ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
The End of Erasures: Updating Test Security Laws and Policies for Computerized Testing. Issue Brief
Author: Croft, Michelle
Date: 2014-10-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Computer Assisted Testing,Computer Security,Information Security,Laws,State Legislation,State Regulation,State Policy

Given the transition from paper-and-pencil to computer administration, policymakers must update test security laws and policies to reflect the new threats to administration. There will likely always be a need for paper-and-pencil test administration security laws and policies, given that paper test copies may be needed as an accommodation or may be needed in places with limited technology infrastructure. However, it is necessary for states to augment their current test security laws and policies to account for the changes in test security needs. The question, then, is what should be included in those laws and policies? This paper suggests ways states can update their statutes, regulations, and policy manuals to reflect the shift to computer administered testing. Three immediate steps states can do to prevent computer-based assessment security breaches are recommended: (1) States should update their state statutes and regulations to reflect the shift to computer-administered assessment; (2) Concentrate efforts on controlling test access; and (3) When updating the test administration manuals, the test security section should have all necessary information.
Children&apos;s Knowledge and Skills at Kindergarten Entry in Illinois: Results from the First Statewide Administration of the Kindergarten Individual Development Survey. REL 2020-012
Author: Bowdon, Jill
Date: 2019-10-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Kindergarten,School Readiness,Public Schools,Test Validity,Test Reliability,Testing,Interpersonal Competence,Skill Development,Academic Achievement,Academic Ability,Communication Skills,Literacy Education,Mathematics Skills,Social Development,Emotional Development,Socioeconomic Influences,Gender Differences,English Language Learners,Special Needs Students,Racial Differences,Ethnicity,Psychometrics,Barriers,Teacher Attitudes,Administrator Attitudes

At least half of states administer or are developing kindergarten entry assessments. In fall 2017 the Illinois State Board of Education began requiring teachers to report data on every child's skills at kindergarten entry using the Kindergarten Individual Development Survey. State and local stakeholders have asked for more information on the reliability and validity of the survey and on the gaps in children's skills at school entry. This study analyzed the psychometric properties of the 14 required items on the survey after its first statewide administration. It examined average skills and the variation in skill levels at kindergarten entry, as well as their differences across child subgroups and school poverty levels. And it interviewed teachers and principals about barriers in administering the survey and suggestions for improvement. The study found that the survey measures two developmental domains: learning and social skills, and academic knowledge and skills. Measures of these domains are psychometrically reliable and valid. Nearly 9 in 10 children (88 percent) had a score below the scale's midpoint for the learning and social skills domain, and 85 percent had a score below the scale's midpoint for the academic knowledge and skills domain. Children's skills differed across subgroups. The percentage of children in a school who were eligible for the national school lunch program was negatively associated with academic knowledge and skills at kindergarten entry, even after child-level eligibility for the program was controlled for. Teachers and principals reported multiple challenges in administering the survey--including difficulties observing all skills for every child, choosing between adjacent rating categories, and entering data into the online portal--and had several suggestions for improvement. [For the appendixes, see ED599358; for the brief, see ED599364; and for the snapshot, see ED599366.]
Children&apos;s Knowledge and Skills at Kindergarten Entry in Illinois: Results from the First Statewide Administration of the Kindergarten Individual Development Survey. Appendixes. REL 2020-012
Author: Regional Educational Laboratory Midwest (ED)
Date: 2019-00-00
Type: Numerical/Quantitative Data
Subjects: Kindergarten,School Readiness,Public Schools,Test Validity,Test Reliability,Testing,Interpersonal Competence,Skill Development,Academic Achievement,Academic Ability,Communication Skills,Literacy Education,Mathematics Skills,Social Development,Emotional Development,Socioeconomic Influences,Gender Differences,English Language Learners,Special Needs Students,Racial Differences,Ethnicity,Psychometrics,Barriers,Teacher Attitudes,Administrator Attitudes,Test Construction,Factor Analysis,Hierarchical Linear Modeling,Principals,Interviews,Test Bias

These are the appendixes for the report &quot;Children's Knowledge and Skills at Kindergarten Entry in Illinois: Results from the First Statewide Administration of the Kindergarten Individual Development Survey.&quot; At least half of states administer or are developing kindergarten entry assessments. In fall 2017 the Illinois State Board of Education began requiring teachers to report data on every child's skills at kindergarten entry using the Kindergarten Individual Development Survey. State and local stakeholders have asked for more information on the reliability and validity of the survey and on the gaps in children's skills at school entry. This study analyzed the psychometric properties of the 14 required items on the survey after its first statewide administration. It examined average skills and the variation in skill levels at kindergarten entry, as well as their differences across child subgroups and school poverty levels. And it interviewed teachers and principals about barriers in administering the survey and suggestions for improvement. Appendixes in this report include: (1) About the Kindergarten Individual Development Survey; (2) Methods; and (3) Supporting analyses. [For the report, see ED599357; for the brief, see ED599364; and for the snapshot, see ED599366.]
Outcomes-Based Funding: Taking Stock
Author: Jones, Dennis P.
Date: 2016-09-30
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Financial Support,Funding Formulas,Program Effectiveness,Models,Educational Finance,Performance Contracts,State Aid,Program Design,Program Implementation,Higher Education

This is the third paper on the topic of outcomes-based funding written by Dennis Jones for Complete College America. The first paper, &quot;Performance Funding: From Idea to Action&quot; (ED535356), proposed a set of design and implementation principles to help states develop and implement their own outcomes-based funding models. The second paper, &quot;Outcomes-Based Funding: The Wave of Implementation&quot; (2013) described features of models being implemented in states and the extent to which they conformed to the principles presented in the first paper. This third paper documents the continued spread of adoption with an increased focus in the field on whether outcomes are equitable across populations, with states disaggregating results by race, ethnicity, age and income and reporting those publicly. The additional purposes of this paper are threefold: (1) To reinforce the point that outcomes-based funding is but one component of the overall financing model for higher education in a state. The power of outcomes-based funding models is enhanced if the other components are designed so as to strengthen the alignment between funding streams and desired results; (2) To once again revisit the lists of design and implementation principles presented in the earlier document and (slightly) revise them in light of states' actions and experience; and (3) To describe the models that are being employed in implementing states and to assess the extent of conformance with the proffered set of design and implementation principles. This for the purpose of identifying areas of non-conformance to catalog potential weaknesses in models and questioning the applicability of certain of the principles. As with earlier versions of the document, the ultimate objective is to provide clear, straightforward guidance to policymakers who are searching for ways to better align their approaches to resource allocation with the educational outcomes that are of highest priority in their state.
The State of the World&apos;s Children 2019: Children, Food and Nutrition--Growing Well in a Changing World
Author: Keeley, Brian, Ed.
Date: 2019-10-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Food,Nutrition,Child Development,Water,Sanitation,Child Health,Social Systems,Child Safety,Civil Rights,Rural Areas,Obesity,Females,Economic Development,Workshops,Health Promotion,Health Education,Activism,Industry,Foreign Countries,Community Programs,Children,Developmental Stages,Prenatal Care

This edition of &quot;The State of the World's Children&quot; report examines children, food and nutrition. It seeks to deepen understanding around the causes and consequences of children's malnutrition in all its forms and to highlight how governments, business, families and other stakeholders can best respond. Chapter 1 examines the changing face of children's malnutrition. Chapter 2 investigates malnutrition across the life of the child, from development in the womb to the point where a young person is entering adulthood. Chapter 3 explores malnutrition in a changing world. Chapter 4 examines the current state of responses to children's malnutrition, including the increased attention -- at the global and national level -- to the importance of addressing malnutrition across multiple systems, with particular emphasis on the food system in synergy with the health, water and sanitation, education and social protection systems, and on how different stakeholders are responding. Finally, Chapter 5 sets out an agenda to put children's nutrition rights first. A Perspectives section includes: (1) Upholding a child's right to food and nutrition (Hilal Elver); (2) Why is addressing children's nutrition important for a country's broader economic development? (Sania Nishtar); (3) Women lead the way in community-based child nutrition in rural Tanzania (Scholastica Nguli); (4) Sesame Workshop's Raya teaches children healthy habits (Sherrie Westin and Raya); (5) The food industry must accelerate action to tackle the global nutrition crisis (Inge Kauer); (6) Grassroots activism in Mexico battles childhood obesity (Alejandro Calvillo Unna); and (7) Working together to deliver healthy people and a healthy planet (Peter Bakker).
Children&apos;s Knowledge and Skills at Kindergarten Entry in Illinois: Results from the First Statewide Administration of the Kindergarten Individual Development Survey. Study Brief. REL 2020-012
Author: Regional Educational Laboratory Midwest (ED)
Date: 2019-10-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Kindergarten,School Readiness,Public Schools,Test Validity,Test Reliability,Testing,Interpersonal Competence,Skill Development,Academic Achievement,Academic Ability,Communication Skills,Literacy Education,Mathematics Skills,Social Development,Emotional Development,Socioeconomic Influences,Gender Differences,English Language Learners,Special Needs Students,Racial Differences,Ethnicity,Psychometrics,Barriers,Teacher Attitudes,Administrator Attitudes

At least half of states administer or are developing kindergarten entry assessments. In fall 2017 the Illinois State Board of Education began requiring teachers to report data on every child's skills at kindergarten entry using the Kindergarten Individual Development Survey. State and local stakeholders have asked for more information on the reliability and validity of the survey and on the gaps in children's skills at school entry. This study analyzed the psychometric properties of the 14 required items on the survey after its first statewide administration. It examined average skills and the variation in skill levels at kindergarten entry, as well as their differences across child subgroups and school poverty levels. And it interviewed teachers and principals about barriers in administering the survey and suggestions for improvement. The study found that the survey measures two developmental domains: learning and social skills, and academic knowledge and skills. Measures of these domains are psychometrically reliable and valid. Nearly 9 in 10 children (88 percent) had a score below the scale's midpoint for the learning and social skills domain, and 85 percent had a score below the scale's midpoint for the academic knowledge and skills domain. The percentage of children in a school who were eligible for the national school lunch program was negatively associated with academic knowledge and skills at kindergarten entry, even after childlevel eligibility for the program was controlled for. Teachers and principals reported multiple challenges in administering the survey--including difficulties observing all skills for every child, choosing between adjacent rating categories, and entering data into the online portal--and had several suggestions for improvement. [For the report, see ED599357; for the appendixes, see ED599358; and for the snapshot, see ED599366.]
Children&apos;s Knowledge and Skills at Kindergarten Entry in Illinois: Results from the First Statewide Administration of the Kindergarten Individual Development Survey. Study Snapshot. REL 2020-012
Author: Regional Educational Laboratory Midwest (ED)
Date: 2019-10-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Kindergarten,School Readiness,Test Validity,Test Reliability,Testing,Interpersonal Competence,Skill Development,Academic Achievement,Academic Ability,Literacy Education,Mathematics Skills,Social Development,Emotional Development,Socioeconomic Influences,English Language Learners,Special Needs Students,Racial Differences,Ethnicity,Psychometrics,Barriers,Teacher Attitudes,Administrator Attitudes

At least half of states administer or are developing kindergarten entry assessments. In fall 2017 the Illinois State Board of Education began requiring teachers to report data on every child's skills at kindergarten entry using the Kindergarten Individual Development Survey, which was adapted from a California kindergarten assessment. This study analyzed the psychometric properties of the 14 required items on the survey after its first statewide administration. It examined average skills and the variation in skill levels at kindergarten entry, as well as their differences across child subgroups (children eligible for the national school lunch program and those not eligible, boys and girls, English learner children and non-English learner children, children eligible for an individualized education program and those not eligible, and children of different races/ethnicities) and school poverty levels. And it interviewed teachers and principals about barriers in administering the survey and suggestions for improvement. The study used data from the fall 2017 Kindergarten Individual Development Survey, state student records, the federal Common Core of Data, and interviews with nine kindergarten teachers and nine principals. The study team analyzed the quantitative data using psychometric and regression analyses and analyzed the interview data by coding interview transcripts. [For the report, see ED599357; for the appendixes, see ED599358; and for the brief, see ED599364.]
Part-Time Teaching and Flexible Working in Secondary Schools
Author: Sharp, Caroline
Date: 2019-06-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Secondary School Teachers,Part Time Faculty,Working Hours,School Schedules,Faculty Mobility,Teacher Persistence,Teacher Recruitment,Well Being,Costs,Educational Benefits,Teacher Supply and Demand,Barriers,Foreign Countries

Ensuring there are enough high-quality teachers in England's schools is crucial for delivering a first-class education for young people. Attracting and retaining enough secondary teachers is a key challenge facing school leaders today. Providing more opportunities for part-time and flexible working may provide part of the answer. This NFER research investigated the demand for part-time and flexible working, the barriers for secondary school leaders and how these can be overcome. It comprised an analysis of national data, survey questions and interviews with school leaders. Key findings are: (1) Part-time and flexible working is strongly influenced by the extent to which senior leaders take a proactive approach to encouraging different working patterns. This can include being systematic about asking for annual submissions to change working patterns, checking these with timetables and staffing forecasts, and then negotiating further with staff, who also need to be flexible around their requests; (2) Around one in six secondary school teachers would like to reduce their hours and could afford to do so. While it is unlikely that all of these teachers would actually reduce their hours if given the opportunity, the finding is consistent with NFER's previous research that illustrated a significant number of teachers who leave the state sector, do so to take up part-time positions elsewhere; (3) The main barriers for school leaders are: ensuring continuity for pupils and timetabling; the constraints on flexible working patterns other than part-time working; communication issues; and the additional costs involved; and (4) The main benefits are: increased teacher retention and recruitment; improved staff wellbeing; ability to retain specialist expertise and curriculum breadth; and an opportunity to reduce staff costs (by reducing the total number of teaching hours required). [Support for this report was provided by the Association for School and College Leaders (ASCL).]
A Model-Based Imputation Procedure for Multilevel Regression Models with Random Coefficients, Interaction Effects, and Non-Linear Terms
Author: Enders, Craig K.
Date: 2019-07-01
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Hierarchical Linear Modeling,Regression (Statistics),Predictor Variables,Bayesian Statistics,Statistical Analysis

Despite the broad appeal of missing data handling approaches that assume a missing at random (MAR) mechanism (e.g., multiple imputation and maximum likelihood estimation), some very common analysis models in the behavioral science literature are known to cause bias-inducing problems for these approaches. Regression models with incomplete interactive or polynomial effects are a particularly important example because they are among the most common analyses in behavioral science research applications. In the context of single-level regression, fully Bayesian (model-based) imputation approaches have shown great promise with these popular analysis models. The purpose of this paper is to extend model-based imputation to multilevel models with up to three levels, including functionality for mixtures of categorical and continuous variables. Computer simulation results suggest that this new approach can be quite effective when applied to multilevel models with random coefficients and interaction effects. In most scenarios that we examined, imputation-based parameter estimates were quite accurate and tracked closely with those of the complete data. The new procedure is available in the Blimp software application for macOS, Windows, and Linux, and the paper includes a data analysis example illustrating its use. [This is the online version of an article published in &quot;Psychological Methods.&quot;]
First Step Act: Best Practices for Academic and Vocational Education for Offenders
Author: Muhlhausen, David B.
Date: 2019-06-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Academic Education,Vocational Education,Best Practices,Criminals,Institutionalized Persons,Correctional Institutions,Correctional Education,Program Effectiveness,English (Second Language),English Language Learners,Literacy Education,Basic Skills,Evidence Based Practice,High School Equivalency Programs,Intervention,Correctional Rehabilitation,Juvenile Justice

To date, the large body of literature on the provision of education in prison has received the most empirical attention and has produced mixed results; however, there is some evidence that indicates participation in vocational or academic programming is related to modest reductions in recidivism after release. For those receiving correctional education, the odds of obtaining post-release employment are 12-percent higher than the odds of obtaining post-release employment among inmates who did not receive correctional education. This finding holds for both traditional academic programs and vocational education programs. On the other hand, strong conclusions about the effectiveness of in-custody education programs cannot be made, due to the lack of scientific rigor of the large majority of the completed evaluations. This suggests that although providing employment and vocation training assistance can potentially be an important component of reducing recidivism after release, such strategies must also include other interventions that change criminal-thinking patterns, such as cognitive-behavioral therapy. The federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) has identified several examples of educational best practices within the federal prison system. English-as-a-Second Language Program (ESL) is required by the BOP for inmates with little English proficiency (ESL). The mandatory instruction ends when the inmate has achieved eighth-grade proficiency. The BOP also has a Literacy Program designed to assist inmates in developing foundational knowledge and skills in reading, math, and written expression. Recommendations are also offered in the areas of occupational education, promising prison-based interventions, state-level innovation, jails, and juvenile facilities.
Forum Guide to Planning for, Collecting, and Managing Data about Students Displaced by a Crisis. NFES 2019-163
Author: National Forum on Education Statistics (ED)
Date: 2019-09-00
Type: Guides - Non-Classroom
Subjects: Data Collection,Information Management,Enrollment,Relocation,Student Mobility,Crisis Management,Planning,Information Systems,Educational Legislation,Federal Legislation,Check Lists,Natural Disasters,Emergency Programs,Elementary Secondary Education

The purpose of this guide is to provide timely and useful best practice information for collecting and managing data about students who have temporarily or permanently enrolled in another school or district because of a crisis. It includes lessons learned and provides recommendations for collecting and maintaining data about students who may move into or out of a school or district during and following a crisis. This publication builds upon &quot;Crisis Data Management: A Forum Guide to Collecting and Managing Data about Displaced Students,&quot; published in 2010. It includes case studies and real-world examples; updates best practices related to collecting and managing education data before, during, and after a crisis based on the severe impacts of recent weather events and other crises; and addresses innovations in education data technology that have changed how education agencies collect, manage, and disseminate data. This guide focuses on crisis data management, with a specific emphasis on data on displaced students, from the perspective of the education data community. [For &quot;Crisis Data Management: A Forum Guide to Collecting and Managing Data about Displaced Students. NFES 2010-804,&quot; see ED511639.]