eric.ed.gov har udgivet: The “American Dream” is under duress as the economy slows, incomes stagnate, and upward mobility is more limited than at any time in recent history. Despite a steady increase in per-pupil spending on public schooling over the last decades, not enough students graduate with proficiency in reading and math. And despite some progress over the past decade, students living in poverty and who are African American or Hispanic, still lag far behind white students with more means. Yet not all schools are failing. There are many exemplary schools including urban schools that are succeeding despite high poverty rates, and growing numbers of district leaders taking courageous steps toward real and lasting improvement. To achieve the nation’s ambitious performance goals for all students, school-level change alone is not… Continue Reading →
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eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Algebra is often considered as a gateway for later achievement. A recent report by the Mathematics Advisory Panel (2008) underscores the importance of improving algebra learning in secondary school. Today, a growing number of states and districts require algebra for all students in ninth grade or earlier. Chicago is at the forefront of this movement. Many low-achieving students took remedial math before 1997 and the algebra-for-all policy immersed these students in academic coursework for the first time. Moreover, these low-achieving students experienced a rise in the ability levels of their classroom peers. However, this study suggests that simply requiring algebra is insufficient to improve their outcomes, even though students may benefit from having higher achieving peers in their classrooms. Overall, taking Algebra, instead of remedial math, would… Continue Reading →
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eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Building an inclusive society in which all people can participate effectively and live together requires understanding inclusive education and its impact on the social order. As countries of different regions face the vast array of challenges unique to their educational systems, it becomes apparent that inclusive societies are intricately tied to social inclusion policy initiatives and developments in education. Governments are becoming increasingly aware of the need to review their educational systems as they attempt to define what an inclusive society is and how to make inclusion truly effective. Singapore is a unique example of a country that has the resources and the vision, but currently lacks an educational system designed to fully include individuals with special needs. Although Singaporean students consistently score near the top in… Continue Reading →
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eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This paper argues for a reimagining of education abroad that fuses short-term programming with some kind of experiential research component led by home campus disciplinary faculty, especially those in the sciences, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields, in order to better integrate the study abroad program into the core undergraduate curriculum. To show how this could be done, this paper: (1) provides a brief background on study abroad; (2) reviews the relevant literature on the learning goals, program assessment, and faculty engagement in education abroad programs; (3) examines the current state of academic integration within study abroad; (4) explores the growth in undergraduate research at both home and overseas; and (5) identifies the unique opportunities represented in the extensive patterns of international faculty research collaborations, and explains… Continue Reading →
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eric.ed.gov har udgivet: The Business Roundtable (2013) website presents a common narrative in regard to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education, “American students are falling behind in math and science. Fewer and fewer students are pursuing careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, and American students are performing at levels far below students in competitor nations on international standardized tests in these subjects.” (para.3) This message is echoed in numerous federal reports (e.g., NAP, 2005; 2010; PCAST, 2010:2012) and statements concerning STEM education from the United States’ (U.S.) President Barack Obama. The narrative posed by the Business Roundtable of a failing U.S. education system and STEM-worker shortage seems to be confirmed by businesses, nonprofits and the Obama administration, as they show their monetary and organizational support to remedy this… Continue Reading →
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eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Traditionally, the purpose of education in the United States has been conceived broadly, encompassing several goals, such as equity, civic participation, “whole-person” development, aesthetic appreciation, and greater cultural awareness. The renewed focus on equipping students with marketable skills is both a response to the globally-competitive labor market engendered by the Financial Crisis of 2008 and an implicit critique of the traditional American liberal education model. Innovative approaches to fostering student participation in STEM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) are being promoted by a wide spectrum of politicians, corporations, and policy think tanks. Many observers argue that educational outcomes should reflect the changing needs of the workforce, and high school curricula should integrate academic instruction with work-based learning. With these trends in mind, researchers at the Pullias… Continue Reading →
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eric.ed.gov har udgivet: What was the role of imperfect local information in the growth, gender gap, and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) major selection of early 20th century American universities? In order to examine pre-1950 American higher education, this study constructs four rich panel datasets covering most students, high school teachers, and doctors in the state of California between 1893 and 1946 using recently-digitized administrative and commercial directories. Students attending large California universities came from more than 600 California towns by 1910, with substantial geographic heterogeneity in female participation and STEM major selection. About 43 percent of university students in 1900 were women, and the number of women attending these universities increased by more than 500 percent between 1900 and 1940. Meanwhile, the number of California towns with female… Continue Reading →
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eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Politicians, academics, and business and community members all seem to be raising concerns that America is not as globally competitive as it once was. This is due, in part, to the fact that public schools in America are not producing high school graduates with the math, science, and technical skills to succeed in higher education or be employed in a knowledge-based, global marketplace. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, jobs requiring science, engineering or technical training will increase 24 percent between 2004 and 2014 to 6.3 million. However, less than half of high school graduates in the United States are academically prepared for college-level math and science. Between 1970 and 2010, America’s proportion of science and engineering doctorates will fall from 50 percent to 15 percent.… Continue Reading →
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