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Eric.ed.gov – Getting Better Together: Innovations for Rural Learners and Communities

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Pennsylvania Intermediate Unit 8 (IU8) seeks to scale innovations that are evolving as local solutions to educational challenges in rural school districts. Consistent with its mission of creating customized solutions, IU8 seeks to make the innovations better, meaning more learner centered and community focused. IU8 is evolving the Getting Better Together (GBT) initiative that includes a process called Catalyzing Action for Responsive Education (CARE). Unfortunately, with its singular focus on “adequate yearly progress” in math and reading test achievement the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law devalued the role of public education in many rural communities. School and classroom doors became closed to key partners that traditionally reinforced the symbiotic relationship of mutual benefits shared between a rural school and its community. The local school lost… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Toward Achievement in the “Knowledge Economy” of the 21st Century: Preparing Students through T-STEM Academies

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Schools are constantly engaged in implementing reform strategies to prepare students for postsecondary education leading to their career choices. Challenges here involve education initiatives addressing programs not strategically planned, educators not prepared for transition, and no follow-up support beyond initial implementation stages. This study examined school reform initiatives by the Texas Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math academies toward better-quality instruction, to prepare students for post-secondary education, and in-turn, for the knowledge economy of the 21st century. The purpose of the study was to gauge the effectiveness of these academies in math, science, and engineering, and if these academies are successful educational-reform systems. Inductive data analysis was conducted from general program data and teacher interviews from one rural and one urban high school. Data were obtained through observations,… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Year 1 State Report: Texas

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: The Center on Standards, Alignment, Instruction, and Learning (C-SAIL) examines how college- and career-readiness (CCR) standards are implemented, whether they improve student learning, and what instructional tools measure and support their implementation. Established in July 2015 and funded by the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) of the U.S. Department of Education, C-SAIL has partnered with California, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Ohio, and Texas to explore their experiences with CCR standards-based reform, particularly with regard to students with disabilities (SWDs) and English language learners (ELLs). This report examines how the state of Texas is approaching CCR standards implementation during a time of transition. The state has recently implemented revisions to the math standards and is currently revising the English language arts (ELA) standards. The revised ELA standards are expected to… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – STEM Education and Leadership: A Mathematics and Science Partnership Approach

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: The issue of attracting more young people to choose careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) has become critical for the United States. Recent studies by businesses, associations, and education have all agreed that the United States’ performance in the STEM disciplines have placed the nation in grave risk of relinquishing its competitive edge in the marketplace. A Congressional Research Service (2006) report stated that, a “large majority of secondary students fail to reach proficiency in math and science, and many are taught by teachers lacking adequate subject matter knowledge.” Students lacking in STEM skills will not have the ability or skills to enter in the professions of science and engineering or areas requiring mathematics, science, and technology literacy. To counteract these circumstances, multiple STEM-based initiatives… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Do Poor Kids Deserve Lower-Quality Education than Rich Kids? Evaluating School Privatization Proposals in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. EPI Briefing Paper #375

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 – “Educate to Innovate”: How the Obama Plan for STEM Education Falls Short. Backgrounder. No. 2504

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: President Obama’s Educate to Innovate initiative has provided billions in additional federal funding for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education programs across the country. The Administration’s recognition of the importance of STEM education– for global competitiveness as well as for national security–is good and important. But the past 50 years suggest that federal initiatives are unlikely to solve the fundamental problem of American underperformance in STEM education. Heritage Foundation education and national security analysts explain that, though Educate to Innovate is intended to raise the U.S. “from the middle to the top of the pack in science and math,” the federal program’s one-size-fits-all approach fails to remedy the underlying problems of academic performance and does not plug the leaky pipeline in the American education system. (Contains… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – A Study of Japanese Lesson Study with Third Grade Mathematics Teachers in a Small School District

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This paper describes implementation of a Lesson Study project with third grade teachers in a small school district to study the development of the critical lenses (perspectives) necessary for meaningful lesson study work. Adapting the Lesson Study process to meet school system needs, two outside facilitators stimulated teacher thinking with math explorations and probing/what if questioning. Using a qualitative methodology and the group as the unit of analysis, data were coded for evidence of and change in the lenses. After one year, the 8 participating teachers showed a qualitative difference in two of the three lenses: the student lens and the curriculum developer lens. (Contains 2 tables and 2 figures.) Link til kilde

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Eric.ed.gov – Charter School Competition, Organization, and Achievement in Traditional Public Schools

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 – Fifty Years of Federal Teacher Policy: An Appraisal

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 – The State’s Priority Opportunities to Support Education Reform in Georgia through Resource Reallocation

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