eric.ed.gov har udgivet: 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… Continue Reading →
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eric.ed.gov har udgivet: The aim of the intervention was to raise levels of engagement and attainment across English, maths, and science in primary schools by improving the quality of teacher and pupil talk in the classroom. The approach, termed “dialogic teaching”, emphasises dialogue through which pupils learn to reason, discuss, argue, and explain in order to develop their higher order thinking as well as their articulacy. The intervention was developed and delivered by a team from the Cambridge Primary Review Trust (CPRT) and the University of York. Year 5 teachers in 38 schools, and a teacher mentor from each school, received resources and training from the delivery team, and then implemented the intervention over the course of the autumn and spring terms in the 2015/2016 school year. Following the intervention,… 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: The primary claim of this Harvard Program on Education Policy and Governance report and the abridged Education Next version is that nations “that pay teachers on their performance score higher on PISA tests.” After statistically controlling for several variables, the author concludes that nations with some form of merit pay system have, on average, higher reading and math scores on this international test of 15-year-old students. Although the author lists numerous caveats, his broad conclusions do not heed these cautions. The fundamental differences among countries in the types of performance pay system are not properly considered. Nations are simply lumped together as having or not having a performance pay plan. Also, the length of time the program had been in place in each country is not addressed… Continue Reading →
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eric.ed.gov har udgivet: There are fierce debates over the best way to prepare teachers. Some argue that easing entry into teaching is necessary to attract strong candidates, while others argue that investing in high quality teacher preparation is the most promising approach. Most agree, however, that we lack a strong research basis for understanding how to prepare teachers. This paper is one of the first to estimate the effects of features of teachers’ preparation on teachers’ value-added to student test score performance in Math and English Language Arts. Our results indicate variation across preparation programs in the average effectiveness of the teachers they are supplying to New York City schools. In particular, preparation directly linked to practice appears to benefit teachers in their first year. Sample Results for Math with… Continue Reading →
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eric.ed.gov har udgivet: The United States’ education system needs to take its critical next step: fairly and accurately measuring teacher performance. Successful reforms to teacher pay, career advancement, professional development, retention, and other human capital systems that lead to better student outcomes depend on it. Where can the U.S. find the best-practice know-how for this? To start, it should look to nations that have revamped teacher performance measurement to sustain teaching excellence, and Singapore offers a remarkable example. In the early 2000s, the small but racially and economically diverse nation of Singapore designed and implemented a new, performance-linked method of measuring teacher effectiveness that enables measurement of teachers in all subjects and grades. Singapore had already developed a high-performing education system. But as global economic opportunities for its citizens increased,… Continue Reading →
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eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Traditionally, states have required individuals complete a program of study in a university-based teacher preparation program in order to be licensed to teach. In recent years, however, various “alternative certification” programs have been developed and the number of teachers obtaining teaching certificates through routes other than completing a traditional teacher preparation program has skyrocketed. In this paper I use a rich longitudinal data base from Florida to compare the characteristics of alternatively certified teachers with their traditionally prepared colleagues. I then analyze the relative effectiveness of teachers who enter the profession through different pathways by estimating “value-added” models of student achievement. In general, alternatively certified teachers have stronger pre-service qualifications than do traditionally prepared teachers, with the least restrictive alternative attracting the most qualified perspective teachers. These… Continue Reading →
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eric.ed.gov har udgivet: The current study investigated the predictive utility among teacher-rated, observed, and directly assessed behavioral self-regulation skills to academic achievement in preschoolers. Specifically, this study compared how a teacher report, the Child Behavior Rating Scale, an observer report, the Observed Child Engagement Scale, and a direct assessment, the Head-Toes-Knees-Shoulders task, relate to early math and literacy skills. The sample consisted of 247 children from 31 preschool classrooms. Trained research assistants observed a subsample of 104 children. Results indicated significant, positive relationships for teacher-rated and directly assessed behavioral self-regulation for early math and literacy skills. Teacher ratings were the strongest predictors of literacy, and the direct assessment emerged as the strongest predictor of math. Observed behavioral self-regulation was not significantly related to either academic domain. Discussion focuses on domain… Continue Reading →
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eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This study investigates the effects of repeating first grade on children’s further academic growth, by tracking the actual performance and the teacher-rated performance of a cohort of Flemish first-graders until the end of elementary school. Two research questions are raised: (1) How do first-grade repeaters, at the cost of one extra year of education, develop in comparison to younger children with whom they will eventually finish elementary school (i.e., same-grade comparison), taking into account their propensity of repeating first grade?; and (2) How would first-grade retainees have developed, had they been promoted to second grade instead (i.e., same-age comparison)? This study is part of the large-scale longitudinal SiBO project, designed to investigate Flemish children’s development and school trajectory throughout elementary education (Maes, Ghesquiere, Onghena, & Van Damme,… Continue Reading →
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eric.ed.gov har udgivet: The 2009 “State Teacher Policy Yearbook” provided a comprehensive review of states’ policies that impact the teaching profession. As a companion to last year’s comprehensive state-by-state analysis, the 2010 edition provides each state with an individualized “Blueprint for Change,” building off last year’s “Yearbook” goals and recommendations. State teacher policy addresses a great many areas, including teacher preparation, certification, evaluation and compensation. With so many moving parts, it may be difficult for states to find a starting point on the road to reform. To this end, this paper provides a state-specific roadmap, organized in three main sections. Section 1 identifies policy concerns that need critical attention, the areas of highest priority for state policymakers. Section 2 outlines “low-hanging fruit,” policy changes that can be implemented in relatively… Continue Reading →
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