eric.ed.gov har udgivet: During the past year, Wisconsin state legislators debated a series of bills aimed at closing low-performing public schools and replacing them with privately run charter schools. These proposals were particularly targeted at Milwaukee, the state’s largest and poorest school district. Ultimately, the only legislation enacted was a bill that modestly increases school reporting requirements, without stipulating consequences for low performance. Nevertheless, the more ambitious proposals will likely remain at the core of Wisconsin’s debates over education policy, and legislative leaders have made clear their desire to revisit them in next year’s session. To help inform these deliberations, this report addresses the most comprehensive set of reforms put forward in the 2013-2014 legislative session. Backers of these reforms are particularly enamored of a new type of charter school… Continue Reading →
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eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Study Island is a practice and assessment tool that provides state-standards-aligned opportunities for students to practice their skills. It features a system of continual assessments with immediate feedback to adjust instruction and learning. When educators integrate Study Island into their instructional practices, it acts as a formative, ongoing assessment tool that provides students with a platform to practice or demonstrate their knowledge of taught standards. This approach reflects the elements of formative assessments as a process for monitoring progress and adjusting instruction. Research on formative assessment and progress-monitoring practices has demonstrated positive outcomes for student achievement (Bangert-Drowns, Kulik, & Kulik, 1991; Black & Wiliam, 1998; Fuchs & Fuchs, 1986; January et al., 2018; Stecker, Lembke, & Foegen, 2008; Stiggins, 1999; Van Norman, Nelson, & Parker, 2016; Wolf,… Continue Reading →
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eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Federal policy directed to teaching and teachers is the subject of this review, which is organized around: (1) recruitment; (2) training; (3) accountability; (4) incentives; (5) qualifications; (6) class size reduction; (teacher working conditions; and (8) human resource management and the overall coordination of teacher policy. For each theme, the authors describe past and current federal policy; assess the evidence on policy effects and effectiveness; and conclude with an overall appraisal. Recommendations for future federal teacher policy are provided. Reported observations include: (1) lack of policy research that might supply direction to ongoing policy investments; (2) teaching presents a number of fundamental problems that policy has yet to address successfully; (3) local conditions in schools and districts play a large role in the effectiveness of federal teacher… Continue Reading →
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eric.ed.gov har udgivet: The purpose of this hearing was to review the effectiveness and value of the National Science Foundation’s (NSF’s) past and present programs in support of improvement of K-12 science and math education and to examine what role the Foundation should play in future federal initiatives for strengthening K-12 science and math education. This hearing follows up on the March 30 Science Committee hearing entitled, “K-12 Science and Math Education Across the Federal Agencies,” which featured Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings, NSF Director Arden Bement, and representatives from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, and the Department of Energy. The officials outlined their individual agencies’ activities to improve K-12 science and math education and described interagency coordination efforts. The charter for that… Continue Reading →
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eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Nationwide, states face declining or plateauing investments in education. These financial constraints, coupled with increased standards for student achievement through the widespread adoption of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), create a heightened need for strategic resource use. However, districts are not currently using resources strategically, as research suggests that 40 cents out of every dollar are spent on practices not aligned with district or state priorities. Therefore, the role of the state today is not only to allocate resources, but also to ensure those resources are used effectively. The state of Georgia leads many others in addressing this issue, having engaged in a series of statewide reforms to grant Local Education Agencies (LEAs) greater flexibility over how they use district resources in exchange for greater accountability… Continue Reading →
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eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Teacher quality research and the study of teacher effects received renewed attention and emphasis with Sanders and Rivers’ (1996) startling finding that teacher effects are both additive and cumulative, persisting up to an estimated two years after the student has left the teacher’s classroom. Sanders and Rivers estimated that a student receiving regular assignments (even by chance) to more effective teachers resulted in differential impact on math achievement by as much as 50 percentile points. Although these findings have undergone subsequent criticism and dispute, they serve to underscore the importance of teaching quality on student learning. This Evidence Based Education (EBE) Request seeks to provide an overview of recent research regarding teacher quality with special concentration on the teacher effects literature. Particular emphasis has been placed on… Continue Reading →
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eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Tennessee Code Annotated 49-5-108 specifies that the State Board of Education “with the assistance of the department of education and the Tennessee higher education commission, shall develop a report card or assessment on the effectiveness of teacher training programs.” The State Board is directed to “annually evaluate performance of each institution of higher education providing an approved program of teacher training and other state board approved teacher training programs.” The performance is meant to “focus on the performance of each institution’s graduates and shall include, but not be limited to, the following areas: (1) Placement and retention rates; (2) Performance on Praxis examinations or other tests used to identify teacher preparedness; and (3) Teacher effect data created pursuant to Section 49-1-606.” Each teacher training institution and each… Continue Reading →
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eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Teacher effort, a critical component of education production, has been largely ignored in the literature due to measurement difficulties. Using a principal-agent model, North Carolina public school data, and the state’s unique accountability system that rewards teachers for school-level academic growth, we show that we can distill effort from teacher absence data and capture its effect on student achievement in a structural framework. We find that: (1) Incentives lead teachers to try harder. The bonus program reduced the number of sick days taken by about 0.6 days for an average teacher; (2) When teachers try harder, students do better. Increased effort of teachers translates into improved student performance. Estimates show that standardized reading scores increased by about 1.3% of a standard deviation and standardized math scores by… Continue Reading →
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eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This document records testimony from a hearing held to examine recent efforts to implement the Every Student Succeeds Act. Member statements were presented by: (1) Honorable John Kline, Committee on Education and the Workforce; and (2) Honorable Robert C. Scott, Ranking Member, Committee on Education and the Workforce. Witness statements were presented by: (1) Daria Hall, Interim Vice President, Government Affairs and Communications, The Education Trust, Washington, D.C.; (2) Cassie Harrelson, Math Teacher, Aurora Public Schools, Aurora, Colorado; (3) Honorable John B. King, Secretary, U.S. Department of Education, Washington, D.C.; (4) Dr. Stephen L. Pruitt, Commissioner of Education, Kentucky Department of Education; and (5) Dr. David R. Schuler, Superintendent, Township High School District 214, Arlington Heights, Illinois. Additional submissions were presented by Honorable Robert C. Scott, Ranking… Continue Reading →
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eric.ed.gov har udgivet: The education system is complex, but at its core, it is a learning partnership between the student, the family and teachers. This partnership — supported by the Ministry — is ultimately responsible for ensuring every learner receives a high quality education. A high quality education enables learners to realize their full potential and contribute to the well being of society. It supports students as they develop the foundational skills of reading, writing, and math, as well as other essentials necessary in the 21st century, such as self-reliance, communication, critical thinking, inquiry, creativity, problem solving, innovation, teamwork and collaboration, cross-cultural understanding, and digital information literacy. This annual service plan report provides data and discusses the results related to the measures in the Ministry of Education 2012/13-2014/15 Service Plan.… Continue Reading →
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