ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
State Early Childhood Advisory Councils: An Overview of Implementation across the States. Issue Brief
Author: National Governors Association, Center for Best Practices
Date: 2011-12-04
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Human Services,Early Childhood Education,Young Children,State Government,Profiles,Child Care,Agency Cooperation,State Programs,Program Descriptions,Advisory Committees,Cooperation,Public Policy,Best Practices,State Legislation,Federal Legislation,Stakeholders,Federal Programs,School Readiness

Nearly all governors have designated a state early childhood advisory council to advise policymakers in the state on how to best meet the needs of children from birth to school entry. Early childhood advisory councils in the states vary in their structure and scope, but all of them provide recommendations on improving the quality, availability, and coordination of early childhood care and education programs. Because states typically administer early childhood care and education programs across multiple agencies and funding streams, such councils play an important role in shaping a common agenda for early childhood policy. To ensure that their councils will continue to serve as a ready source for early childhood policy recommendations and a hub for efforts to coordinate across agencies, a number of governors are taking steps to do the following: (1) Promote the state's early childhood advisory council's sustainability, whether through legislation, public-private partnerships, or by embedding the council's role in state government structures; and (2) Fully align and connect the state's early childhood advisory council with other state efforts to coordinate services for children and families, including the work of governors' children's cabinets and P-20 (preschool through higher education) councils. More information on state early education advisory councils can be found in the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices' (NGA Center's) detailed state profiles, developed in partnership with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Information in the state profiles is based on a review of state applications for grants provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), as well as updates provided by council leadership in April 2011. This &quot;Issue Brief&quot; summarizes data compiled in these profiles. (Contains 3 figures, 4 footnotes and 9 endnotes.)
State Strategies for Awarding Credit to Support Student Learning. Issue Brief
Author: National Governors Association, Center for Best Practices
Date: 2012-02-01
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Competency Based Education,Credits,Educational Change,Educational Policy,Funding Formulas,Resource Allocation,Agency Cooperation,Educational Cooperation,Information Systems,Public Colleges,Academic Records

Awarding credits based on student mastery of content and skills can remove barriers to increasing student readiness for college and careers, according to a new issue brief released by the National Governors Association. This brief shows how governors can lead efforts to foster alternative methods of awarding credit by working to: (1) Build flexibility in state policy for students to earn credit based on learning; (2) Modify school funding formulas to allocate resources based on student mastery of content and skills as opposed to enrollment; (3) Ensure data systems are linked across state agencies and education providers; and (4) Require public institutions of higher education to accept student transcripts with credits earned by demonstration of mastery. (Contains 12 endnotes.)
Preparing Principals to Evaluate Teachers. Issue Brief
Author: National Governors Association, Center for Best Practices
Date: 2011-10-31
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Professional Development,Principals,Teacher Evaluation,Evaluation Methods,Teacher Effectiveness,Administrator Role,Administrator Education,Administrator Effectiveness,Competence

During the past few years, more than 30 states have enacted legislation to change the way teachers are evaluated. The new laws require the annual evaluation of teachers; typically, multiple evaluations during the school year are required for new teachers. They also require the use of multiple measures to determine a teacher's effectiveness and tie high-stakes decisions to the outcomes of teacher evaluations. Decisions related to tenure, compensation, and employment are among these high-stakes decisions. With such decisions tied to evaluation results, it is important that governors lead efforts to make changes to state policy to ensure that school principals and other educators responsible for conducting evaluations are trained and certified to conduct them. Governors can use the state's program approval authority to drive changes in principal preparation to improve principals' readiness to conduct teacher evaluations. Moreover, governors can call for the tracking of data on professional development to determine what type of professional development--and which providers--are most able to improve student outcomes; such information is necessary to improve the quality of professional development. The information can also be used to make data-driven decisions about resourcing professional development. Finally, governors may want to consider  adopting reasonable and responsible timelines for implementing the evaluation policies to ensure principals have the time they need to adequately train, become certified, and practice conducting evaluations before evaluation results are used to make high-stakes decisions. (Contains 11 endnotes.)
Building a Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math Education Agenda: An Update of State Actions
Author: Thomasian, John
Date: 2011-12-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Interdisciplinary Approach,Engineering Education,STEM Education,Mathematics Education,Science Education,Technology Education,Educational Change,Curriculum,Outcomes of Education,Barriers,College Students,High School Students,Job Skills,State Government,Educational Policy,Administrator Role,Career Choice,Salaries,College Preparation,Teacher Competencies,Academic Standards,Informal Education

STEM--science, technology, engineering, and mathematics--is critical to and supportive of many education reforms being undertaken today, from adoption of common internationally benchmarked standards to better teacher preparation to enhanced coordination across the entire K-20 education system. In fact, STEM is not a separate reform movement at all; rather, it is an emphasis. It stresses a multidisciplinary approach for better preparing all students in STEM subjects and growing the number of postsecondary graduates who are prepared for STEM occupations. The National Governors Association (NGA) first addressed STEM in its 2007 report, "Building a Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Agenda." That report provided an overview of the STEM-related challenges, opportunities, and actions from the state perspective. This report updates those recommendations in light of recent state progress to improve education standards and other efforts to advance STEM education. In addition, this report incorporates recent data from studies that make the economic case for pursuing a STEM agenda even more compelling than before. The report's six brief chapters cover several issues. Chapter 2 defines the goals of the STEM agenda, focusing on specific measures. Chapter 3 examines why STEM is important in terms of jobs, prosperity, and future economic success. Chapter 4 reviews where the current system is preventing the graduation of more high school and college students with STEM skills. Chapter 5 examines what is being done and can be done to counter these trends. Chapter 6 concludes with a look at the work ahead. Governors, state education policy staff, and state education leaders can use this guide to further the implementation of STEM agendas. Fortunately, as current state actions demonstrate, emphasizing STEM does not shift the direction of education reforms already underway. The majority of actions called for in this report complement changes initiated in both the K-12 and postsecondary systems over the past several years. A STEM focus merely provides coherence to many of these reforms, uniting them under a common set of goals. Finally, this report also is designed to inform the public. Public commitment and public will are necessary to mobilize the efforts needed for change and to set higher expectations for the nation's youth. (Contains 14 figures and 57 endnotes.)
State Policies to Improve the Effectiveness of School Principals. Issue Brief
Author: National Governors Association, Center for Best Practices
Date: 2011-04-26
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Administrator Effectiveness,Principals,Policy Formation,Administrator Evaluation,Certification,Administrator Education,Educational Quality,Curriculum Development,College Admission,School Districts,Data Analysis,College School Cooperation

A principal's effectiveness impacts both teachers and students. Effective principals improve the retention of effective teachers and the outcomes of students. Although all schools can benefit from an effective school principal, there is an emergent need for schools that are chronically low-performing. As states look for ways to turn around low-performing schools and improve the overall quality of education, attention should be paid to reforming the way principals are prepared, trained, and evaluated. Governors can lead efforts to redesign state policies that govern how principals are prepared, licensed, and evaluated. Specifically, they can: (1) Reform state regulations to require at least the annual evaluation of principals to assess and monitor their effectiveness; and (2) Use the state's accreditation and licensure authority to ensure that principal preparation programs make the admission process more rigorous, redesign the program curriculum, create stronger clinical experiences, use data to drive improvements in preparation programs, require partnerships between preparation programs and school districts, and create a tiered licensure structure for school principals. (Contains 1 table and 48 notes.)
What Works Clearinghouse Quick Review: &quot;Findings from a Randomized Experiment of Playworks&quot;
Author: What Works Clearinghouse (ED)
Date: 2012-06-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Play,Recess Breaks,Program Effectiveness,Educational Environment,Student Behavior,Discipline,Bullying,Inclusion,Safety,Urban Schools,Elementary School Students,Elementary School Teachers,Comparative Analysis,Educational Research,Student Surveys,Teacher Surveys

This randomized controlled trial examined the effects of offering Playworks--a program in which full-time coaches provide opportunities for organized play during recess and class time--on school climate, student behavior, and other disciplinary and developmental outcomes. Using data from about 2,000 students and 250 teachers in 25 urban, low-income elementary schools across the United States, the authors compared outcomes from schools that offered Playworks to outcomes in schools that were not offering the program. The authors found no differences between Playworks and non-Playworks schools for any of the 11 measures of school discipline. In addition, the authors found no differences in 30 outcomes measured by student survey responses. Finally, the authors found that four of the 30 outcomes measured by teacher survey responses were more favorable in the Playworks schools: fewer incidents of bullying, improved transitions to learning after recess, greater student enjoyment of adult-organized activities, and improved feelings of inclusion and safety at recess. The portion of the study that estimates the impact of Playworks on disciplinary outcomes &quot;meets WWC evidence standards,&quot; because it is based on a randomized controlled trial with low attrition. The portion of the study that estimates the impact of Playworks on outcomes measured by student and teacher surveys may &quot;meet WWC evidence standards with or without reservations.&quot; A more thorough review is forthcoming. [The following study is the focus of this &quot;Quick Review&quot;: &quot;Findings from a Randomized Experiment of Playworks: Selected Results from Cohort 1&quot; (ED531230).]
Social Sense and Effect of Music: Prevailing Ideology in Music Curricula in Croatia before and after Its Independence
Author: Magzan, Masa Bogojeva
Date: 2009-00-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Music Education,Music,Nationalism,Ideology,Foreign Countries,Power Structure,Politics of Education,Social Values,Social Influences,Curriculum,Conflict,Cultural Differences,War,Socialization,Singing,Cultural Pluralism

Approaching music from a sociological perspective, this book deals with the concept of ideology in relation to music. The focus of investigation is on the reflection of ideology and power relations in the music curriculum before and after Croatian independence. The goal of this work is to help our understanding of how and why certain musical values come to be accepted as common sense, how these values are reproduced through history and, moreover, how they perpetuate social relations. The educational system is viewed as a social mechanism that aids in this perpetuation and regulation. The objective is to prove that music curricula can have an important political role in defusing and eliminating ethnic conflicts or in helping promote national identity. Significant shifts and changes in the musical values and preferred musical styles in Croatia after the war in the 1990s show that political identity can be superimposed over cultural specifics. The actions of pressure groups in exerting influence over the curricula and music promoted by the media in the period prior to and after Croatian independence reveal that music is an ideological construct. The ideological shift in the music curriculum and the change in the concept of music identity in Croatia during the 1990s adequately document a close relationship between politics and music. In the late 1980s and early 1990s Croatia was experiencing a period of transition from being a former Yugoslav republic to becoming an independent democratic country with ambitions to be accepted by the European Union. This particular political position resulted in the strong need for national rhetoric and the enforcement of national music production. In order to find out how and why this shift in the ideological orientation of the country affected the educational concepts and the content of the music curriculum, as well as the types of music promoted and broadcast by media, this research is based on a historical perspective. A discography is included.  (Contains 23 figures and 164 footnotes.
The Role of Personality Traits in the Choice and Use of the Compensation Category of English Language Learning Strategies
Author: Fazeli, Seyed Hossein
Date: 2012-06-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Personality Traits,Learning Strategies,Personality,Foreign Countries,English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Role,Prediction,Measures (Individuals),Majors (Students),Females,Student Characteristics,Questionnaires,Second Language Instruction,College Students

The present study aims to find out the role of personality traits in the prediction choice and use of the Compensatory English Language Learning Strategies (CELLSs) for learners of English as a foreign language. Four instruments were used, which were Adapted Inventory for Compensatory English Language Learning Strategies based on Compensation category of Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL) of Rebecca L. Oxfords (1990), A Background Questionnaire, NEO-Five Factors Inventory (NEO-FFI), and Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). Two hundred and thirteen Iranian female university level learners of English language as a university major in Iran, volunteered to participate in this study. The intact classes were chosen. The results show that however, there is a significant relationship between each of three traits of personality and the choice and use of the cells, but personality traits cannot be a strong predictor to predict the choice and use of the CELLSs. (Contains 7 tables.)
Teachers, Teaching and Public Education under Pressure. Notes
Author: Froese-Germain, Bernie
Date: 2011-01-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Test Results,Academic Achievement,Foreign Countries,Accountability,Public Education,Federal Legislation,Teachers,Global Approach,Scores,Formative Evaluation,Summative Evaluation,Teacher Evaluation,Communities of Practice,Educational Improvement

In this era of accountability-by-numbers, the elevated status accorded to large-scale external assessments such as the OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is symptomatic of a trend towards data-driven policy initiatives in education, and the need for regular sources of outcome data to constantly feed narrow indicators of accountability. Tying teacher evaluation and remuneration to test results is problematic on numerous levels, not least of which it reinforces a competitive spirit that undermines the collegiality among teachers that is so important in the creation of professional learning communities. This paper presents several perspectives on large-scale student assessments.
Weighing in on the Teacher Merit Pay Debate. Notes
Author: Froese-Germain, Bernie
Date: 2011-03-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Merit Pay,Teaching (Occupation),Teacher Effectiveness,Standardized Tests,Educational Change,Teachers,Academic Achievement,Accountability,Compensation (Remuneration),Incentives,Teacher Salaries,Scores,Test Results,Educational Policy,Foreign Countries

First the good news. There's a growing consensus that the quality of teachers and teaching is a major factor--some would say the most important school-based factor--in the quality of student learning. In sum (and this comes as no surprise to the teaching profession), good teaching matters. The bad news is that, in this highly charged climate of data-driven accountability, teacher effectiveness and compensation are increasingly being tied to student scores on standardized tests. This paper presents several arguments that merit pay is another in a series of market-based education policy reforms that doesn't stand up to scrutiny, one being driven by ideology rather than sound research.
Making Education Dollars Work: Issue Briefs. Governors Education Symposium, 2011
Author: National Governors Association, Center for Best Practices
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Conferences (Gatherings),Academic Achievement,Educational Change,Change Strategies,Educational Policy,Politics of Education,Developmental Studies Programs,Best Practices,Cost Effectiveness,Educational Resources,Adoption (Ideas),Educational Innovation,Educational Improvement,State Action,State Government,School Effectiveness

The 2011 Governors Education Symposium, co-hosted by the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and the Hunt Institute, focused on advancing education reform with limited resources, improving postsecondary completion and productivity, preparing career- and college-ready students and measuring and evaluating effective teaching. The issue briefs shared at the Symposium offer an overview of the four priority areas and suggest strategies and questions for state policymakers to consider to achieve educational success. (Contains 1 table, 1 figure and 28 notes.)
Educational Accountability with a Human Face
Author: Froese-Germain, Bernie
Date: 2004-00-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Teaching (Occupation),Standardized Tests,Educational Change,Teacher Associations,Accountability,Public Education,Educational Principles,Fundamental Concepts,Global Approach,Educational Policy,Change Strategies,Classroom Techniques,Student Evaluation,Equal Education,Best Practices,Governance,Participative Decision Making,Professional Development,Teacher Effectiveness,Professional Autonomy,Barriers,Foreign Countries,Politics of Education,Performance Factors

Talk of accountability (or the lack thereof ) dominates current Canadian education debates. We're not alone in this regard. Mawhinney (1998) observes that &quot;the educational reform agenda in many industrialized nations today is driven by a perceived crisis in accountability&quot; (p. 98). Unfortunately, as Earl (2001) also reminds us, &quot;accountability is rarely clearly defined. It is an emotionally charged concept that everyone agrees is good, with little agreement about how it works or what it looks like.&quot; This publication is an attempt to shed some light on the concept from a teacher organization perspective. The Canadian Teachers' Federation has identified accountability in education as a priority issue. As part of a continuing effort to address issues related to standardized testing, school rankings, teacher testing, and narrow performance indicators, this report on educational accountability has several objectives: (1) To emphasize that public accountability is a fundamental principle underlying public education; (2) To demonstrate that the teaching profession is clearly not opposed to accountability but rather, to &quot;accountability&quot; as it is narrowly construed in terms of test scores, &quot;league tables&quot; ranking schools and accountability systems based on rewards and sanctions. Teachers' organizations believe it is time to recast the concept of accountability; (3) To examine educational accountability and its relationship to equity and other issues in order to contextualize and enrich our understanding of accountability as teacher organizations; and (4) To contribute to a constructive counter-discourse on the subject of educational accountability by outlining elements of a comprehensive accountability framework. This framework highlights shared responsibility and professional accountability as an alternative to market-based and bureaucratic accountability models. A bibliography is included. (Contains 34 endnotes.)