ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Program Evaluation: Two Management-Oriented Samples
Author: Alford, Kenneth Ray
Date: 2010-02-12
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Program Evaluation,Evaluation Methods,Comparative Analysis,School Districts,Audits (Verification),Mathematics Education,Academic Achievement,Educational Environment,School Effectiveness

Two Management-Oriented Samples details two examples of the management-oriented approach to program evaluation. Kenneth Alford, a doctorate candidate at the University of the Cumberlands, details two separate program evaluations conducted in his school district and seeks to compare and contrast the two evaluations based upon the characteristics of the management-oriented approach.  Examples presented include a Kentucky Department of Education, Office of Accountability and Assessment school-wide evaluation, called a Scholastic Review, conducted in 2002 and an independent district-wide mathematics audit conducted by the firm Andersen, Baldwin, and McWilliam Associates in 2005. Alford describes the audit progress and provides selected audit findings to demonstrate the management-oriented approach.  The author also provides a descriptive follow-up to the audit findings.  The article concludes with a discussion of how each example is aligned with the Stufflebeam CIPP model. (Contains 3 tables.)
BC Jurisdictional Report
Author: British Columbia Council on Admissions and Transfer
Date: 2010-03-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Organizations (Groups),College Admission,Transfer Policy,College Credits,College Transfer Students,Student Mobility,Publications,Web Sites,Organizational Communication,Reports,Educational Research,Conferences (Gatherings)

This report was submitted by the BC Council on Admissions (BCCAT) to the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada (CMEC). This report is a summary of projects and activities completed by BCCAT during the period from April 1, 2009, to March 31, 2010. The purpose of this report is to inform the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada (CMEC) of the steps taken in British Columbia to improve student mobility and credit transfer in accordance with the principles stipulated in CMEC's Ministerial Statement on Credit Transfer in Canada (2009). [This paper was prepared by the BC Council on Admissions (BCCAT).]
Transition to High School: School &quot;Choice&quot; &amp; Freshman Year in Philadelphia
Author: Gold, Eva
Date: 2010-02-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Urban Schools,School Districts,School Choice,Charter Schools,High Schools,Competitive Selection,Selective Admission,Neighborhood Schools,Student Mobility,Grade 8,Grade 9,Systems Approach,Educational Improvement,Socioeconomic Status

The School District of Philadelphia's tiered system of selective, nonselective, and charter high schools, and the process for high school choice, has created real variation in the degree to which high schools can successfully meet the needs of ninth graders. Research has shown that the ninth grade year is critical in determining a student's likelihood of graduating from high school. This mixed-methods study examines the transition to high school in Philadelphia, which we define as including the eighth grade high school selection process and students' experience in their ninth grade year. In our analysis of eighth grade applications to district-managed high schools for the 2007-08 school year, we found that most District eighth graders participated in the high school selection process, but fewer than half of them were admitted and enrolled in any of their chosen schools. Further, comparing across types of high schools, we found first, that the choice process contributes to system stratification, with low-income students, Black and Latino students, students who need special supports, and boys concentrated in nonselective neighborhood high schools and Whites, Asians, and girls concentrated in special admission high schools. Second, we learned that the choice process creates distinct challenges to the neighborhood schools' ability to support ninth graders. Enrollment at neighborhood high schools does not settle until the school selection process settles in late summer, and then continues to shift through the fall due to geographic mobility and returns from the juvenile justice system or other schools. Late enrollments undercut the ability of the neighborhood high schools to prepare for incoming classes, and contribute to changes in course schedules and teacher assignments after the school year begins, which cost important instructional time. Finally, we found that despite widespread acknowledgment of the importance of the freshman year, competing district agendas is not a priority in district and school planning. Freshman year interventions are often implemented piecemeal, without the professional support teachers need to adopt new practices, and without the assessments needed to know if they are effective. We argue that if low-performing neighborhood high schools are going to &quot;turn around&quot; or improve, it will require not only building school capacity but also implementing changes to the broader systems of district policy and practice in which these schools function, including the high school selection process. Appendices include: (1) Philadelphia's Tiered System of High Schools; (2) Differences Among High Schools by Admissions Type; and (3) Methodology. (Contains 200 footnotes, 3 figures, and 18 tables.)
Research Library Issues: A Bimonthly Report from ARL, CNI, and SPARC. RLI 268
Author: Barrett, G. Jaia, Ed.
Date: 2010-02-00
Type: Collected Works - Serial
Subjects: Research Libraries,Academic Libraries,Library Associations,Strategic Planning,Leaders,Intellectual Property,Library Role,Access to Information,Innovation,Organizational Change,Public Policy,Scholarship,Communication (Thought Transfer)

"Research Library Issues" ("RLI") is a bimonthly report from ARL (Association of Research Libraries), CNI (Coalition of Networked Information), and SPARC (Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition). This special issue includes the following articles: (1) Themes within the ARL Strategic Plan 2010-2012 (Charles B. Lowry); (2) ARL Strategic Plan 2010-2012 (Endorsed by ARL Board of Directors, October 15, 2009); and (3) Leadership Rosters.
Is Teacher Pay "Adequate?"
Author: Podgursky, Michael
Date: 2006-04-04
Type: Numerical/Quantitative Data
Subjects: Teacher Salaries,Quality of Life,Teacher Recruitment,Teacher Qualifications,Teacher Supply and Demand,School Districts,Competition,Justice,Resource Allocation,Educational Finance,Court Litigation,Faculty Mobility,Teacher Persistence,Professional Training,Academic Achievement,Relationship,Teacher Characteristics,Cost Effectiveness,Comparative Analysis

In school finance lawsuits plaintiffs often claim that pay levels are not sufficient to recruit teachers who can deliver constitutionally-mandated levels of educational services. In this paper I consider several ways in which one might bring economic theory and data to bear on that question. I conclude that at present, and at least for the near term, education research cannot prescribe an "adequate" level of school spending on teachers, whether in the form of pay, benefits, or professional training, that can reliability predict a target level of student performance. If courts are predisposed to intervene in this matter, a more reasonable standard for "adequacy" is whether available revenues, when spent in an efficient manner, are sufficient to staff classrooms with appropriately-certified teachers in a flexible licensing regime that satisfies both state and federal teacher quality standards. (Contains 6 figures, 7 tables and 15 endnotes.)
What Works Clearinghouse Quick Review of the Article &quot;Are High-Quality Schools Enough to Close the Achievement Gap? Evidence from a Social Experiment in Harlem&quot;
Author: What Works Clearinghouse (ED)
Date: 2010-03-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Profiles,Urban Environment,Charter Schools,Middle Schools,Competitive Selection,Admission (School),Context Effect,Academic Achievement,School Community Relationship,Community Services,Social Environment,Grade 6,Grade 7,Grade 8,Standardized Tests,Outcomes of Education,Effect Size,Comparative Analysis

This study examined the effects on academic achievement of offering students enrollment in the Promise Academy charter middle school. The school is sponsored by the Harlem Children's Zone[R], which combines reform-minded charter schools with a web of community services designed to provide a positive and supportive social environment outside of school. The study analyzed data on about 470 New York City students who applied for enrollment in 2005 and 2006 as entering sixth graders. The number of applicants exceeded the school's capacity, so enrollment offers were granted by random lottery. The study measured effects by comparing the outcomes of students who were selected in the lottery and offered enrollment in the school to students who were not selected in the lottery. Student outcomes were measured in sixth, seventh, and eighth grades using standardized statewide math and English language arts (ELA) tests. Students offered enrollment in the school had higher math test scores in sixth, seventh, and eighth grades than the students not offered enrollment. By the time they were tested in eighth grade, the effect size for the math test was 0.55. The WWC interprets this as equivalent to moving a student from the 50th to the 71st percentile. The study authors found no statistically significant differences in ELA test scores in sixth or seventh grade, but a positive effect was found on the eighth grade ELA test. The effect size was 0.19, which the WWC interprets as equivalent to moving a student from the 50th to the 58th percentile. The research described in this report is consistent with WWC evidence standards. The study is equivalent to a randomized controlled trial because the groups of students contrasted in the study were formed by random lottery. [The following study is reviewed in this quick review: Dobbie, W., &amp; Fryer, R. G., Jr., (2009). &quot;Are high-quality schools enough to close the achievement gap? Evidence from a social experiment in Harlem.&quot; (NBER Working Paper No. 15473). Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research. See ED507097.]
Teams versus Bureaucracies: Personnel Policy, Wage-Setting, and Teacher Quality in Traditional Public, Charter, and Private Schools
Author: Podgursky, Michael
Date: 2006-07-06
Type: Numerical/Quantitative Data
Subjects: Personnel Policy,Wages,Differences,Public Schools,Charter Schools,Private Schools,Policy Formation,Standard Setting,National Surveys,Teacher Recruitment,Administrative Organization,School Organization,Institutional Autonomy,Politics of Education,Teacher Effectiveness,Credentials,Collective Bargaining

This paper examines reasons why personnel policy and wage setting differ between traditional public, private, and charter schools and the effects of these policies on academic measures of teacher quality. Survey and administrative data suggest that the regulatory freedom, small size of wage-setting units, and a competitive market environment make pay and personnel practices more market and performance-based in private and charter schools as compared to traditional public schools. These practices, in turn, permit charter and private schools to recruit teachers with better academic credentials as compared to traditional public schools. The primary sources of data in this paper is the 1999-2000 Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS), a representative national survey of schools, districts, principals and teachers conducted regularly by the National Center for Education Statistics of the U.S. Department of Education. An appendix is included. (Contains 2 figures, 9 tables and 8 footnotes.)
What School Leadership Texts Teach: An Analysis of Leading Volumes Used in Principal Preparation
Author: Hess, Frederick M.
Date: 2006-04-04
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Principals,Instructional Leadership,Administrator Education,Reader Text Relationship,Reading Materials,Educational Administration,Textbooks,Content Analysis,School Culture,Academic Achievement,Bibliometrics,Accountability,School Personnel,Personnel Management

Little scholarly attention has been paid to what aspiring principal are actually reading in the preparation courses or whether the texts prepare them for the demands of accountable management. We examine eleven of the thirteen most commonly assigned educational administration texts in a sample of 210 principal preparation syllabi. In the texts studied, of thirteen terms tracked, "performance" and/or "achievement" were the most commonly used, appearing 44.3 times per 100 pages of text. Meanwhile, the terms "efficiency," "accountability," and "termination/dismissal" were mentioned less than six times per 100 pages. The texts generally encourage the use of data but are more skeptical when it comes to using results to make tough management decisions. Three possible approaches to enhancing the content of preparation are proposed: authors broadening discussion in existing texts, publishers issuing new texts, or faculty taking steps to diversify their assigned readings. (Contains 8 tables and 5 footnotes.)
Who Chooses, Who Uses? Initial Evidence from the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program
Author: Wolf, Patrick
Date: 2006-07-06
Type: Numerical/Quantitative Data
Subjects: Elementary Secondary Education,Pilot Projects,Disadvantaged,Scholarships,Educational Vouchers,Evidence,Educational Assessment,Educational Indicators,Participant Characteristics,School Choice,Performance Factors,Matched Groups,Comparative Analysis,Federal Programs,Use Studies,Educational Opportunities

The federal government recently enacted its first school voucher program as a pilot project in the District of Columbia. To be eligible, students need to be entering grades K-12 and have a family income at or below 185 percent of the poverty level. Although a rigorous analysis of the Opportunity Scholarship Program's impact on student achievement and other outcomes remains a prospect for the future, at this early point initial data exists regarding the families that are applying for the program and the students that are using and not using the voucher when offered. Here we present a preliminary analysis of those data. We find that program applicants are somewhat disadvantaged relative to non-applicants regarding educational characteristics and family income, and are more likely to be African American, than non-applicants. The fact that the program is means-tested appears to be central to the finding that it is reaching a more disadvantaged population of students. When we examine all students that received a voucher award, and compare the group of voucher users with the group of voucher decliners, we find two significant differences. First, scholarship users are educationally advantaged in important ways relative to scholarship decliners. They are much less likely to have learning or physical disabilities, and younger scholarship users evidence somewhat higher test scores than non-users in similar grades. Second, we find that scholarship non-users are more likely to report that their existing school has various specialized educational programs and more extensive facilities. Although these results suggest some measure of selectivity in the group of actual program participants, the data do not indicate conclusively if that selectivity is a function of the decisions and behavior of participating private schools or the result of the rational decisions of consumers in a newly-expanded education market. (Contains 10 tables and 29 footnotes.)
Weighted Student Formula: Putting Funds Where They Count in Education Reform
Author: Cooper, Bruce S.
Date: 2006-06-05
Type: Numerical/Quantitative Data
Subjects: Educational Needs,Public Schools,School Restructuring,School Choice,Educational Finance,School Districts,Educational Change,Funding Formulas,Educational Assessment,Educational Indicators,Comparative Analysis,Resource Allocation,Change Strategies,Finance Reform,Educational Vouchers

Ever since the publication of &quot;A Nation At Risk&quot; in 1983, Americans have been preoccupied with two problems regarding public education: (1) student performance is unsatisfactory to most Americans despite large increases in real spending per student; and despite several attempts at reforming curricula, teacher training, testing, and other elements of education; and (2) the nation's schools see a large and persistent gap in scores on standardized tests between white and Asian students on the one hand and black and Hispanics on the other. Reform, however, has been hindered by a deep philosophical divide within the school reform community. On the one hand, the radical &quot;market&quot; reformers believe that public school districts are public monopolies unresponsive to the needs of their &quot;customers&quot; and incapable of change. Members of this group support vouchers, charters, tax credits, etc. On the other hand, the more moderate, &quot;internal&quot; reformers believe that public school districts simply need more support and better management. These advocates generally tend to favor decentralization, public school choice, lower class sizes, increased spending per pupil, etc. Recently, a reform program has emerged that may well lead to some consensus between many members of &quot;both&quot; groups. This reform is Weighted Student Formula (WSF), a system of per-pupil budgeting that is now used in three large North American districts: Edmonton, Seattle, and Houston. In a WSF system, dollars are allocated to each student, and these funds follow the student to the local school. Children with greater needs--be they poor or disabled or non-English speaking--receive a higher allocation, giving schools the ability to provide extra services to these needy students, knowing that the weighted funds will &quot;follow&quot; the student to the school and classroom. Local educators are then given much discretion to determine how best to meet the educational needs of their student population. The purpose of this paper is to: (1) Compare and contrast the WSF systems used in Edmonton, Seattle, and Houston; (2) Highlight how WSF is different from the resource allocation systems used in most urban districts, especially New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles; and (3) Make recommendations about how a district can implement WSF successfully, based on the lessons from Edmonton, Seattle, and Houston. (Contains 10 tables and 4 figures.)
State Test Score Trends through 2007-08, Part 4: Has Progress Been Made in Raising Achievement for Students with Disabilities?
Author: Chudowsky, Naomi
Date: 2009-11-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Testing Programs,Federal Legislation,Reading Achievement,Mathematics Achievement,Mathematics Tests,Reading Tests,Disabilities,Scores,Grade 4,Trend Analysis,Achievement Gap,Data Analysis,Achievement Gains,Elementary School Students,Middle School Students,High School Students

The federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) holds schools, districts, and states accountable for improving the academic achievement of all students, including the nearly 14% of public school students who receive special education services because they have an identified disability. By 2014, 100% of students with disabilities are expected to perform at the &quot;proficient&quot; level on state tests--the same goal set for students overall and for other subgroups of students. NCLB also calls on schools and districts to close achievement gaps between students with disabilities and their non-disabled peers and to include these students in regular state testing programs to the maximum extent possible. This report by the Center on Education Policy (CEP) examines progress in raising achievement for students with disabilities. It also describes the factors that make it difficult to clearly discern achievement trends for this subgroup. The data for this analysis were collected by CEP with technical support from the Human Resources Research Organization, and come from the state reading and mathematics tests used for NCLB accountability in all 50 states. The trends discussed in this report cover fewer years--2006 through 2008--than the trends in the three earlier parts of this 2009 series of reports on student achievement. This is because federal policies for testing students with disabilities and determining their progress were revised in 2003 and 2005 in ways that likely affected the year-to-year comparability of test data. School year 2005-06 marked the first year that states administered tests under the revised rules, and so we now have enough data to establish a three-year trend line for students with disabilities in many states. Several findings emerged from this study: (1) Fuzzy data make it difficult to obtain a clear picture of achievement for students with disabilities; (2) Students with disabilities have made progress in grade 4 at all three achievement levels--basic-and-above, proficient-and-above, and advanced; and (3) Differences in test performance between students with disabilities and non-disabled students are very large. (Contains 5 tables and 7 footnotes.) [For the companion reports of this record, see the following: Part 1 (ED506121); Part 2 (ED506122); Part 3 (ED507909); and Part 5, (ED509023).]
State Test Score Trends through 2007-08, Part 5: Are There Differences in Achievement between Boys and Girls?
Author: Chudowsky, Naomi
Date: 2010-03-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Females,Federal Legislation,Reading Achievement,Mathematics Tests,Reading Tests,Scores,Grade 4,Gender Differences,Standardized Tests,Trend Analysis,Age Differences,Elementary School Students,Middle School Students,High School Students

This report by the Center on Education Policy (CEP), an independent nonprofit organization, looks at the achievement of boys and girls on the state reading and mathematics tests used for No Child Left Behind (NCLB) accountability. The report addresses four main questions: (1) What is the current status of performance differences between boys and girls in reading and math at various grades and achievement levels?; (2) What trends have emerged in the achievement of boys and girls at the elementary, middle, and high school levels since 2002, the year NCLB took effect?; (3) What trends have occurred since 2002 in the performance of male and female 4th graders at the basic, proficient, and advanced levels of achievement?; and (4) Have achievement gaps between boys and girls narrowed since 2002? The data for these analyses were drawn from an extensive set of test data that has been collected from all 50 states by CEP with technical support from the Human Resources Research Organization (HumRRO). This research revealed several specific main findings: (1) In math, there was no consistent gender gap in 2008. Rather, there was rough parity in the percentages of boys and girls reaching proficiency at all three grade levels; (2) In grade 4 math, states tended to have greater shares of girls reaching the basic level and greater shares of boys reaching the advanced level; (3) In reading, girls outperformed boys in 2008 at the elementary, middle, and high school levels; (4) In grade 4 reading, higher percentages of girls than boys reached the basic, proficient, and advanced achievement levels in 2008; (5) Although reading achievement gaps between boys and girls have narrowed in many cases according to the percentage proficient indicator used for NCLB, boys have made less progress in catching up to girls according to average test scores, which are a better indicator for this purpose; (6) For both boys and girls, states with gains in reading and math proficiency between 2002 and 2008 far outnumbered states with declines at the elementary, middle, and high school levels; and (7) In a majority of the states with sufficient data, both boys and girls in grade 4 have made progress in reading and math since 2002 at the basic, proficient, and advanced achievement levels. (Contains 8 tables and 6 footnotes.) [For the companion reports of this record, see the following: Part 1 (ED506121); Part 2 (ED506122); Part 3 (ED507909); and Part 4, (ED509022).]