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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 – 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 – America’s Answer

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: The U.S. arm of technology giant Siemens Corp. recently reported it has 3,000 jobs open because of the dearth of skilled workers. More than half of those open jobs require science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) skills. A recent study by ManpowerGroup found that a record 52 percent of U.S. employers have difficulty filling critical positions within their companies–up from 14 percent in 2010. Many of these jobs require a strong background in STEM, but American colleges are producing fewer math and science graduates. This has led to a skills mismatch in our country. The bottom line is that STEM workers are more likely to be employed and more likely to earn better pay. The unemployment rate for workers who only have a high school degree is… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Louisiana’s Pre-K through Third Grade Guidebook for Sites & System Leaders

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: The years between pre-K and third grade are vital for creating the foundation for later school success. The skills students develop at one age level or grade must be built upon and reinforced in later grades. Furthermore, for students to sustain gains made in one grade, they must continue to receive high-quality teaching in subsequent grades. Despite the growing efforts to expand quality pre-Kindergarten opportunities for 4-year olds and to close early achievement gaps, many young children in Louisiana still lack access to a high-quality continuum of learning that could make a difference in positive, long term achievement outcomes. Gaps and disparities in learning exist even as children enter pre-Kindergarten and these persist and grow larger throughout early elementary school. Though both early childhood community networks and… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Do Disadvantaged Students Get Less Effective Teaching? Key Findings from Recent Institute of Education Sciences Studies. NCEE Evaluation Brief. NCEE 2014-4010

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Lack of researcher consensus on how to measure disadvantaged students’ access to effective teaching has made it challenging for practitioners to draw lessons from the data. This brief aims to help policymakers understand the emerging evidence by synthesizing findings from three peer-reviewed studies that collectively span 17 states. The studies provide two lessons: (1) on average, disadvantaged students received less effective teaching than other students, equivalent to about four weeks of learning for reading and two weeks for math, or about 2 to 4 percent of the student achievement gap between these groups; and (2) access to effective teaching for disadvantaged students varied across districts, with a statistically significant difference between more and less disadvantaged students’ access in some districts and no statistically significant difference in access… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – The Economic Value of Higher Teacher Quality. Working Paper 56

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Most analyses of teacher quality end without any assessment of the economic value of altered teacher quality. This paper combines information about teacher effectiveness with the economic impact of higher achievement. It begins with an overview of what is known about the relationship between teacher quality and student achievement, which provides the basis for consideration of the derived demand for teachers which comes from their impact on economic outcomes. Alternative valuation methods are based on the impact of increased achievement on individual earnings and on the impact of low teacher effectiveness on economic growth through aggregate achievement. A teacher one standard deviation above the mean effectiveness annually generates marginal gains of over $400,000 in present value of student future earnings with a class size of 20 and… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Update on the Improving Teacher Quality Program. Report 09-05

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: The Improving Teacher Quality (ITQ) State Grants Program is currently operating professional development grants for California teachers at 40 sites statewide. This is as large a cadre of projects as the California Postsecondary Education Commission has operated since the ITQ Program began with the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. The projects are: (1) Academic Literacy in Secondary Education (seven projects); (2) Science and Math Teacher Retention Master Grant Initiative (19 sites); (3) K-2 Education (eight projects); and (4) Elementary Education (six projects). This paper reports updates on the Improving Teacher Quality Program. Link til kilde

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Eric.ed.gov – Alabama Education News. Volume 33, Number 5

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: “Alabama Education News” is published monthly except for June, July, and December by the Alabama Department of Education. This publication, authorized by Section 16-2-4 of the “Code of Alabama”, as recompiled in 1975, is a public service of the Alabama Department of Education designed to inform citizens and educators about programs and goals of public education in Alabama. This issue contains the following articles: (1) Charter Schools in Alabama; (2) AMSTI and ALEX Take Math To The Next Level; (3) Schools Statewide Celebrate Alabama Career and Technical Education; (4) High Schools That Work; and (5) ACCESS Distance Learning Gets International Attention. Regular features include: (1) Good News in Alabama Schools; (2) Awards, Opportunities, and Professional Development; (3) Calendar; and (4) Teacher of the Month. Link til kilde

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Eric.ed.gov – Teaching Learning Practices in Schools under Shiksha Vikash Samiti, Odisha: Perception of Major Stakeholders

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This study has aimed to seek the perception of stakeholders (HMs, Teachers, and Parents) on quality of education in schools under Shiksha Vikash Samiti, Odisha with reference to the teaching learning practices. The Convergent-Parallel Design under Mixed Research Method has been followed for carrying out the study. The study is delimited to coastal Odisha, so the population of the study comprised all the stakeholders of such schools such as: HMs, Teachers, and Parents and Community Members. Tools used for data collection are interview schedule for Head Master/ Pradhan Acharyas; Questionnaire for teachers; and interview schedule for parents-cum-community members. The findings are: HMs reported globes, maps; charts, science kit, math kit, computers were used frequently in classroom teaching process. Majority of teachers (>60%) reported the same. Majority of… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Road to Equality in South African Education: A Qualitative Study

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: South Africa is currently experiencing a crisis in its educational systems that if not addressed, could threaten the stability of the newly established democracy. A lack of access to quality education and severe shortage of skilled trained educators is perpetuating vestiges of the old apartheid state in the nation. Approximately 6,000 students graduate from South Africa’s teacher training programs each year to meet the demand of over 12.1 million learners (Evoh, 2007). This study examines the current crisis facing the educational system of post-apartheid South Africa and more specifically how the LEAP (Langa Educational Assistance Program) school of Science and Maths could be used as a possible model for institutional educational change that may be applied on a national scale. Interviews were conducted during four independent sessions… Continue Reading