ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Fragmented Economy, Stratified Society, and the Shattered Dream
Author: Mordechay, Kfir
Date: 2011-12-00
Type: Numerical/Quantitative Data
Subjects: Social Class,Equal Opportunities (Jobs),Labor Market,Educational Opportunities,Unemployment,Metropolitan Areas,Hispanic Americans,African Americans,Economics,Social Stratification,Employment Opportunities,Civil Rights,Wages,Economic Climate,Financial Problems,Financial Exigency,Underemployment,Labor Force,Educational Attainment,Democratic Values,Whites,Asians

Across the massive megalopolis stretching from the northern suburbs of Los Angeles County through the metropolitan complex along the northern border of Baja California is a diverse area containing 24 million people, with a disproportionate percentage of Latinos and African Americans who are facing an educational and economic disaster. As it becomes increasingly evident that recovery from the most severe economic downturn since The Great Depression will remain subdued, and as the depth of economic plunge in The Great Recession becomes increasingly clear, it is essential to examine the growing disparities in the labor market which have resulted in a widespread increase in economic inequality throughout the region and the state. Though easily drawn into focus in this time of extreme economic slowdown, the changes to the Southern California economy over the last four years are only symptoms of an already existing structural problem exacerbated by the recession, not created by it. Furthermore, it is essential to understand the differential economic opportunity in the region, as it provides a telling story of the challenges we face throughout the nation. This report shows that for several decades there has been a trend towards differential educational and employment opportunity, and that these social and economic inequalities have been heavily related to racial, ethnic, spatial, and social class distinctions. Individuals from the lowest social rungs, particularly Latinos, African Americans, and those in the lowest educational ranks, not only begin with different opportunities and resources, but often do not have the paths to mobility in the quest for social and economic well-being. This trend of racial and class stratification in terms of employment prospects, earnings, and educational opportunity has been increasing for the last 30 years. This report reveals the depth and scope of the problem, with the hope that it will be instrumental in focusing attention on the remedies and leadership needed to make real changes, so that all groups can benefit from the opportunities available within communities. (Contains 20 figures, 14 tables and 141 footnotes.)
The Status of the Teaching Profession 2011. Summary Report
Author: Plattner, Andy
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Teaching (Occupation),Teacher Effectiveness,Principals,Administrator Role,Administrator Attitudes,Educational Policy,Academic Achievement,Academic Standards,Teacher Evaluation,Research Methodology

In each of its teacher workforce reports over the past dozen years, the Center for the Future of Teaching and Learning at WestEd (CFTL) has combined solid research, thoughtful analysis, and plain language to describe who is teaching California's 6.2 million students. This year the author and his colleagues have expanded that focus to include the California principalship because of its important role in supporting teacher effectiveness. Their 2011 report, summarized in this publication, takes an extended look at how California's school principals perceive their expanding role and how well prepared they are for their key responsibility of helping their teachers in becoming more effective educators. The full report drew on secondary data; survey results from a representative sample of over 600 California school principals; and follow-up interviews with a subset of principals and a selected group of teacher leaders from around the state. The sidebar, &quot;A New Normal for California Educators,&quot; describes the challenging context in which principals and teachers alike are striving to improve student outcomes. (Contains 5 figures and 6 footnotes.) [For the full report, &quot;The Status of the Teaching Profession 2011,&quot; see ED527741.]
The Impacts of State Performance Funding Systems on Higher Education Institutions: Research Literature Review and Policy Recommendations. CCRC Working Paper No. 37
Author: Dougherty, Kevin J.
Date: 2011-12-00
Type: Information Analyses
Subjects: Higher Education,Program Effectiveness,Educational Policy,Policy Analysis,Research Reports,Literature Reviews,College Outcomes Assessment,Institutional Evaluation,State Aid,Resource Allocation,Barriers,Educational Improvement,State Legislation

Over the past three decades policymakers have been seeking new ways to secure improved performance from higher education institutions. One popular approach has been performance funding, which involves use of a formula to tie funding to institutional performance on specified indicators. This report reviews findings from studies on performance funding programs in a multitude of states. The studies suggest that tying funding to outputs has immediate impacts on colleges in the form of changes in funding, greater awareness by institutions of state priorities and of their own institutional performance, and increased status competition among institutions. Because of these immediate impacts, performance funding produces intermediate institutional changes in the form of greater use of data in institutional planning and policymaking and in changes in academic and student service policies and practices that promise to improve student outcomes. However, claims that performance funding does indeed increase ultimate outcomes--in the form of improved rates of retention, completion of developmental education, and graduation--are not validated by solid data. In the face of this finding, this report identifies obstacles to the effective functioning of performance funding, as well as unintended impacts. The report closes by providing recommendations for overcoming the many obstacles to the effective functioning of performance funding and addressing the unintended impacts documented by the studies reviewed. (Contains 40 footnotes.)
Children's Media Use and Sleep Problems: Issues and Unanswered Questions. Research Brief
Author: Zimmerman, Frederick J.
Date: 2008-06-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Sleep,Mass Media Effects,Mass Media Role,Mass Media Use,Social Indicators,Social Influences,Social Science Research,Behavioral Science Research,Trend Analysis,Habit Formation,Adolescent Attitudes,Childhood Attitudes,Student Attitudes,Child Behavior,Student Behavior,Social Behavior,Behavior Problems

Research shows that most children and adolescents do not get enough high-quality sleep, and that their sleep times appear to have declined over the last two decades. Coinciding with this trend has been the rise in popularity of new media forms including the Internet, video games, cell phones and DVDs. Because of the immediacy and interactivity of these new technologies, young people are using media at times and in ways that might interfere with sleep quantity and quality. This research brief examines different aspects of how media use may impact sleep. It reviews and summarizes the limited body of research on this topic, including studies on whether media use directly displaces sleep, and how media content can have either an exciting or calming effect on children. The brief also highlights key unanswered questions that emerge from the prior studies on children's media use and sleep.
Media Multitasking among American Youth: Prevalence, Predictors and Pairings
Author: Foehr, Ulla G.
Date: 2006-12-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Expertise,Evidence,Young Adults,Adolescents,Predictor Variables,Incidence,Mass Media Use,Adolescent Attitudes,Adolescent Development,Individual Characteristics,Behavioral Science Research,Activities,Performance Factors,Social Science Research,Task Analysis,Cognitive Style,Mass Media Effects,Multiple Intelligences,Multiple Literacies

In the past, multitasking was a juggling act performed by busy adults, as they tried to manage jobs, chores, carpools, and PTA meetings. But recently, teens and tweens have turned into the real experts at multitasking, as their lives become chock-full of organized activities. For them, multitasking has simply become a way of life: "If I couldn't multitask, I couldn't do what I do... I'd have to cut a sport, or cut a class" says one high school junior (Hafner, 2001). With the exception of anecdotal evidence and a few surveys, researchers have little information about the extent and nature of adolescent media multitasking. The questions the researchers are investigating are new: questions such as "How prevalent is media multitasking?" "Who is media multitasking?" "Is media multitasking behavior related to other media behaviors or personal characteristics?", and "Which activities are most often multitasked?" Two major findings emerge from this research regarding the pairing of media. First, it is evident that when watching TV, a young person is not usually media multitasking (indeed, is less likely to be multitasking than when using any other medium), but when a young person is media multitasking there is likely television involved. Second, computer activities are the most multitasked activities in this study and, unlike the situation with television, music or reading, most of computer time devoted to secondary activities is overwhelmingly media-based. This research also suggests that some young people are more likely to media multitask than others. Certainly more research is needed to understand the nuances of likelihood to media multitask, but the current findings can guide individuals in their search for more detailed answers. Young people who are exposed to the most media, those who have a computer and can see a television from it, those who are sensation seekers, those who live in highly TV-oriented households, and girls (more than boys) are all more likely to media multitask. These characteristics seem to point to two factors that may drive media multitasking: a need, or a motivation, to media multitask (to fit in everything they want to do), and the opportunity to media multitask. Methodology is appended. (Contains 9 tables, 6 figures and 18 endnotes.)
Generation M[superscript 2]: Media in the Lives of 8- to 18-Year-Olds
Author: Rideout, Victoria J.
Date: 2010-01-00
Type: Numerical/Quantitative Data
Subjects: Children,Adolescents,Young Adults,Mass Media Use,Recreational Activities,Television Viewing,Use Studies,Handheld Devices,Telecommunications,Video Games,Diaries,Data Collection,Elementary Secondary Education,Mass Media Effects,Time Management,Executive Function,Difficulty Level,Longitudinal Studies

This study is one of the largest and most comprehensive publicly available sources of information on the amount and nature of media use among American youth: (1) It includes a large national sample of more than 2,000 young people from across the country; (2) It covers children from ages 8 to 18, to track changes from childhood through the transitional "tween" period, and on into the teenage years; (3) It explores a comprehensive array of media, including TV, computers, video games, music, print, cell phones, and movies;  (4) It is one of the only studies to measure and account for media multitasking--the time young people spend using more than one medium concurrently; and (5) It gathers highly detailed information about young people's media behavior, including responses to an extensive written questionnaire completed by the entire sample, plus results from a subsample of approximately 700 respondents who also maintained week-long diaries recording their media use in half-hour increments. Finally, because this is the third wave of the Kaiser Family Foundation's studies of children's media use, it not only provides a detailed look at current media use patterns among young people, but also documents changes in children's media habits since the first two waves of the study, in 1999 and 2004. It is hoped that the data provided here will offer a reliable foundation for policymakers trying to craft national media policies, parents trying to do their best to stay on top of their children's media habits, and educators, advocates and public health groups that are concerned with the impact of media on youth, and want to leverage the educational and informational potential of media in young people's lives. Appended are: (1) Tables; (2) Changes in Question Wording and Structure Over Time; (3) Toplines; and (4) Sample of Media Use Diary.
A Descriptive Study of the Performance Appraisal of Supervisors of Spicer Higher Secondary School, Using &quot;360 Degree Feedback&quot; Model
Author: Hemati, Hamidreza
Date: 2011-10-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Feedback (Response),Qualitative Research,Observation,Instructional Leadership,Models,Secondary Schools,Interviews,Questionnaires,Leadership Effectiveness,Communication Skills,Gender Differences,Supervisors,Supervisory Methods,Evaluation Methods,Administrator Evaluation,Assistant Principals,Formative Evaluation

The purpose of the research was to study the performance of the supervisors in the aspects leadership, communication, and task managing by the &quot;360 degree feedback&quot; method. A qualitative research was used to carry out the research study. The researcher formulated three questions that guided the study. An opinionnaire which included 23 items in communication, leadership, and task managing aspects, was developed by the researcher. Twenty eight persons completed the opinionnaire and 3 interviews were conducted. Total amount of time for observation was about 12 hours and the details have been mentioned in Appendix C. The required data was collected from the selected sample of 27 teachers, supervisors, and the principal. The results were tabulated. Finally the conclusions of the study were drawn. The conclusions of the research study were drawn through triangulation and the results of opinionnaire that were verified with observation and interviews. The researcher found the performance of supervisors in each aspect. The performance appraisal of supervisors in Spicer Higher Secondary School in communication aspect is above average, in leadership aspect is almost good, in task managing aspect is clearly average, and the  performance of the male supervisors is better than that of the female supervisor. Appended to this document are: (1) Correspondences; (2) Opinionnaire; (3) Observation Card; and (4) Interview Questions. (Contains 14 tables.)
Opinions of English Major Students about Their Departments' Websites
Author: Zengin, Bugra
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: College Students,Majors (Students),Student Attitudes,English Departments,College Second Language Programs,English (Second Language),Web Sites,Design,Foreign Countries,Student Surveys

University websites serve as sharing information with students whether prospective or enrolled. Often, before entering their departments, students visit them to have an idea as to what it would be like to be a part of that university and/or department. In that sense, websites help students in deciding whether the university matches their expectations. After enrollment, websites start to serve as their representative and an interactive ground for students, academics, and administrative personnel of the university. Because schools exist for students, their opinions matter. This study aimed to have students' opinions of their departmental websites. For the purposes of this study, students of English or related majors (i.e. English language teaching, English linguistics, English language and literature, translation studies, American culture and literature) were sent a questionnaire to find out their opinions of their departments' official websites. The results suggest that there are a number of areas for universities and departments to improve their websites to promote themselves in a more realistic manner that suits needs of their students. (Contains 6 tables.)
Effectiveness of Using Games in Teaching Grammar to Young Learners
Author: Yolageldili, Gulin
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Instructional Effectiveness,English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Games,Teaching Methods,Second Language Instruction,Language Teachers,Foreign Countries,Grammar,Teacher Attitudes,Questionnaires,Elementary School Students,Elementary School Teachers

The primary aim of this study was to explore the effectiveness of using games in teaching grammar to young learners from the view points of Turkish EFL teachers working in primary schools. English language teacher' (n = 15) opinions were collected through a questionnaire and the results of this study demonstrated that Turkish EFL teachers have a range of conceptions about using games in grammar teaching similar to those reported in the current literature. The study suggests that while Turkish EFL teachers accept the effectiveness of using games in grammar teaching, they do not use games as frequently as expected in their classrooms. (Contains 5 tables.)
College Classroom Analysis: The Methodology of Cheating and Possible Prevention
Author: Cain, William Dennis
Date: 2009-04-22
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Plagiarism,College Students,Student Attitudes,Cheating,Fear,College Faculty,Problem Solving,Computer Software,Identification,Web Sites

The purpose of this study was to examine how prevalent classroom cheating and plagiarizing has become and to inform educators on how to reduce these practices. Student cheating and plagiarism will be examined and analyzed to determine how severe the problem is, as well as finding potential reasons, methods, and solutions to the unethical practice. To see its impact on a local college, fifty students enrolled at Indiana University-Bloomington were surveyed on potential classroom cheating and essay plagiarism. The grade level of the students ranged with 62% being freshmen, 30% as sophomores, juniors and Graduates each were represented by 2%, and seniors comprised 4% of the total student body. Results from the survey reveal that while 88% of the student sample saw classroom cheating as wrong, 40% admitted to doing it. 24% of the sample stated that they only cheated one to three times during their enrollment, 10% for four to six times, 4% cheated seven to nine times, while only 2% cheated more then ten times. Predetermined responses for why they defrauded their educators academically revealed that 85% of the admitted cheaters did so out of fear of failing with lesser numbers stating it was to save time and to handle the high stress of the class. Despite high levels of test cheating, only 16% of the survey admitted to essay plagiarizing. The reasons why they copied and pasted without proper citation were the inverse of why they cheated with the most common response being to save time with the least being out of fear of failing. To summarize the reasoning behind wrongful student practices is that 52% of those surveyed stated that the grade was more important than the knowledge. The survey's results indicate that a large minority of college students are willing to earn acceptable grades without doing the appropriate work. The high level of admitted cheaters and plagiarists confirms that colleges are inadequately prepared to handle the raising levels of these practices. Educators need to understand the severity of this problem, learn the methods these students employ during test time and the means to counter them, use new anti-cheating software to identify copied papers, and educate new students to understand exactly the consequences of not earning a degree legitimately. An In-depth Survey of Cheating &amp; Plagiarizing in College is included.
Child-Headed Households: A Feasible Way Forward, or an Infringement of Children's Right to Alternative Care?
Author: Phillips, Charlotte
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Childrens Rights,Child Care,Heads of Households,Children,Child Welfare,International Law,Legislation,Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS),Poverty,Foster Care,Incidence,Housing,Income,Health Services,Family Characteristics,Access to Education,Foreign Countries

In the face of growing international support for recognition of child-headed households, the author poses the following questions: What does the internationally recognised right to alternative care for children entail? Is the recognition of child-headed households as a form of alternative care in line with the Convention on the Rights of the Child and other international standards? Three appendixes present: (1) Convention on the Rights of the Child; (2) African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child; and (3) UN Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children. A bibliography and list of legal documents are also included. (Contains 909 footnotes and 15 figures.)
New High in Engineering Degree Production. Facts
Author: Connecticut Department of Higher Education
Date: 2010-04-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Academic Degrees,Engineering Education,Labor Force Development,Higher Education,Community Colleges,Engineering Technology,College Graduates

Several of the state's key industry sectors depend heavily on employees with advanced scientific, analytic and technical knowledge. Among the fields closely related to these sectors, engineering degrees have posted the largest gain. This paper presents details on the following facts: (1) 2009 represented a record high for engineering degrees; (2) Engineering degrees encompass a wide range of programs; and (3) Engineering technologies are expanding through new programs. (Contains 1 footnote.)
Strategic Plan to Ensure Racial and Ethnic Diversity in Connecticut Public Higher Education, 2010. Annual Report
Author: Connecticut Department of Higher Education
Date: 2010-03-00
Type: Numerical/Quantitative Data
Subjects: Strategic Planning,Higher Education,Public Colleges,American Indians,Asian Americans,North Americans,Minority Groups,Professional Personnel,Hispanic Americans,African Americans,State Government,Student Diversity,Enrollment Trends,College Faculty,State Universities,Minority Group Teachers,Statistical Data

Increasing the participation of minority groups at public colleges and universities is a longstanding goal of the Board of Governors for Higher Education, as first outlined in its 1983 &quot;Strategic Plan to Ensure Racial and Ethnic Diversity in Connecticut Public Higher Education&quot;. The minority groups defined by the plan are: Hispanic/Latino, African American, Asian American and Native American--listed in order of their current proportional presence in the state's population. Subsequently, the Board's &quot;Strategic Plan&quot; was enacted by the state legislature, which since 1986 has provided the Board with a small, symbolic annual allocation to promote achievement of the plan's diversity goals. Although the plan mandates no numeric goals, it holds campuses to the ideal that the racial and ethnic make-up of their students, graduates and professional staff should reflect the diversity of the state's residents. Since enactment of the Strategic Plan, students attending and graduating from Connecticut's public colleges and universities have become more racially and ethnically diverse and 2009 continues a historic trend of year-to-year incremental progress. The number of minority group members among both enrolled students and degree recipients at the undergraduate level reached record levels. There has also been a steady increase in the number of minority group members employed as professionals at public institutions. This report summarizes the activities and progress achieved in 2009 to ensure that Connecticut's public colleges and universities are representative of the state's racial and ethnic diversity. (Contains 9 tables.)