ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Patterns of Classroom Quality in Head Start and Center-Based Early Childhood Education Programs. REL 2017-199
Author: Irwin, Clare W.
Date: 2016-10-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Educational Quality,Early Childhood Education,Disadvantaged Youth,Classification,Child Care Centers,Interaction,Measures (Individuals),Rating Scales,Teacher Student Relationship,Conflict,Learning Activities,Observation,Classroom Environment,Scores

Measuring classroom quality and ensuring high-quality learning experiences for young children are interests of the Early Childhood Education Research Alliance, a research alliance of Regional Educational Laboratory Northeast &amp; Islands. This study, conducted in collaboration with the alliance, addresses these interests by examining multiple measures of classroom quality simultaneously. Many measures of early childhood classroom quality have been examined, but previous research has not explored whether multiple measures of diverse aspects of classroom quality can be used to classify early childhood classrooms into classroom quality groups. The main purpose of this study was to determine whether early childhood classrooms can be grouped based on their scores on multiple measures of quality. The study team used multiple measures of diverse aspects of classroom quality to determine classroom quality groups and examined the number of classroom quality groups that exist and the percentage of classrooms that fall within each classroom quality group. A second purpose of the study was to explore the extent to which each measure contributes to the identification of classroom quality groups. This study employs a methodological approach that has not previously been used to synthesize measures of classroom quality. This approach allowed the study team to provide an example of patterns of classroom quality in programs serving Head Start-eligible children across the country. In addition to informing practitioners about what quality looks like in these settings, the findings allow for the categorization of classrooms across multiple classroom quality dimensions. This is more useful for informing practitioners than the traditional way of measuring quality along a continuum-- eliminating the need for users to come up with their own cutscores for these measures. Key findings include: (1) Based on the 13 measures examined, classroom quality can be sorted into three distinct groups: good, fair, and poor; and (2) Classroom quality measures determined by independent observers distinguish classroom quality groups better than self-reported measures do. Data and Methodology are appended.
Programs and Services for High School English Learners in Public School Districts: 2015-16. First Look. NCES 2016-150
Author: Lewis, Laurie
Date: 2016-09-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: High School Students,English Language Learners,Second Language Instruction,Public Schools,School Districts,Statistical Data,National Surveys,Questionnaires,Enrollment,Computer Assisted Instruction,Immigrants,Tutoring,Language of Instruction,Native Language,Vocational Education,Remedial Programs,Credits,Summer Schools,Mentors,Translation,Printed Materials,Nontraditional Education,At Risk Students,High School Equivalency Programs,Adult Education,Costs,Time Factors (Learning),Graduation Requirements,Language Proficiency,Institutional Characteristics,English (Second Language),Bilingual Education,Distance Education

The 2015-16 survey &quot;Programs and Services for High School English Learners&quot; provides the first nationally representative data on this topic. This report is based on that survey and presents data on programs and services for high school English learners (ELs), including instructional approaches, newcomer programs, online or computer-based programs, and programs or services (e.g., tutoring) designed specifically for high school ELs. The report provides findings on the use of native language(s) for content instruction, instructional support, materials, and services. Data are presented about the information that districts provide about educational programs or services to ELs ages 18 to 21 seeking to newly enroll in the district, as well as the factors districts consider when providing information about these programs and services to ELs in this group. The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), in the Institute of Education Sciences, conducted this survey in fall 2015 using the Fast Response Survey System (FRSS). The purpose of this report is to introduce new National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) data from the survey through tables containing descriptive information, only selected national findings are presented. These findings have been chosen to demonstrate the range of information available from the FRSS study rather than to discuss all of the data collected; they are not meant to emphasize any particular issue. Readers are cautioned not to make causal inferences about the data presented here. The findings are based on self-reported data from public school districts. Many of the variables examined are related to one another, and complex interactions and relationships have not been explored. The following are appended: (1) Standard Error Tables; (2) Technical Notes; and (3) Questionnaire.
Reading and Writing Test Gaps. Pell Institute Fact Sheet. Updated
Author: Pell Institute for the Study of Opportunity in Higher Education
Date: 2011-03-18
Type: Numerical/Quantitative Data
Subjects: Reading Tests,Writing Tests,Reading Achievement,Writing Achievement,Low Income Students,Lunch Programs,Grade 4,Grade 8,Grade 12,Statistical Data,Socioeconomic Status,Gender Differences,Racial Differences,Test Results,Achievement Gap

Data is reported as percentages based on proficiency in the subject. &quot;Low-income&quot; on this data sheet means students who qualify for the National School Lunch Program. Reading data is from 2009 National Center for Education Statistics assessments and writing data is from 2002 and 2007. A brief list of references and resources is included.
CTE's Role in Urban Education. Issue Brief
Author: Association for Career and Technical Education
Date: 2012-08-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Urban Education,Vocational Education,Urban Schools,Academic Achievement,At Risk Students,Disadvantaged Schools,Relevance (Education),Role of Education,Social Networks,Student Development

This Issue Brief explores the promising role that career and technical education programs play in addressing key student achievement issues facing urban schools. CTE programs engage urban students by providing rigorous and relevant coursework, fostering positive relationships, establishing clear pathways and connecting education and careers--fulfilling a unique and positive role in today's urban education system.
Endorsements, Electives &amp; More: CTE &amp; State Graduation Requirements
Author: National Association of State Directors of Career Technical Education Consortium (NASDCTEc)
Date: 2015-04-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Graduation Requirements,Vocational Education,High Schools,High School Students,High School Graduates,Elective Courses,Career Readiness,College Readiness

The past few years have seen a persistent and consistent focus on Career Technical Education (CTE), including a particular focus on graduation requirements. This brief from Advance CTE highlights a few ways in which states are exploring embedding and elevating CTE programs, assessments and experiences within their statewide graduation requirements. Throughout the brief, a number of challenges and issues for consideration are raised, notably having processes in place for ensuring quality of rigor and quality across pathways and assessments; providing flexibility to allow students to engage in CTE programs of study without having to give up other areas of interests; and ensuring students have the opportunity to take the full range of courses that will prepare them for college and careers. This brief can serve as a resource for states seeking to embed CTE into their graduation requirements. It includes examples and strategies from a number of states as well as challenges to consider.
Building a Strong Relationship between Competency-Based Pathways and Career Technical Education
Author: Kreamer, Kate Blosveren
Date: 2015-07-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Vocational Education,Active Learning,Student Projects,Performance Based Assessment,Elementary Secondary Education,Competency Based Education,Experiential Learning,Relationship,Career Readiness,College Readiness

Competency-based pathways (CBP) have the potential to open new opportunities for students to learn and demonstrate their learning in meaningful ways that are grounded in application and relevant to their career goals. This brief argues that states can and should leverage CTE when considering how to move K-12 education toward a system marked by mastery, not time. It identifies the opportunities for collaboration and strengthened relationships as well as the challenges of creating an integrated system. This resource further provides leverage points for States to integrate their CTE and CBP strategies, such as: contextualized learning environments, self-directed pathways, high-quality experiential learning opportunities, project-based learning, and integrating CTE into assessment systems.
Effective Practices in Accreditation: A Guide for Faculty
Author: Academic Senate for California Community Colleges
Date: 2015-00-00
Type: Tests/Questionnaires
Subjects: Accreditation (Institutions),Educational Practices,Program Effectiveness,Guides,Quality Assurance,College Faculty,Distance Education,Academic Standards,Teacher Participation,Total Quality Management,Peer Evaluation,Evidence,Documentation,School Visitation,Research Reports,Institutional Evaluation

Every college struggles to create processes of quality assurance and continuous improvement to demonstrate and ensure its service to students and community. Accreditation is one avenue that ensures some uniformity across many institutions in the eyes of the public. While this paper focuses on accreditation processes and meeting the needs of accrediting commissions, it is important to remember the overarching goals of service and improvement when devising systems appropriate to each individual college. There is no one way that colleges meet accreditation standards. The standards reflect the minimum requirements expected of institutions and each institution must find its own way to best serve the needs of the community and uphold the standards of educational quality. This paper outlines some effective practices colleges should consider and regularly review both in terms of processes and topics as well as in terms of the most recent Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC) Standards adopted in 2014. The following is appended: ACCJC Bio Data Form for Evaluators.
Ensuring Effective Curriculum Approval Processes: A Guide for Local Senates
Author: Academic Senate for California Community Colleges
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Guides,College Governing Councils,Curriculum Development,Educational Quality,Quality Assurance,Committees,Quality Control,Faculty Development,Professional Training,Educational Resources,Distance Education,Change Strategies

Curriculum is the heart of the mission of every college. College curriculum approval processes have been established to ensure that rigorous, high quality curriculum is offered that meets the needs of students. While some concerns may exist regarding the effectiveness and efficiency of local curriculum processes, all participants in the process must remember--and remind external stakeholders--that the faculty of the California community colleges have long worked to ensure that their college curriculum approval processes are sufficiently robust and deliberative to ensure that standards for high quality and rigor appropriate for college curriculum are met and maintained. Through their local senates and curriculum committees, California community college faculty are entrusted not only with the professional responsibility for developing high quality curriculum, but also with the professional responsibility for establishing local curriculum approval processes and ensuring that local curriculum approval processes allow curriculum to be approved in a timely manner. Students are best served when curriculum approval processes are efficient and effective, and when they ensure a focus on the quality and rigor of the curriculum. Therefore, local senates should periodically review their curriculum approval processes to determine if any improvements are needed and implement any necessary changes. In recognition of the need for local senates to be provided guidance on ensuring the effectiveness of their local curriculum processes, the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges (ASCCC) adopted Resolution 9.01 S15. The subjects of this paper are to provide guidance to local senates and curriculum committees on effective practices for curriculum approval processes and to focus on the participatory governance aspects of curriculum. The contents of the Fall 2015 white paper, &quot;Ensuring Effective and Efficient Curriculum Processes--An Academic Senate White Paper,&quot; are incorporated in this document, with additional guidance provided regarding professional development and training related to local curriculum approval processes, providing sufficient resources for the college curriculum team, and guidance on separate distance education approval requirements. The following are appended: (1) Staff Summary of the Results of the Spring 2015 ASCCC Curriculum Efficiency and Communication Survey; (2) Accreditation Eligibility Requirements and Standards Applicable to Curriculum; (3) Typical Duties for Curriculum Chairs, Articulation Officers and Curriculum Specialists; and (4) Relevant Statutory and Regulatory Citations: California Education Code.
Changes in Faculty Composition at Independent Colleges
Author: Morphew, Christopher
Date: 2016-06-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Private Colleges,Liberal Arts,College Faculty,Surveys,Administrator Attitudes,Teacher Role,Teacher Characteristics,Tables (Data),Tenure,Institutional Characteristics,Teacher Selection,Expectation,Faculty Development

This report provides empirical evidence about specific trends in faculty staffing, roles, and responsibilities at smaller private liberal arts institutions in the United States, with a focus on the more than 600 four-year colleges and universities that are members of the Council of Independent Colleges. It also addresses how the changing composition of the faculty at such institutions may affect institutional missions, shared governance, strategic planning, institutional decision making, and teaching and learning both inside and outside of the classroom. The analysis draws upon three data sources: (1) comparative data from the U.S. Department of Education; (2) a survey of CIC institutional research (IR) officers; and (3) a survey of CIC chief academic officers (CAOs) about faculty roles and composition. The following are appended: (1) Descriptive Statistics; and (2) Additional Data Tables.
Independent Colleges and Student Engagement: Descriptive Analysis by Institutional Type. A 2015 National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) Special Analysis for the Council of Independent Colleges
Author: Gonyea, Robert M.
Date: 2015-06-00
Type: Numerical/Quantitative Data
Subjects: Private Colleges,Learner Engagement,Institutional Characteristics,National Surveys,College Freshmen,College Seniors,Student Surveys,Statistical Analysis,Comparative Analysis,Control Groups,Public Colleges,Bachelors Degrees,Masters Degrees,Doctoral Degrees,Thinking Skills,Learning Strategies,Cooperative Learning,Teacher Student Relationship,Teacher Effectiveness

Critics of traditional, residential, liberal arts colleges and universities contend that this form of higher education is outmoded, too costly, and no longer educationally relevant for 21st century students. Economies of scale, large classes taught by contingent faculty members and graduate students, and increasing reliance on technology and online learning, so the argument goes, are the only cost-effective means of meeting the educational challenges of the future. Building on a half century of research, this report draws recent evidence from the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) to demonstrate that students at private colleges and universities are engaged in their education much more than students at public institutions. Areas of distinction in the private institution undergraduate experience include a more academically challenging education, better relations with faculty members, more substantial interactions with others on campus, and the consistent perception that students have learned and grown more, in comparison with public institutions. This report, prepared for the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC), draws on the most current NSSE data, from 2013 and 2014, that include more than 540,000 first-year and senior students enrolled at more than 900 four-year colleges and universities. Findings are presented with comparisons across four institutional types: (1) baccalaureate and master's level private institutions (CIC's predominant membership profile), (2) baccalaureate and master's level public institutions, (3) doctoral private institutions, and (4) doctoral public institutions. Included in the analysis are measures from the updated NSSE that includes ten new Engagement Indicators, six High-Impact Practices, the Perceived Gains scale, and a Satisfaction scale. The following are appended: (1) NSSE 2013 and 2014 Participating Institutions by Carnegie/Control Groups; (2) Frequencies by Institutional Control--First-Year Students; (3) Frequencies by Institutional Control--Seniors; (4) Statistical Comparisons by Institutional Control--First-Year Students; (5) Statistical Comparisons by Institutional Control--Seniors; (6) Frequencies by Carnegie/Control Groups--First-Year Students; (7) Frequencies by Carnegie/Control Groups--Seniors; (8) Descriptive Statistics and Statistical Comparisons by Carnegie/Control Groups--First-Year Students; (9) Descriptive Statistics and Statistical Comparisons by Carnegie/Control Groups--Seniors; and (10) Results for High-Impact Practices.
Expanding Access and Opportunity: How Small and Mid-Sized Independent Colleges Serve First-Generation and Low-Income Students
Author: Rine, P. Jesse
Date: 2015-03-00
Type: Numerical/Quantitative Data
Subjects: Small Colleges,Private Colleges,First Generation College Students,Low Income Groups,Student Needs,Access to Education,Attendance Patterns,College Readiness,Paying for College,Educational Environment,Extracurricular Activities,Citizen Participation,Educational Attainment,Student Characteristics,Institutional Characteristics,Longitudinal Studies,Postsecondary Education

If the United States is to succeed as a nation in reducing educational disparity, restoring social mobility, and retaining national competitiveness, it must make every effort to ensure that low-income and first-generation students have access to higher education and the support systems they need to obtain a college degree. This objective will require understanding the characteristics and challenges unique to low-income and first-generation student populations, as well as the types of educational environments best suited to serve these students. Not only do first-generation and low-income students experience hurdles in accessing higher education, they also tend to be less engaged in their college experience and less likely to persist to degree than other students. With public resources scarce, policy makers and funders must direct support to those institutions that are most effective in admitting, retaining, and graduating first-generation and low-income students. Often overlooked in strategies to promote college attainment of underrepresented students are small and mid-sized independent colleges and universities. This report demonstrates that students of all academic and social backgrounds attend smaller private colleges. Moreover, these institutions provide educational opportunity to students with varying degrees of academic preparation, not just those who have had access to the best high schools and socioeconomic support structures. First-generation and low-income students receive an excellent education at smaller private colleges, which provide a more personalized, rigorous, and engaged college experience than larger public universities provide--and at a fraction of the cost to society. The following are appended: (1) Complete Methodology; and (2) Data Tables. [Important contributions were made to this report by Jennifer Eliason.]
Enterprise Risk Management in the Great City Schools, Spring 2016
Author: Clark, Scott B.
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Public Schools,Risk Management,Elementary Secondary Education,Urban Schools,School Districts,Foreign Countries,Outcomes of Education

Public schools have a mandate to educate children in a way that is safe, effective, and cost efficient. The risks involved in achieving that mandate have become increasingly complex, and the need to manage those risks has never been greater. The emergence of widespread, interconnected risks, such as cyber risks and data management, infrastructure risks, privacy, the threat of terrorism, and workplace violence makes it clear that the nation's public schools need a new approach to managing risk. Many of the most pressing risks and the uncertainties associated with achieving a school district's key mission go beyond insurable risks or activities under the direct control of a school district; they now include a broader range of uncertainties. A broader approach to risk management is needed. The challenge for members of the Council of the Great City Schools is to identify best practices in managing risk, referred to in this paper as Enterprise Risk Management or ERM. The purpose of this white paper is to present key concepts of ERM and enhance the understanding of how to apply ERM to a K-12 public school setting. A list of best practices is appended.
Student Testing in America's Great City Schools: An Inventory and Preliminary Analysis
Author: Hart, Ray
Date: 2015-10-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Urban Schools,Student Evaluation,Testing Programs,Testing,Data Interpretation,Special Education,School Districts,Context Effect,Program Costs,Parent Participation,Change Strategies,Evaluation Utilization,Evaluation Needs,Users (Information),Parent Attitudes,Summative Evaluation,Formative Evaluation,Exit Examinations,Data Analysis,Time on Task,Test Format,Test Items,State Regulation,State Standards,Barriers,Testing Problems,Sampling,Timed Tests,College Preparation,Career Education,Vocational Education,English Language Learners,Educational Legislation,Federal Legislation,National Competency Tests,Federal Aid,Student Loan Programs,Disabilities,Equal Education,Elementary Secondary Education

There has been little data collected on how much testing actually goes on in America's schools and how the results are used. So in the Spring of 2014, the Council staff developed and launched a survey of assessment practices. This report presents the findings from that survey and subsequent Council analysis and review of the data. It also offers an initial set of observations about testing in our school systems and how it might be improved. The report does not answer all questions on this complex issue, but it should give a more complete and well-rounded picture of the amount and range of tests administered in the nation's urban school systems. The following are appended: (1) The Federal Role in Assessment Policy; (2) Mandated Tests by District; (3) Georgia CTE [Career and Technical Education] Tests (4) Assessment Survey (5) Examples of Other Mandated Assessments; and (6) Council of the Great City Schools.