ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Teaching English Learners in California: How Teacher Credential Requirements in California Address Their Needs. Technical Report. Getting Down to Facts II
Author: Santibañez, Lucrecia
Date: 2018-09-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: English Language Learners,Low Achievement,Preservice Teacher Education,Beginning Teacher Induction,Teacher Certification,Teacher Qualifications,Mentors,Student Needs,State Policy,Educational Policy,At Risk Students,Elementary Secondary Education,Teacher Effectiveness,Student Characteristics,Equal Education,Culturally Relevant Education,Language Proficiency

The underperformance of English Language Learners (ELs) in test scores and high school graduation rates raises important questions about teacher preparation in California. A small, but growing body of evidence suggests that teachers of ELs need specialized knowledge, dispositions and practices to effectively teach this population. ELs in the state are disproportionately more likely to be taught by novice or early-career teachers. Therefore, it is of particular concern that teachers in California enter classrooms adequately prepared. This study uses qualitative research methods to explore to what extent is teaching ELs addressed in credential requirements in California, and to what extent does the process require teachers demonstrate proficiency teaching ELs. The analysis finds that teaching ELs is a prevalent theme in preliminary credential program standards, and to lesser extent induction standards. Overall, however, the process has only a few external assessment points (mostly in the preliminary stage) that would allow independently verifying whether teachers implement EL-specific practices and knowledge. Induction especially lacks a clear focus on ELs. Proficiency in induction program standards is assessed through teacher self-reports. These are formative in nature, and have no real consequences as induction requires teachers to show growth only, not mastery. Mentors, by virtue of their qualifications or training could serve as quality controls, but whether they are able to fulfill this function is left to the individual programs to decide. This study provides further evidence that teachers of ELs may not receive adequate training in specialized knowledge and practices needed to teach this population. Results from this work can inform policies in California and other states that are grappling with how to better prepare mainstream teachers to educate linguistic minority students.
Engaging District and School Leaders in Continuous Improvement: Lessons from the 2nd Year of Implementing the CORE Improvement Community
Author: Gallagher, H. Alix
Date: 2019-01-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Educational Improvement,School Districts,Mathematics Achievement,African American Students,Hispanic American Students,Grade 4,Grade 5,Grade 6,Grade 7,Grade 8,Achievement Gap,Teamwork,Board of Education Role,Teacher Effectiveness,Capacity Building,Context Effect,Teacher Collaboration,Leadership Responsibility,State Policy,Educational Policy,Program Effectiveness

California's shift towards continuous improvement in education makes understanding how districts and schools can learn to improve a more pressing question than ever. The CORE Improvement Community (CIC), a network of California school districts engaged in learning about improvement together, is an important testing ground to learn about what this work entails. This report continues drawing lessons from the CIC's second year as its districts work together towards a common aim: to improve the mathematics achievement of African American and Latinx students in Grades 4-8. The CIC applies a specific continuous improvement approach, called improvement science, to support teams in reaching the aim. Improvement science, unlike many approaches to reform, is not a specific &quot;program&quot; designed to fix educators' performance in a particular aspect of their work (e.g., mathematics instruction). Instead, it is an approach and tools through which educators can better understand the causes of lagging performance, select ideas that they believe will lead to improvement, test them, and collect and analyze data from those tests to systematically see if their ideas indeed yield better outcomes. In 2016-17, the work of the CIC consisted of building district teams that conducted systems analysis to understand the achievement gap in their respective contexts. In 2017-18, the CIC launched local improvement teams (LITs) at schools, which used tools and protocols of improvement science to identify strategies that could impact the problem of practice, test those ideas, and gather data about the impacts of those change ideas. The first section of the report briefly explains the policy context in California and the history of the CORE districts' collaboration. The second part of the report details four major lessons learned from the CIC this year: (1) The simultaneous goals of improving math achievement while building capacity for continuous improvement offer both benefits and challenges for the CORE Districts; (2) Districts have a pivotal role to play in supporting and sustaining continuous improvement efforts focused on classroom instruction; (3) Context matters. Preexisting structures and processes, time for educator collaboration, and supportive leadership all influence continuous improvement efforts; and (4) District and school leaders are excited about the potential of continuous improvement to spur deep and lasting improvement.
Student Borrowers: Prey for Predatory Loan Servicers. Student Debt
Author: Jackson, Victoria
Date: 2017-12-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: College Students,Student Financial Aid,Student Loan Programs,Debt (Financial),Loan Repayment,Loan Default,At Risk Persons,Minority Groups,Females,Low Income Groups,Older Adults,Higher Education,State Regulation

Higher education prepares students to get good jobs and benefits communities by helping graduates make positive contributions to civic life and the economy. A college degree is increasingly becoming a requirement to earn a middle-class income. Unfortunately, attaining higher education often means assuming the burden of student debt, which diminishes the degree's benefits not only to the student, but also to the economy. Moreover, borrowers often face unscrupulous and sometimes illegal loan servicing and debt collection practices. The predatory repayment climate takes advantage of students desperate to repay their student debt. This report highlights several aspects of student debt and repayment in Ohio: (1) Ohioans have higher rates of indebtedness and default than residents of other states; (2) People of color, women, low-income people and seniors struggle most with debt; (3) Loan servicers, the entities that manage loans, engage in predatory practices that harm borrowers; (4) The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau fielded almost 1,500 student loan-related complaints from Ohio; (5) Over half those complaints were for &quot;dealing with your loan servicer or lender&quot;; and (6) Collectors on contract with the Ohio Attorney General charge exorbitant fees and use problematic collections practices when pursuing public higher education debt. To protect Ohio students and ensure they can make ends meet once done with school, lawmakers should implement strong licensing and regulation on bank and nonbank loan servicers operating in Ohio. Ohio should require all servicers to apply for licenses in the state; create an ombudsman's office to track and analyze servicer operation and to address and resolve borrower complaints; and change laws that allow the attorney general's office to charge unlimited fees for their contracted debt collectors. More proactive monitoring and enforcement will better protect borrowers' rights. [This work was made possible in part by The Ohio Student Association and The Raymond John Wean Foundation.]
End the Federal Bias against Career Education. New Ideas for a Do-Something Congress. No. 3
Author: Kim, Anne
Date: 2019-01-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Labor Needs,Career Education,Federal Aid,Eligibility,Grants,Skill Development,Health Services,Finance Occupations,Information Technology,Credentials,Specialization,Access to Education,Student Financial Aid,Demand Occupations,Nontraditional Students

As many as 4.4 million U.S. jobs are going unfilled due to shortages of workers with the right skills. Many of these opportunities are in so-called &quot;middle-skill&quot; occupations, such as IT or advanced manufacturing, where workers need some sort of post-secondary credential but not a four-year degree. Expanding access to high-quality career education and training is one way to help close this &quot;skills gap.&quot; Under current law, however, many students pursuing short-term career programs are ineligible for federal financial aid that could help them afford their education. Pell grants, for instance, are geared primarily toward traditional college, which means older and displaced workers -- for whom college is neither practicable nor desirable -- lose out. Broadening the scope of the Pell grant program to shorter-term, high-quality career education would help more Americans afford the chance to upgrade their skills and grow the number of highly trained workers U.S. businesses need.
Structuring State Policy for Student Success: Applying Incentives in the Volunteer State. Executive Summary. Lumina Issue Papers
Author: Wright, David L.
Date: 2016-03-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: State Policy,Academic Achievement,Incentives,State Colleges,Funding Formulas,Outcomes of Education,Educational Attainment,Academic Degrees,Productivity,Educational Indicators,Efficiency,State Aid

This is the executive summary for &quot;Structuring State Policy for Student Success: Applying Incentives in the Volunteer State.&quot; For many years, state funding to public colleges and universities in Tennessee and across the nation was distributed based primarily on enrollment, rather than degree production or efficiency. This led or allowed institutions to seek more funding through efforts such as boosting enrollment and engaging in mission creep, with little incentive for completion. To address this ill effect and promote better outcomes tied to state goals, Tennessee has implemented two primary types of direct economic incentives for institutions: performance funding (1979) and an outcomes-based funding formula for public higher education (2010). Under these initiatives, institutional performance, as measured by the funding model, leads directly to the institution's amount and share of state appropriations for institutional operating expenses. In Tennessee's experience, incentives work. This experience is pertinent to other states because: with only 36 percent of its adult residents holding a postsecondary certificate or higher, Tennessee has a long way to go in terms of educational attainment; it has made substantial strides in a short time; and it shares enough characteristics with enough states to make its experience relevant across a variety of state contexts. [For the full report, see ED587412.]
Gauging the Revised California School Dashboard: Evidence from the 2019 PACE/USC Rossier Voter Poll
Author: Polikoff, Morgan S.
Date: 2019-03-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: State Departments of Education,Educational Indicators,Academic Achievement,Administrator Attitudes,Voting,School Effectiveness,Information Systems,Small Schools,Elementary Secondary Education,Achievement Tests,Institutional Characteristics,Comparative Analysis,Web Sites,Parent Attitudes,Income,Educational Attainment,Information Sources,Social Differences,Educational Improvement,School Districts,Student Characteristics

Late in 2018, the California Department of Education rolled out an updated version of the California School Dashboard. This revision altered the look and feel of the Dashboard and added new indicators based on newly available data. This brief updates a 2018 analysis of the Dashboard. First, I examine whether the state's revisions are in line with the suggestions made in the 2018 report. I find that the state has made some improvements to the system, but that there is room for continued improvement. Second, I use data from the 2019 PACE/USC Rossier poll to characterize use of and support for the Dashboard. I find continued low use and potentially troubling equity gaps, but I also find high support for the Dashboard and a strong preference for the new Dashboard over the old.
Addressing Incidents of Bias in Schools: A Guide for Preventing and Reacting to Discrimination Affecting Students
Author: Cabral, Nicole
Date: 2018-11-00
Type: Guides - Non-Classroom
Subjects: Social Bias,Social Discrimination,Crime,Incidence,Prevention,Educational Strategies,Guidelines,Facilitators (Individuals),Meetings,Group Discussion

There is a growing concern about discrimination and hate crimes taking place across the country. While incidents of bias can occur anywhere, it is especially troubling when it happens in our schools. Discussing race and discrimination can be difficult for the most seasoned of professionals, however, that discomfort should not prevent important conversations from taking place. This guide is designed to bring together a school community in order to address and prevents incidents of bias, discrimination, and hate crimes. It includes suggestions for facilitating the discussions so that they are safe, illuminating and productive, as well as for organizing the process so that it fits in the daily rhythm of the school community. [This guide was written with incorporated sections from Derek Pierce.]
Continuous Improvement: Building System Capacity to Learn. Research Brief. Getting Down to Facts II
Author: Grunow, Alicia
Date: 2018-09-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Capacity Building,Educational Improvement,Problem Solving,Educational Quality,Educational Change,Educational Policy,Information Utilization,State Policy,Educational Innovation,Accountability,Data Use,School Districts,Elementary Secondary Education,Counties

Creating continuously improving education systems could be the antidote to one-off education reforms that come and go with little to show for the effort. What distinguishes continuous improvement from other reform strategies is its focus on the underlying architecture of the system that is producing undesirable outcomes (e.g., low graduation rates, high suspension rates, English learner performance gaps). Continuous improvement engages multiple stakeholders (e.g., teachers, administrators, operational staff, parents) in disciplined problem-solving to discover, implement, and spread evidenced-based changes that work locally to improve student success. Education organizations that have invested in continuous improvement approaches have been able to provide early examples of the advantages of this approach in education. The two reports summarized in this brief describe continuous improvement and what it looks like in practice, examine the current state of continuous improvement efforts in California, explain the challenges and barriers facing districts trying to get it going, and offer some policy ideas to smooth the way. [This brief summarizes two Getting Down to Facts II technical reports on continuous improvement for California: (1) Toward a Common Vision of Continuous Improvement for California (see ED591091); and (2) Using Data for Improvement: Learning from the CORE Data Collaborative (see ED594744).]
Kasich Budget Underfunds Education: Some Schools Lose Substantially. Budget
Author: Policy Matters Ohio
Date: 2017-03-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Educational Finance,State Aid,Budgets,School District Wealth,Expenditure per Student,Budgeting,Retrenchment,Elementary Secondary Education,Educational Equity (Finance)

Ohio schools will go backward under Governor Kasich's funding proposal, which does not keep up with inflation. Funding for the Ohio Department of Education from all state sources, including the General Revenue Fund, casino revenues and tax reimbursements, increases by just 3.2 percent in the governor's proposal for fiscal years (FYs) 2018 and 2019 compared with the current, two-year budget, below the level of inflation projected by the Ohio Legislative Service Commission. This means Ohio's schools will not be able to maintain even current levels of service, let alone restore services lost over the past decade. Further, many schools face an actual loss of funding due to other policy changes. To better fund school districts in this budget, this report recommends adding additional funding to the budget. Enough funding should be allowed to increase investment across the system. For a more sustainable and equitable funding model, the state should determine the real cost of educating students and provide additional funding for students in low-income communities. School districts cannot do more with less and neither can the state. Ohio needs to boost tax revenue, so K-12 education can be appropriately funded. [Support for this report was provided in part by the EMA Foundation.]
Our Next Assignment: Where Americans Stand on Public K-12 Education. A Review of Recent Opinion Research
Author: Silliman, Rebecca
Date: 2018-10-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Public Opinion,Educational Attitudes,Public Schools,Public Education,Elementary Secondary Education,Role of Education,Employer Attitudes,School Effectiveness,Government Role,Parent Responsibility,Educational Improvement,Career Education,Interpersonal Competence,Citizenship Education,Student Evaluation,Daily Living Skills

This report pulls together findings from a range of surveys that explore the perspectives of particular populations on specific topics in K-12 education to provide a broader picture of public opinion across multiple topics. In doing so, it seeks to identify common ground and contradictions that emerge within and between populations. Elevating the views of the public, parents, students, educators, and employers can help position future communications, research, and engagement to address the concerns, beliefs, and values these stakeholders bring to education so their voices will drive policy change and implementation. Through a review of recent opinion research and original focus groups conducted with employers at small businesses and organizations, this report provides insight into public and other stakeholder opinion on the following questions: (1) What is the purpose of public K-12 education?; (2) What should students learn in K-12 education?; (3) What do employers say about employees, the workforce, and K-12 education?; (4) How do people think schools measure up?; (5) What are the challenges faced by K-12 education today?; and (6) What roles should government and employers play in improving K-12 education? Although many state and federal policies are designed to promote academic success, this report shows Americans believe public education should not only focus on academics and college preparation but should also help students develop career and interpersonal skills and prepare them for citizenship and the workforce. This report also reveals a desire for new standards of assessment. Americans understand the importance of measuring student growth but recognize that current standardized tests do not measure everything that is important in education, such as the development of interpersonal skills. The report concludes with implications and recommendations for research, engagement, and communications.
Engaging Students with Disabilities in Text-Based Discussions: Guidance for General Education Social Studies Classrooms
Author: Swanson, Elizabeth
Date: 2019-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Learner Engagement,Students with Disabilities,Middle School Students,Discussion (Teaching Technique),Direct Instruction,Scaffolding (Teaching Technique),Thinking Skills,Reading Comprehension,Regular and Special Education Relationship,Inclusion,Social Studies,Reading Materials,Teaching Methods

Teachers are required to support students with disabilities in middle school social studies classrooms so that they can learn content from reading and comprehending complex text. One way to enhance comprehension of text is to facilitate text-based discussion; however, teachers often face difficulties when trying to engage students in this type of conversation. In this article, we first review what text-based discussion is, why it is challenging for some students, and how it can improve the reading comprehension performance of students with disabilities. Next, we provide a guide for teachers so that they can initiate and maintain high quality, text based discussion that provides opportunities for students to engage in higher level thinking about text and improve reading comprehension. This guide will help teachers understand, prepare for, and use text based discussion within their social studies classrooms. [This article was published in &quot;TEACHING Exceptional Children&quot; (EJ1208746).]
The Governor&apos;s Budget Proposal and &quot;Getting Down to Facts II&quot;: Evidence to Inform Policy
Author: Hough, Heather J.
Date: 2019-02-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Budgets,Educational Finance,State Aid,Public Education,Early Childhood Education,Access to Education,Retirement Benefits,Teacher Retirement,Information Systems,Data Use,Educational Improvement,Special Education,School Construction,Educational Facilities Improvement,Capacity Building,Elementary Secondary Education

On January 10, 2019, Governor Newsom released his Budget Proposal for the 2019-2020 fiscal year, which includes around $60 billion in state funds for K-12 schools. The budget bill and implementation bills will be deliberated and modified in each house in the upcoming months after which they are expected to incorporate significant revisions that will be proposed by the Governor in May 2019 and signed and enacted by July 2019. There is considerable alignment between the Governor's Budget Proposal and the key findings from &quot;Getting Down to Facts II&quot; (GDTFII), which was released in September 2018. GDTFII--a collaboration of over 100 researchers from across the country--published 36 studies on the current status of California's PreK-12 public education system. This policy brief describes the elements of the Budget Proposal that coincide with key findings from GDTFII, discusses the current context in California in that domain, and brings to bear additional research from GDTFII as evidence to inform budget and policy discussions that unfold over the next several months.