characteristics,At Risk Persons,Discipline Policy,Agency Cooperation,Attendance Patterns,Student Participation

The Stoneleigh Foundation of Philadelphia has historically focused its strategic investments on improving outcomes for youth involved or at risk of involvement in the juvenile justice and child welfare systems. Stoneleigh began its support for youth courts by providing a fellowship award from 2009 to 2011 to public interest lawyer Gregory Volz to continue his development of school-based youth courts in Chester city, and to promote a youth court movement in Pennsylvania. Recognizing how harmful and counterproductive zero tolerance policies are to youth, Stoneleigh viewed school-based youth courts as an effective and efficient intervention to prevent delinquency and to foster school engagement--perhaps even to improve educational outcomes. In the 2011-12 school year, the Stoneleigh Foundation commissioned Research for Action (RFA) to conduct a study of Chester Upland School District (CUSD) youth courts. This research is important as there is still little documentation of the effects of school-based youth courts. And while most of the research on youth courts has been concerned with outcomes for offenders, this study expands upon a handful of studies that explore the benefits of youth courts for the students who serve in court roles. This report also examines contextual supports and challenges to implementation of school-based youth courts. Finally, the authors suggest ways in which the challenges to implementation and research might be mitigated. This report is organized into four chapters. The first chapter discusses the research questions this report addresses and how RFA conducted the research. The second provides a description of the youth court model in CUSD, and examines the contextual factors that affected the development and running of the youth courts. Chapter 3 examines the participants and the influence that participation in youth court had on them. The final chapter provides lessons learned for implementation and research on youth courts in the future. Four appendixes include: (1) Methodology; (2) Descriptive Comparisons: Youth Court Participants v. Non-Participants; (3) Student Survey Results; and (4) The CUSD Youth Court Model, Referrals, Selection Process, Years of Operation, and Training Opportunities. A bibliography is included.
Project LIFT: Year 1 Report
Author: Norton, Michael
Date: 2014-04-18
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: School Turnaround,Program Implementation,Educational Quality,Educational Environment,Academic Achievement,Attendance,Suspension,Educational Indicators,Grade 9,Mathematics Achievement,Reading Achievement,Science Achievement,Student Evaluation,Educational Assessment,School Effectiveness,Performance Based Assessment,Comparative Analysis,Educational Practices,School Community Relationship,Qualitative Research,Educational Improvement,Achievement Gains,Graduation,Poverty,Program Effectiveness,High School Students,Program Evaluation,Educational Change,At Risk Students,Standardized Tests,Teacher Competencies,Teacher Placement,Enrollment Trends

Research for Action (RFA) is currently in the second year of a five-year external evaluation of the Project Leadership and Investment for Transformation (LIFT) Initiative in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School District (CMS). Project LIFT is a public-private partnership between CMS and the local philanthropic and business communities in Charlotte, designed to turnaround nine schools in the West Charlotte Corridor. Starting in the 2012-13 school year, Project LIFT operates as a semi-autonomous Zone within CMS, providing the initiative with CMS infrastructural support and access to an initial $55 Million investment of private resources to drive a multifaceted reform effort in Charlotte's highest poverty schools. Project LIFT's long-term goals are to significantly improve student achievement in the following ways: (1) 90% of students will achieve proficiency in math and English across the zone; (2) 90% of students will meet annual growth goals in math and English; and (3) 90% of WCHS students will graduate on time. For this report, the findings present alignment with the following contemporary theories of key elements and early outcomes associated with complex turnaround efforts in high poverty schools: (1) Multi-faceted school turnaround initiatives create major changes in schools during start up; (2) Full implementation of turnaround initiatives can take multiple years; and (3) Turnaround schools typically make early strides to improve school climate and build on existing support in local communities. These initial changes create the conditions necessary for increased academic achievement in later years of the initiative. This report is organized into the following four sections, reflecting the major elements of the Theory of Change above: (1) Project LIFT in Context; (2) Year 1 Student Outcomes: School Climate; (3) Year 1 Student Outcomes: Student Proficiency Rates; (4) Summary of Year 1 Report and Preview of Year II. Three appendices are included: (1) Appendix A: 2012-13 Data Sources for Preliminary Implementation Memo; (2) Appendix B: 2012-13 LIFT Onboarding Staff/Building Internal Capacity in Year One ; and (3) Appendix C: 2012-13 Project LIFT Key Program Focus Areas Partners
From Policy to Practice: Tracing the Development and Implementation of Placement and Diagnostic Assessments across States, Systems, and Community Colleges. Lessons from Florida and Virginia Community Colleges -- Phase 2 Report
Author: Duffy, Mark
Date: 2013-08-01
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Community Colleges,Student Placement,Diagnostic Tests,Alignment (Education),College Readiness,Admission Criteria,Academic Standards,State Policy,Educational Change,Program Implementation,Curriculum Development,Institutional Characteristics,Case Studies

National initiatives to raise K-12 standards and align them to postsecondary entrance requirements have prompted states and/or state postsecondary systems to enact policies to improve alignment among postsecondary readiness standards, postsecondary placement and diagnostic exams, and developmental education curricula. This report examines how six community colleges--three each in the states of Florida and Virginia--responded to the state-wide reform of college placement and diagnostic testing. It is a companion piece to &quot;From Policy to Practice: Tracing the Development and Implementation of Placement and Diagnostic Assessments across States, Systems and Community Colleges - Analysis of Policy Reform in Five States&quot; (ED553141) that provided an analysis of how five states commissioned vendors to develop new placement tests that include a diagnostic component. Analysis in this report provides a comprehensive picture of state policy reform by tracing implementation through multiple levels--beginning most broadly at the state level and progressing through increasingly granular levels of implementation. Appendix A provides case studies and Appendix B presents &quot;Local and Community College Characteristics.&quot;
Governor Corbett's Expanding Excellence Program: A Research for Action Policy Note
Author: Sludden, John
Date: 2014-02-04
Type: Numerical/Quantitative Data
Subjects: Excellence in Education,State Government,Educational Change,Educational Practices,State Policy,Academic Achievement,School Effectiveness,Best Practices,Budgets,Educational Finance,Incentive Grants,Economically Disadvantaged,Demography,Public Schools,Scores,Change Strategies,Resource Allocation,Elementary Secondary Education,Educational Improvement,Racial Differences,Student Characteristics

According to a Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) press release, in which the Governor outlined his budget priorities for 2014-2015, the Governor's plan includes the Expanding Excellence Program. If enacted and funded, this initiative would &quot;provide competitive funding to schools that have attained a 90 or higher on the School Performance Profile and are willing to analyze and share best practices that have proven to raise student achievement. Grant recipients will be responsible for supporting schools across the state that strive to replicate these strategies and techniques.&quot;In his budget address, Governor Corbett argued that the proposal will help struggling schools &quot;link up with the top schools in a mentoring partnership, to gain from their experience and knowledge.&quot; By way of background, School Performance Profiles (SPP), unveiled last fall, rate public schools on as many as 30 indicators in four categories: academic achievement, academic growth, closing the achievement gap, and other indicators such as graduation and attendance rates. Schools may also earn up to seven points via &quot;extra credit&quot; based upon high performance on state and industry assessments as well as for students earning a score of 3 or higher on Advanced Placement exams. Not all indicators apply to every school; for example, third-grade reading proficiency will not factor into a high school's score. Additionally, not all measures are applicable this year; the &quot;closing the achievement gap&quot; category does not apply to schools until the end of the 2013-14 school year. To provide detail on the schools and students this initiative may affect, Research for Action (RFA) has prepared an initial analysis based on publicly-available data from PDE. Decades of research show income stratification is one of the strongest predictors of student outcomes. Since SPP scores are heavily weighted based on standardized test scores, schools that enroll high numbers of traditionally-disadvantaged students face particular challenges in meeting the eligibility requirements for the initiative. RFA will provide additional analysis of implications of the Governor's budget address in the weeks ahead.