ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Essay Quality Signals as Weak Supervision for Source-Based Essay Scoring
Author: Zhang, Haoran
Date: 2021-04-20
Type: Speeches/Meeting Papers
Subjects: Essays,Grading,Writing Evaluation,Computational Linguistics,Comparative Analysis,Supervision,Computer Software,Scores

Human essay grading is a laborious task that can consume much time and effort. Automated Essay Scoring (AES) has thus been proposed as a fast and effective solution to the problem of grading student writing at scale. However, because AES typically uses supervised machine learning, a human-graded essay corpus is still required to train the AES model. Unfortunately, such a graded corpus often does not exist, so creating a corpus for machine learning can also be a laborious task. This paper presents an investigation of replacing the use of human-labeled essay grades when training an AES system with two automatically available but weaker signals of essay quality: word count and topic distribution similarity. Experiments using two source-based essay scoring (evidence score) corpora show that while weak supervision does not yield a competitive result when training a neural source-based AES model, it can be used to successfully extract Topical Components (TCs) from a source text, which are required by a supervised feature-based AES model. In particular, results show that feature-based AES performance is comparable with either automatically or manually constructed TCs. [This paper was published in: &quot;Proceedings of the 16th Workshop on Innovative Use of NLP for Building Educational Applications,&quot; Association for Computational Linguistics, 2021, pp. 85-96.]
Blogging about the COVID-19 Pandemic in EFL Writing Courses
Author: Al-Jarf, Reima
Date: 2022-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: College Faculty,English (Second Language),Second Language Instruction,Language Teachers,College Students,COVID-19,Pandemics,Electronic Publishing,Web Sites,Teaching Methods,Writing Instruction,Educational Technology,Technology Uses in Education

This study aims to find out whether EFL instructors at Saudi universities use blogs; whether EFL students blog about themes related to the COVID-19 Pandemic in EFL course; to show EFL instructors how a class blog can be used to blog about the COVID-19 Pandemic and to give examples of topics related to the COVID-19 Pandemic that can be utilized in blogging activities. Results of surveys showed that EFL instructors do not use blogs in their EFL courses and do not blog about the COVID-19 Pandemic in their writing courses. Therefore, this study presents a model for blogging about the COVID-19 Pandemic in EFL writing courses. Topics about the COVID-19 Pandemic are characterized by being current, familiar, tangible, specific and widespread. The students will have no problem in generating ideas and will only need to focus on organizing ideas, and linguistic aspects. A class blog can be selected and used as a supplement to in-class EFL writing instruction for freshman students. The students can search for articles, photos, or videos related to the COVID-19 topic assigned and write a short paragraph or s summary of the article or video and posted in the blog. They post questions, comments, reactions and feedback on their classmates' blogposts' form and content. The instructor serves as a facilitator while the students are blogging. She encourages the students to write and interact. The article ends with some recommendations for expanding the blogging activity of EFL students in writing courses.
Small-Group, Emergent Literacy Intervention under Two Implementation Models: Intent-to-Treat and Dosage Effects for Preschoolers At-Risk for Reading Difficulties
Author: Piasta, Shayne B.
Date: 2022-00-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Preschool Children,Emergent Literacy,Early Intervention,Program Effectiveness,Preschool Education,Preschool Teachers,School Readiness,Small Group Instruction,Literacy Education,At Risk Students,Reading Difficulties,Reading Skills

Preschool-aged children identified as at risk for later reading difficulties can benefit from supplemental, small-group emergent literacy intervention. As such interventions become commercially available and marketed to preschool programs, it is important to understand their impacts when implemented by intended end users under routine conditions. In this study, we examined effects of the Nemours BrightStart! (NBS!) intervention on children's emergent literacy skills, when implemented by teachers and community aides in authentic preschool classrooms. We randomly assigned 98 classrooms to one of three conditions (NBS! teacher-implemented, NBS! community aide-implemented, or control). Children enrolled in these classrooms who met eligibility criteria and were identified as at risk via an early literacy screener (n = 281) completed pretest and posttest emergent literacy assessments; those assigned to NBS! conditions received intervention from their classroom teacher or a community aide affiliated with a local kindergarten-readiness initiative. Intent-to-treat analyses showed no significant impacts of NBS! on any outcome, and an instrumental variables, as-treated approach showed one significant intervention effect on letter writing. Consequently, we did not replicate results of prior, highly controlled efficacy trials. Findings have implications for revising the NBS! theory of change, conducting dosage and as-treated analyses, and moving research-based interventions towards scale up. [This paper was published in &quot;Journal of Learning Disabilities.&quot;]
Leading Change: Engaging with Situational Complexity
Author: McCall, Seth A.
Date: 2022-04-24
Type: Speeches/Meeting Papers
Subjects: Administrators,Professional Development,Outcomes of Education,Mathematics Instruction,Equal Education,Diversity,Administrator Role,Administrator Attitudes,Educational Needs,Educational Innovation,Educational Change,Elementary School Mathematics

In the effort to improve student outcomes, teachers are usually the focus of professional development efforts. However, research increasingly demonstrates the significance of administrators in influencing student outcomes, raising questions about how they too should be involved in such programs. The study involved interviews conducted with 12 administrators engaged in a large-scale professional development program dedicated to equitable math instruction for diverse learners. The paper reports on the different understandings they had regarding their role in supporting the innovation, including their perspective on diverse learners, perceptions of teacher needs, and approaches for teacher support. While conventional professional development programs might overlook administrators, this paper argues for a situated approach for engaging administrators in the complex process of leading change.
Illinois State Board of Education 2020 Annual Report
Author: Illinois State Board of Education
Date: 2021-01-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: COVID-19,Pandemics,Public Schools,School Closing,Distance Education,Educational Technology,Strategic Planning,Elementary Secondary Education,Resources,Income,Federal Aid,State Aid,Resource Allocation,Expenditures,Grants,School Districts,Educational Finance,Expenditure per Student,Operating Expenses,Local Government,Financial Support,Enrollment,Preschool Education,Postsecondary Education,Racial Differences,Ethnicity,Private Schools,English Language Learners,High School Graduates,Dropout Rate,Accountability,Advanced Placement Programs,School Personnel,Gender Differences,Salaries,Teacher Student Ratio,Teacher Certification,Students with Disabilities,Age Differences,Language Usage,Special Education,Student Placement,Special Education Teachers,Paraprofessional School Personnel,Related Services (Special Education),Court Litigation,Teacher Retirement

This past year has been unlike any in recent history. In March, the global COVID-19 pandemic forced Illinois to shift suddenly to remote learning for all students. This adjustment exposed the digital divide as a stark reality. One bright spot in the year occurred in May, when the Illinois' plan for career and technical education (CTE) received federal approval. This plan, which focuses on equity and inclusion, raises the bar for CTE in Illinois and sets up students for success in the post-pandemic economy. Responding to the COVID-19 pandemic has been an exercise in equity and how to truly make decisions in the best interests of students. Informed by this experience, the agency's new strategic plan was finalized. The plan provides a roadmap for Illinois public schools through 2023 and defines the steps the agency will take to offer all Illinois students safe and engaging schools, excellent teachers, and equitable learning opportunities. It also incorporates a stand-alone Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Plan that introduces new tools to guide the agency's internal decision-making and improve its external supports for schools. This annual report provides updates in the following categories: (1) 2020 Illinois Teacher of the Year; (2) 2020 Condition of Education; (3) State, Local, and Federal Resources; (4) Schools and Districts; (5) Students; (6) Student Performance; (7) Educators; and (8) Special Education. [This report was published by the Illinois State Board of Education's Internal Communication Department.]
2021 State Education Equity Committee Report
Author: Illinois State Board of Education
Date: 2022-01-31
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Equal Education,COVID-19,Pandemics,School Districts,Elementary Secondary Education,Educational Planning,Strategic Planning,State Legislation,Educational Legislation,State Boards of Education,Inclusion,Bias,Training,Access to Education,Culturally Relevant Education,Benchmarking,Resource Allocation,Achievement Gap,Educational Policy,State Policy,Academic Standards,Social Studies,Discipline Policy,Diversity (Faculty)

In the wake of the global pandemic, equity has increasingly been on the hearts and minds of educators, policymakers, legislators, families, and students. Students of color, students from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds, students that have English as a second language, and/or have a learning disability have historically faced obstacles at school that their peers may not. Although programs and other supports are in place in most Illinois school districts, it is an ongoing challenge to reach students whose needs may not be met with standard practices, policies, and procedures. Ensuring equity in education requires honesty about its landscape and being committed to individuals with unique needs that may face obstacles due by to systemic inequities. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on K-12 students has heightened or brought to light systemic inequities, which provides an opportunity to combat the educational divide. The State Education Equity Committee began its study of equity in education when it convened for the first time in October 2021. Meetings were also held in November, December, and January. Three subcommittees were formed to align the Committee directives with the three overarching goals in the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) Strategic Plan: Student Learning, Learning Conditions, and Elevating Educators. The subcommittees reviewed the work ISBE is currently doing and offered feedback on specific initiatives as well as developed specific recommendations to further education equity in Illinois. In this report, the State Education Equity Committee recognizes ISBE has made progress toward a more equitable educational experience for students in Illinois, but the work is not done. Recommendations to further education equity are provided by each of the subcommittees. Additionally, the subcommittees identified future considerations, which will be explored and further developed in 2022-23.
The Effect of Reduced Student Loan Borrowing on Academic Performance and Default: Evidence from a Loan Counseling Experiment. EdWorkingPaper No. 19-89
Author: Barr, Andrew
Date: 2019-06-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Student Loan Programs,Access to Information,Counseling,Intervention,Academic Achievement,Loan Default,Loan Repayment,Decision Making,Costs,Information Dissemination,Two Year College Students,Community Colleges,Telecommunications

Student loan borrowing for higher education has emerged as a top policy concern. Policy makers at the institutional, state, and federal levels have pursued a variety of strategies to inform students about loan origination processes and how much a student has cumulatively borrowed, and to provide students with greater access to loan counseling. We conducted an experiment to evaluate the impact of an outreach campaign that prompted loan applicants at a large community college to make informed and active borrowing decisions and that offered them access to remote, one-on-one assistance from a loan counselor. The intervention led students to reduce their unsubsidized loan borrowing by 7 percent, resulted in worse academic performance, and increased the likelihood of loan default during the three years after the intervention occurred. Our results suggest policy makers and higher education leaders should carefully examine the potential unintended consequences of efforts to reduce student borrowing, particularly in light of growing evidence regarding the counter-intuitive positive relationship between reduced borrowing levels and worse student academic and financial outcomes. [Additional support for this report was provided by ideas42.]
Feasibility of Delivering Parent-Implemented NDBI Interventions in Low-Resource Regions: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Study
Author: Rogers, Sally J.
Date: 2022-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: At Risk Persons,Autism,Pervasive Developmental Disorders,Distance Education,Program Implementation,Fidelity,Community Programs,Training,Parent Role,Early Intervention,Child Development,Coaching (Performance),Toddlers,Parent Education,Videoconferencing,Seminars,Educational Legislation,Equal Education,Federal Legislation,Students with Disabilities

Background: This implementation feasibility study was conducted to determine whether an evidence-based parent-implemented distance-learning intervention model for young children at high likelihood of having ASD could be implemented at fidelity by Part C community providers and by parents in low-resource communities. Methods: The study used a community-academic partnership model to adapt an evidence-based intervention tested in the current pilot trial involving randomization by agency in four states and enrollment of 35 coaches and 34 parent-family dyads. After baseline data were gathered, providers in the experimental group received 12-15 h of training while control providers received six webinars on early development. Providers delivered 6 months of intervention with children-families, concluding with data collection. Regression analyses were used to model outcomes of the coach behaviors, the parent fidelity ratings, and child outcomes. Results: A block design model-building approach was used to test the null model followed by the inclusion of group as a predictor, and finally the inclusion of the planned covariates. Model fit was examined using changes in R[superscript 2] and &quot;F&quot;-statistic. As hypothesized, results demonstrated significant gains in (1) experimental provider fidelity of coaching implementation compared to the control group; and (2) experimental parent fidelity of implementation compared to the control group. There were no significant differences between groups on child developmental scores. Conclusions: Even though the experimental parent group averaged less than 30 min of intervention weekly with providers in the 6 months, both providers and parents demonstrated statistically significant gains on the fidelity of implementation scores with moderate effect sizes compared to control groups. Since child changes in parent-mediated models are dependent upon the parents' ability to deliver the intervention, and since parent delivery is dependent upon providers who are coaching the parents, these results demonstrated that two of these three links of the chain were positively affected by the experimental implementation model. However, a lack of significant differences in child group gains suggests that further work is needed on this model. Factors to consider include the amount of contact with the provider, the amount of practice children experience, the amount of contact both providers and parents spend on training materials, and motivational strategies for parents, among others.
Early Intervention Reading Software Program Report: 2018-2019 Program Evaluation Findings. Report to the Education Interim Committee
Author: Durfee, Melanie
Date: 2019-11-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Early Intervention,Reading Instruction,Computer Assisted Instruction,Computer Software,Elementary School Students,Primary Education,Reading Skills,Program Evaluation,Outcomes of Education,Program Implementation,Individualized Instruction,Reading Improvement

The Early Intervention Reading Software Program encourages literacy growth and achievement in students in grades K-3. The program addresses early reading through the use of computer-based literacy software which provides individualized instruction designed to supplement students' classroom learning. During the 2018-2019 school year, these software programs were used in 88 local education agencies (LEAs) and by approximately 124,378 students. The schools use the software to build literacy skills for all students in kindergarten and first grade, as well as for intervention with students in second and third grade. The evaluation studied two aspects of the program: (1) students use of the program during the school year (&quot;program implementation&quot;); and (2) the effects the program had on increasing students' literacy achievement (&quot;program impacts&quot;), including program effects across all four software programs (program-wide) and between each software vendor (vendor-specific). The program had a positive impact on students' literacy development in kindergarten, regardless of their program dosage, and in kindergarten and first grade for students who used the program based on vendors' recommended dosage, as measured by students' Acadience Reading composite scores. Kindergarten and first grade program students who met vendors recommendations also scored higher than their control group counterparts on all literacy skill areas measured for their grade level.
Evaluating the Efficacy of an English Language Development Program for Middle School English Learners
Author: Chaparro, Erin A.
Date: 2022-03-02
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Program Effectiveness,English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,Language Proficiency,Intervention,Evidence Based Practice,Direct Instruction,Outcomes of Education,English Language Learners,Middle School Students,Grade 6,Grade 7,Oral Reading,Reading Fluency,Advanced Students,Teaching Methods,Speech Communication,Oral Language,Elementary School Students,Emergent Literacy,Reading Tests,Achievement Tests,Language Tests,Educational Improvement,Instructional Design

This paper reports the outcomes of an experimental evaluation of &quot;Direct Instruction Spoken English (DISE),&quot; an English language curriculum that focuses on developing English speaking, listening, and comprehension skills in English Learners (ELs). Twenty-nine middle schools in three states were randomly assigned to teach &quot;DISE&quot; Level 1 or their typical English language development program. Treatment teachers received two days of training and taught daily lessons. Project staff assessed 746 sixth and seventh-grade students with a proximal measure of English language proficiency and distal measures of language and oral reading fluency. Analyses of oral English language suggested differences between intervention conditions favored the DISE condition for students who began with lower English language proficiency and accumulated when taught over two years. Differences between intervention conditions were not observed after only one year of instruction and for students with advanced levels of English language proficiency. The findings suggest that an evidence-based English oral language program that included frequent teacher demonstrations and opportunities for students to practice speaking English may improve English oral language skills for middle school students. [This is the online first version of an article published in &quot;Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk (JESPAR).&quot;]
Educational Media and Academic Attainment: Moving toward a Suggested Vision for Saudi Arabia in Light of International Expertise
Author: Zaghloul, Hisham Saad
Date: 2019-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Educational Media,Educational Attainment,Educational Quality,Skills,Student Behavior,Values,Global Approach,Foreign Countries,Teacher Attitudes,Administrator Attitudes,Technology Uses in Education,Educational Practices

The goal of this article is to follow through global expertise in employing media as an instructional modality and to examine its relation to both academic attainment and quality of education in an attempt to develop a suggested future vision for educational media. The study adopted a descriptive, analytical approach to investigate the phenomenon. Data collection was carried out by means of a questionnaire that was administered to 380 participants. The results revealed that educational media can be used not only as an educational means but also as a way for students to acquire personal and academic skills, change behavioral patterns, and become inculcated with the values of teamwork and acceptance of the other. The study concluded by putting forth a set of recommendations for a suggested proposal for using educational media activities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA).
Multicultural Based Learning in Increasing Students&apos; Tolerance Attitude
Author: Hadiwijaya, Munawwir
Date: 2018-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Prosocial Behavior,Cultural Pluralism,Models,Multicultural Education,Cultural Awareness,Student Attitudes,Teacher Attitudes,Racial Bias,Teaching Methods,Speech Communication,Check Lists,Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,English (Second Language),Foreign Countries,Language Skills,College Faculty,Undergraduate Students,Social Bias,Instructional Effectiveness

The aim of the study is to reveal how multicultural based learning can increase the multicultural students' level of tolerance. The research is qualitative descriptive which the source of data is obtained from observation of the implementation of multicultural based learning in Speaking II class as well as interviews of students and lecturer. The result shows that the students' level of tolerance increases significantly after the implementation. There are four indicators which supports this claim; first based on the result of racial bias test taken by the students before and after the implementation, which the result shows significant improvement of score; second, based on observations on every meeting focusing on four skills that become the emphasize of the study. Those skills are: multiculturalism skill, diversity skill, pluralism skill, and relativism skill. The students' four skills are increased after the implementation of the model.