ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Enrollment Decisions and Persistence of On-Line Learners in NACTEL and EPCE: An Exploratory Study. Final Report B-2006-8
Author: Council for Adult and Experiential Learning
Date: 2007-08-00
Type: Numerical/Quantitative Data
Subjects: State Colleges,Industry,Academic Persistence,Focus Groups,Online Courses,Adult Education,Labor,Experiential Learning,Adult Learning,Adult Students,Enrollment,Telecommunications,Surveys,Higher Education,Time to Degree,Tuition,Responses,Interviews

Since 1998, Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL) has been instrumental in developing an industry-led approach to online education. In the telecommunications industry, The National Coalition for Telecommunications Education and Learning (NACTEL) began offering customized coursework through its primary educational partner, Pace University, in 1999. Representing the electric power industry, The Energy Providers Coalition for Education (EPCE) began offering customized coursework through its primary educational partner, Bismarck State College, in 2001. The purpose of this study was to learn more about working adult learners, their enrollment decisions and their persistence toward an associate's degree in two online degree programs. The researchers designed methodologies to collect and analyze quantitative data that focused on student experiences and choices related to enrollment, continuation, and degree completion in the two programs. This study of student persistence provided these organizations the opportunity to learn more about these programs and their students, and as a result, to better serve both the students and the industries. Eleven appendices are included: (1) Brief Biography: Ruth Chapman; (2) Focused interview guide: Preliminary student interviews; (3) Focused interview guide: Industry and labor representatives; (4) Summary: Student and industry focused interviews; (5) Online survey with responses: Current students; (6) Online survey with responses: Graduates; (7) Online survey with responses: Students taking a break; (8) Online survey with responses: Students who let the program permanently; (9) Comparison Tables: What stands out, all groups and both schools; Factors influencing taking a break, both schools; and Factors influencing leaving program permanently, both schools; (10) Interview guide and summary: School representative focus group; and (11) Bureau of Labor Statistics employment data.
Principles in Practice: Assessing Adult Learning Focused Institutions. Case Studies
Author: Council for Adult and Experiential Learning
Date: 2005-00-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Experiential Learning,Adult Learning,Adult Students,Case Studies,Economic Climate,Labor Force,Outcomes of Education,Higher Education,Postsecondary Education,Evaluation,Enrollment,Educational Opportunities,Organizational Change,Lifelong Learning,Administrators,Administration

A postsecondary degree or credential is increasingly important in the U.S. economy, both for new entrants into the labor force and those already employed. Working adults who want to succeed in this economic climate are pursuing a college education in increasing numbers. Adult students have unique needs that differ from traditional-age, residential students. Without good models of effective practice for serving adult learners, colleges and universities will continue to struggle. Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL) has addressed this issue through its Adult Learning Focused Institution (ALFI) Initiative, designed to assist colleges and universities with improving learning opportunities for working adults. CAEL developed the ALFI Assessment Toolkit, which is specifically designed for colleges and universities that want to retain undergraduate adult learners by providing programs that meet and exceed student expectations. This brief presents case studies which individually provide institutional background and a discussion of the issues the institution wanted the ALFI Assessment Toolkit to address. The case studies then explore the strategies that institutions used to administer the Institutional Self-Assessment Survey and Adult Learner Inventory. (Contains 2 resources.)
Baby Boomers and the Bottom Line: How to Leverage Your Mature Workforce for Business Success
Author: Council for Adult and Experiential Learning
Date: 2009-00-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Maturity (Individuals),Baby Boomers,Labor,Experiential Learning,Corporations,Labor Force,Older Workers,Aging (Individuals),Quality of Life,Evaluation

The composition of the U.S. workforce is changing. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that by 2014 workers who are aged 55 and older will comprise 21.2% of the labor force--compared to 15.6% in 2004 and 11.9% in 1994. More corporations are beginning to pay attention to this trend and have begun to assess the needs and potential of older workers. In 2007, The Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL) conducted research on corporate approaches to the mature workforce. The companies CAEL examined for this study--Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois (BCBSIL), Main Line Health System (MLH), and IBM--have begun to recognize the potential business opportunity in helping their older workers, and they are therefore making an investment in training these employees, envisioning new roles for them, and developing innovative strategies for knowledge transfer. This brief documents the mature-worker strategies developed by these three leaders, the business needs that led to the change, the business value of those investments, and the impact of the initiatives on company practices more generally. (Contains 7 footnotes.) [Funding for this report was provided by The Conference Board.]
Toward the Structural Transformation of Schools: Innovations in Staffing
Author: Coggshall, Jane
Date: 2009-08-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Business,Differentiated Staffs,Educational Change,Skill Development,Academic Achievement,Academic Standards,Teacher Education,Teacher Certification,Instructional Effectiveness,Teacher Effectiveness,Holistic Approach,Talent,Talent Development,Teachers,Teaching (Occupation),Instructional Leadership,Human Capital,Teacher Recruitment,Teacher Selection,Beginning Teacher Induction,Faculty Development,Teaching Conditions,Compensation (Remuneration),Occupational Information,Models

The troubled economy is driving school organizations to become more efficient and driving    the business community to demand that schools produce graduates with different sets of skills. States are finally uniting around common student learning standards as the student population grows more diverse. And the new administration is pouring an unprecedented amount of money into education to support thoughtful innovation. To thrive, not just survive, in this new age, the very heart of schools--instruction--must undergo transformation. To harness the opportunities for large-scale instructional reform that these disruptions bring, it is the position of Learning Point Associates that states should lead the structural transformation of schooling, beginning with revolutionizing how they think about, prepare, license, deploy, and support educators. Many states have gotten a head start on improving the quality of instruction in America's schools by working to build a holistic system of educator talent management, recognizing that teachers are--and likely always will be--the critical school factor in student learning, followed closely by school leaders. Managing educator talent requires focusing on all the variables needed to successfully build human-capital capacity--preparation, recruitment, selection, induction, professional development, working conditions, compensation, and performance management--and noting where and how they intersect and build on one another. School officials in a few states are working toward implementing such an integrated system. In this white paper, the authors argue that  the structural transformation of schools will necessitate a rethinking of each of the variables in the teacher career continuum and a revisualization of multiple career continua for different kinds of teachers. They further argue that states must support this process by giving schools the guidance and the flexibility to rewrite teachers' job descriptions to ensure that productive instructional transformation can occur. They begin by briefly describing what form the structural transformation of schools can take if states provide the right conditions. They then introduce the concept of neo-differentiated staffing with which forward-looking states will begin to experiment to propel and sustain the new system. Finally, they discuss how Learning Point Associates can help states stay surefooted during these tectonic times. (Contains 2 footnotes.)
Measuring Principal Performance: How Rigorous Are Commonly Used Principal Performance Assessment Instruments? A Quality School Leadership Issue Brief
Author: Condon, Christopher
Date: 2010-02-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Performance Based Assessment,Job Performance,Psychometrics,Instructional Leadership,Principals,Administrator Evaluation,Measures (Individuals),Personnel Selection,Tenure,Standards,Test Reliability,Test Validity

This brief reviews the publicly available principal assessments and points superintendents and policy makers toward strong instruments to measure principal performance. Specifically, the measures included in this review are expressly intended to evaluate principal performance and have varying degrees of publicly available evidence of psychometric testing. The review of this information is intended to inform decision makers' selection of job performance instruments used for hiring, performance assessment, and tenure decisions. This brief also addresses the importance of standards-based measures, the need for establishing reliability and validity, and the measures that are more widely accepted and psychometrically sound. (Contains 1 table and a list of additional resources.)
Connecting RESEARCH to PRACTICE: Knowing Who Is Proficient Isn't Always Sufficient
Author: Gossin-Wilson, Will
Date: 2009-08-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Theory Practice Relationship,Achievement Tests,Educational Indicators,National Competency Tests,Academic Achievement,Inferences,Measurement Techniques,Research Problems

During the past decade, the percentage of proficient students (PPS) has become the primary indicator of school performance. Educators use the PPS to monitor changes in performance over time, compare performance across groups, and assess trends in achievement gaps. The PPS is relatively new, first used with the National Assessment of Educational Progress in the 1990s. Although the PPS seems to be a straightforward indicator of student performance, can a single, simple indicator be trusted to provide essential information about a very complex system? Can the PPS support the inferences that educators and policymakers want to make from it? This document presents three components to help educators and policymakers understand the limitations of relying on a single measurement tool and the value of continually seeking out multiple perspectives on student performance data. First, the executive summary provides an overview of the argument and explains how the multiple recommended tools are sufficient on their own but robust when used together. The second section provides a more detailed explanation of the particular limitations of the PPS that many educators are not even aware of. The final section describes in more detail how each tool functions, what it does well, and what its limitations are. Each of these sections will allow educators and policymakers to quickly determine what they know, what they need to know, and how to more effectively monitor--and thereby improve--a school's performance. (Contains 5 footnotes and 5 figures.)
State Legislation: Emerging Trends Reflected in the State Phase 1 Race to The Top Applications
Author: Learning Point Associates
Date: 2010-05-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Teacher Effectiveness,State Legislation,Teacher Distribution,Educational Change,Grants,Federal Legislation,Federal Programs,Educational Trends,Competition,Teacher Evaluation,Measures (Individuals),Academic Achievement,Federal Aid,Financial Support,Faculty Development

Through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009, a significant amount of funding has been targeted to improve state and local education systems. The Race to the Top Fund in particular is providing $4.35 billion in competitive grants for states. The U.S. Department of Education designated two phases for the Race to the Top grant competition. Phase 1 applications were due January 19, 2010. For Phase 1, the Education Department received a total of 41 applications--from 40 states and the District of Columbia. In March 2010, the Education Department selected 16 applications as finalists and then awarded grants to two states: Delaware and Tennessee. During the next four years, Delaware will receive $100 million and Tennessee will receive $500 million to implement their comprehensive school reform plans. Phase 2 applications are due June 1, 2010, and the U.S. Department of Education will announce awards in September 2010; $3.4 billion is available for Phase 2 (U.S. Department of Education, 2010). Learning Point Associates has paid close attention to the recent legislative changes coming from the states. Staff recently conducted a review of the 41 Race to the Top applications, focusing specifically on all mentioned legislation that was passed in 2007 or later. The goal of this report is to provide a snapshot of recent state legislative activity relating to teacher quality and the shift to teacher effectiveness, as well as equitable teacher distribution, as specified in ARRA. There are limitations to the findings in the report, due to the nature of the research. The data included in this analysis come solely from any language found in the state applications; no additional research was conducted. (Contains 3 figures.)
Talent Management in the Private and Education Sectors: A Literature Review
Author: Behrstock, Ellen
Date: 2010-01-00
Type: Information Analyses
Subjects: Human Capital,Teacher Effectiveness,Faculty Development,Teacher Recruitment,School Districts,Talent,Talent Development,Teacher Persistence,Labor Turnover,Labor Force,Private Sector,Teaching (Occupation),Personnel Selection

Although teacher recruitment and retention have been policy concerns for many years, the strategic alignment of educator talent management initiatives has only recently begun to gain momentum. The adoption of a more comprehensive and strategic approach to securing a sufficient number of effective teachers is evidenced by the creation of human capital or talent management directorship positions and initiatives in many large U.S. school districts. Talent management directors oversee the various policies and practices that aim to attract top talent to the district. Smaller districts also are concerned with creating the appropriate mix of incentives to maintain a strong teaching force for their students. The education field is not alone in striving to develop a workforce that can effectively deliver quality service to clients. For years, other sectors, particularly in private industry, have competed for the top talent and, arguably, have been more successful than the education sector at attracting the smartest, most motivated, and most effective college graduates. This literature review examines effective talent management practices in education and other sectors, with an emphasis on strategies to attract and retain members of Generation Y. (i.e., those born roughly between 1977 and 1995.) (Contains 1 figure.)
Does Mentoring Matter? Rethinking Support for New Primary School Principals in Barbados, West Indies
Author: Henry, Sylvia M.
Date: 2010-00-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Mentors,Leadership Training,Statistical Significance,Foreign Countries,Leadership,Principals,Administrator Education,Instructional Leadership,Administrator Responsibility,Qualitative Research,Statistical Analysis,Administrator Attitudes,Self Concept,Educational Needs

In more and more systems of accountability new principals, in particular, have felt unprepared for leadership. This study examines a localized educational system which has no formal preparation program for new or prospective principals. These new principals were overwhelmed when faced with increased levels of responsibility and were retiring prematurely. In this mixed-methods descriptive study, the researcher examined the literature to determine the practicality of mentoring in the localized context in the absence of a formal preparation program and investigated the statistical significance of the perceptions and needs of these principals in preparation for the implementation of a formal preparation program for new principals. The statistically significant results of the quantitative aspect of this study revealed that it was not by chance that new principals perceive that mentoring and the acquisition of self-awareness skills are critical to their performance and must play a significant role in any leadership preparation program. These perceptions were substantiated in the qualitative interviews with surprising gender-related revelations.
How Much Do Students Remember from an Introductory Psychology Course?
Author: Herman, William E.
Date: 2010-03-19
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: College Students,Introductory Courses,Psychology,Memory,Pretesting,Item Analysis,Prior Learning,Teacher Expectations of Students,Academic Achievement,Prerequisites,College Curriculum,Retention (Psychology),Curriculum Evaluation,Educational Improvement,Higher Education,Course Content,Cognitive Development,Child Development

Nearly 100 students were given a Pre-Test in psychology on the first day of class without warning in order to assess their knowledge of basic course content derived from the prerequisites of the course (PSYC-100 Introduction to Psychology or PSYC-220 Child Development) and other life experiences. This was intended as a low-stakes testing situation, since students were assured that the results were to be used only for curricular/instructional decision making and the results would have no impact upon the student's grade in the course. The Pre-Test was found to explain 12% of the variance in final course grade average. This research report contains an item analysis of the Pre-Test depicting the extent of psychological knowledge students brought with them to the class. The achievement results were very disappointing. For example, only 2 students knew the names and proper order of Piaget's 4 stages of cognitive development. The author hypothesized that even some fundamental psychological knowledge that was retained from previous learning allowed students to more effectively and efficiently re-learn such content for the new target course. This pedagogical research supported the use of the existing pre-requisite for the course, but extreme caution is urged when instructors assume that a substantial and accurate knowledge base in psychology is brought to the learning context based upon satisfying the pre-requisite course requirement. (Contains 3 tables.)
Building Educational Leadership Capacity through a Graduate Action Research Course
Author: Terry, Kellie
Date: 2010-05-03
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Graduate Students,Research Design,Action Research,Leadership Training,Instructional Leadership,Teaching Methods,Educational Administration,Inquiry,Educational Practices,Participatory Research,Instructional Design,Research Methodology,Course Content,Course Descriptions,Research Skills

Educational leadership programs face increased pressure to ensure graduates are prepared (Barnett, 2004; Bass, 1990; Yukl, 2002) to guide progress toward student achievement targets. The ISLLC [Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium] Policy Standards (2008) uphold the importance of inquiry in leading school improvement. However, researchers question whether graduate students receive effective instruction in practice-based inquiry (Clark & Clark, 1996; Levine, 2005). Consequently, an important challenge for faculty is learning how to design and teach practice-based inquiry to increase students' leadership capacity. This study explores how a graduate practitioner research course affects students' capacity to assume educational leadership roles. Within a participatory action research design, mixed methods are used to collect and analyze data on course design, activities, student participation and learning. Findings suggest a course utilizing a practicum approach to help students learn, practice, and reflect on leading school-based inquiry increases students' leadership capacity. Recommendations are outlined for action research courses offered in educational leadership preparation programs. (Four tables are included in article to describe student participants, data collection methods and sources, coded data, and student evaluations.)
An Investigation of the Lecture Comprehension &amp; Note Taking Strategies of Second Year Students of English at the University of Blida
Author: Missoum, Maamar
Date: 2007-12-04
Type: Dissertations/Theses
Subjects: Research Tools,Learning Problems,Notetaking,Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,English (Second Language),Lecture Method,Academic Achievement,Grades (Scholastic),Surveys,Listening Comprehension,Questionnaires,Foreign Countries,Language Tests,Teacher Attitudes,Departments,Learning Strategies,Student Attitudes

For many years (1995-2002), the Department of English of the University of Blida witnessed low rates of academic achievement of students preparing an English Degree. An analysis of the second year students' course grades in academic years 1999-2000 and 2000-2001 and data from a preliminary survey with some teachers reflected signs that the students were experiencing learning difficulties. This situation prompted an investigation of a suspected factor behind those difficulties, namely, comprehending and taking notes from lectures. Listening to lectures and taking notes from them are the most widely used academic skills in the English Department. The main purpose of the present study is to examine the students' lecture comprehension and note taking strategies. Effective listeners employ certain strategies to understand lecture content and note down useful information. The review of the literature sets the theoretical framework for the study by defining key lecture comprehension and note taking strategies. Five research tools (observation of authentic lectures, a test of lecture comprehension, the subjects' lecture notes, survey questionnaires and an analysis of instruction in listening and note taking in the English Department) were used to investigate the strategies the subjects use to comprehend lectures and take note from them. Triangulation is necessary to moderate the various potential threats to the validity of the data. The findings obtained seem to indicate that most of the subjects were not using efficient lecture comprehension and note taking strategies, and that listening instruction was not providing adequate training in these strategies. Recommendations are offered to improve the ability of students in Algerian English Departments to learn better from lectures. Nine appendixes are included: (1) The Preliminary Survey Questionnaire; (2) The Students' Grades; (3) The Test of Lecture Comprehension; (4) The Test of Lecture Comprehension--Transcripts of Input Lectures; (5) The Lecture Observation Scheme; (6) The Students' Questionnaire; (7) The Questionnaire to Teachers of Listening Comprehension; (8) The Questionnaire to Lecturers; and (9) The Questionnaire Aggregated Responses. (Contains 21 tables, 9 figures, and an abstract in English and Arabic.