0

Eric.ed.gov – Institute of Education Science Findings from Interviews with Education Policymakers.

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This reports presents interview findings with education policymakers on various aspects of educational research. The sampling contained the following groups: superintendents and other local education officials; chief state school officers; state higher education executive officers; state legislators; governors’ educational policy advisors; congressional staff members; and education association executive directors. Altogether, 142 interviews were conducted. The interviews covered the following aspects of educational research: (1) research priority areas from policymakers’ perspectives; (2) access to and use of existing research; (3) assessment of existing research; and (4) suggestions for improving education research. Student achievement–especially achievement in reading, math, and science–and its relationship to effective instruction, curricula, programs, and policies was the highest priority for research shared by the policymakers interviewed across groups. Respondents also expressed the importance of research… Continue Reading

0

Eric.ed.gov – State Test Score Trends through 2007-08. Part 1: Is the Emphasis on “Proficiency” Shortchanging Higher- and Lower-Achieving Students?

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This report is the first in a series of reports describing results from the Center on Education Policy’s (CEP’s) third annual analysis of state testing data. The report provides an update on student performance at the proficient level of achievement, and for the first time, includes data about student performance at the advanced and basic levels. Also included are profiles for each state, which show trends in reading and math for basic, proficient, and advanced levels in elementary, middle, and high school. The study provides an in-depth look at the full range of student performance in order to better understand whether the No Child Left Behind Act’s (NCLB) focus on proficiency has caused teachers to shortchange students at either end of the academic spectrum. Reported findings include:… Continue Reading

0

Eric.ed.gov – No Child Left Behind: A Toolkit for Teachers.

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This booklet provides teachers with information about the No Child Left Behind Act and how it supports teachers. It includes an overview of the law’s “highly qualified” teacher provisions as well as information about other aspects of the law. The booklet offers: “Foreword” (letters from the President of the United States and the Secretary of Education); “What is No Child Left Behind?” (the law that ushered in a new era); “What Does ‘Highly Qualified’ Mean for Teachers?”; “Questions Frequently Asked by Teachers” (teacher quality, accountability, testing, reading, scientifically based research, and safe schools); “Resources and Support for Teachers” (supporting America’s teachers, how No Child Left Behind helps English language learners, reading first: a $6 billion investment to improve the reading skills of young children, how No Child… Continue Reading

0

Eric.ed.gov – ESEA Briefing Book

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: President Obama and congressional leaders have vowed to take action this year on the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), most recently reauthorized and rebranded as the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. While most observers remain skeptical that everyone will actually see a signing ceremony in 2011, it does appear likely that at least one house of Congress will produce a bill. In this “briefing book,” the authors identify the ten key issues that policymakers must resolve in order to get reauthorization across the finish line, and explore the major options under consideration for each one. The ten issues–which fall under the areas of standards and assessments, accountability, teacher quality, and flexibility and innovation–are these: (1) College and career readiness–Should states be required to adopt… Continue Reading

0

Eric.ed.gov – Race to the Top. New York. State-Reported APR: Year One

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This paper describes New York’s progress in implementing a comprehensive and coherent approach to education reform from the time of application through June 30, 2011. In particular, this report highlights key accomplishments over the reporting period in the four reform areas: standards and assessments, data systems to support instruction, great teachers and leaders, and turning around lowest-achieving schools. Highlights of this report include: (1) The State Board of Regents adopted the Common Core State Standards for Math and ELA; made progress in developing and disseminating CCSS implementation resources–including conducting a statewide webinar with David Coleman and creating the EngageNY.org microsite; completed the design of its very successful statewide Network Team Summer Institute for approximately 500 educators (August 2011); continued its active engagement as a governing state for… Continue Reading

0

Eric.ed.gov – Review of “Do High Flyers Maintain Their Altitude?”

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: The research report reviewed here concludes that many initially high-achieving students are falling further and further behind over the course of their years in school. The report intends to raise the alarm and to advocate for improved programs for these students. It is, however, a false alarm due to biased methodology and misleading arguments. The report’s norm-referenced framework guarantees “losers” as well as “winners,” regardless of any true improvement made by the students. Also, the “regression to the mean” effect produces a false illusion of a tradeoff of over-progress by low achievers at the cost of under-progress for high achievers. Finally, its prescription for stronger school accountability for high-achieving students under NCLB does not follow research-based guidance on how to improve student learning. Other research, including that… Continue Reading

0

Eric.ed.gov – 2012 Survey of States: Successes and Challenges during a Time of Change

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This report summarizes the thirteenth survey of states by the National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO) at the University of Minnesota. Results are presented for 49 states and 6 of the 11 unique states. The purpose of this report is to provide a snapshot of the new initiatives, trends, accomplishments, and emerging issues during this important period of education reform as states documented the academic achievement of students with disabilities. Key findings include: (1) Fewer than half of the states have defined what college-and-career-readiness means for students with disabilities participating in the alternate assessment based on alternate achievement standards (AA-AAS); (2) Fewer than half of the states offered their current general state assessments on computer-based platforms for math, reading, or science; (3) State technology staff contributed to… Continue Reading

0

Eric.ed.gov – Race to the Top. Massachusetts Report. Year 4: School Year 2013-2014. [State-Specific Summary Report]

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: The State-specific summary report serves as an assessment of Massachusetts’ annual Race to the Top implementation. The Year 4 report for Phase 2 grantees highlights successes and accomplishments, identifies challenges, and provides lessons learned from implementation from approximately September 2013 through September 2014. In Year 4, Massachusetts continued to refine its use of the Delivery process to track project implementation within the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (ESE), gather data on progress, and share updates with senior leadership. The State’s college- and career-readiness initiatives included multiple strategies for supporting educators in meeting the demands of new standards and raising standards for students. In school year (SY) 2013-2014, the State developed and made available a variety of instructional resources, standards-aligned assessments, and curriculum documents to support… Continue Reading

0

Eric.ed.gov – Scale-Up and Sustainability Study of the LDC and MDC Initiatives

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has invested in the development and dissemination of high quality instructional and formative assessment tools to support teachers’ incorporation of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) into their classroom instruction. Literacy experts have developed a framework and a set of templates that teachers can use to develop content area modules focused on high quality writing tasks closely tied to subject area texts. Math experts have developed Classroom Challenges that teachers can incorporate throughout the year’s curriculum. These tools were introduced and revised in multiple settings throughout the 2010-2011 co-development year; during the 2011-2012 pilot year additional sites came on board and most existing sites saw expansion. The initiatives, the Literacy Design Collaborative (LDC) and the Mathematics Design Collaborative (MDC), have continued… Continue Reading

0

Eric.ed.gov – Race to the Top. Tennessee. State-Reported APR: Year One

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This paper describes Tennessee’s progress in implementing a comprehensive and coherent approach to education reform from the time of application through June 30, 2011. In particular, this report highlights key accomplishments over the reporting period in the four reform areas: standards and assessments, data systems to support instruction, great teachers and leaders, and turning around lowest-achieving schools. Tennessee’s application for Race to the Top laid out an ambitious education reform agenda at all levels–from the state to the school district to the classroom. The state established equally ambitious goals for improving both teacher and leader effectiveness and student achievement. In the first year of implementation of the Tennessee First to the Top initiatives, the state made modest gains towards achieving those goals. From 2010 to 2011, overall… Continue Reading