ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Experimental Effects of Word Generation on Vocabulary, Academic Language, and Perspective Taking in High Poverty Middle Schools
Author: Jones, Stephanie M.
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Vocabulary Development,Middle School Students,Interdisciplinary Approach,Group Discussion,Literacy Education,Program Evaluation,Grade 4,Grade 5,Grade 6,Grade 7,Student Diversity,Low Income Groups,Comparative Analysis,Standardized Tests,Surveys,Age Differences,Perspective Taking

Word Generation (WG) is a research-based vocabulary program for middle school students designed to teach words through language arts, math, science, and social studies classes. The program consists of weekly units that introduce 5 high-utility target words through brief passages designed to spark active examination and discussion of contemporary issues. WG was designed with the understanding that promoting classroom discussion can result in particular kinds of academic benefits, such as improved word knowledge, reasoning, and expression. The IES funded evaluation of WG (as part of the Reading for Understanding initiative) is a school-level experimental study that includes two cohorts of schools randomized to treatment and control conditions. The first cohort has been studied for three years and the second cohort for two years; we present findings after the end of the 2nd year of the study and at the end of the 3rd year of the study.
What States Can Do to Promote District-Charter Collaboration
Author: Medler, Alex
Date: 2016-06-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: State Government,Government Role,Partnerships in Education,School Districts,Charter Schools,Public Schools,Educational Assessment,Enrollment,Efficiency,Barriers,State Policy,Educational Policy,Accountability,Incentives,Discipline Policy,Admission (School),Special Education,Politics of Education,Governance

With the federal government increasingly ceding authority to states in a revamped Every Student Succeeds Act, many states are looking for new ways to positively influence local work and take on greater leadership. States can--and should--play a more active role in fostering collaboration efforts if they are serious about ensuring quality public education for all of their students, regardless of what type of public school they attend. Collaboration opens the door for charter and traditional public schools to share ideas, best practices, and buildings in ways that can make a real difference for schools and students. As the charter sector continues to grow, collaboration encourages both sectors to tackle shared challenges, particularly in areas where families can face struggles. States, for example, can help create the conditions that make it possible to work together to create common performance measurements across schools, streamline application and enrollment processes, and more efficiently deliver quality special education. Collaboration is not easy; it is time-consuming and difficult to sustain. As this paper shows, the state is uniquely positioned to aid district-charter collaboration by: (1) removing impediments embedded in state laws or policies; (2) providing political cover for school districts when such collaborations stir controversy locally; and (3) creating financial and accountability incentives for districts and charter schools to collaborate. The paper outlines ways that states can leverage their roles in six specific areas, including first steps and ideas for those that want to &quot;go big&quot;: (1) targeting resources; (2) adjusting state accountability systems; (3) supporting district authorizing quality; (4) establishing family-friendly policies including discipline, admissions, and special education; (5) leveraging state political clout and reach; and (6) creating new governance structures and institutional arrangements.
Government-Funded Students and Courses, 2015. Australian Vocational Education and Training Statistics
Author: National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) (Australia)
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Vocational Education,School Statistics,Federal Aid,Federal Programs,Student Characteristics,Student Participation,Program Descriptions,Intellectual Disciplines,Tables (Data),Parent Education,Delivery Systems,Qualifications

This publication provides a summary of 2015 and time-series data relating to students, programs, subjects, training providers and funding in Australia's government-funded vocational education and training (VET) system (broadly defined as all activity delivered by government providers and government-funded activity delivered by community education and other registered providers).
Overview of the OGAP Formative Assessment Project and CPRE's Large-Scale Experimental Study of Implementation and Impacts
Author: Supovitz, Jonathan
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Formative Evaluation,Grade 3,Grade 4,Grade 5,Program Implementation,Program Effectiveness,Mixed Methods Research,Randomized Controlled Trials,Elementary School Teachers,Elementary School Students,Elementary School Mathematics,Knowledge Base for Teaching,Mathematics Achievement

In this presentation discussed in this brief abstracted report, the author presents about an ongoing partnership with the Philadelphia School District (PSD) to implement and research the Ongoing Assessment Project (OGAP). OGAP is a systematic, intentional and iterative formative assessment system grounded in the research on how students learn mathematics. The program is being implemented and studied as a mixed method randomized control trial of OGAP impacts in grades 3-5 in Philadelphia area schools. In the spring of 2014, CPRE recruited 60 schools (including charters) in the Philadelphia area to participate in the research study of OGAP. These schools were randomly assigned to treatment and control groups, stratified by charter school and district. The formal research study of OGAP is designed to address the following five central research questions, which are broken down into three implementation questions and two impact questions: Implementation questions include: (1) How do teachers understand the OGAP formative assessment process and use it in their daily practice?; (2) Is the frequency and sophistication of teachers' use of OGAP associated with greater increases in mathematical knowledge for teaching or ability to interpret evidence in student work?; and (3) Is the frequency and sophistication of teachers' use of OGAP associated with greater student learning? Impact questions are as follows: (4) Does teachers' use of OGAP increase mathematical knowledge for teaching and ability to interpret evidence in student work? What moderating factors affect this relationship?; and (5) Does teachers' use of OGAP significantly improve student performance on both proximal and distal student outcome measures? What mediating and moderating factors affect this relationship? The presentation includes a brief description of the study and year one experimental impacts on teachers and students.
Navigating the Shift to Intensive Principal Preparation in Illinois: An In-Depth Look at Stakeholder Perspectives. Policy Research: IERC 2016-2
Author: White, Bradford R.
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Principals,Administrator Education,Educational Change,College School Cooperation,Instructional Leadership,Internship Programs,Enrollment,Selective Admission,Certification,Partnerships in Education,Mentors,Student Recruitment,College Curriculum,Stakeholders,Mixed Methods Research,Interviews,Online Surveys

In 2010, Illinois policymakers sought to advance statewide school improvement by strengthening school leadership. Illinois became one of the first states to legislatively require a complete redesign of all its principal preparation programs with the goal of ensuring future principals would be &quot;highly effective in leadership roles&quot; and prepared &quot;to improve teaching and learning and increase academic achievement and the development of all students&quot; (Programs for the Preparation of Principals in Illinois, 2016). The new requirements, which went into effect in 2014, called for the reauthorization of all programs and several radical shifts from the status quo. First, all programs had to establish formal partnerships with school districts so that they would be more aware of and responsive to district needs. Second, principal internships required candidates to illustrate the mastery of critical competencies rather than complete observations and log hours. Third, principal training was required to emphasize creating instructional leaders able to catalyze school change rather than developing managers. Fourth, programs also needed to prepare all principals to work with all students from pre-K to twelfth grade, including students with disabilities and English language learners (ELLs). Finally, programs were expected to collect and utilize data for continuous improvement. The current study provides the first statewide, in-depth examination of how Illinois programs and their district partners have interpreted this policy and redesigned their training. Overall, the authors find that Illinois' principal preparation has undergone extensive change. While programs vary, many have made significant alterations to courses, staffing, and district partnerships, and the internship experience has undergone a fundamental change. In this report, the authors will describe these shifts and provide stakeholders' perspectives on their successes and the challenges. The following are appended: (1) Project Advisory Board; (2) Methodology; and (3) Supplementary Data Tables.
Combining Propensity Score Methods and Complex Survey Data to Estimate Population Treatment Effects
Author: Stuart, Elizabeth A.
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Outcomes of Treatment,Probability,Surveys,Computation,Statistical Analysis,Children,Longitudinal Studies,Sampling,Grants,Kindergarten,Mathematics Achievement

Complex surveys are often used to estimate causal effects regarding the effects of interventions or exposures of interest. Propensity scores (Rosenbaum &amp; Rubin, 1983) have emerged as one popular and effective tool for causal inference in non-experimental studies, as they can help ensure that groups being compared are similar with respect to a large set of observed characteristics. However, little work has investigated how best to combine propensity scores and complex survey data to estimate population treatment effects. This has led to confusion in the literature, with many applied researchers using inappropriate methods or claiming representativeness of study results when the analysis does not warrant such claims (DuGoff, Schuler and Stuart, 2014; Ridgeway, Kovalchik, Griffin, and Kabeto, 2015). One way to think about the complication of estimating population treatment effects using data from a complex survey is that when there are heterogeneities in treatment assignment, sample selection probabilities, and treatment effects, failure to take into account sampling weights might cause biased population treatment effect estimates. Ignoring sampling weights leads mainly to external validity bias, which occurs when people inappropriately make inferences from the unrepresentative analytic sample to the target population. This work aims to clarify the results and recommendations regarding the use of propensity scores with complex survey data. Tables are appended.
Encouraging Evidence on a Sector-Focused Advancement Strategy: Two-Year Impacts from the WorkAdvance Demonstration. Preview Summary
Author: Hendra, Richard
Date: 2016-06-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Employment Programs,Labor Force Development,Demonstration Programs,Program Evaluation,Program Effectiveness,Program Implementation,Costs,Participation,Economic Impact,Adult Education,Job Training

This report summarizes the two-year findings of a rigorous random assignment evaluation of the WorkAdvance model, a sectoral training and advancement initiative. Launched in 2011, WorkAdvance goes beyond the previous generation of employment programs by introducing demand-driven skills training and a focus on jobs that have career pathways. The model is heavily influenced by the positive findings from the Sectoral Employment Impact Study (SEIS) completed in 2010. A major component of the WorkAdvance model, in common with the programs studied in the SEIS, is formal training offering industry-recognized certifications, reflecting the hypothesis that skills acquisition is necessary for advancement. The model also requires providers to be far more employer-facing than traditional training programs, taking into account multiple employers' changing skill requirements, employee assessment practices, and personnel needs. This report presents the implementation, cost, participation, and two-year economic impacts of WorkAdvance. The economic results are based on unemployment insurance earnings records and a second-year follow-up survey. The WorkAdvance program operations and evaluation are funded through the federal Social Innovation Fund (SIF), a public-private partnership administered by the Corporation for National and Community Service. This SIF project is led by the Mayor's Fund to Advance New York City and the NYC Center for Economic Opportunity in collaboration with MDRC.
Rapid and Iterative Estimation of Predictions of High School Graduation and Other Milestones
Author: Porter, Kristin E.
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Graduation,High School Students,Public Schools,At Risk Students,Educational Research,Partnerships in Education,Exit Examinations,Models,Predictive Measurement,Computation

With the advent of data systems that allow for frequent or even real-time student data updates, and recognition that high school students often can move from being on-track to graduation to off-track in a matter of weeks, indicator analysis alone may not provide a complete picture to guide school leaders' actions. The authors of this paper suggest that approaches that capitalize on high-frequency data updates and treat risk as a more continuous measure can add more value. Moreover, models that also account for more nuanced and typically unobserved factors related to student risk may better identify students who need intervention. Predictive modeling methods, often used in business and medical research, can capitalize on these new, richer datasets and use data-adaptive methods to maximize flexibility. Yet very little has been written on ways to apply such methods to student-level education data to fill gaps left by simpler parametric approaches, and how they might inform practice decisions in timely and useful ways. This paper focuses on how the addition of an iterative predictive modeling framework that can be used with real-time data updates might add value over simpler and more static methods and fill a gap in understanding when, how and for which students the risk of not graduating changes. The authors describe benefits and limitations of the iterative framework, compare it to indicator frameworks, and make recommendations for practice.
Starting Strong: A Randomized Controlled Trial of the Building Assets Reducing Risks (BARR) Model in 9th Grade
Author: Hinojosa, T.
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Randomized Controlled Trials,Grade 9,High School Students,Program Effectiveness,Academic Achievement,Educational Attainment,Student Behavior,Teacher Effectiveness,Self Efficacy,Learner Engagement,Sense of Community,Teacher Student Relationship,Secondary School Teachers,Semi Structured Interviews,Pretests Posttests,Models,Data,Urban Schools,Suburban Schools

Students beginning high school commonly experience increased stress and behavior problems alongside declines in grades, attendance, interest in school, and perceptions of academic competence and self-esteem (Alvidrez &amp; Weinstein, 1993; Reyes et al., 2000). Moreover, research indicates that, relative to students who graduate from high school, those who leave school prematurely are more likely to have experienced deeper 9th grade declines (Reyes et al., 2000; Roderick, 1995). Research also demonstrates positive school climates, positive relationships between students and staff, and among staff, are essential ingredients for turning around low performing schools (Gordon, 2006; National Research Council, 2004; Cohen, 2006; Jerald, 2006; De La Ossa, 2005). More specifically, research is growing on the effectiveness of student-teacher relationships in producing increased attendance and academic performance, and decreased behavior problems. For example, Allen, Pianta, Gregory, Mikami, and Lun (2011) conducted a randomized controlled trial (RCT) in which secondary school teachers were given a year of coaching on effective teaching and student-teacher interactions. After a year of training, students with teachers in the experimental group scored significantly higher on year-end achievement tests than did students in the control group. Quality of student-teacher interaction was a significant mediator of student achievement. With core components derived from research, the Building Assets Reducing Risks (BARR) model© targets students at this critical juncture in their academic career--9th grade. BARR addresses developmental, academic, and structural challenges in the 9th grade by combining student asset building, teachers' real-time analysis of student data, and intensive teacher collaboration to prevent course failure. BARR develops positive student-teacher relationships and integrates student supports into a school's existing model for addressing nonacademic barriers to learning. With funding from the Investing in Innovation program, BARR has been rigorously studied using an RCT and is now under scientific investigation in schools of varying locales and geographic regions to better understand the broader context under which BARR impacts students transitioning to the 9th grade. This current study is a multisite randomized controlled trial that explores replication of BARR across three cohorts of schools. Results from the first RCT demonstrated positive impact on 9th grade students' standardized test scores, credits earned, and overall failure rate. Tables are appended.
Patterns of Change in U.S. Gender Achievement Gaps during Elementary and Middle School
Author: Fahle, Erin
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Gender Differences,Achievement Gap,Elementary School Students,Middle School Students,Change,Longitudinal Studies,School Districts,Achievement Tests,Reading Achievement,Mathematics Achievement

Research on gender achievement gaps shows they exist, and are largest in the tails of the distribution, starting as early as Kindergarten and persisting through eighth grade. In mathematics, studies find small average gender achievement gaps and larger systematically male-favoring gaps among the highest achieving students. This paper seeks to understand underlying patterns in how gender achievement gaps grow, shrink or stay constant as students move through elementary school and middle school. The focus of this paper is not only to capture these trends for average gender achievement gaps, but also for gaps in the tails of the achievement distribution as those have been demonstrated critical areas of analysis by prior work in the field and may exhibit different patterns than those at the mean. Understanding when gaps change, and in what direction, provides important information about the mechanisms that may produce the changes the gaps and highlight critical time-points for intervention, sparking future lines of research in this field. This study focuses on gender achievement gaps within the United States, with particular attention to how these gaps change as students progress from first through eighth grades. It is a longitudinal study of changes in the gaps over grades, terms and cohorts. The gaps are estimated at the district level, providing a higher resolution analysis of patterns of change. The population of study is U.S. school districts serving first through eighth grade students that use the Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) assessment. To enable comparability across grades, this study uses metric-free measures of the mean and tail gender achievement gap, specifically the V-Statistic and the Proportion-Adjusted Relative Difference. This study finds that gender achievement gaps in both mathematics and reading change meaningfully as students progress through grades. Specifically, changes in the gaps are best captured using a fully nonparametric trend on grade-by-term. Figures and a table are appended.
Partial Identification of Treatment Effects: Applications to Generalizability
Author: Chan, Wendy
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Generalization,Intervention,Validity,Identification,Guidelines,Outcomes of Treatment,Evidence Based Practice,Benchmarking,Language Arts,English,Mathematics Achievement,Achievement Tests,State Standards,Elementary School Students,Middle School Students

Results from large-scale evaluation studies form the foundation of evidence-based policy. The randomized experiment is often considered the gold standard among study designs because the causal impact of a treatment or intervention can be assessed without threats of confounding from external variables. Policy-makers have become increasingly interested in the external validity of results, or the extent to which the results from a study generalize to a population of interest. In this paper, the author derives partial identification bounds on the expected treatment effect for the population under three different frameworks: (1) Worst-case framework with no assumptions on the data; (2) Treatment optimization where subjects select the treatment that optimizes the expected outcome and; (3) Monotone treatment response where the response function is assumed to be weakly increasing in the treatment. Under each framework, the author analyzes the impact that additional, but weak, assumptions have on the width of the estimation bounds and discuss important differences between the bounds for the expected treatment effect for the sample and those for the treatment effect for the population. Tables and figures are appended.