ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Contexts and Conditions of Public K-12 Education in Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia: A Descriptive Report
Author: Johnson, Jerry
Date: 2010-10-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Public Education,Elementary Secondary Education,School Demography,Enrollment,Educational Finance,Teacher Student Ratio,Expenditure per Student,Economically Disadvantaged,Minority Group Students,Special Education,English Language Learners,Mathematics Achievement,Reading Achievement,Graduation Rate,Income,Grade 4,Grade 8,High Schools,Urban Schools,Rural Schools,Suburban Schools

This descriptive report is part of a broader project collecting, organizing, and analyzing multiple sources of data from the four-state REL Appalachia region, comprised of Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. The purposes of that broader project are: (1) to increase awareness of and understanding about critical education issues in the Appalachian Region by highlighting strengths, challenges, and opportunities, and by illuminating the diversity of contexts in which schooling occurs; (2) to facilitate high-quality empirical scholarship by providing an integrated, detailed, accurate, and comprehensive data set from which research projects can be constructed; (3) to encourage scholarship, call attention to issues and insights that are attentive to existing literature, and offer opportunities for further inquiry with the potential to inform policy and practice; (4) to provide a valuable resource guide for local, state, and federal policymakers in their efforts to develop policies and reform strategies to strengthen schools and communities in Appalachia; and (5) to provide a valuable source of data that is aggregated, disaggregated, and contextualized in ways that will be of use to education practitioners in work that requires them to characterize their school, district, region using empirical data. To accomplish this, a comprehensive data set from various sources of extant data was compiled and preliminary descriptive analyses using selected variables was conducted. Results of that descriptive analysis are presented in this report. Appendices A and B provide information on data sources and variables available in the full data set.
National Board Certification as Professional Development: An Empirical Study of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards Process, Final Report
Author: Cavalluzzo, Linda
Date: 2014-04-15
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Teacher Certification,Instructional Improvement,Standards,Teacher Effectiveness,Secondary School Teachers,Science Instruction,Classroom Observation Techniques,Scoring Rubrics,Instructional Leadership,Outcomes of Education,Mathematics Instruction,Educational Quality,Faculty Development,Human Capital,Teacher Evaluation,Teacher Recruitment,Student Characteristics,Teacher Characteristics,Teaching Methods,Scores,Institutional Characteristics,Achievement Tests,Mathematics Teachers,Science Teachers,Educational Change,Classroom Environment,Pedagogical Content Knowledge,Pretests Posttests,Comparative Analysis,Student Evaluation,Statistical Data,Tables (Data),High School Students,Longitudinal Studies

This study responds to a request from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards to analyze National Board certification among high school teachers in understudied subject areas and locales to help fill gaps in the research literature. The authors also were asked to use multiple indicators of performance. The research team selected two new locales for this analysis, the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the Chicago public schools. Chicago, a racially and ethnically diverse city with a population of more than 2.8 million, has one of the largest urban school districts in the country. Kentucky, by contrast, is a largely rural state with some suburban and urban areas. Together, these two locales encompass a full range of public school settings. In addition to examining student test scores, the authors also conducted classroom observations of the instructional practices of high school teachers in science and mathematics, comparing a sample of National Board Certification (NBC) applicants and similar teachers not pursuing this certification. Using the data gathered, the authors found evidence that National Board certification is an effective signal of teacher quality, based on student test scores. They also found evidence that the certification process successfully screens applicants based on their effectiveness. They were unable, however, to find evidence that the certification process itself enhances the instructional quality or effectiveness of teachers who choose to go through it. The following are appended: (1) Leadership by Design (Science Classroom Observation Instrument and Mathematics Classroom Observation Instrument); (2) Rubric for Scoring Classroom Observations (Science Rubric and Mathematics Rubric); (3) A Pilot Test of the Leadership by Design Scoring Rubric for Assessment of Instructional Quality; (4) Construction of the Student Analytic File; (5) Complete Results from All Model Specifications and Outcomes; and (6) Analysis of Ceiling Effects on Instructional Improvement. A glossary, a list of figures, and a list of tables are also included. [This report was written with Christine Mokher, Thomas Geraghty, and Lauren Sartain.]
Getting State Education Data Right: What We Can Learn from Tennessee
Author: Jones, Joseph
Date: 2011-10-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Data Analysis,Grants,Educational Policy,Federal Programs,Decision Making,Technical Assistance,Data Interpretation,Longitudinal Studies,Federal Aid,State Departments of Education,Principals,Teachers,Teacher Evaluation,Administrator Evaluation,Academic Achievement,Definitions,Vocabulary,Data Collection,State Standards,Dropout Rate,Social Promotion,Grade Repetition,Statistical Data,Dual Enrollment,Graduation Rate,Racial Differences,Gender Differences,Elementary Secondary Education,High School Students,Two Year Colleges,Higher Education

Federal education policy in recent years has encouraged state and local education agencies to embrace data use and analysis in decision-making, ranging from policy development and implementation to performance evaluation. The capacity of these agencies to make effective and methodologically sound use of collected data for these purposes remains an outstanding question. As hundreds of millions of dollars are distributed from the federal Department of Education to states developing longitudinal data systems, education leaders approach data use with widely divergent levels of skill and understanding. This paper reviews four guiding principles for education stakeholders as they attempt to use data as a basis for making decisions. These principles draw heavily from experiences and observations of CNA field analysts, who are embedded in state departments of education to provide ongoing technical assistance. The paper's focus is on experiences of field analysts in Tennessee, a state currently implementing a nearly $502 million federal Race to the Top grant-a grant largely won based on the commitment to data use represented by its long-standing value-added assessment system (TVAAS). As in states across the country, Tennessee now confronts a series of challenges in developing data use skills across the state education agency (SEA), local leaders, principals, and teachers, especially as significant portions of principal and teacher evaluation are now tied to student value-added data. The increasing importance of understanding and acting on educational data make clear the need for common guiding principles in their use. The principles include the following: (1) Establish common definitions and understandings of terms; (2) Anticipate potential unintended consequences of data definitions and priorities; (3) Ensure that data definitions are applied uniformly to appropriately homogeneous target populations and disparately to populations that are appropriately heterogeneous; and (4) Disaggregate data in order to reveal the most complete and accurate picture. Based on CNA's work in the state, they present these principles in the use of data for state-level decision-making. In so doing, they intend to inform a conversation about the appropriate role of student and teacher performance data in policy decisions and to prompt deeper research into how state leaders collect, analyze, and act on those sets of data. [This paper was funded by the Independent Research Council at CNA.]
The State Data Analysis Gap: A Threat to Education Reform
Author: Sheeky, Art
Date: 2011-10-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Data Analysis,Educational Change,Elementary Secondary Education,Academic Achievement,Achievement Gains,Information Systems,Educational Research,Educational Legislation,Federal Legislation,Data Collection,Capacity Building

Ever since the 2001 passage of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), states have faced a federal mandate to improve their ability to collect and analyze education data for the purpose of tracking and reporting the progress of their education reform efforts. With the assistance of federal funds, virtually all of the states are developing comprehensive state data systems that track students' academic progress longitudinally throughout their primary, secondary, and even post-secondary careers. The Data Quality Campaign, an independent national organization, has played a complementary role in supporting states' efforts to improve their student data systems. Beyond student assessment, the comprehensive data systems developed by most states also enable them to correlate the academic gains of their K-12 students with their assignment to particular teachers and thus to assess the effectiveness of individual teachers as well. The analysis gap threatens to compromise the success of a wide range of current education reform efforts. This document discusses the gap and what the government is doing to attempt improve to collect and analyze data. The following topics are covered in this report: (1) The Growing State Data Capacity; (2) States' Data Analysis Gap; (3) Compromising Reforms; and (4) Expanding States' Research Capacity.
Beyond Proficient: How Three High Schools in Kentucky Implement Mastery Learning
Author: Pearson, Juliana
Date: 2014-07-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Mastery Learning,Program Implementation,High Schools,High School Students,Academic Achievement,Time Factors (Learning),Definitions,Role of Education,Achievement Gap,Accountability,Professional Development,Summative Evaluation,Success,Barriers,Teacher Attitudes,Student Attitudes,Parent Attitudes,Interviews

The pedagogy of mastery learning requires students to demonstrate a deep understanding of a given course topic before being allowed to proceed to the next topic. Teachers use formal or informal assessments to monitor students' progress, providing additional support to students whose performance shows they have not mastered the content. Students retake assessments as necessary until they do demonstrate mastery. There is no penalty for needing extra attempts. Mastery learning has been around for several decades, and much has been written about its effectiveness, reporting varying results. Much less has been written about how schools implement mastery learning. This report describes how three Kentucky high schools in different districts, each working independently with the University of Kentucky to reform their educational practices, define, implement, and report on their mastery learning programs. The schools represent a variety of educational settings and range of experience with mastery learning. Through interviews and document analysis, this report examines four broad questions about mastery learning in the participating high schools: (1) How do the schools define and measure mastery learning? (2) Why did the schools choose mastery learning?; (3) How do the schools implement mastery learning, including use of assessments, instructional differentiation, role of technology, and professional development?; and (4) What beliefs do stakeholders have about the successes and challenges associated with the schools' mastery learning implementation?
Growth of a Science Center: The Center for Science and Mathematics Education (CESAME) at Stony Brook University
Author: Gafney, Leo
Date: 2015-03-01
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Science Teaching Centers,Science Education,Mathematics Education,Position Papers,Outreach Programs,Group Structure,Leadership,Professional Development,Academic Degrees,Role of Education,Entrepreneurship,Research Projects,Summer Programs,Community Colleges,College Students,Science Laboratories,Biological Sciences,Minority Group Students,Access to Education,Fellowships,High School Students,Workshops,Educational Innovation,Program Implementation,Partnerships in Education,Teaching Assistants,Teacher Education,Educational Research,Pedagogical Content Knowledge,Financial Support

This report describes the origin and development of CESAME (The Center for Science and Mathematics Education) at Stony Brook University. The analysis identifies key ingredients in areas of personnel, funding, organizational structures, educational priorities, collaboration, and institutionalization. After a discussion of relevant issues in American education, the report explores the Center's priorities, including: (1) Outreach offering educational and research experiences for school teachers and students; (2) Science and mathematics teaching, leadership, and professional development: (3) Programs providing Ph.D. and MAT degrees in science education; (4) Research opportunities, scholarships, fellowships and funding at all educational levels; (5) Support for faculty in the development of new curricula and courses; (6) Partnerships and networking within and beyond the university; and (7) Research in science and mathematics education. Activities are evaluated and presented in ways that can be used as guidelines for replication. The report concludes with a discussion of critical success factors and the future of the organization.
Authentic Instruction and Online Delivery: Proven Practices in Higher Education
Author: Kirstein, Kurt D., Ed.
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Books
Subjects: Online Courses,Higher Education,Educational Practices,Adult Students,Private Colleges,College Faculty,Teaching Methods,College Role,Educational Assessment,Instructional Innovation,Constructivism (Learning),Service Learning,Lifelong Learning,Creative Thinking,Critical Thinking,Inquiry,Best Practices,Case Studies,Heuristics,Academic Discourse,Writing Instruction,Student Motivation,Portfolios (Background Materials),Information Literacy,Videoconferencing,Graduate Study,Psychology,Sustainability

In the evolving world of higher education, both online and in the classroom, the discovery and integration of effective new practices is crucial in preparing today's growing number of adult students for tomorrow's dynamic and evolving workplace and to meet the educational demands of busy adult students. In &quot;Authentic Instruction and Online Delivery: Proven Practices in Higher Education,&quot; the three editors have collected and edited the experiences of twenty-six instructors or teams of instructors from a small, private, not-for-profit university in the Pacific Northwest. This collection was created to enable university instructors everywhere to learn from these classroom and online experiences. Presented in three parts, the book addresses authentic instructional strategies, online course delivery, and perspectives in teaching and learning. Part One introduces methods of authentic instruction. Part Two taps into the university's pioneering role in online education to shed new light on its design and delivery. Part Three addresses emerging themes in educational assessment and program revision. With the guiding principle that experience is the best teacher, this collection of essays aims to be an innovative compendium of practices that are both state-of-the-art and field-tested.
Exploring CLT Practices in Saudi International Schools
Author: Abdel-Salam, Ahmed Saad
Date: 2014-00-00
Type: Dissertations/Theses - Masters Theses
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Teaching Methods,English (Second Language),International Schools,Language Teachers,Communicative Competence (Languages),Teacher Attitudes,Questionnaires,Second Language Instruction,Context Effect,Communication Skills,Educational Principles,Misconceptions,Cultural Relevance,Mixed Methods Research,Semi Structured Interviews,Grammar,Accuracy,Language Fluency,Pronunciation,Cooperative Learning,Teacher Role,Student Role

This is a research study conducted on 17 teachers who teach English in Saudi international schools. It mainly aims at exploring teaching practices in these schools in terms of the principles of communicative language teaching (CLT). It also investigates the appropriateness of CLT in this context from the point of view of teachers. Two research tools are used in this study. The first one is a questionnaire taken by 17 teachers. The second tool is the interviews held with four teachers. Several findings have been resulted from this study. First, CLT is found to be the most frequently used teaching approach in Saudi international schools. In addition, some teachers in these schools use other approaches in parallel with CLT. In general, we can say that CLT principles are applied in teaching English in these schools. However, teachers' practices in terms of role of the teacher and role of the learners still do not reflect CLT principles. On the other hand, CLT is found to be appropriate in Saudi international schools from the teachers' point of view; however, teachers see that there are some challenges hindering the use of CLT in these schools. These challenges include the educational system, syllabus outlines and the assessment procedures. One important fact highlighted by this study is the importance of context in language learning and teaching. It shows that some contextual factors may have positive impact on teaching English in these schools. However, other factors may influence negatively on the learning process in Saudi international schools. The following are appended: (1) Exploring CLT Practices in Saudi International Schools; (2) Guided Interview Questions; (3) Certificate of Ethical Research Approval.
Workplace Evolution without Practitioners
Author: Walker, Barrington D.
Date: 2014-00-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Career Development,Promotion (Occupational),Personnel Policy,Personnel Selection,Selection Criteria,Context Effect,Leadership Qualities,Leadership Effectiveness,Leadership Responsibility,Leadership Training,Apprenticeships,Training Methods,Competence,Expertise,Job Performance

In general management theory, the choosing of a nominee for a job based on their current and typically exceptional performance within a given occupation rather than on qualifications for an intended position is referred to as &quot;The Peter Principle&quot; (Peter and Hull, 1969). If an incumbent is incapable of performing at the anticipated level of the intended position, they no longer perform effectively and as a consequence get promoted to a level they are no longer competent to perform (Peter and Hull, 1969). Individuals being sought out for promotion based on their expertise are susceptible to misinterpreting the promotion into management without fully understanding the role, especially if they come from a job where their responsibilities were narrowly focused. Being placed in a position where the expectations are less task oriented and more about budgets, strategic planning, internal and external analytical relationships is an endeavor that even experienced managers are challenged with. Although the incumbents philosophical approach in being able to successfully transition into management is predicated on their prior professional success, they may still be too inexperienced in their career for promotion (Ashkenas, R. 2010).
Identifying the Factors Affecting Science and Mathematics Achievement Using Data Mining Methods
Author: Kiray, S. Ahmet
Date: 2015-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Science Achievement,Mathematics Achievement,Information Retrieval,Data Analysis,Middle School Students,Reading Skills,Problem Solving,Cognitive Ability,Affective Behavior,Influences,Foreign Countries,Graphs,Visual Aids,Multivariate Analysis,Adolescents,Models,Predictor Variables,Scores

The purpose of this article is to identify the order of significance of the variables that affect science and mathematics achievement in middle school students. For this aim, the study deals with the relationship between science and math in terms of different angles using the perspectives of multiple causes-single effect and of multiple causes-multiple effects. Furthermore, the study examines and reveals how the reading skills, problem solving skills, cognitive and affective variables influence the math and science achievement. The data was collected from the results of Turkish students who participated in three international examinations; TIMSS 1999, PISA 2003 and PISA 2006. We analyzed the data using two data-mining methods (decision trees and clustering). The findings show that science or mathematics achievement is not influenced by the course-specific variable alone but also by other related variables. The following variables are the most important; the students' reading and problem-solving skills affected both mathematics and science achievement; the mathematics achievement affected the science achievement; and the science achievement affected the mathematics achievement. It is also found that the affective variables have almost equally significant effects on the science and mathematics achievement.
Empowerment of Women through Education in Twenty First Century
Author: Moradi Sheykhjan, Tohid
Date: 2014-00-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Empowerment,Womens Education,Females,Educational History,Gender Bias,Social Bias,Developing Nations,Social Justice,Poverty,Social Discrimination,Role of Education

This article explores theoretical and practical issues related to the impact of women's education in their empowerment. The development of women's education is discussed in this study. As women's education has become one of the key development objectives in the recent decades, the concept of empowerment has been tied to the range of activities undertaken by and for women in different areas, including education. Empowerment of women through education in 21st century is the most important tool that can help break the pattern of gender discrimination and bring lasting change for women in developing countries. Educated women are essential to ending gender bias, starting by reducing the poverty that makes discrimination even worse in the developing world. No longer is gender equality viewed solely as a social justice issue. Ensuring that women have the same opportunity to rights, resources and voice within a society is widely recognized as essential to that society's growth and development. A bibliography is provided.