ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Getting a Read on the App Stores: A Market Scan and Analysis of Children's Literacy Apps. Executive Summary
Author: Vaala, Sarah
Date: 2015-00-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Computer Oriented Programs,Educational Technology,Literacy Education,Marketing,Benchmarking,Educational Quality,Age Differences,Language Acquisition,Parent Role,Multilingual Materials,Bilingual Instructional Materials,Race,Ethnic Groups,Design,Social Influences,Preschool Children,Elementary School Students

In previous research the &quot;Joan Ganz Cooney Center&quot; and &quot;New America&quot; have characterized the children's educational app market as a &quot;Digital Wild West&quot; (Guernsey, Levine, Chiong &amp; Severns, 2012; Shuler, 2011). The marketplace is chock full of choices but lacks essential information to aid parents' and educators' decision-making. In 2014, the &quot;Joan Ganz Cooney Center&quot;, with partners at &quot;New America&quot;, launched a new study of the most popular educational apps marketplace by focusing an in-depth inquiry on literacy-focused apps for children ages 0-8 years. Analyzed was a sample of 183 apps from among lists of the &quot;Top 50&quot; educational apps in popular app stores and those that had recently won critical acclaim from expert review sites. Next, the apps were examined along numerous dimensions, including characteristics of their descriptions (e.g., number of words used to describe each app; target audience age-range; specific skills mentioned) and features within their actual content (e.g., the nature of adult-directed information; types of activities). The study's key findings and recommendations follow.
STEM Starts Early: Grounding Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math Education in Early Childhood. Executive Summary
Author: McClure, Elisabeth R.
Date: 2017-00-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: STEM Education,Early Childhood Education,Interviews,Teacher Educators,Researchers,Stakeholders,Focus Groups,Preschool Teachers,Elementary School Teachers,Parent Attitudes,Teacher Attitudes,Faculty Development,Developmentally Appropriate Practices,Family Role,Libraries,Museums,Educational Research,Public Policy,Communication Strategies,Teacher Role,Child Development,Family School Relationship,Educational Policy,Grants

Tomorrow's inventors and scientists are today's curious young children--as long as those children are given ample chances to explore and are guided by adults equipped to support them. &quot;STEM Starts Early&quot; is the culmination of a deep inquiry by the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop and New America embarked on an exploratory project, funded by the NSF, to: (1) better understand the challenges to and opportunities in STEM learning as documented in a review of early childhood education research, policy, and practice; (2) make recommendations to help stimulate research and policy agendas; and (3) encourage collaboration between pivotal sectors to implement and sustain needed changes. Prominent early STEM researchers, policy makers, and teacher educators were interviewed to gain perspectives from stakeholders in each of the early childhood areas. Next, two focus groups were conducted with teachers, one with child care and preschool educators and one with early elementary school teachers. The insight gained from these interviews and focus groups shaped the focus of this report. This executive summary highlights the findings and recommendations from this research. [This executive summary was written with contributions from Peggy Ashbrook and Cindy Hoisington. For the full report, see ED574402.]
STEM Starts Early: Grounding Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math Education in Early Childhood
Author: McClure, Elisabeth R.
Date: 2017-00-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: STEM Education,Early Childhood Education,Interviews,Teacher Educators,Researchers,Stakeholders,Focus Groups,Preschool Teachers,Elementary School Teachers,Parent Attitudes,Teacher Attitudes,Faculty Development,Developmentally Appropriate Practices,Family Role,Libraries,Museums,Educational Research,Public Policy,Communication Strategies,Teacher Role,Child Development,Family School Relationship,Educational Policy,Grants

Tomorrow's inventors and scientists are today's curious young children--as long as those children are given ample chances to explore and are guided by adults equipped to support them. &quot;STEM Starts Early&quot; is the culmination of a deep inquiry by the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop and New America embarked on an exploratory project, funded by the NSF, to: (1) better understand the challenges to and opportunities in STEM learning as documented in a review of early childhood education research, policy, and practice; (2) make recommendations to help stimulate research and policy agendas; and (3) encourage collaboration between pivotal sectors to implement and sustain needed changes. Prominent early STEM researchers, policy makers, and teacher educators were interviewed to gain perspectives from stakeholders in each of the early childhood areas. Next, two focus groups were conducted with teachers, one with child care and preschool educators and one with early elementary school teachers. The insight gained from these interviews and focus groups shaped the focus of this report. The examination of the STEM landscape and the players in it produced found five key findings: (1) Both parents and teachers appear to be enthusiastic and capable of supporting early STEM learning; however, they require additional knowledge and support to do so effectively; (2) Teachers in early childhood environments need more robust training and professional development to effectively engage young children in developmentally appropriate STEM learning; (3) Parents and technology help connect school, home, and other learning environments like libraries and museums to support early STEM learning; (4) Research and public policies play a critical role in the presence and quality of STEM learning in young children's lives, and both benefit from sustained dialogue with one another and with teachers in the classroom; and (5) An empirically-tested, strategic communications effort is needed to convey an accurate understanding of developmental science to the public, leading to support for meaningful policy change around early STEM learning. Two appendixes are included: (1) STEM in early childhood: An analysis of NSF grant awards; and (2) How reframing research can enhance STEM support: A two-science approach. [For the executive summary, see ED574401.]
Teaching as a Research-Engaged Profession: Problems and Possibilities
Author: McAleavy, Tony
Date: 2015-12-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Teacher Researchers,Educational Research,Foreign Countries,Evidence Based Practice,Instructional Effectiveness,Leadership Role,Educational Practices,Elementary Secondary Education,Teaching Methods,School Effectiveness,Teacher Effectiveness,Elementary School Teachers,Secondary School Teachers,Research Skills,Research Problems

Increasingly, teachers and schools are becoming aware of the possibilities that becoming research-aware can bring. There is a small but powerful movement within the profession--in the UK and abroad--that has begun to integrate the fruits of research and the skills of the research practitioner into their own practice. But this transition from research consumer to research participant hasn't been without challenges. The quality of some wings of education research can sometimes be suboptimal, or poorly disguised rhetoric, leaving the educator with considerable confusion about which research is valuable and which a waste of time to pursue, or worse. The ecosystem of educational research is often more akin to a jungle than a laboratory, replete with predators in the form of vested interests and those with commercial and political agendas. This report confronts these challenges head on. Better still, it provides an invaluable roadmap for anyone embarking on a journey towards being more research informed, the better to negotiate the difficulties. Many people ask if it really is necessary for educators to be engaged in any way with research--after all, why should they? The short answer is that the world which we now inhabit is propelled by research, and teachers, however much they may dispute it, are as much a part of this as anyone else. Their assumptions and ideology will be informed by the research of others, even if they aren't aware of it. In such an environment, the only sane response is for the teaching profession to become as immune as possible to poor research, and ask as many intelligent questions as possible from those who would seek to benefit from their ignorance. And to become an articulate, informed and research-literate part of the ecosystem--for the benefit of all. [For the second report in this series, see ED574406. For the third report in this series, see ED574405.]
The Graduation Cliff: Improving the Post-School Outcomes of Students with Disabilities. Summary Report
Author: McFadden, Erica Skogebo
Date: 2015-05-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: High School Students,Disabilities,Parent Attitudes,Parent Surveys,Student Surveys,Student Attitudes,Focus Groups,Interviews,Outcomes of Education,Postsecondary Education,Employment Opportunities,Racial Differences,Gender Differences,Ethnicity,Special Education,Parent Aspiration,Academic Aspiration,Futures (of Society),General Education,School Districts,Middle School Students,Transitional Programs,Inclusion,Graduation,Work Experience,Career Awareness,Vocational Education,Advocacy,Self Determination,Daily Living Skills,Independent Living,Interpersonal Competence,Services,Barriers,Self Efficacy

There is a federal movement to improve student outcomes targeting some of these predictors in several recently launched initiatives, but where does Arizona stand? What are we currently doing to move the needle, and what do we still need to do? This report prepared for the Arizona Developmental Disabilities Planning Council has two objectives: (1) gain an in-depth understanding of the transition process to post-secondary education and employment for youth with disabilities enrolled in special education in Arizona, how National Secondary Transition Technical Assistance Center (NSTTAC) predictors are utilized, and if there are differences due to race/ethnicity, gender, or disability; and (2) understand the hopes and dreams of middle school and high school students and their parents, as well as what is currently being done to support these aspirations across the state. To address these questions, Arizona's Morrison Institute for Public Policy (MI) surveyed 224 Arizona parents and guardians and 634 high school students with disabilities from 17 districts. MI also conducted 10 focus groups that included family members and middle and high school youth. It further interviewed 30 experts, youth, and families. This summary report highlights six of the report's findings and discusses their implications. [For the full report, see ED574407.]
Research Leads: Current Practice, Future Prospects
Author: Riggall, Anna
Date: 2015-12-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Educational Research,Leadership Role,Social Media,Elementary Secondary Education,Questionnaires,Administrator Attitudes,Professional Identity,Teacher Researchers,Semi Structured Interviews,Professional Recognition,Partnerships in Education,Futures (of Society),Decision Making,School Administration,Foreign Countries,Communities of Practice,Teacher Improvement,Educational Improvement,Faculty Recruitment,Evidence Based Practice,College School Cooperation,Surveys

This report was conceived as one of three publications that collectively provide a commentary on research awareness and research use within schools in England. This third report in the series presents findings from a small-scale, detailed study of teachers who are operating as their school's Research Lead. The small scale of the study is significant. Over 2,000 members of the researchED social media community were contacted, fully aware that many of these people were not acting as whole-school research coordinators. Of the 2,000 contacts, 55 responses were received from individuals who had both completed our questionnaire and appeared to be operating in practice as a whole-school research coordinator. It seems that the number of active school-based Research Leads is still relatively few. Nevertheless, this small pioneering group is engaged in a serious enterprise. They are attempting, in different ways, to create a new form of teacher professionalism based on research engagement. The report presents a short summary of the key findings and methods used in this study before presenting the findings in detail. Conclusions and final points are made at the end of this report. [For the first report in this series, see ED574403. For the second report in this series, see ED574406.]
The School Research Lead
Author: Bennett, Tom
Date: 2015-12-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Leadership Role,Educational Research,Case Studies,Vignettes,Evidence Based Practice,Collegiality,Communities of Practice,Faculty Development,Teacher Effectiveness,Teaching Methods,Leadership Styles,Qualitative Research,Statistical Analysis,Elementary Secondary Education,Foreign Countries,Professional Recognition,School Effectiveness,Teacher Researchers,Quality Assurance,Partnerships in Education

The researchED movement has generated a new debate about the role of research in schools. Of course there have always been teachers interested in undertaking research and applying the research findings of others. However, involvement in research has tended to be the personal enthusiasm of the individual teacher rather than a coordinated whole school endeavour. One of the many exciting aspects of the current debate that researchED has stimulated is the emergence of the idea of the Research Lead. Many schools now have a key individual who takes a whole school view of the use of evidence. So how should new Research Leads see their role? This report addresses the question in two ways. Tom Bennett, the founder of researchED, has written this thought-provoking essay that sets out some of the ways in which the work of the Research Lead can be conceptualised. He explores a range of different approaches to research leadership. In addition to his tour of the horizon, several pioneering Research Leads have provided fascinating case studies of research leadership in action in their own schools. Both his analysis and the vignettes from the schools collectively make a powerful case for the new role and the potential benefits in terms of better teaching and learning. The different contributions also make it clear that there is no single blueprint that schools should follow as they explore research engagement. The author provides a deliberately diverse set of possible interpretations of research leadership. The unifying factor that is present in all of his approaches is a strong sense of research as a collective and collegiate endeavour. Similarly the case studies, while illustrating different styles of research leadership, are linked by a shared view of the school as a professional learning community. This is an important and timely report. Our understanding of teacher professionalism is in flux and we have a chance to re-define teaching as a research-engaged calling. The new cadre of Research Leads can influence this and make sure that our view of evidence is securely institutional rather than individualistic. [Introduction by Tony McAleavy. For the first report in this series, see ED574403. For the third report in this series, see ED574405.]
The Graduation Cliff: Improving the Post-School Outcomes of Students with Disabilities
Author: McFadden, Erica Skogebo
Date: 2015-07-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Outcomes of Education,Disabilities,Middle School Students,High School Students,Employment Opportunities,Postsecondary Education,Predictor Variables,Racial Differences,Gender Differences,Ethnicity,Parent Aspiration,Academic Aspiration,Parent Surveys,Parent Attitudes,School Districts,Focus Groups,Student Surveys,Student Attitudes,Transitional Programs,Futures (of Society),Educational Quality,Graduation,Interviews,Parent Participation,Self Determination,Work Experience,Inclusion,General Education,Social Capital,Financial Support,Barriers,Special Education,Vocational Education,Self Advocacy,Agency Cooperation

There is a federal movement to improve student outcomes targeting some of these predictors in several recently launched initiatives, but where does Arizona stand? What are we currently doing to move the needle, and what do we still need to do? This report prepared for the Arizona Developmental Disabilities Planning Council has two objectives: (1) gain an in-depth understanding of the transition process to post-secondary education and employment for youth with disabilities enrolled in special education in Arizona, how National Secondary Transition Technical Assistance Center (NSTTAC) predictors are utilized, and if there are differences due to race/ethnicity, gender, or disability; and (2) understand the hopes and dreams of middle school and high school students and their parents, as well as what is currently being done to support these aspirations across the state. To address these questions, Arizona's Morrison Institute for Public Policy (MI) surveyed 224 Arizona parents and guardians and 634 high school students with disabilities from 17 districts. MI also conducted 10 focus groups that included family members and middle and high school youth. It further interviewed 30 experts, youth, and families. In response, transition programs varied considerably across the state. Some schools are doing great things in transition, while others are still developing. Overall, students are very hopeful about their futures and are preparing and participating in different activities. However, access to and the quality of preparation and activities vary according to the barriers that are present. Four appendixes are included: (1) Methods; (2) Key Interview Quotes; (3) Agency Descriptions; and (4) Sample of Pre-Graduation Transition Timeline. A glossary is also provided. [For the summary report, see ED574404.]
Executive Headteachers: What's in a Name? Executive Summary
Author: Theobald, Katy
Date: 2016-07-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Principals,Administrator Role,Administrator Characteristics,School Administration,Administrative Organization,Administrator Responsibility,Administrator Qualifications,Incidence,Job Skills,Qualitative Research,Statistical Analysis,Case Studies,Motivation,Strategic Planning,Governance,Accountability,Professional Development,Elementary Secondary Education

Executive headteachers (EHTs) are becoming increasingly prevalent as the self-improving school system matures; there are over 620 EHTs in the school workforce today; and the number recorded in the School Workforce Census (SWC) has increased by 240 per cent between 2010 and 2014. The role is still evolving locally and nationally and, as EHTs take responsibility for ever more schools in England, their role will be crucial to the effectiveness of multi-school groupings in the self-improving school system. This study adds clarity to the evidence on the role and responsibilities of EHTs, the structural arrangements in which they work, and the skills and experience they need. It is based on a review of 15 HT and 15 EHT application packs, secondary analysis of the SWC, and 12 in-depth case studies with EHTs and their colleagues. It is a collaboration between the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER), the National Governors' Association (NGA) and The Future Leaders Trust (TFLT). This executive summary highlights the key messages and recommendations from the study. [This report was co-published by The Future Leaders Trust. For the full report, see ED574411. For the Technical Appendix, see ED574412. For the Review of Literature, see ED574415. For the Case Study Compendium, see ED574414.]
Executive Headteachers: What's in a Name? A Full Report of the Findings
Author: Lord, Pippa
Date: 2016-07-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Principals,Administrator Role,Administrator Characteristics,School Administration,Administrative Organization,Administrator Responsibility,Administrator Qualifications,Incidence,Job Skills,Qualitative Research,Statistical Analysis,Case Studies,Motivation,Strategic Planning,Governance,Accountability,Professional Development,Elementary Secondary Education

Executive headteachers (EHTs) are becoming increasingly prevalent as the self-improving school system matures; there are over 620 EHTs in the school workforce today; and the number recorded in the School Workforce Census (SWC) has increased by 240 per cent between 2010 and 2014. The role is still evolving locally and nationally and, as EHTs take responsibility for ever more schools in England, their role will be crucial to the effectiveness of multi-school groupings in the self-improving school system. This study adds clarity to the evidence on the role and responsibilities of EHTs, the structural arrangements in which they work, and the skills and experience they need. It is based on a review of 15 HT and 15 EHT application packs, secondary analysis of the SWC, and 12 in-depth case studies with EHTs and their colleagues. It is a collaboration between the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER), the National Governors' Association (NGA) and The Future Leaders Trust (TFLT). This full report of findings includes key messages and recommendations for policy and practice, explains why executive headteachers (EHTs) matter, describes the distinctive characteristics and distribution of EHTs, discusses the circumstances under which schools appoint an EHT, and outlines the facilitating factors, challenges, and development of the EHT role. [This report was co-published by The Future Leaders Trust. For the executive summary, see ED574408. For the Technical Appendix, see ED574412. For the Review of Literature, see ED574415. For the Case Study Compendium, see ED574414.]