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Eric.ed.gov – Let’s Begin with the Letter People[R]. What Works Clearinghouse Intervention Report

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: “Let’s Begin with the Letter People”[R] is an early education curriculum that uses 26 thematic units to develop children’s language and early literacy skills. A major focus is phonological awareness, including rhyming, word play, alliteration, and segmentation. Children are encouraged to learn as individuals, in small groups, and in a whole-class environment. Teacher resource books and a set of classroom books and other program materials are available as a program kit. Two studies of “Let’s Begin with the Letter People”[R] meet What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) evidence standards and no studies meet WWC evidence standards with reservations. The two studies include children in 49 classrooms in 25 preschools in Houston, Texas, and southeastern New York State. Based on these two studies, the WWC considers the extent of evidence… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Promoting Effective Early Learning: What Every Policymaker and Educator Should Know

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Language and literacy skills are critical to success in school. For low-income preschoolers, increasing early literacy and math skills is vital to closing the achievement gap between them and their more advantaged peers. New research shows that an intentional curriculum and professional development and supports for teachers are important components of effective preschool classrooms and programs. A special focus on these strategies is important because many low-income children in early learning settings fall behind early and remain very much behind their peers in reading and math. This brief provides a blueprint for state and local policymakers, early learning administrators, teachers, families, community leaders, and researchers to use effective preschool curricula and teaching strategies to help low-income young children close the achievement gap in early literacy and math… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Analyzing Performance by Pennsylvania Grade 8 Hispanic Students on the 2007/08 State Assessment. REL Technical Brief. REL 2012-No. 025

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Between 2000 and 2009, the Hispanic population more than doubled in 25 of 67 Pennsylvania counties. Over the same period, the Hispanic student population in Pennsylvania schools also rose, from 4 percent to 8 percent (Pennsylvania State Data Center 2011). The focus on Hispanic students’ level of academic achievement rose along with this rapid population growth. Recent research reveals that, although the achievement gap between ethnic subgroups at the national level has been shrinking over the past five years, the gap remains wide (Aud et al. 2010). This is also the case and a matter of concern in Pennsylvania. Research has identified several student-level factors associated with academic achievement among ethnic minority students, including gender and socioeconomic status (Freeman 2004; McGraw, Lubienski, and Strutchens 2006; Pong 2010);… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Comprehensive Private School Model for Low-Income Urban Children in Mexico. Policy Research Working Paper 8669

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: In low-income countries, private schools are perceived as superior alternatives to the public sector, often improving achievement at a fraction of the cost. It is unclear whether private schools are as effective in middle-income countries where the public sector has relatively more resources. To address this gap, this paper takes advantage of lottery-based admissions in first grade for a Mexico City private school that targets and subsidizes attendance for low-income children. Over three years, selected students via lottery scored 0.21 standard deviation higher than those not selected in literacy tests, corresponding to a normalized gain of one-half of a grade level every two years. Lottery winners also statistically outperformed those not selected in math, but the gains were more modest. Relative to the control group, parents of… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Cluster Randomized Trial of a Large-Scale Education Initiative in the Democratic Republic of Congo: Pilot Year Impacts on Teacher Development

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: A wealth of research, primarily in high income countries, has accumulated in recent years evaluating teacher effectiveness and the processes through which teachers’ performance and job satisfaction can be improved (e.g., Pianta, Mashburn, Downer, Hamre & Justice, 2008; Ross, 1992; 1995). Much less is known about how these processes operate for teachers in low-income countries, where schools may be located in high conflict areas with low resources that can pose strains on teachers, students and their interactions. In the past several years, there has been a growing interest in rigorous evaluation research in developing countries to help inform policy and practice. This paper applies rigorous methodology to consider the question of whether and how an intervention can improve teachers’ motivation, job satisfaction and professional development in the… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Professional Development Supports and Teacher Practice in Low-Income Pre-K Programs: Strengthening the Diversity and Quality of the Early Care and Education Workforce Paper Series. Research Report

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Public investment in pre-K programs across the US has expanded over the past two decades, primarily to increase access to pre-K programs, especially among low-income children and children of color. However, program quality varies across states. One key question policymakers and practitioners have posed is how to create high-quality early childhood educational environments that promote successful outcomes for all preschool-aged children. This study considers the role of professional development supports in helping teachers create high-quality learning experiences for children. It examines three professional development supports that early childhood programs often provide (teacher training, coaching, and common planning time), whether these supports predict various aspects of observed teacher practice, and whether the associations between professional development supports and teacher practice vary based on teachers’ experience. Findings suggest that… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Preparation, Placement, Proficiency: Improving Middle Grades Math Performance. Policy and Practice Brief

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Early in 2010, EdSource released a landmark study on middle grades education in California. “Gaining Ground in the Middle Grades” looked at the critical 6th- to 8th-grade years in the context of standards-based education. The analysis identified a comprehensive set of practices that differentiated higher from lower schoolwide academic achievement among a sample of 303 middle grades schools. As the authors began that study in 2008, the California State Board of Education passed a controversial motion–subsequently blocked through legal action–to make the state’s Algebra I test the “sole test of record” for grade 8 math for federal accountability purposes. And in the course of conducting the “Gaining Ground” study, the authors observed that schools in their sample differed widely in how they placed students into Algebra I… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – What Are the Effects of Teach for America on Math, English Language Arts, and Science Outcomes of K-12 Students in the USA? Campbell Systematic Reviews 2018:7

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Research shows that there is a shortage of effective teachers in many rural and urban K-12 public schools serving the highest proportions of high-poverty students across the United States. In the past 10 years, alternative route teacher preparation programs aiming to address this shortage proliferated across the United States. These programs seek to increase the supply of teachers more rapidly than traditional teacher preparation programs, and although their requirements vary widely, most are shorter, less expensive, and more practically oriented than traditional teacher preparation programs. Such programs however, vary widely. Teach For America (TFA) is a nation-wide alternate route teacher preparation program designed to address the shortage of effective teachers, specifically in high-poverty rural and urban schools across the United States. The authors assert that TFA should… Continue Reading