ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Teaching Soft Skills in Workforce Programs: Findings from WorkAdvance Providers
Author: Schaberg, Kelsey
Date: 2019-09-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Teaching Methods,Job Skills,Employment Programs,Job Training,Low Income Groups,Labor Force Development,Adult Education,Career Readiness,Interpersonal Competence,Self Control,Communication Skills,Self Concept,Thinking Skills,Employer Attitudes,Best Practices,Program Evaluation

Skills have long been associated with productivity and economic well-being. A large body of evidence shows the value of academic and technical skills in the workplace. And in recent years, soft skills--skills that make for an effective employee, such as time management and communication--have also become increasingly valued in the workplace. Employers often include these skills in job postings, and many employers report that they value soft skills as much or even more than hard skills in job applicants. WorkAdvance is a sector-focused workforce development model that calls for providing education and employment-related skills to help participants enter and advance in the labor market. The model was implemented by four providers, and the programs were evaluated using a randomized controlled trial design. The programs offered participants training in technical skills, as part of occupational skills training, and soft skills, as part of career readiness services. The evaluation's findings showed positive economic effects in some sites through a three-year follow-up period. This report first gives an overview of what soft skills are and why they are important in today's workforce. Then it discusses how the WorkAdvance providers implemented soft skills training and highlights a few best practices for soft skills instruction that WorkAdvance providers identified.
Developing a College- and Career-Ready Workforce: An Analysis of ESSA, Perkins V, IDEA, and WIOA
Author: Cushing, Ellen
Date: 2019-03-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: College Readiness,Career Readiness,Labor Force Development,Elementary Secondary Education,Federal Legislation,Educational Legislation,Technical Education,Vocational Education,Disabilities,Equal Education,Labor Legislation,Education Work Relationship,Program Administration,Educational Policy,State Policy,Alignment (Education),Program Implementation,Employment Potential,Job Skills,Outcome Measures

As states grapple with competing priorities and constrained resources, there is an increasing focus on efficiency and alignment of programs and resources across state agencies. The College and Career Readiness and Success (CCRS) Center recently analyzed and compared four federal laws that govern the education-to-workforce pipeline. They are: (1) The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA); (2) The Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (Perkins V); (3) The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA); and (4) The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). Although states have years of experience implementing these federal requirements and programs, they are administered across different state agencies or different offices within a state agency, and coordination across initiatives can be a challenge. This brief identifies opportunities to connect, align, and leverage state policies, programs, and funding across these four federal laws to establish an education-to-workforce pipeline. ESSA, Perkins V, IDEA, and WIOA play important and complementary roles in educating the country's workforce and providing the academic, technical, and employability skills needed to be successful. Creating this coherent education-to-workforce pipeline requires aligning implementation efforts across the four laws and their key stakeholders. Together, ESSA, Perkins V, IDEA, and WIOA can facilitate an education-to-workforce pipeline that provides all individuals with the academic, technical, and employability skills they need to be successful in the workforce. Table 1 provides additional details for each of the four laws.
GPS for Social and Emotional Learning from One Who Traveled the Common Core Highway
Author: Nussle, Karen
Date: 2019-11-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Common Core State Standards,Social Development,Emotional Development,Educational Legislation,Federal Aid,Federal Programs,Federal Legislation,Academic Standards,Program Implementation,Problem Solving,Trust (Psychology),Educational Policy,Policy Formation,Educational Change,Pacing,Politics of Education,Elementary Secondary Education

The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) began to take form when dozens of educators from across the country were led by governors and chief state school officers in gathering and reviewing the academic standards of states that had the best outcomes. Their goal was to determine what the current best academic standards were in the country and then improve on them. Race to the Top allowed Common Core advocates to implement the new standards with speed. But the fast implementation came with some liabilities. Once opponents branded the effort as centralized, exclusive, and Washington driven, even the states that had educators intimately involved lost the ability to show their own local involvement in the end product. This report attempts to give navigation advice for social and emotional learning (SEL) advocates based on the difficult road CCSS advocates experienced. SEL advocates should take four concrete lessons from the Common Core era: (1) resist the allure of speed and scale; (2) take time to define the problem and get the terminology right; (3) communicate early and often; and (4) establish the circle of trust.
No Child Left Behind, National Ambitions, and Local Realities: Implications for Social and Emotional Learning
Author: Carlson, Deven
Date: 2019-09-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Educational Legislation,Federal Legislation,Social Development,Emotional Development,Educational Change,Program Implementation,Professional Autonomy,Teachers,Parents,National Programs,Local Issues

Throughout much of the past quarter century, standards, testing, and accountability have composed the North Star of education reform. But over that time, the string of reform initiatives that failed to live up to their initial promise has effectively extinguished that guiding light. Now focus has turned to social and emotional learning (SEL). In a country as diverse as the US, any national reform initiative is going to encounter tensions with local realities, and SEL is no exception. This report takes stock of those pressures and--drawing on NCLB-era lessons--puts forth six concrete suggestions for advocates faced with navigating the tensions that emerge. In doing so, the author intends to contribute to advocates' efforts to help SEL achieve its significant promise. Key points of this report include the following: (1) Advocates for social and emotional learning (SEL) can learn from the challenges that No Child Left Behind faced in navigating tensions; (2) Accordingly, SEL advocates should view the popularity of their initiative with a grain of salt and proceed deliberately when encouraging local communities to reform their schools; and (3) Specifically, advocates should embrace SEL flexibility on how schools and districts formulate SEL programs, avoid enshrining SEL in federal or state policy, resist the urge to rate SEL's success based on test scores, and take pains to work with--and not around--parents and teachers.
Evaluating the Dimensionality of First-Grade Written Composition
Author: Kim, Young-Suk
Date: 2014-02-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Elementary School Students,Grade 1,Writing (Composition),Oral Language,Literacy,Reading,Spelling,Productivity,Syntax,Predictor Variables,Beginning Writing,Writing Evaluation

Purpose: This study examined dimensions of written composition by using multiple evaluative approaches such as an adapted 6 + 1 trait scoring, syntactic complexity measures, and productivity measures. It further examined unique relations of oral language and literacy skills to the identified dimensions of written composition. Method: A large sample of 1st-grade students (N = 527) was assessed on their language, reading, spelling, letter writing automaticity, and writing in the spring. Data were analyzed using a latent variable approach, including confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling. Results: The seven traits in the 6 + 1 trait system were best described as two constructs: substantive quality and spelling and writing conventions. When the other evaluation procedures such as productivity and syntactic complexity indicators were included, four dimensions emerged: substantive quality, productivity, syntactic complexity, and spelling and writing conventions. Language and literacy predictors were differentially related to each dimension in written composition. Conclusion: These four dimensions may be a useful guideline for evaluating developing beginning writers' compositions. [This article was published in &quot;Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research&quot; (EJ1029471).]
Mapping out Common Ground on Accountability in Higher Education
Author: Erickson, Lanae
Date: 2019-07-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Accountability,Higher Education,Federal Legislation,Educational Legislation,Cooperation,Educational Quality,Specialists,Public Agencies,College Faculty,Legislators,Federal Government,Outcomes of Education,Dropouts,Preferences,Political Attitudes,Educational Objectives,Public Policy,Incentives,Educational Change,Government Role,Stakeholders,Measurement,Accreditation (Institutions),Educational Improvement

As Congress considers the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act (HEA), there is bipartisan interest in finding ways to address concerns about student debt and the quality of higher education. One possibility for bipartisan cooperation might be an attempt to provide more accountability in the higher education sector, including additional data and transparency about outcomes. Yet until recently, there has been little clarity around what such policies would look like, how they would work, and what metrics would be used to judge quality. In an attempt to explore these questions, seek common ground, and clarify points of principled disagreement, Third Way and the American Enterprise Institute gathered a small group of bipartisan experts from the Department of Education, the Hill, and academia to discuss what, if anything, Washington can or should do. Four key questions drove the conversation:(1) What should the federal government's goals be for higher education accountability; (2) What success metrics are appropriate for federal policy on higher education accountability; (3) What mechanisms (carrots and sticks) are appropriate or inappropriate for federal higher education accountability policy; and (4) What are the biggest concerns about federal policy designed to hold institutions more accountable? This report attempts to capture the spirit of these discussions and provide key insights into when there was some level of agreement, or (by contrast) stark disagreement, among experts who represent different perspectives on the ideological spectrum. These discussions uncovered several points of agreement, including concerns about inadequate transparency around higher education outcomes, high levels of non-completion, and the fact that higher education is, despite some perceptions, far from a free market. Areas of disagreement included how to address market failures in higher education, with Democrats voicing a preference for the federal government playing a more robust consumer protection role and Republicans expressing skepticism that the federal government could craft policy to stimulate positive institutional responses without creating perverse incentives. While there were significant, principled disagreements about how to approach HEA, it is also clear that stakeholders from the left and right agree on the opportunity to move forward. [This report was co-produced by Third Way.]
Psychometric Report for the Early Fractions Test (Version 2.2) Administered with Third- and Fourth-Grade Students in Spring 2017. Research Report No. 2017-11
Author: Schoen, Robert C.
Date: 2017-12-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Psychometrics,Mathematics Tests,Mathematics Achievement,Fractions,Elementary School Students,Grade 3,Grade 4,Scoring,Test Items,Difficulty Level,Item Response Theory,Data,Test Reliability,Test Validity,Test Format,Error of Measurement,Ability

The Early Fractions Test v2.2 is a paper-pencil test designed to measure mathematics achievement of third- and fourth-grade students in the domain of fractions. The purpose, or intended use, of the Early Fractions Test v2.2 is to serve as a measure of student outcomes in a randomized trial designed to estimate the effect of an educational intervention on student understanding and ability in the domain of early fractions concepts. In this report, we discuss our exploration of options for scoring and data modeling and make recommendations for optimal scoring and data modeling procedures. We also report on the results of data modeling, including analyses of dimensionality, scale reliability estimates, item difficult estimates, test information, and the distribution of student ability estimates. The results of these analyses are largely consistent with the findings from the analysis of data from the previous version of the Early Fractions Test (Schoen, Liu, Yang, &amp; Paek, 2017).
Psychometric Report on the Knowledge for Teaching Elementary Fractions Test Administered to Elementary Educators in Six States in Spring 2017. Research Report No. 2018-13
Author: Schoen, Robert C.
Date: 2018-08-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Psychometrics,Pedagogical Content Knowledge,Mathematics Tests,Mathematics Instruction,Mathematics Teachers,Elementary School Teachers,Test Validity,Test Reliability,Fractions,Test Items,Difficulty Level,Item Response Theory,Scoring,Equated Scores,Error of Measurement

This report provides evidence of the substantive and structural validity of the Knowledge for Teaching Elementary Fractions Test. Field-test data were gathered with a sample of 241 elementary educators, including teachers, administrators, and instructional support personnel, in spring 2017, as part of a larger study involving a multisite cluster-randomized trial evaluation design to investigate the effects of lesson study and a fractions resource toolkit on classroom instruction and student achievement in fractions. The web-based test was designed to measure mathematical knowledge for teaching (MKT) in the domain of fractions at the elementary level. We found that the Knowledge for Teaching Elementary Fractions test measures a dominant factor, supporting unidimensionality in the data. The purpose, or intended use, of the Knowledge for Teaching Elementary Fractions (K-TEF) test data gathered in spring 2017 is to produce ability estimates that can be used to serve as the dependent variable in models estimating the effect of the intervention on teacher MKT, as well as to investigate MKT as a potential mediator of the effect of the program on students. Reliability, test-information, and item-discrimination estimates appear to fit the intended purpose of the test.
Psychometric Report on the Knowledge for Teaching Elementary Fractions Test Administered to Elementary Educators in Six States in Fall 2016. Research Report No. 2018-12
Author: Schoen, Robert C.
Date: 2018-05-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Psychometrics,Pedagogical Content Knowledge,Mathematics Instruction,Mathematics Teachers,Elementary School Teachers,Mathematics Tests,Fractions,Test Reliability,Test Items,Item Response Theory,Scoring,Test Validity,Difficulty Level

This report provides evidence of the substantive and structural validity of the Knowledge for Teaching Elementary Fractions Test. Field-test data were gathered with a sample of 277 elementary educators, including teachers, administrators, and instructional support personnel, in fall 2016, as part of a larger study involving a multisite cluster-randomized trial evaluation design to investigate the effects of lesson study and a fractions resource toolkit on classroom instruction and student achievement in fractions. The web-based test was designed to measure mathematical knowledge for teaching (MKT) in the domain of fractions at the elementary level. we found that the Knowledge for Teaching Elementary Fractions test measures a dominant factor, supporting unidimensionality in the data. The purpose, or intended use, of the Knowledge for Teaching Elementary Fractions test is to produce ability estimates that can be used to investigate baseline equivalence of groups of educators in four treatment conditions, to serve as a covariate in models estimating the effect of the intervention on MKT, as well as to investigate MKT as a potential moderator of the effect of the program on teachers and students. Reliability, test-information, and item-discrimination estimates appear to fit the intended purpose of the test, although further validation will be necessary to determine whether the test is well suited for its intended use.
&quot;The Key Is Relationships&quot;: Personalized Learning at Learn4Life Charter Schools
Author: Buono, Sophia
Date: 2019-12-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Charter Schools,Individual Instruction,High School Students,Individualized Instruction,Nontraditional Education,At Risk Students,Dropouts,Outcomes of Education,Teacher Student Relationship

This report discusses Learn4Life, a network of charter schools that uses a personalized learning model, driven by one-on-one instruction, to help high school students who have dropped out or are struggling in the public school system to reach graduation and college or a career. A central and distinct element of Learn4Life's model is that each student is paired with a single &quot;supervisor teacher&quot; to serve as an instructor, guide, and mentor from enrollment to graduation. While Learn4Life's mission to lift students on the brink of failure to success through individualized instruction is exciting, it also involves some serious challenges. In the end, Learn4Life's programs offer compelling insights about the potential for, benefits of, and hazards around this application of personalized learning. After defining personalized learning, this report describes the Learn4Life program, how it works, the challenges, and the outcomes.
The &quot;F-Word&quot; of Social and Emotional Learning: Faith
Author: Rhames, Marilyn Anderson
Date: 2019-07-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Social Development,Emotional Development,Religious Factors,Religion,State Church Separation,Spiritual Development,Child Development,Advocacy,School Districts,Teachers,Individual Needs,Churches,School Community Relationship

While Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) has many different definitions, the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) defines it as &quot;the process through which children and adults understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions.&quot; For millennia, this has been the ethos of religious doctrine, which inspired the creation of schools as a means to instill such values in children who would grow up and govern the world. Yet, schools are missing a golden opportunity to leverage this asset of faith to improve outcomes for kids, particularly in the much-discussed area of SEL. There is perhaps no place in education where the impact of religious faith is more evident than in social and emotional development. And that is because, for millions of Americans, faith powers it. But nobody would know this from looking at the SEL landscape. Despite the centrality of faith to millions of American children and families, faith is conspicuously absent from the SEL scene. Sadly, faith is also the topic teachers feel most restricted to discuss in the public square. This exaggerated deference to the establishment clause and general misinterpretation of the separation of church and state has threatened to squash the very source of encouragement that teachers of faith depend on to do their best work. The law may prohibit teacher-to-student prayer and proselytizing in public schools, but friendly educator-to-educator prayer and faith discussions are protected free speech under the free exercise clause of the First Amendment. Given these dilemmas that teachers have faced, this report offers some suggestions SEL advocates might consider to extract all the natural benefits for the mind, body, and spirit without appearing to endorse the &quot;Faith Word.&quot; Official Partnerships between school districts and religious organizations could help alleviate tension around delivering faith inspired SEL. School districts tend to turn to the faith community for hope and healing &quot;after&quot; a mass shooting or some tragedy, but what would happen if districts partnered with faith institutions to establish proactive supports for student social and emotional well-being, not just as a reaction to a crisis? It will take a concerted effort on the part of SEL advocates, state and district leaders, philanthropy, and local educators to explore all that faith has to offer SEL. The first step is is for policy makers, and funders to consider and embrace the powerful role faith can play in SEL.
How Confusion over Federal Rules Can Get in the Way of Smart School Spending
Author: Junge, Melissa
Date: 2019-12-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Educational Finance,Federal Aid,Grants,Elementary Secondary Education,Expenditures,Financial Support,School Districts,Federal Regulation,Compliance (Legal)

Of the many factors that affect what school districts buy and do for their students, an often-overlooked issue is the influence of federal education grant programs. Nearly every school district in the country receives funding from the US Department of Education (ED) through grant programs that support elementary and secondary education. While this funding represents a relatively small share of education spending overall, the rules governing how it can be spent strongly influence local decisions about student services. This report discusses program implementation and spending rules such as who is eligible for services, what activities ED funds can support, the time frame in which districts can spend ED funds, paperwork requirements, and other technical issues that receive little attention. To mitigate some of the complexities that limit ED grant spending, this report suggests ways stakeholders across the education sector could make it easier for schools and districts to understand their spending options. Specifically: (1) Congress could revise program implementation rules to reduce confusion and make them easier to implement; (2) ED and other federal agencies could use flexibilities that are already on the books to ease spending barriers; (3) ED, state educational agencies, and entities that support states and school districts could provide state and district leaders with tools, such as simple clear explanations of the rules and implementation-oriented guidance with concrete examples of effective practices; (4) State and local education leaders can engage with the rules directly so they better understand their options and obligations; and (5) Education advocates, policymakers, and others who care about education can study how federal rules work in practice to understand their effect on students and schools.