ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
School Improvement Grants. Guidance and Tools for the 2015 Amended Regulations: Maximizing the Optional Planning/Pre-Implementation Year
Author: Redding, Sam
Date: 2015-00-00
Type: Guides - General
Subjects: School Turnaround,Grants,Federal Aid,Program Proposals,Planning,Federal Legislation,Educational Legislation,Elementary Secondary Education,State Departments of Education,School Districts,Agency Role,Responsibility,Check Lists,Program Implementation

School Improvement Grants (SIGs) are authorized under section 1003(g) of Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). The grants are made to state education agencies (SEAs), and the SEAs award competitive subgrants to local education agencies (LEAs) that demonstrate: (1) the greatest need for the funds; and (2) the strongest commitment to use the funds in ways that will substantially raise the achievement of students in the lowest-performing schools. The funds are to be used to improve student achievement in eligible schools. The purpose of this guide is to provide states, districts, and schools with information and support to prepare applications for 2015-2016 School Improvement Grants (SIGs). The guide includes tools, checklists, and questions for SEAs and LEAs aligned with the revised SIG requirements, primarily focused on how to leverage the &quot;planning year&quot; to build a foundation of success for SIG schools. The following are appended: (1) Plan-Do-Study-Act; and (2) Essential School Functions .
Incorporating Early Learning Strategies in the School Improvement Grants (SIG) Program: How Three Schools Integrated Early Childhood Strategies into School Turnaround Efforts to Improve Instruction for All Students
Author: Connors-Tadros, Lori
Date: 2015-00-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: School Turnaround,Grants,Federal Aid,Case Studies,Early Childhood Education,Educational Strategies,Elementary Schools,Academic Achievement,Elementary School Students,School Effectiveness,Leadership,Teacher Effectiveness,School Schedules,Alignment (Education),Data,Decision Making,Family Involvement,Community Involvement,School Safety,Child Health

A significant body of research shows that achievement gaps evident in persistently low-performing schools, in many instances, manifest prior to children entering kindergarten. High-quality early learning programs have proven to demonstrate positive effects on closing academic gaps both for individual children and in the aggregate for the school. Further, research indicates that the impact of high-quality pre-kindergarten (PK) on children's development is sustained when children experience a high-quality, aligned early elementary experience. The Center on Enhancing Early Learning Outcomes (CEELO) and the Center on School Turnaround (CST) collaborated to develop case studies of three selected schools receiving SIG funds that have, with the support of their districts, promoted the use of early childhood programming (PK-3) as a key strategy in their schools' turnaround models. The goal of this document is to increase the awareness and understanding of how to effectively embed PK-3 strategies in school turnaround efforts within the SIG program. Through a review of data on all elementary schools that received SIG funds to implement interventions beginning in school year (SY) 2010-11, three sample schools were selected for this report (Orchard Gardens K-8 School in Boston, Massachusetts; Horace Mann Elementary School in St. Louis, Missouri; and Elliott Elementary School in Lincoln, Nebraska). The practices implemented by these three elementary schools were examined through research literature and school data reviews, combined with interviews with school, district, and state leaders from both early learning and school improvement offices. The findings from the resulting case studies underscore that the principles of good practice in school turnaround may look different from grade to grade and in different contexts, which vary by state, district, and school.
Do You See What I See? The Impact of School Accountability on Parent, Teacher, and Student Perceptions of the School Environment
Author: Whitesell, Emilyn Ruble
Date: 2015-00-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Accountability,Grades (Scholastic),Parent Attitudes,Teacher Attitudes,Student Attitudes,Expectation,Discipline,Urban Schools,Middle Schools,Surveys,Attitude Measures,Likert Scales

School accountability systems are a popular approach to improving education outcomes in the United States. These systems intend to &quot;hold schools accountable&quot; by assessing school performance on specific metrics, publishing accountability reports, and some combination of rewarding and sanctioning schools based on performance. Additionally, most states and many districts rank or categorize schools in some capacity. New York City (NYC), in particular, was an early adopter of a letter-grade (A-F) ranking system. School letter grades are intended to provide &quot;new&quot; information about school quality and to affect how community members view their schools. Ultimately, however, whether accountability letter grades influence stakeholders' perceptions of schools is an empirical question. This paper explores the extent to which NYC's letter-grade accountability system affects parent, teacher, and student perceptions of their schools; in particular, it focuses on agreement about academic expectations and discipline, as much research documents the relationship between these school factors and student outcomes. The analysis addresses two key research questions: First, does NYC's accountability system affect parent, teacher, or student perceptions of their schools? Does it improve or worsen perceptions, and how does this vary by stakeholder group and school context? Second, does NYC's accountability system affect congruence in stakeholder perceptions, both within and between groups? That is, does accountability contribute to a shared understanding of the school environment among parents, teachers, and students? This study uses New York City data for the 2006-07 (2007) to 2011-12 (2012) academic years. The school-level analytic sample includes all middle schools with at least ten percent of parents, teachers, and students responding to the Learning Environment Survey (LES). The analytic sample includes approximately 95% of all NYC middle schools. Results indicate that in NYC, accountability increases within-group congruence for parents and teachers but decreases congruence for students. Furthermore, accountability positively affects stakeholder perceptions of expectations and discipline, with the exception that accountability contributes to lower student perceptions of expectations. Tables and figures are appended.
Initiative Overview &amp; Summary of Research
Author: Education Funders Research Initiative
Date: 2013-11-21
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Philanthropic Foundations,Financial Support,Educational Change,College Preparation,Change Strategies,Success,Program Effectiveness,Urban Areas,Educational Improvement,Career Readiness,College Readiness,Reading Skills,Writing Skills,At Risk Students,Elementary Secondary Education,Early Intervention,Early Childhood Education,Common Core State Standards,Accountability,Instructional Leadership,Principals,Administrator Role,Neighborhood Schools,Systems Approach,Racial Differences,High School Graduates,Graduation Rate

Education Funders Research Initiative (EdFunders), a project of Philanthropy New York, is supported by a group of diverse funding organizations that have pursued an array of education reform strategies. EdFunders have come together to engage New Yorkers and focus leaders on new research into how to best prepare students for college and 21st-century careers, driven by the question: How can we improve on what is working in New York City education? To that end, EdFunders commissioned a series of reports that provide unbiased, independent analysis of the various reform strategies that have been implemented across New York City public schools, highlighting strategies that have achieved success in schools or programs effective with particular populations. This document includes an overview of the Education Funders Research Initiative, six priorities for the mayor of New York City, and a summary of the research. The first two white papers, summarized in the pages of this document, were released on October 8, 2013, at an event co-sponsored by WNYC SchoolBook. The third white paper, also summarized here, was released on November 21, 2013. The six priorities that appear first in this document flow directly from the research commissioned by EdFunders, and also appear in the third paper. [For the first paper in the series, &quot;College and Career Readiness in Context&quot; (Leslie Santee Siskin), see ED562071. For the second paper in the series, &quot;The Experiences of One New York City High School Cohort: Opportunities, Successes, and Challenges,&quot; (Douglas Ready, Thomas Hatch, Miya Warner, and Elizabeth Chu), see ED562061. For the third paper in the series, &quot;Building Blocks for Better Schools: How the Next Mayor Can Prepare New York's Students for College and Careers,&quot; (Clara Hemphill, Kim Nauer, Andrew White, and Thomas Jacobs), see ED562069.]
Associations between School Connection and Depressive Symptoms from Adolescence through Adulthood: The Moderating Influence of Early Adversity
Author: Markowitz, Anna J.
Date: 2015-00-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Depression (Psychology),Correlation,Student School Relationship,At Risk Persons,Environmental Influences,Young Adults,Adolescents,Resilience (Psychology),Stress Variables,Child Abuse,Surveys,Longitudinal Studies,Multiple Regression Analysis,Family Income,Parent Child Relationship,Mothers,Sexuality,Immigrants,Cognitive Ability,Gender Differences,Age Differences,Racial Differences,Ethnic Groups

Depression is the most common psychiatric disorder worldwide. Conservative estimates Suggest that 20% of Americans will experience depression during their lifetime, inflicting high interpersonal, labor market, and health care costs. Although depression is highly heritable, environmental factors can powerfully influence its development both negatively and positively. A growing body of research has established that school connection, a student's sense of belonging in and relatedness to school, is associated with lower levels of depression and better overall socioemotional health. This study will: (1) identify whether school connection is associated with depressive symptoms in models that account for potential endogeneity; (2) assess whether this association persists from adolescence through early adulthood; and (3) explore whether school connection can serve as a protective factor for youth at risk for depression. Risk for depression is defined using a 3-group categorization of the experience of early adversity: no adversity, stress only, and maltreatment. The impact of school connection is explored separately for each group. Data are drawn from Waves 1 through 4 of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), a large, nationally representative dataset collected from 1994-2008. The Add Health surveys collected data on respondents from adolescence through adulthood, and assessed a variety of developmental experiences and outcomes. No intervention was conducted; rather this study assesses student reported connection to school and its long-term correlates &quot;absent&quot; intervention. This was a secondary data analysis; the author used multiple regressions with robust controls (see Data Analysis) including family income-to-needs ratio, and youth's reported relationship with his/her mother, sexuality, immigrant status, cognitive ability, gender, age, and race. The present study suggests that school connection can be particularly beneficial for youth who have experienced early stress, and that this unique benefit emerges in early adulthood. Importantly, though, this protective effect does not extend to youth who experienced early maltreatment, suggesting that youth in extreme circumstances may need more substantial intervention than a high quality school alone can provide. Tables and figures are appended.
Does Access to High Quality Early Education Vary by State Policy Context?
Author: Connors, Maia C.
Date: 2015-00-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Access to Education,Educational Quality,Early Childhood Education,State Policy,Educational Policy,Interpersonal Competence,Social Development,Emotional Development,Low Income Students,Federal Programs

Research suggests that attending high quality, formal early childhood education (ECE) is associated with stronger cognitive and social-emotional skills, especially for low-income children. Yet at current funding levels, federally-funded programs like Head Start cannot serve all eligible children. Thus, state-level policies governing the accessibility and quality of alternative ECE programs for low-income families may be particularly important in filling this gap. This study capitalizes on variation in state policies that shape both children's access to formal ECE programs and the quality of those programs and on the random assignment design of the Head Start Impact Study. This research uses data from the Head Start Impact Study (HSIS), which includes 4,440 3- and 4-year-old children who were randomly assigned off a waitlist to either receive an offer to participate in Head Start or to the control group. Consistent with expectations, the author's preliminary findings suggest that, in general, a state's commitment to ECE is related to low-income families' increased access to formal and high quality ECE when denied access to Head Start, and to smaller impacts of Head Start on enrollment in formal and high quality ECE. This information can inform both state-level policy and federal Head Start policy on how to become more effective and efficient by: (1) understanding the types of state policies most closely associated with low-income families' access to formal and high quality ECE; and (2) understanding the kinds of state policy contexts in which Head Start resources can be focused to provide a service not otherwise available to the population it serves. The following are appended: (1) References; and (2) Tables and Figures.
Do College-Ready Students Benefit When High Schools and Colleges Collaborate? Experimental Evidence from Albuquerque, New Mexico
Author: Castleman, Benjamin L.
Date: 2015-00-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: College Readiness,High Schools,College School Cooperation,High School Graduates,College Bound Students,School Counseling,School Counselors,Enrollment Rate,Disproportionate Representation,Minority Group Students,Randomized Controlled Trials,Hispanic American Students,Gender Differences,Outreach Programs

In this article, the authors address what is called the &quot;summer melt,&quot; where academically-accomplished, college-intending high school graduates fail to enroll anywhere in the year following high school, or do not attend the quality of institution (measured, for instance, by graduation rates) at which they have the academic credentials to be admitted. The authors' research focused on investigating whether college-ready, college-intending recent high school graduates benefit when high schools and universities collaborate to support their transition to college. Some questions included: (1) Do students who receive proactive outreach from a high school- or college-based counselor during the summer enroll in college at higher rates than students who do not receive outreach?; (2) Are students differentially responsive to outreach from counselors stationed at a university versus counselors stationed at their high school? ; and (3) Are student groups less represented on the University of New Mexico campus more responsive to proactive outreach than students that are more represented on campus? The study demonstrated that student groups traditionally underrepresented in higher education, such as Latino males, are more susceptible to having their college plans fall apart during the summer after high school graduation. In addition, the study also showed that concentrated and targeted outreach to underrepresented groups during the summer months can have a profound effect on whether they successfully matriculate, increasing their enrollment by 13 percent. Outreach from counselors stationed at the college side was particularly effective, suggesting that proactive communication and the offer of support from students' intended college may helpfully reinforce students' sense of belonging at and welcome from higher education institutions. The following are appended: (1) References; and (2) Tables and Figures.
Assessing Impacts of &quot;Math in Focus,&quot; a &quot;Singapore Math&quot; Program for American Schools
Author: Jaciw, Andrew P.
Date: 2015-00-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Common Core State Standards,Mathematics Achievement,Program Effectiveness,Mathematics Instruction,Mathematics Skills,Problem Solving,Racial Differences,Ethnic Groups,Elementary School Students,Grade 3,Grade 4,Grade 5,Elementary School Teachers,Randomized Controlled Trials,Regression (Statistics)

The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) have been developed in response to the criticism that students in the U.S. are graduating from high school without being college and career ready and that they are falling behind their counterparts in other countries in key subject areas. In this work, the authors report the results of an efficacy study that investigated the impact of Math in Focus: Singapore Math (&quot;MIF&quot;)--developed by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH) that, according to the program developer, provides comprehensive support for CCSS. The research questions are as follows: (1) Is there a positive impact of MIF on student skills in mathematics problem solving?; (2) Is there a positive impact of &quot;MIF&quot; on student math procedural skills?; and (3) Is &quot;MIF&quot; differentially effective in its impact on student achievement depending on (1) the ethnicity of the student? (2) the incoming achievement level of the student? The research took place during the 2011-2012 school year across twelve elementary schools in one urban school district in Nevada. Ninety-three teachers of grades 3, 4 and 5 were recruited to participate in the study, with 41 teachers randomized to the &quot;MIF&quot; group and 52 teachers randomized to the control group. Rosters were provided for 2235 students in participating teachers' classrooms. The design was a group randomized trial lasting one year. A two-level hierarchical linear regression model to estimate the impacts of &quot;MIF&quot; on student achievement. The study gives preliminary evidence concerning the impact of one CCSS-aligned math intervention on student performance on two mathematics strands. Tables are appended.
An Examination of the Effectiveness of Emergent Literacy Intervention for Pre-Kindergarteners at Risk for Reading Delays
Author: DeLucca, Teri
Date: 2015-00-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Reading Readiness,Emergent Literacy,Preschool Education,At Risk Students,Program Effectiveness,Reading Achievement,Grade 3,Standardized Tests,Reading Tests,Elementary School Students,Reading Fluency

Preschool reading readiness is an issue with growing interest. The preschool years provide an opportune time when reading difficulties are more easily altered through exposure to early literacy skills. This paper extends the authors' previous research by examining the kindergarten performance of a cohort of children from a multi-year research study in which preschoolers-at-risk for early literacy failure received targeted supplemental instruction. The goal of the present study is to examine the maintenance of the positive effects found for children from a cohort of the study. Of particular interest is whether children who completed the prekindergarten early literacy intervention go on to complete kindergarten with developmentally appropriate levels of reading readiness and whether children's response to the intervention is predictive of their kindergarten reading achievement. Results report children who received prekindergarten Tier 2 early literacy intervention were performing in the developmentally appropriate range in kindergarten. A systematic increase in performance over time was evident for each measure. The findings also indicate that children who received prekindergarten early literacy intervention were performing in the developmentally appropriate range in kindergarten with scores indicative of low-risk for future reading delays. In addition, examination of children's third grade reading achievement indicates comparable performance to both district and state norms.
Community-Level Challenges in Implementing a Mixed Delivery Prekindergarten System: A Brief Review of Research and Field Experience. School Community Partnerships Project. Policy Brief I
Author: Stephens, Samuel A.
Date: 2014-06-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Preschool Education,School Community Relationship,Partnerships in Education,Delivery Systems,Equal Education,Public Schools,Beliefs,Barriers,Participative Decision Making

Over the past decade, states have dramatically expanded prekindergarten services (Pre-K), given the evidence that high-quality early childhood education can put children on a path to success in school and later life. To support the expansion, most of those states have adopted a mixed delivery system, developing the new educational opportunities in both public schools and early childhood programs in the community, a strategy that leverages the existing capacity, expertise, and public investments that support early learning and healthy development. Such a system has the potential to more rapidly expand the availability of high quality early education and also offers families a choice of preschool settings. Increasingly, educators and policymakers are looking at strategies to align learning experiences, enrich services and family supports, and build a unified early education system so that all children benefit equally regardless of setting. Great progress has been made on this front, but developing and implementing an integrated, coordinated state Pre-K system is challenging. The two worlds of public education and early childhood development are still far from aligned, operating with complex governance and funding sources, in addition to different strategies and approaches to practice. This paper provides a summary of specific challenges that New York communities have encountered as they developed and implemented a mixed system for providing prekindergarten services. By anticipating these challenges, school districts and community-based early education programs can develop strategies to support effective partnerships, successful program implementation, and improved school readiness for young children. A combined list of references and other sources is provided.