ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Evaluations Backgrounder: "A Summary of Formal Evaluations of Afterschool Programs' Impact on Academics, Behavior, Safety and Family Life"
Author: Afterschool Alliance
Date: 2013-01-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Academic Achievement,Safety,Accountability,Program Effectiveness,After School Programs,Discipline,Student Behavior,Family Life,Parent Participation,Parent School Relationship,Program Evaluation,Correlation,Federal Aid,Risk

Afterschool programs have been operating for decades in communities across the country, and federal investment in afterschool has increased dramatically since the mid-1990s. However, even more investment in the field of afterschool, which includes before-school, afterschool and summer learning programs, is needed to keep up with the growing demand. Parents and voters overwhelmingly support afterschool and want to see more afterschool opportunities for children and increased funding for programs. As public demand and need for afterschool have grown, so too has the demand for accountability. This is particularly true for afterschool programs that utilize public dollars. After all, where tax dollars flow, so must accountability to taxpayers. Fortunately for afterschool advocates, a steady stream of afterschool evaluations are showing important gains for children, not only in terms of academic achievement but also in terms of safety, discipline, attendance and avoidance of risky behaviors. In addition, researchers have found that afterschool programs encourage increased parental involvement, an important building block for student success. This updated evaluations backgrounder focuses on the impact of afterschool programs on academic outcomes, student behavior and parental concerns about children's safety. The studies included in this backgrounder are just a few of the numerous evaluations of afterschool programs completed in recent years. In reviewing the studies included in this backgrounder, a few key themes emerged. The data and conclusions from these studies suggest that quality afterschool programs have a positive impact on a number of measures of student academic achievement, positively affecting behavior and discipline and helping relieve parents' worries about their children's safety. Specific research findings, organized by type of outcome, are detailed in this paper.
Afterschool: A Strategy for Addressing and Preventing Middle School Bullying. MetLife Foundation Afterschool Alert. Issue Brief No. 51
Author: Afterschool Alliance
Date: 2011-10-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Bullying,Prevention,Middle School Students,Peer Relationship,Aggression,Antisocial Behavior,After School Programs,Social Development,Emotional Development

The Afterschool Alliance, in partnership with MetLife Foundation, is proud to present the second in a series of four issue briefs examining critical issues facing middle school youth and the vital role afterschool programs play in addressing these issues. This brief focuses on bullying awareness and prevention. Bullying is a dangerous behavior that can have potentially damaging effects on both bullies and victims for many years. In order to stop it, a concerted effort is needed from the entire community, not just schools, parents and students. Afterschool programs can provide that link to community partners who can bring in new voices to embolden children to stand up to bullies. Programs also let children become leaders on the issue, enlightening the community on challenges facing middle school youth and showing other students how bullying can be stopped at their school. While engaging middle school youth in constructive learning activities, afterschool offers a safe space for participants to voice their concerns and develop healthy behaviors and relationships with other students. The hands-on and student-driven nature of afterschool programs allows middle schoolers to confide in caring mentors while also developing leadership skills to build confidence and improve their self-concept. In partnership with schools, parents and the wider community, afterschool can help produce more emboldened students that know how to stand up to bullies, thereby promoting a bully-free environment in which all students can learn and grow. (Contains 26 endnotes.) [For the related reports, "Aligning Afterschool with the Regular School Day: The Perfect Complement. MetLife Foundation Afterschool Alert. Issue Brief No. 50" (ED522625); "Service-Learning in Afterschool: Helping Students Grow and Communities Prosper. MetLife Foundation Afterschool Alert. Issue Brief No. 52" (ED539821); and "Literacy in Afterschool: An Essential Building Block for Learning and Development. MetLife Foundation Afterschool Alert. Issue Brief No. 53" (ED539788).]
Afterschool: An Ally in Promoting Middle School Improvement. MetLife Foundation Afterschool Alert. Issue Brief No. 55
Author: Afterschool Alliance
Date: 2012-07-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Student Attitudes,Educational Change,School Community Relationship,After School Programs,Summer Programs,Mentors,Educational Improvement,Grants,Federal Aid,Partnerships in Education,School Turnaround,High School Students,High Schools,Middle School Students,Middle Schools

The Afterschool Alliance, in partnership with MetLife Foundation, is proud to present the first in its latest series of four issue briefs examining critical issues facing middle school youth and the vital role afterschool programs play in addressing these issues. This brief explores afterschool and school improvement. In communities across the country, afterschool programs are proving their worth in supporting school improvement efforts. Working with community partners, afterschool and summer learning programs are able to complement the learning that takes place during the school day and year and bring new teachers and mentors to the school improvement table. With a wide range of backgrounds, expertise and content area knowledge, afterschool and summer staff are connecting with students and motivating kids to stay on track to school success. One school at a time, afterschool programs are helping kids and schools succeed and building the case that afterschool is a key ally in school improvement. (Contains 20 endnotes.) [For the related reports, see &quot;Arts Enrichment in Afterschool. MetLife Foundation Afterschool Alert. Issue Brief No. 56&quot; (ED539785); &quot;Afterschool: A Key to Successful Parent Engagement. MetLife Foundation Afterschool Alert. Issue Brief No. 57&quot; (ED539790); and &quot;Digital Media &amp; Learning in Afterschool. MetLife Foundation Afterschool Alert. Issue Brief No. 58&quot; (ED539789).]
Authentic Leadership, Social Cognitive Theory, and Character Education: The Transforming of Theories Into Practices
Author: Banks, Jerome
Date: 2012-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Leadership,Social Theories,Social Cognition,Values Education,International Schools,Theory Practice Relationship,School Culture,Role of Education

Character development must balance academic achievement. International school environments are diverse and multicultural settings, containing a learning-focused culture. This investigation constructs the sophisticated elements of authentic leadership and the complexities of the social cognitive theory as factors that produce a practical approach to character development in international schools. The research referenced solidifies this claim by providing evidence to the significance of this theory-based approach. The purpose of this study is to draw attention to the importance of character development, identify the fundamentals of authentic leadership theory and social cognitive theory approach as they relate to character development, and present a conception on how to promote character development in international schools. (Contains 1 figure.)
Perceived Impact of Guidance and Counseling Services on the Development of Entrepreneurial Skills for Sustainable Livelihood among Students
Author: Chinedum, Ubah Anthony
Date: 2012-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Secondary School Students,Entrepreneurship,Student Development,Counseling Services,Test Reliability,Social Adjustment,Guidance Programs,Program Effectiveness,Opinions,Measures (Individuals),School Guidance

This paper focused on finding out the opinions of three categories of educators viz.: EA (education administrators), GC (guidance counselors), and CT (classroom teachers) on the impact of guidance and counselling services in entrepreneurship development among secondary school students. Three research questions were drawn to ascertain the opinions of the educators used for the study viz.: (1) Can information service on business enterprise motivate students' interest for entrepreneurship? (2) Can counselling on personal-social adjustment equip students for entrepreneurship? and (3) Can guidance on educational and occupational adjustments equip students for entrepreneurship? The sample of the study was composed with simple random sampling technique to include 10 principals and 10 education officers, making up 20 education administrators, 10 guidance counselors, and 100 classroom teachers. In all, there were 130 respondents. A 4-point Likert type scale questionnaire titled &quot;Educators Questionnaire&quot; was used to obtain data for the study. Using Cronbach Alpha internal consistency reliability test, the instrument was confirmed reliable at 0.86. The findings show that guidance and counselling services will enhance students' skills for entrepreneurship development which in turn will boost productivity, sustainable livelihood, and national development. Recommendations on government, GC, and policy-makers on educational matters involvement to reap the full benefits of school guidance programme were proffered. (Contains 3 tables.)
2012 Report Card on the Effectiveness of Teacher Training Programs
Author: Tennessee Higher Education Commission
Date: 2012-11-01
Type: Numerical/Quantitative Data
Subjects: Program Effectiveness,Teacher Evaluation,Praxis,Academic Achievement,Program Evaluation,Teacher Education Programs,College Programs,Profiles,School Statistics,State Legislation,Statistical Analysis,Statistical Significance,Teacher Placement,Teacher Persistence

The Tennessee General Assembly passed legislation in 2007 requiring that the State Board of Education produce an assessment on the effectiveness of teacher training programs. The law requires that the report include data on the performance of each program's graduates in the following areas: placement and retention rates, Praxis II results, and teacher effect data based on the Tennessee Value-Added Assessment System (TVAAS) scores. The 2012 report card includes additional indicators for each program; more information on the changes and additions can be found in the following section. The &quot;2012 Report Card on the Effectiveness of Teacher Training Programs&quot; contains information designed to inform the public of the effectiveness of teacher training programs and to provide preparation programs with the opportunity to improve the quality of programs through the use of data as set forth in the Tennessee Code Annotated 48-5-108. The following changes have been put into effect for the 2012 report: (1) The report will include data collected through individual teacher performance assessments as collected through the Tennessee Educator Acceleration Model (TEAM) as well as the alternative teacher evaluation models; and (2) Teacher training programs will have the ability to develop additional individual reports tailored to the intricacies of their program in order to facilitate continuous improvement. A glossary of terms is included. Individual sections contain footnotes. [For the 2011 report, &quot;Report Card on the Effectiveness of Teacher Training Programs,&quot; see ED530920.]
2012 Tennessee Education Lottery Scholarship Special Report: An Examination of Grant and Loan Forgiveness Programs for Special Populations
Author: Tennessee Higher Education Commission
Date: 2012-00-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Merit Scholarships,Grants,Science Teachers,Dual Enrollment,Enrollment,Researchers,Mathematics Teachers,Scores,Colleges,High Schools,College Entrance Examinations,Academic Persistence,Scholarships,College Freshmen,Private Colleges,Public Colleges,Gender Differences,Racial Differences,Higher Education,College Preparation,Student Financial Aid,Demography,Cohort Analysis

Comprising eleven financial aid programs, the Tennessee Education Lottery Scholarship (TELS) provided financial aid to 101,569 students at a cost of $297,589,674 in 2010-11 (Tennessee Student Assistance Corporation [TSAC], 2011). The four largest programs (the HOPE scholarship program, the General Assembly Merit Scholarship program [GAMS], the ASPIRE award, and the Tennessee HOPE ACCESS Grant), which are referred to colloquially as the Hope Scholarship program, account for 70 percent of the students and 91 percent of TELS expenditures. There is a growing body of research focusing on these four programs, including an annual fact book published by the Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC). However, research on the smaller TELS programs remains scant. This report provides a descriptive overview of five of the smaller TELS programs, including: the Dual Enrollment Grant, the HOPE Foster Grant, the Helping Heroes Grant, the Math &amp; Science Teacher Loan Forgiveness program, and the Rural Health Loan Forgiveness program. The goal of this report is to provide legislators, policymakers, and researchers with a basic understanding of these five TELS programs and the students they serve. Specifically, the report examines the number of students served by each program, their demographics, academic preparation, postsecondary enrollment trends, and their postsecondary progression and success. Additionally, it highlights some of the data challenges that were identified by the researchers. The report is broken into five sections, covering each of the five programs. The two appendices discuss data limitations and present more detailed data tables, respectively. (Contains 39 tables, 5 figures, and 43 footnotes.)
Higher Education Profiles &amp; Trends 2013
Author: Tennessee Higher Education Commission
Date: 2013-00-00
Type: Numerical/Quantitative Data
Subjects: Higher Education,Educational Finance,Student Participation,College Preparation,Graduation Rate,Academic Persistence,School Holding Power,Student Financial Aid,Profiles,Income,Educational Trends,Trend Analysis,Economic Factors,Tuition,Community Colleges,African American Students,Comparative Analysis,College Students,Adult Students,Educational Indicators,Hispanic American Students,Enrollment Trends,Academic Achievement

The statute [T.C.A. Section 49-7-202(c)(7)] requires the Tennessee Higher Education Commission to prepare a biennial report for the governor and the general assembly, &quot;commenting upon major developments, trends, new policies, budgets and financial considerations which in the judgment of the commission will be useful to the governor and to the general assembly in planning for the sound and adequate development of the state's program of public higher education.&quot; The purpose of this report is to provide state policymakers with a brief overview of Tennessee higher education within a regional and national context. This report presents data and analyses on five broad policy issues important to the state: (1) State context of higher education; (2) Student preparation; (3) Student participation; (4) Student progression; and (5) State higher education finance. (Contains 29 figures and 2 footnotes.)
Assessment of Industrial Attachment: Issues and Concerns of Chinhoyi University of Technology's Undergraduate Degree Programme, Zimbabwe
Author: Chinyemba, Fredreck
Date: 2012-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Action Research,Workplace Learning,Undergraduate Study,School Business Relationship,Partnerships in Education,Work Experience Programs,Competence,Performance Based Assessment,Formative Evaluation,Evaluation Methods,Program Effectiveness,Teacher Attitudes,Supervision

This article presents findings from an action research that explored industrial attachment supervision and assessment issues and concerns of CUT's (Chinhoyi University of Technology) undergraduate degree programme. The study was motivated by the observation that there is no research project contacted in order to determine the social and economic value of the programme objectives. The study used a cross-sectional survey technique to establish the strengths and weaknesses in the supervision and assessment practices of industrial attachment using 78 academic staff (including 13 industrial attachment coordinators) and 116 forth-year students drawn from six schools. They were required to fill in self-completion questionnaires containing closed and open-ended items. A t-test statistic for mean differences was used to confirm descriptive data at 5% level of significance and thematic generation was used to synthesize qualitative data. The study found that at df = 14, the calculated t = 0.314, one tailed test, critical t = 1.761 led to the conclusion that the supervision and assessment of industrial attachment was not competency-based. Authentic assessment of students on industrial attachment only takes place where the student is attached at credible organizations and is exposed practically to the broad categories of the specific field of study. The study raises several organizational weaknesses on the assessment process and techniques employed by academic and workplace supervisors. As such, authentic assessment of students on industrial attachment effectively takes place where the student is attached at credible organizations and only in cases where he/she is exposed practically to the broad categories of the specific field of study. The study raises several organizational weaknesses on the assessment process and techniques employed by both academic and workplace supervisors. As such, workplace assessment is not competency-based. Lecturers and students concurred that there is a need for attachment coordinators to communicate with and involve employers in the assessment process. The researchers recommend professional development of lecturers to handle competency-based assessments as footholds for improving connectivity between workplace and learning.
Principals' Perception of Coping Strategies for Retirement in Enugu State
Author: Ejionueme, L. K.
Date: 2012-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Administrator Attitudes,Retirement,Principals,Coping,State Schools,Foreign Countries,Questionnaires,Financial Support,Income,Secondary Schools,Employment,Career Change

Retirement is another phase of life. It is neither occupational death nor physical death. This study investigated principals' perception of the strategies to cope with retirement. One research question and one hypothesis guided the study. The sample for the study was 259 principals in Anambra state schools. Questionnaire was the instrument for the data collection. The study revealed a lot of retirement strategies. Among the retirement coping strategies revealed are: investing in transport business, engaging in stock broking business, and engaging in small scale business like soap-making and pure water. Based on the findings, it was recommended among other things that government should grant loans to retirees to enable them to get involved in these suggested strategies so that they can cope with retirement life. (Contains 2 tables.)
CCA 3101/4101 Environmental Humanities: The History of a Unit through an Ecopedagogical Lens
Author: Ryan, John Charles
Date: 2012-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Higher Education,Environmental Education,Humanities,Interdisciplinary Approach,Sustainability,Systems Approach,Course Content,Conflict,Neoliberalism,Politics of Education,Geographic Location,Indigenous Knowledge,Place Based Education

In 2011 the author taught, for the first time, the well-established unit CCA3101/4101 Environmental Humanities in the School of Communications and Arts at ECU (Edith Cowan University) in Western Australia. The unit has a 20-year history through associate professor Rod Giblett and parallels the development of the environmental humanities as a field in Australia, advanced since the 1990s by environmental scholars Deborah Bird Rose, Val Plumwood, Libby Robin, and Rod Giblett. The interdisciplinary field represents growing scholarly interest in the ecological aspects of humanities disciplines--including literature, visual arts, theology, philosophy, and cultural studies--and the development of humanities-based approaches for addressing environmental problems. In this paper, the author argues that the CCA3101/4101 unit is a key ecopedagogical resource, particularly with regard to ECU's recent development of sustainability as a core institutional value. The ecopedagogical principle of critical environmental awareness through radical political theory is a point of intersection with CCA3101/4101. The unit challenges students to analyze the political underpinnings of nature and its representations in the media. The author argues for the complementarity between the environmental humanities and ecopedagogy through the following themes found in the unit: (1) nature as a contested political construction; (2) bioregional and place-based awareness; and (3) equity focus, particularly through aboriginal Australian perspectives on the environment. (Contains 4 figures.)
Uncertain Times 2012: Afterschool Programs Still Struggling in Today's Economy
Author: Afterschool Alliance
Date: 2012-00-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Program Effectiveness,After School Programs,Economic Climate,Educational Finance,Budgets,Federal Aid,Economically Disadvantaged,At Risk Students,Correlation,African American Students,Hispanic American Students,Federal Legislation

&quot;Uncertain Times 2012,&quot; conducted by the Afterschool Alliance between April 25 and June 8, 2012, assesses the impact of economic conditions on afterschool programs. While many studies have evaluated the impact of programs, &quot;Uncertain Times&quot; is the only research to examine the fiscal health of afterschool programs and their ability to meet the needs of their communities. The 2012 report, the third in the &quot;Uncertain Times&quot; series, finds that afterschool programs continue to grapple with diminishing budgets and are concerned about financial security. These constraints, coupled with increased demand, leave them unable to fully support the children who need their services most. The report is based on 1,012 survey responses, representing 4,947 afterschool sites serving more than 567,470 children located in urban (45 percent), suburban (30 percent), and rural (31 percent) communities across the United States. Program Profile is appended. (Contains 5 footnotes.)