ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Charter School Competition, Organization, and Achievement in Traditional Public Schools
Author: Davis, Tomeka M.
Date: 2013-12-09
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Charter Schools,Competition,Academic Achievement,School Choice,Administrative Organization,Educational Administration,Educational Change,Academic Standards,Teacher Characteristics,Educational Innovation,State Standards,Predictor Variables,Mathematics Achievement,Reading Achievement,Correlation,Elementary Secondary Education,Comparative Analysis,Conventional Instruction,Longitudinal Studies,Multivariate Analysis,Least Squares Statistics

Market models of education reform predict that the growth of charter schools will infuse competition into the public school sector, forcing traditional public schools to improve the practices they engage in to educate students. Some scholars have criticized these models, arguing that competition from charter schools is unlikely to produce significant change among public schools. Using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Class, I attempt to identify potential mechanisms linking charter competition to achievement in traditional public schools. The results provide little support for the market model. Competition from charter schools is not associated with reading or math scores, and is only associated with three of ten organizational measures. There is some support for an indirect relationship between math achievement and competition through reductions in teacher absenteeism, but these results fall short of meeting conventional thresholds for statistical significance.
Public Entrepreneurs and the Adoption of Broad-Based Merit Aid beyond the Southeastern United States
Author: Ingle, William Kyle
Date: 2013-07-08
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Merit Scholarships,Student Financial Aid,State Aid,Adoption (Ideas),Innovation,Entrepreneurship,Role,Policy Formation,Educational Policy,Case Studies

The concentration of broad-based merit aid adoption in the southeastern United States has been well noted in the literature. However, there are states that have adopted broad-based merit aid programs outside of the Southeast. Guided by multiple theoretical frameworks, including innovation diffusion theory (e.g., Gray, 1973, 1994; Rogers, 2003), Roberts and King's (1991) typology of public entrepreneurs, and Anderson's (2003) stages of the policymaking process, this qualitative study sought to answer the following questions. First, in the absence of regional diffusion pressures, what internal determinants are reported as accounting for the diffusion of broad-based merit aid programs outside of the Southeastern US? What types of public entrepreneurs were identified as playing key roles in establishing merit aid in states outside the southeastern US? During which stages of the policymaking process were they active? We found that merit aid was a means of addressing an array of public problems, including low college going rates at in-state public colleges and universities, and weak K-12 accountability. Consistent factors reported as facilitating merit aid creation included a strong, vocal public advocate (governors and a university system president) and a desire to strengthen state economies and diversify workforces. A full range of public entrepreneurs played key roles in developing merit aid in the sampled states. Political and executive entrepreneurs were in the forefront of merit aid efforts, but our data suggest that a cast of supporting public entrepreneurs were integral to the eventual adoption of broad-based merit aid in the sampled states.
It's Not Education by Zip Code Anymore--But What is It? Conceptions of Equity under the Common Core
Author: Kornhaber, Mindy L.
Date: 2014-01-27
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Equal Education,School Location,State Standards,Academic Standards,Interviews,Achievement Gap,Elementary Secondary Education,Federal Legislation,Educational Legislation,Educational Change,Educational Policy,Semi Structured Interviews,Educational Opportunities

The Common Core State Standards Initiative is a standards-based reform in which 45 U.S. states and the District of Columbia have agreed to participate. The reform seeks to anchor primary and secondary education across these states in one set of demanding, internationally benchmarked standards. Thereby, all students will be prepared for further learning and work in a competitive global economy regardless of the sociodemographic variation associated with their &quot;zip code,&quot; that is, the location of their neighborhood or school. This article examines the role and meaning of equity within the Common Core at a level beyond &quot;zip code.&quot; It does so using data from interviews with Common Core policy entrepreneurs and qualitative analysis of interview data. Findings are considered against a conceptual framework of equal, equalizing, and expansive views of  equity. The findings indicate that policy entrepreneurs hold primarily an equal view of equity, in accord with meritocratic and functional purposes of schooling, more so than equalizing or expansive views. The latter views emphasize compensatory purposes that focus on narrowing achievement gaps. From this analysis, we identify the paradox of equity in education policy: The successful launch of a policy that relies on existing paradigms of standards-based reform and an equal conception of equity helps tether educational outcomes to student background.
Minnesota Brings Together Stakeholders to Develop a Plan for Children who are Deaf, Deafblind, and Hard of Hearing
Author: Hartnett, Mary
Date: 2013-00-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Deaf Blind,Children,Stakeholders,Educational Improvement,Hearing Impairments,Advocacy,Cooperative Planning,Agency Cooperation,Educational Needs,Educational Planning,Alignment (Education),Goal Orientation

The Commission of Deaf, DeafBlind, and Hard of Hearing Minnesotans (MNCDHH) and the Minnesota Department of Education co-sponsored remote participation in two National Summits on Deaf Education in 2009 and 2010. The summits were focused on improved outcomes for deaf, deafblind, and hard of hearing students, partnerships, and collaboration. Summit participants asked the MNCDHH to convene a Minnesota summit in 2011 to develop a data-driven statewide, deaf, deafblind, and hard of hearing education improvement plan with specific, measurable, and timely outcomes. This article describes the tenets they produced to guide all of the goals, objectives, and outcomes developed for this plan.
When the Least Restrictive Environment is Residential: Meeting the Needs of Our Son
Author: Morris, Djenne-Amal
Date: 2013-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Deafness,Partial Hearing,Mainstreaming,Blindness,Developmental Delays,School Districts,Deaf Blind,Residential Programs

In this article, the author, a parent of Malik, a special needs child with CHARGE Syndrome, describes the difficulties she encountered with her local educational agency (LEA) in transitioning her son from the Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown, Massachusetts to the Eastern North Carolina School for the Deaf (ENCSD).  At ENCSD, Malik now receives the education he deserves from a staff of deaf-blind interveners who help Malik navigate his world, gather information, gain independence, and improve his self-help and communication skills. The author also presents four tips to parents: (1) Don't doubt yourself as a parent; (2) Activate your support network; (3) Persuade with perfume; and (4) Don't wait...escalate.
Education Policies for Gender Equity: Probing into State Responses
Author: Stromquist, Nelly P.
Date: 2013-08-26
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Gender Discrimination,Equal Education,Sex Fairness,Federal Legislation,Educational Legislation,Educational Policy,State Policy,Educational History,Compliance (Legal),Presidents,Court Litigation,Access to Education,College Admission,Intellectual Disciplines,Majors (Students),Higher Education,Case Studies

The implementation of non-discriminatory sex legislation provides theoretical and empirical grounds to examine responses by the state to gender equality. Tracing the trajectory of one such law in the U.S.--Title IX--over a period of 40 years, this study analyzes the extent to which the state: (1) acted as a unitary body, and (2) functioned to dismantle its own oppressive gender features. By examining the federal government's three core branches (executive, legislative, and judicial), the study finds differential responses by branch, with the greatest variability expressed by the executive branch, revealing the state to be less than a coherent institution. The study also shows only modest efforts to enforce the law, raising doubts about the commitment of the state to transform the social relations of gender. The state's framing of gender equality exclusively in terms of non-discriminatory practices falls short of fostering changes in gender mentalities and identities in U.S. educational institutions--an outcome reflected in the persistent gender clustering of fields of study at the university level.
Creating Community: Balancing the Personal and Professional
Author: Stevens, Connie
Date: 2013-00-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Deafness,Down Syndrome,Intervention,Public Agencies,Screening Tests,Interpersonal Relationship,Social Support Groups

In this article, Connie Stevens describes her life as a mother to a child with Down Syndrome who at seven months of age was diagnosed with profound hearing loss. At the time there was not much support for families like hers; however a movement was developing. With the help of dedicated professionals and Wisconsin mothers and fathers, a wide and diverse support system blossomed. Stevens now works for the state, dividing her time between two agencies that have collaboratively created a Hands &amp; Voices Guide By Your Side Program for Wisconsin, a program that offers parent-to-parent support from screening through intervention. With the Department of Health and Wisconsin Sound Beginnings, she and her team help ensure that all babies born in Wisconsin have their hearing checked and, if necessary, receive timely services. With the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction's Educational Services Program for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Outreach Program, she is also one of 20 or so parent guides throughout the state. As a parent guide she meets with families in their homes--either shortly after diagnosis or when the family is ready to participate--to provide parents with the opportunity to establish a supportive relationship with another parent of a child who is deaf, hard of hearing, deaf-blind, or deaf with additional disabilities. Parent guides can share the unique needs of infants, children, and teenagers who have hearing loss. They are trained to offer unbiased information and support, as well as to connect families with resources (locally, regionally, statewide, and nationally), so families have the information and knowledge they need to make informed decisions on behalf of their child.
Class and Parents' Agency in West Virginia: Between Choices and Rights
Author: Sherfinski, Melissa
Date: 2013-09-30
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Parent Rights,Access to Education,Preschool Education,Young Children,Early Intervention,School Choice,Private School Aid,Private Schools,Public Schools,At Risk Students,Neoliberalism,Delivery Systems,Academic Standards,Social Class,Case Studies,Longitudinal Studies,Observation,Interviews,Preschool Teachers,Administrators,Semi Structured Interviews,Individual Characteristics

Universal pre-kindergarten (UPK) is a popular reform in West Virginia, offering part-time readiness-oriented instruction for four-year-olds and some three-year-olds with special needs. The reform joins public school sites and community partners (private preschool and/or Head Start resources) in the goal of pre-kindergarten for all eligible children, and has targeted the struggling lower-middle class. UPK may position parents between choices and rights by providing discrepant public and private choices for families who do not qualify for the Head Start strand while naming access &quot;universal&quot;. In this case study, I examine the context of access in relation to the discourses and politics of neoliberal globalism. Neoliberal globalism has shaped West Virginia's UPK policy towards producing particular childhoods and roles for teachers and parents in service to the  economic growth of the state. Specifically, I analyze the role of social class dynamics among lower-middle class parents who sought readiness opportunities in one UPK community. The results indicate that Bourdieu's theory of social reproduction is relevant. Lower-middle class parents were active and instrumental choosers within the hybrid  market system. Given two groups of lower-middle class participants (RMC-recent members of the lower-middle class descended from the middle class and HMC-historical members of the lower-middle class), RMC advantageously engaged resources traditionally designated for poor and working class families while HMC used social networks built locally over time to support their choice-making. In order to re-think West Virginia UPK's position towards cultural pluralism and social justice, I suggest several possibilities in the areas of policy, community deliberation, and educational practice.
&quot;We Brought It upon Ourselves&quot;: University-Based Teacher Education and the Emergence of Boot-Camp-Style Routes to Teacher Certification
Author: Friedrich, Daniel
Date: 2014-01-13
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Teacher Education,Alternative Teacher Certification,Pedagogical Content Knowledge,Educational Psychology,Experiments

The proliferation of boot-camp-style routes to teacher certification in the last two decades is seen by many university-based teacher educators as the result of the advancement of conservative  interests aimed at de-professionalizing teaching. This essay argues that this view only accounts for one piece of the answer, the other one being that some of the foundational assumptions embedded in most university-based teacher education programs actually opened the doors for the boiling down of teacher preparation to the bare minimum. By situating the psychological sciences at the foundations of pedagogical knowledge and positioning them as the privileged lens to understand the learning subject, university-based teacher education has paved the way to its own disappearance. Both traditional and alternative routes to teaching can be understood, then, as part of the same system of thought, one that needs to be cracked open in order to be able to imagine other possibilities.
The Effects of Health Insurance Coverage on the Math Achievement Trajectories of School Children in Yuma County, Arizona: Implications for Education Accountability Policy
Author: Garcy, Anthony M.
Date: 2013-10-14
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Health Insurance,Accountability,Educational Policy,Diseases,Injuries,Longitudinal Studies,Mathematics Achievement,Poverty,Achievement Tests,Scores,Comparative Analysis,Correlation,Achievement Gains,Student Characteristics,Statistical Analysis

U.S. Federal and state education policies place considerable emphasis on assessing the effects that schools and teachers have on student test score performance. It is important for education policy makers to also consider other factors that can affect student achievement. This study finds that an exogenous school factor, discontinuous health insurance coverage, leads to a deficit in math achievement over time. A sample of Yuma County, Arizona public school students who experienced an illness or injury and whose health insurance coverage status was known were selected for inclusion into the study over five consecutive school years (1999-2003). The longitudinal math achievement trajectory of students who had private health insurance coverage was compared to students who had discontinuous coverage. Net of a student's poverty status and other background characteristics the findings suggest that students who experienced a health event when they had no healthcare insurance had the same growth rate but lower overall math achievement. The average achievement gap was a constant -8.84 scale score points. However, separate analyses for specific types of illness/injury suggest the achievement deficit varied considerably and is typically larger. Other important findings from the study suggest that students who maintained continuous health insurance coverage through the SCHIP/Medicaid program had steeper, positive achievement gains than either those with private coverage or those who experience coverage gaps.
The Great Self-Advocacy Wave! Mom Teaches Most Important Lesson: &quot;Explain!&quot;
Author: Resciniti, Joey Lynn
Date: 2013-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Deafness,Partial Hearing,Assistive Technology,Aquatic Sports,Self Advocacy

Joey Lynn Resciniti&apos;s first lesson on childhood hearing loss was a speech banana printed on glossy paper with bright red X&apos;s and O&apos;s. Her daughter, Julia, was almost 3 years old. The speech banana showed that she had not been hearing most of the conversation in the house. She had not heard the birds singing outside or the whoosh of traffic along the busy road. The clinical term that described this was &quot;moderate sensorineural hearing loss.&quot; This article tells Julia&apos;s story, and her journey through understanding and self-advocacy.
A Lifetime of Trauma: Mental Health Challenges for Higher Education in a Conflict Environment in Afghanistan
Author: Babury, Mohammed Osman
Date: 2013-09-16
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Mental Health,Higher Education,War,Public Policy,Role of Education,Educational Policy,Policy Analysis,Educational Quality,Educational Improvement,Mental Health Programs,College Students,College Faculty,Trauma,Mental Disorders

More than 30 years of war in Afghanistan have resulted in immense policy challenges to address the resulting mental health issues. The purpose of this policy analysis is to examine the potential role of higher education in addressing the pressing mental health problems in Afghanistan's public universities and higher education institutions as a major policy challenge. We define and spell out the extent and nature of the mental health problems and policy issues involved, putting them in the context of students in a war environment. We discuss efforts by the leadership of the Ministry of Higher Education to respond to the physical damage of war and the resulting mental health crises in a setting of very scarce human and financial resources. We describe a system of higher education battered by years of war yet seeking to rebuild and raise quality even while the fighting continues. The conditions of the higher education system are described, as well as the scope, complexity and nature of mental health problems, and major challenges faced in trying to rebuild both the system and the lives of the higher education community. We spell out the immense challenges faced in rebuilding a system badly devastated by war while dealing with the tremendous human mental health toll experienced by its students, faculty, and staff. We conclude by setting out some possible directions, options and recommendations for responding to the mental health problems while recognizing the difficulties higher education faces in trying to respond to them.
&quot;It's Our Best Choice Right Now&quot;: Exploring How Charter School Parents Choose
Author: Villavicencio, Adriana
Date: 2013-10-21
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: School Choice,Charter Schools,Parents,Educational Quality,Academic Achievement,Social Capital,Urban Schools,Observation,Coding,Student Characteristics,Student Diversity,Family Characteristics,Comparative Analysis,Parent Attitudes,Decision Making,Access to Information,Racial Differences,Ethnicity,Socioeconomic Influences,Case Studies,Semi Structured Interviews

One of the underlying premises of the charter school movement is that quality drives consumer choice. As educational consumers, parents are viewed as rational actors who, if given the choice, will select better performing school. In examining the choice processes of charter school parents, however, this study calls into question the extent to which some parents can make optimal choices. Interviews with parents enrolled in two different charter schools indicate that charter parents do not necessarily choose higher performing charter schools; nor do they necessarily leave low performing charter schools. The study also provides evidence that parent &quot;choice sets&quot; (Bell, 2009) vary depending on networks and social capital. Thus, choice alone does not necessarily ensure that parents will have better, more equal options.
For Parents and Children Access is Key-- To Curriculum, to Services, and to Each Other
Author: Crace, Jodee S.
Date: 2013-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Deafness,Partial Hearing,Social Support Groups,Special Schools,American Sign Language,Organizations (Groups)

Parent-to-parent support is vital for parents of all children, but, of course, it is especially vital for parents who have deaf or hard of hearing children. Without the support of other parents, those with deaf and hard of hearing children can easily feel isolated, confused, and alone. Once they meet each other, however, those same parents feel enriched, both by learning about the experiences of others and by sharing their own. Access is key--to each other for comfort and meaningful support, to information for the knowledge they need to support their children academically and emotionally, and, above all, to their children&apos;s thoughts and feelings. At the American Society for Deaf Children, the goal is to support parents and their children in whatever way they need to gain access.This article shares two parents&apos; stories.
Fostering Skills in Self-Advocacy: A Key to Access in School and Beyond
Author: Luckner, John L.
Date: 2013-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Deafness,Language Skills,Academic Accommodations (Disabilities),Student Rights,Individualized Education Programs,Role Playing,Self Advocacy,Hearing Impairments,Knowledge Level,Drills (Practice),Skill Development

Self-advocacy occurs when deaf or hard of hearing individuals explain to hearing teachers, classmates, bosses, and officemates the nature of their hearing loss, their language skills, and the accommodations they require in order to effectively do their work, participate in conversations, and get involved in other activities. Self-advocacy may be especially important for students who are deaf or hard of hearing and attend schools with predominantly hearing peers and teachers. Similarly, it may be critical for deaf and hard of hearing adults who work with hearing coworkers. Self-advocacy may be like learning arithmetic; the skills for it may not come easily to some people. Therefore, self-advocacy should be taught while students are in school, giving them multiple opportunities to understand and practice their skills prior to entering postsecondary education and the world of work. This article discusses what self advocacy is and how to teach it.