ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Family League 2011-12 Out of School Time Programs in Baltimore City
Author: Olson, Linda S.
Date: 2013-10-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Urban Areas,After School Programs,Student Participation,Public Schools,Urban Schools,School Community Programs,Strategic Planning,Program Effectiveness,Child Health,Attendance Patterns,Academic Achievement,Community Schools,Student Recruitment,Data Collection,Barriers,Data Analysis,Best Practices,High School Students,High Schools,Comparative Analysis,Gender Differences,Racial Differences,Age Differences,Elementary Secondary Education

Out of School Time (OST) programs have been shown to promote positive personal, academic and social development (Huang, Gribbons, Kim, Lee, &amp; Baker, 2000; Welsh et al., 2002). The Family League of Baltimore City works with partners to sponsor a range of after-school programs in Baltimore City Public Schools (City Schools) to provide healthy safe environments for children after school including nutritious meals. The strategic planning and development of the program logic model provides an ultimate outcome of increased graduation rates and career and college readiness. More short-term goals include increased student attendance and academic performance. Other desired outcomes are improved health and social and emotional development, but to date, no measures have been identified to document these changes. This report describes the students served and focuses on the outcomes of attendance and academic performance. Based on the findings, while OST participation was associated with higher school attendance and promotion rates, this analysis cannot make a causal statement that participation increased attendance or promotion. As a result from the analysis, the authors make a number of recommendations for the Family League including but not limited to: (1) Utilize the Community Schools strategy to better recruit priority students, so that services will better reach those students who need and will benefit from them the most, especially, students with a history of chronic absenteeism and those who receive special education services; (2) Collect and monitor the reasons why students leave or are dismissed from OST programs to help OST programs retain students and identify any barriers to student attendance.; (3) Disaggregate results data by program/school to begin looking at which programs are best recruiting priority youth, and which programs are demonstrating the most impact; and (4) Identify best practices or strong models for serving high school youth and implement them in Community School High Schools. The following are appended: (1) Family League OST Logic Model; (2) Methodology; (3) Demographics; and (4) 2011-12 and 2012-13 Outcome Tables.
Measuring School Climate: Using Existing Data Tools on Climate and Effectiveness to Inform School Organizational Health
Author: Durham, Rachel E.
Date: 2014-10-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Educational Environment,Urban Schools,Educational Indicators,School Effectiveness,Teacher Effectiveness,Correlation,Student Surveys,Teacher Surveys,Student Evaluation of Teacher Performance,Suspension,Attendance Patterns,School Safety,Instructional Effectiveness,Interpersonal Relationship,Instructional Leadership,Teacher Administrator Relationship,Parent Attitudes,Teaching Methods,Classroom Techniques,Collegiality,Student Behavior,Elementary Secondary Education

Despite--or perhaps due to--the lack of consensus on its definition, there is abundant interest in and research on school climate. Researchers have determined that improving school climate is one way to increase academic achievement, school safety, school completion, teacher retention, healthy social interactions, and student well-being (Cohen, 2010; Dynarski, Clarke, Cobb, Finn, Rumberger, &amp; Smink, 2008). Baltimore City Schools understands the importance of school climate and deploys multiple tools every year to understand and describe it. This report follows up on a previous Baltimore Education Research Consortium (BERC) report, &quot;Positive School Climate: What It Looks Like and How It Happens&quot; (ED553170). In that report, examples of principal and school actions to improve school climate were highlighted and reviewed. At its conclusion, questions remained about how schools, principals, and district administrators measure school climate. This subsequent report provides an overview of the data currently being collected by City Schools related to school climate and a proposal for how these disparate data sources can be summarized to inform school organizational health. It is guided by the following research questions: (1) What data are being systematically collected by City Schools that can speak to school climate, effectiveness, and organizational health? (2) What are the strengths and limitations of each data source? and (3) How do the different data sources relate and correspond to each other? The following are appended: (1) A Climate Tool: The 12 Indicators of School Climate for All City Schools, 2012-13; (2) National Center for School Climate: The 12 Dimensions of School Climate Measured; (3) The Climate Walk Tool; (4) Baltimore City Schools School Effectiveness Framework; (5) Baltimore City Schools Instructional Framework; and (6) Instrument Item Correspondence with NSCC [National School Climate Center] Climate Domains and Organizational Health Tool.
Positive School Climate: What It Looks Like and How It Happens. Nurturing Positive School Climate for Student Learning and Professional Growth
Author: Smith, Tami Kopischke
Date: 2014-02-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Educational Environment,School Culture,Principals,Teacher Role,Administrator Role,Student Role,Observation,Focus Groups,Interviews,Influences,Teacher Attitudes,Student Attitudes,Administrator Attitudes,School Safety,Teaching Methods,Classroom Techniques,Interpersonal Relationship,Elementary Schools,High Schools,Urban Schools,Interpersonal Communication

The term &quot;school climate&quot; has been around for more than a hundred years to explore the idea of school environmental or contextual factors that might have an impact on student learning and academic success. During the past three decades there has been growing research to support the importance of a positive school climate in promoting academic achievement, school safety, dropout prevention, teacher retention, healthy social interactions, and well-being (Cohen, 2010; Dynarski, Clarke, Cobb, Finn, Rumberger, &amp; Smink, 2008). Although school climate has been studied for a long time, researchers have yet to develop a common definition. Most often cited, however, is a definition developed by the National School Climate Center (NSCC): &quot;School climate refers to the quality and character of school life. School climate is based on patterns of students', parents' and school personnel's experience of school life and reflects norms, goals, values, interpersonal relationships, teaching and learning practices, and organizational structures. A sustainable, positive school climate fosters youth development and learning necessary for a productive, contributing and satisfying life in a democratic society&quot; (retrieved from the NSCC website November 26, 2013). The purpose of this report is to describe how principals, staff, and students in five schools have made deliberate attempts to improve their school climate. Data were collected through observations, focus groups, and interviews during the spring of 2013. Through this report, the authors answer the following research questions: (1) What factors most influence a school's climate, from the perspective of the students, teachers, and staff? (2) What strategies or practices can a school adopt? and (3) How does a principal intentionally create a positive school climate? Two appendices include: (1) NSCC Model of School Climate; and (2) Protocols.
Skill-Based Sorting in the Era of College Prep for All: Costs and Benefits. Research Brief
Author: Nomi, Takako
Date: 2014-03-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: College Preparation,Track System (Education),Competency Based Education,Educational Change,Educational Policy,Skills,Algebra,Classification,Behavior Problems,Equal Education,Individualized Instruction,Academic Achievement,Public Schools,Mathematics Instruction,Scores,Mathematics Tests,Grade 9,Secondary School Mathematics

Whether or not to sort students by incoming skills has been a contentious issue. This brief shows that there are potential costs and benefits to both approaches. Even with the same curriculum, the consequences of sorting depend on students' incoming skills and the outcomes being considered. This brief highlights a critical role skill-based sorting plays in shaping students' academic achievement, given a common curriculum for all students. It summarizes findings from a number of prior studies to show what happened after Chicago Public Schools (CPS) introduced two curricular reforms that drastically changed how schools sorted students into classrooms while aiming to teach the same curricular content (Algebra I) to everyone. One policy reduced skill-based sorting and the other increased skill-based sorting. Both policies showed that how schools sort students into classrooms is as important as the content students are exposed to in those classrooms--for students' learning gains, for the grades they receive, and for their pass rates.
If We Build It, We Will Come: Impacts of a Summer Robotics Program on Regular Year Attendance in Middle School. Policy Brief
Author: Mac Iver, Martha Abele
Date: 2014-09-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Urban Schools,Summer Programs,Robotics,Mathematics Skills,STEM Education,Middle School Students,Competition,Intervention,Experiential Learning,Competence,Learner Engagement,Grade 6,Grade 7,Grade 8,Comparative Analysis,Attendance Patterns,Mathematics Achievement,Program Effectiveness,Gender Differences

Recognizing the importance of both keeping middle school students engaged and improving their math skills, Baltimore City Public Schools (City Schools) developed a summer school STEM program involving not only math and science instruction but also the experience of building a robot and competing with those robots in a city-wide tournament. Underlying the intervention's logic model was the belief that hands-on activities like robotics can build a sense of competence and value in academic pursuits that will increase student engagement and achievement. The results of this study suggest that continued investment in high-interest elective activities such as robotics could have a significant impact on helping students remain engaged in school, who otherwise might begin to disengage and thus lower their chances for successful transition into college and career.
First Grade and Forward: A Seven-Year Examination within the Baltimore City Public School System
Author: Plank, Stephen B.
Date: 2008-05-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Urban Schools,Public Schools,Grade 1,Elementary School Students,Cohort Analysis,Longitudinal Studies,Student Promotion,Grade Repetition,Student Mobility,Transfer Students,Attendance,Academic Achievement,Outcomes of Education

This report describes a cohort of first-grade students from the Baltimore City Public School System (BCPSS). Specifically, we follow the 9,176 students who were first-graders in the district in 1999-00 for seven years. We learn much about patterns of promotion and retention, mobility within BCPSS, transfer out of BCPSS, attendance, and achievement. Only by having a thorough understanding of recent outcomes and processes can those concerned with the educational well-being of students in the present and future plan strategically and effectively. The authors offer this descriptive report with the hope that educational successes from the past can be replicated and built upon while educational struggles can be addressed and overcome. The report includes an appendix containing information concerning the differences in number of cases between the pathways figures and attendance analyses, and cases of institutionalization. [Financial support for this report was also provided by the Fund for Educational Excellence (in cooperation with the Stupski Foundation and the Bill &amp; Melinda Gates Foundation)].
Preventable Failure: Improvements in Long-Term Outcomes When High Schools Focused on the Ninth Grade Year. Research Summary
Author: Roderick, Melissa
Date: 2014-04-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Urban Schools,Public Schools,Grade 9,Academic Failure,Intervention,Grade 8,Transitional Programs,Outcomes of Education,Attendance Patterns,Dropout Prevention,High School Students,At Risk Students,Predictor Variables,Program Effectiveness,Progress Monitoring,Academic Achievement,Graduation Rate,Gender Differences,Racial Differences,Grades (Scholastic),Ethnic Groups,African American Students,Hispanic American Students,White Students

In 2007, spurred by University of Chicago Consortium on Chicago School Research (UChicago CCSR) research reports, leadership at the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) began a new targeted approach to reducing course failure in the ninth grade. The research suggested that the transition between eighth and ninth grade played a critical role in shaping students' long-term outcomes, and demonstrated that students' attendance and course performance in the ninth grade year were highly predictive of high school dropout. The district initiative promoted the use of data to monitor students' level of dropout risk throughout the ninth-grade year, allowing teachers to intervene before students fell too far behind. The report offers key findings, endnotes, and about the authors.
Teacher Evaluation in Practice: Implementing Chicago's REACH Students
Author: Sporte, Susan E.
Date: 2013-09-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Teacher Evaluation,Teacher Attitudes,Administrator Attitudes,Public Schools,Student Development,Predictor Variables,Observation,Program Implementation,Communication Skills,Leadership Training,Administrator Role,Administrators,Standardized Tests,Principals,Elementary School Teachers,Secondary School Teachers

This report focuses on the perceptions and experiences of teachers and administrators during the first year of REACH implementation, which was in many ways a particularly demanding year. These experiences can be helpful to Chicago Public Schools (CPS) and to other districts across the country as they work to restructure and transform teacher evaluation. This report is the first in a series of studies on Chicago's REACH teacher evaluation system. Chapters 1 and 2 of this report describe the observation and student growth elements of REACH and provide participants' perceptions about the value of this initiative as both an evaluation and development tool. Chapters 3 and 4 describe participants' experiences with implementation, focusing on communication, training, and time demands. Finally, in Chapter 5, is presented some questions to consider as implementation continues. Subsequent work will investigate the consistency in observation ratings, the multiple measures of student growth, and the relationships among these variables. As the initiative continues to unfold, future work will also examine changes in these measures over time. The report includes: Appendix (A) Chicago Public Schools Evaluation Checklist and (B) The CPS Framework for Teaching (abbreviated version), Endnotes, and About the Authors.
Framework for Building an Effective Student Assessment System: READ/SABER Working Paper
Author: Clarke, Marguerite
Date: 2011-08-18
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Educational Assessment,Academic Achievement,Elementary School Students,Secondary School Students,Evidence,Educational Theories,Program Effectiveness,Alignment (Education),Educational Indicators,Scoring Rubrics,Accountability

The purpose of this paper is to help countries understand some of the &quot;key principles and characteristics of an effective student assessment system&quot;. The focus is on assessment of student learning and achievement at the K-12 level. The paper extracts principles and guidelines from countries' experiences, professional testing standards, and the current research base to provide policy makers, development organization staff, and others with a &quot;framework and key indicators for diagnosis, discussion, and consensus-building around how to construct a sound student assessment system that supports improved quality and student learning&quot;. &quot;Assessment Types and Their Key Differences&quot; is provided in Annex 1.
Your Rights under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. Fact Sheet
Author: US Department of Health and Human Services
Date: 2006-06-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Disability Discrimination,Civil Rights Legislation,Civil Rights,Related Services (Special Education),Health Services,Eligibility,Federal Legislation

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 is a national law that protects qualified individuals from discrimination based on their disability. The nondiscrimination requirements of the law apply to employers and organizations that receive financial assistance from any Federal department or agency, including the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). These organizations and employers include many hospitals, nursing homes, mental health centers and human service programs. Section 504 forbids organizations and employers from excluding or denying individuals with disabilities an equal opportunity to receive program benefits and services. It defines the rights of individuals with disabilities to participate in, and have access to, program benefits and services. This Fact Sheet outlines who is protected from discrimination, as well as prohibited discriminatory acts in health care and human services settings. Contact information on how to file a complaint of discrimination, or to obtain information of a civil rights nature, is also provided.
Enrichment in Massachusetts Expanded Learning Time (ELT) Schools. Issue Brief
Author: Caven, Meghan
Date: 2012-00-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Enrichment,Enrichment Activities,Teacher Surveys,Student Surveys,Teacher Attitudes,Positive Attitudes,Partnerships in Education,School Community Relationship,Elementary School Students,Middle School Students,Curriculum Design,Curriculum Development,Academic Standards,Extended School Day,School Schedules,Educational Opportunities,Grade 5,Grade 8

This brief highlights key information about enrichment activities, which represent one of the main components of the Massachusetts Expanded Learning Time (ELT) initiative. Over time, the ELT initiative has supported over two dozen schools across the Commonwealth. A comprehensive evaluation of the ELT initiative found that implementation of the core ELT components varied considerably across schools. This brief focuses on enrichment activities provided for students, drawing primarily from surveys of teachers, surveys of 5th and 8th grade students, as well as interviews with principals, in 17 ELT and 19 matched comparison schools that participated in the ELT evaluation during the 2010-2011 school year. Over the course of the ELT initiative, the study found that teachers had increasingly positive views about the value of enrichment. The majority of teachers at ELT schools reported that enrichment opportunities were valuable to students, well integrated into the school day, and of high quality. Most teachers also reported that enrichment was clearly connected to curriculum frameworks or standards. Almost all students at ELT schools were able to participate in at least some enrichment, regardless of academic standing. Enrichment also offered schools the opportunity to develop community partnerships and offered students choice about a portion of their schedules.
School District of Philadelphia School Closings: An Analysis of Student Achievement
Author: Research for Action
Date: 2013-02-27
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: School Closing,Academic Achievement,Comparative Analysis,Reading Tests,Reading Achievement,Mathematics Achievement,Mathematics Tests,Federal Programs,Educational Indicators,Scores,Attendance,Graduation Rate

For any school closing policy to minimize adverse effects on student achievement, students from closed buildings should be placed in higher performing ones. To provide a more in-depth analysis of the potential academic impacts of the School District of Philadelphia's proposed school closure plan, Research for Action (RFA) compared 32 schools recommended for closure or consolidation with the 51 planned receiving schools. Their analysis focused on two measures: (1) Building-level performance on the state's reading and math assessments for the 2011-12 school year; and (2) The building's 2011-12 Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) rating, which accounts for Percent Proficient or Above in Math and Reading (PSSA) scores as well as factors such as attendance and graduation rate. The results of this analysis are provided in this report.
Time Use in Massachusetts Expanded Learning Time (ELT) Schools: Issue Brief
Author: Caven, Meghan
Date: 2012-00-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Extended School Day,School Schedules,Outcomes of Education,Teacher Collaboration,Faculty Development,Learner Engagement,Educational Quality,Learning Activities,Elementary School Teachers,Middle School Teachers,Interviews,Principals,Elementary School Students,Middle School Students,Teacher Surveys,Student Surveys,Enrichment,Enrichment Activities,Grade 5,Grade 8

Expanded learning time seems to be a simple idea: by lengthening the school day (or year), students have more time to learn. Yet as schools revisit their schedules and decide how to allocate time in their academic calendars, they can and do face challenging decisions related to time allocations. This brief highlights lessons learned from some schools' experiences with redistributing time for students, focusing specifically on schools that participated in the Massachusetts Expanded Learning Time (ELT) initiative. This set of schools participated in a multi-year study of the ELT initiative. The information presented in this Issue Brief draws primarily from interviews with principals and master schedules for 5th and 8th grade students, and secondarily from surveys of teachers, and surveys of 5th and 8th grade students in 17 ELT and 19 matched comparison schools. The data all refer to the 2010-2011 school year. As school and district administrators consider the redesign of their schools' schedules, time allocation is a key factor. ELT schools used a variety of approaches to arrange instructional and other learning experiences for their students. The longer school day clearly increased the amount of time for core academic subjects as well as noncore classes and specials. Drawing on Aronson et al. and Silva's research, this report reiterates the important point that &quot;while time in school is necessary for learning, time alone is not sufficient.&quot;