ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Making It Real: How High Schools Can Be Held Accountable for Developing Students' Career Readiness. Policy Brief 13-2
Author: Darche, Svetlana
Date: 2013-02-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Career Readiness,College Readiness,High Schools,High School Students,Accountability,Skill Development,Academic Standards,Mathematics Instruction,Language Arts,Measures (Individuals),High School Graduates,Academic Achievement,Work Experience

There is widespread agreement on the goal of preparing every high school student for both postsecondary education and a lifetime of fulfilling work, that every graduate should be &quot;college and career ready.&quot; The authors' view is that career readiness and college readiness entail many of the same skills, bodies of knowledge, and dispositions, but being ready for adult professional life is not exactly the same as being ready for postsecondary education. It may require more. In this paper the authors focus on the practical question of how high schools might be held accountable for developing students' career readiness--beyond implementing the assessments being developed to measure students' attainment of the new common core standards in math and English language arts. Their goal is to propose a feasible indicator of high school students' career readiness that could be included among the measures used by states to hold schools accountable, and would complement and enhance the assessments of proficiency in academic subjects. Such an indicator could address the requirement for a career readiness measure as stated in a new provision of the California Education Code enacted in September 2012: &quot;the Superintendent, with approval of the state board, may incorporate into the index for secondary schools valid, reliable, and stable measures of pupil preparedness for postsecondary education and career&quot; (EC 52052 (a) (4) (F) (ii)). The authors' aim is not to spell out a complete list of possible indicators. They focus on one measure: the &quot;percentage of students who have obtained, by the end of grade 12, a satisfactory performance rating by a supervisor in a paid job, paid or unpaid internship, school-based enterprise, or other qualifying experience that allows students to apply and demonstrate important career-related transferable skills.&quot; This measure would be relatively easy to implement, would create an appropriate incentive for high schools, and is related to the development of capabilities that contribute to students' long-term career success, as indicated by the summarized research. In addition to their proposed indicator, the authors also suggest some additional indicators.
Teaching Social Skills: An Effective Online Program
Author: Sanchez, Rebecca P.
Date: 2015-00-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Interpersonal Competence,Intelligent Tutoring Systems,Online Courses,Electronic Learning,Computer Software,Intervention,Behavior Development,Emotional Development,Psychological Patterns,Stress Variables,Web Sites,Statistical Analysis,Children,Questionnaires,Likert Scales

Educators, policymakers, and the general public agree that social skills should be taught to children. In an effort to bridge this gap between evidence-based social skills training and populations in need, the authors have developed an Intelligent Social Tutoring System (ISTS) that fosters learning through adaptive interaction between the student and the program. As the student interacts with the program, the software responds by presenting the most appropriate content, much the same way a human tutor would. The purpose of Study 1 was to determine whether children with social skills deficits would find a prototype of the intervention likeable and usable, and whether children who interact with the prototype show reduced psychosocial distress and greater behavioral and emotional strength compared to children who do not interact with the program. The purpose of Study 2 was to replicate and extend the findings of Study 1 to the fully developed program and demonstrate its efficacy on a broader set of academic and social skills outcomes. In both studies, the intervention was delivered completely online. Children interacted with all aspects of the program at home via our secure project webpage. The results of Study 1 show strong support for using an online social skills training to improve emotional, behavioral, and psychosocial outcomes for children with social skills deficits. The authors expect the findings of Study 2, available by the conference date, to support and expand these findings. By integrating developmental theory, research, computer science, gaming theory, and appealing graphics, they created an engaging and effective interactive social tutoring system for social skills training. This methodology has the potential to overcome many of the barriers of traditional methods and can deliver services much more broadly than existing methodologies. Online programs can be made available to any individual or organization (e.g., schools, mental health providers, community/youth groups) and can be used in any setting with a computer. This widespread availability means that online social skills training programs can close the gap between proven interventions and their use by those most in need, which has important implications for fostering optimal development for children at risk for poor social, emotional, and academic outcomes. Tables are appended.
Education Technology Policy for a 21st Century Learning System. Policy Brief 13-3
Author: Kerchner, Charles Taylor
Date: 2013-05-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Educational Technology,Educational Policy,Individualized Instruction,Internet,Technology Uses in Education,Change,Public Policy,English Language Learners,Remedial Instruction,Special Education,College Readiness,Access to Education,Handheld Devices,Access to Computers,Graduation

Internet-related technology has the capacity to change the learning production system in three important ways. First, it creates the capacity to move from the existing batch processing system of teaching and learning to a much more individualized learning system capable of matching instructional style and pace to a student's needs. Second, technology can help make the learning system smart. Adaptive software responds to student activity, providing options, assistance, and challenges. It can also provide feedback to teachers, allowing them to intervene and adjust. Third, Internet-based technology has the capacity to switch learning production from its traditional hierarchy to a much more open network. Currently, the official curriculum, along with associated lessons and tests, flows from a small oligopoly of publishers whose actions are guided by a handful of large states and school districts. The economies of scale inherent in curriculum packaging concentrate political and economic advantage and reinforce the tendency toward &quot;one best system&quot; and one-size-fits-all solutions. The network capacity of the Internet opens the production of learning to groups of teachers, small enterprises, and individuals. In this policy brief Charles Taylor Kerchner argues that California has an opportunity to take the lead in harnessing digital technologies and online resources to dramatically improve the performance of the state's schools and students. He identifies key policy changes that the state can adopt to take full advantage of the promise of what he calls Learning 2.0.
Can a District-Level Teacher Salary Incentive Policy Improve Teacher Recruitment and Retention? Policy Brief 13-4
Author: Hough, Heather J.
Date: 2013-08-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Teacher Salaries,Incentives,Educational Policy,Teacher Recruitment,Teacher Persistence,Teacher Effectiveness,Labor Market,Correlation

In this policy brief, Heather Hough and Susanna Loeb examine the effect of the Quality Teacher and Education Act of 2008 (QTEA) on teacher recruitment, retention, and overall teacher quality in the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD). They provide evidence that a salary increase can improve a school district's attractiveness within their local teacher labor market and increase both the size and quality of the teacher applicant pool. They also provide evidence that targeted salary increases can increase the quality of new-hires. As Hough and Loeb note, higher salaries can attract a stronger pool of teachers, but the district still must hire strategically from the pool and work to retain the high quality teachers they recruit. The Local Control Funding Formula recently adopted in California can help to ensure that districts serving the most disadvantaged students have the money available to pay their teachers more, not less, than nearby districts that are considered easier places to work. The evidence presented in this policy brief suggests that adopting policies like QTEA that increase teacher salaries can make urban school districts more competitive with more prosperous nearby school districts, which can lead to improvements in the quality of their teaching force and in the outcomes of the students they serve.
Making Observation Count: Key Design Elements for Meaningful Teacher Observation. Policy Brief 13-5
Author: Goldstein, Jennifer
Date: 2013-12-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Teacher Evaluation,Observation,Classroom Observation Techniques,Standards,Measures (Individuals),Master Teachers,Teacher Responsibility,Accountability,Decision Making,Personnel Policy,Employment,Mentors,Professional Identity,Court Litigation,State Legislation

Teacher evaluation has emerged as a potentially powerful policy lever in state and federal debates about how to improve public education. The role of student test scores and &quot;value-added&quot; measures in teacher evaluation has generated intense public controversy, but other approaches to evaluation including especially classroom observations of teaching are certain to remain as essential features of any evaluation system. In this policy brief Jennifer Goldstein lays out four key design principles that should guide the observation-based assessment of teaching: (1) Use standards-based instruments for data collection; (2) Rely on observers/assessors other than building administrators, ideally master teachers, to conduct observations; (3) Support observers by establishing shared responsibility and accountability for evaluations and employment decisions; and (4) Partner with the teachers union. Goldstein concludes that a robust teacher observation system can contribute to policymakers' and the public's need for accountability, while also providing a powerful tool for improving instructional practice. California already has policies in place and practices in use that can help pave the way toward successful teacher evaluation reform in our state's schools.
The Sustained Effects of a Brief Self-Affirmation Intervention on Students' Academic Outcomes across Middle and High School
Author: Borman, Geoffrey D.
Date: 2015-00-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Middle School Students,High School Students,Intervention,Academic Achievement,Achievement Gap,Outcomes of Education,African American Students,Hispanic American Students,White Students,Stereotypes,Anxiety,Writing Exercises,Self Concept,Grade 7,Grade 8,Grade 9,Longitudinal Studies

This article proposes closing the academic performance gaps between African American and Latino students and their White counterparts particularly in the line of research that concerns the idea of &quot;stereotype threat.&quot; Stereotype threat is predicated on the notion that people often fear behaving in a way that fits the negative cultural image associated with a group stereotype, thereby marking them as inferior. If an intervention reduces stereotype threat and general anxiety before a test and boosts performance on that test, then that seemingly &quot;small win&quot; can reduce an individual's fear of fulfilling negative stereotypes and improve future performance in evaluative situations. The intervention proposed was a self-affirmation writing exercise developed by Geoffrey Cohen and his colleagues (Cohen et al., 2006). The outcome suggested that apparently subtle mindset interventions that spark small but early alterations in trajectory can have long-term effects that endure across several years and across key schooling transitions. Tables and figures are appended.
Youth Voting: State and City Approaches to Early Civic Engagement. Education Trends
Author: Aragon, Stephanie
Date: 2015-12-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Educational Trends,State Action,Educational Practices,Voting,Youth Opportunities,Elections,Citizen Participation,State Policy,Citizenship Education,Educational Benefits

Opportunities for youth participation in city and state elections, such as those occurring in Maryland and Illinois, are becoming a part of the policymaker's toolkit to create engaged citizens and lifelong voters. This report reviews new efforts by state and city leaders to encourage youth voting within their boundaries. Key takeaways in this report include: (1) In the past few years, a number of states and municipalities have considered or enacted policies permitting youth under the age of 18 to preregister to vote, or to vote in primary, municipal, or school board elections; (2) Efforts to encourage early activism might create engaged citizens and lifelong voters, draw young people into the voting process while motivation is still high, and have a &quot;trickle-up&quot; and &quot;trickle-down&quot; effect on family members; and (3) Some evidence has shown that when given the opportunity to vote, 16- and 17-year olds have higher turnout rates than adults.
Mathematics from High School to Community College: Using Existing Tools to Increase College-Readiness Now. Policy Brief 14-1
Author: Jaffe, Louise
Date: 2014-04-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Mathematics Instruction,Secondary School Mathematics,College Mathematics,College Readiness,Common Core State Standards,College Bound Students,Community Colleges,Exit Examinations,Academic Achievement,Grade 10,Grade 12,Educational Policy,Change,Cutting Scores,Student Placement,Regression (Statistics),College Entrance Examinations,Mathematics Skills,Standardized Tests

The adoption and implementation of the Common Core State Standards and Smarter Balanced assessments in mathematics are intended to provide all students in California with the knowledge and skills required to transition from high school to college-level coursework. This implementation will take time. Concurrent with these efforts, policymakers and educators can begin to increase college-readiness now, especially for community college-bound students, by using two existing tools--the California High School Exit Exam in mathematics and the Academic Performance Index--to identify 10th-graders who need remediation and to reward high schools for encouraging all students to enroll in appropriate Grade 12 mathematics. This policy brief explains the benefits of these straightforward policy changes. The following are appended: (1) Demographic Overview of Sample;(2) Community College's ACT COMPASS Cut Scores for Placement in Mathematics; and (3) Summary Table of Multinomial Logistic Regression Model.
Bumpy Path into a Profession: What California's Beginning Teachers Experience. Policy Brief 14-2
Author: Koppich, Julia E.
Date: 2014-07-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Beginning Teacher Induction,Beginning Teachers,Teacher Evaluation,Teacher Education,Credentials,Tenure,Faculty Mobility,Teacher Effectiveness,State Policy,Educational Policy,State Legislation,Educational Legislation

In California as elsewhere, state policy anticipates that aspiring teachers will follow a uniform, multistep path into the profession. It assumes they will complete a preparation program and earn a preliminary credential, take a teaching job and be assigned probationary status, complete a two-year induction program (the Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment System, or BTSA), earn a Clear Credential, and receive tenure following two years of satisfactory evaluations. Developed primarily during the 1990s and early 2000s, California's policies for beginning teachers were designed to enhance early career practice, reduce attrition and increase effectiveness. In this study Julia Koppich and Dan Humphrey present findings from their recent study of California's policies on induction, evaluation, clear credentialing and tenure for the state's beginning teachers. Their work shows that California's policy system fails to recognize the realities facing the majority of the state's beginning teachers, who must follow a much longer, bumpier and more circuitous path into the teaching profession than state policymakers currently recognize.
The Long-Term Impact of Systematic Student Support in Elementary School: Reducing High School Dropout
Author: Walsh, Mary E.
Date: 2015-00-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Elementary School Students,Secondary School Students,Dropouts,Dropout Prevention,Student Needs,Talent,Social Development,Academic Achievement,Public Agencies,Family School Relationship,Intervention,Participant Characteristics,Quasiexperimental Design,Regression (Statistics)

Out-of-school factors can significantly impact students' readiness to learn and thrive in school. Preventing dropout is a challenge because students fail to complete high school for a myriad of reasons that involve factors inside and outside of schools. This article describes City Connects, an intervention implemented in schools in Massachusetts, Ohio, and New York that provides an innovative and systematic approach to addressing out-of-school barriers to achievement and thriving in school. City Connects addresses the out-of-school factors by working with teachers in the school to identify each student's strengths and needs in academic, social-emotional, health, and family domains. City Connects staff then work with community agencies and families to deliver a tailored set of services to every child. City Connects may be able to positively affect long-term outcomes because it addresses both strengths and needs of every student not only in academics, but in behavioral/social/emotional growth, health, and family domains, and connects students to the particular supports they need during critical periods of development.
Variables Associated with Enhanced Sustainability of School-Wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports
Author: McIntosh, Kent
Date: 2015-00-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Sustainability,Positive Behavior Supports,Intervention,Institutional Characteristics,School Demography,Teamwork,Schools,Structural Equation Models

Practice sustainability is important to ensure that students have continued access to evidence-based practices. In this study, respondents from a national sample of 860 schools at varying stages of implementing school-wide positive behavioral interventions and supports (SWPBIS) were administered a research-validated measure of factors predicting sustained implementation of school-based practices. School demographic characteristics and specific school team actions were assessed to indicate which variables were most strongly associated with the four sustainability factors. Findings showed that in general, school demographic characteristics were not significantly related to sustainability. School team actions, especially the frequency of sharing data with the whole school staff, were statistically significantly related to sustainability. Implications for enhancing sustainability of school-based practices are discussed. [This paper was published in &quot;Assessment for Effective Intervention&quot; v40 n3 p184-191 2015 (see EJ1058456).]
A Final Report for the Evaluation of the Achieve3000 Programs
Author: Shannon, Lisa
Date: 2015-10-13
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Reading Programs,Reading Achievement,Program Evaluation,Randomized Controlled Trials,Experimental Groups,Control Groups,Comparative Analysis,Grade 3,Grade 6,Grade 9,School Districts,Geographic Regions,Statistical Significance,Achievement Gains,Reading Tests,Vocabulary Development,Reading Comprehension,Pretests Posttests,Learner Engagement,Hierarchical Linear Modeling,Fidelity,Teacher Attitudes,Program Descriptions,Student Needs,Reading Skills

Achieve3000 publishes a number of online literacy programs that differentiate lessons and activities based on student performance. Magnolia Consulting--an independent, third party evaluation firm--assessed Achieve3000 Solutions' impact on student learning during the 2014-15 school year. The researchers used a randomized control trial, where approximately half of the 46 participating teachers were randomly assigned to either the treatment or control groups. The study included 1,012 students in 3rd, 6th, and 9th grade from four school districts across the country that provided a representative demographic sample of ethnicities, students with disabilities and English language learners. All participants were measured at the beginning and end of the school year using the Gates MacGinite Reading Test, fourth edition (GMRT-4), a group-administered, norm-referenced assessment that yields scores for Vocabulary, Reading Comprehension, and Total Reading. Magnolia additionally measured program implementation using a mix of weekly logs, classroom observation, and usage data and found an average implementation of 71% (where 100% would indicate at least 90 minutes of program use per week). The researchers concluded that Achieve3000 users made significant gains during the school year and performed better than students using their traditional ELA curriculum. Students who used Achieve3000 during the 2014-15 school year demonstrated statistically significant and substantively important gains on the GMRT-4's Vocabulary, Reading Comprehension, and Total Reading measures (effect sizes of 0.43, 0.47, 0.48, respectively). In comparison to the control group, Achieve3000 users also made statistically significant gains that approached substantively important reading gains on the GMRT-4 Reading Comprehension and Total Reading test scores. The study also found variation on the impact of the Achieve3000 solutions at grade level and further studies would benefit from increased sample sizes. The following are appended: (1) Data Preparation; (2) Achieve300 Implementation Guidelines; (3) Procedures for Calculating Implementation Fidelity; (4) Observation Scores; (5) Missing Data Rates; (6) Supporting Tables for Student Performance Results; (7) Consort; and (8) School-Level Characteristics. [The Magnolia Consulting Team provided support for this study.]