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Eric.ed.gov – Funding a Better Education: Conclusions from the First Three Years of Student-Based Budgeting in Hartford

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: When the Connecticut State Department of Education published its first district report cards in 2003, it was obvious that the Hartford Public Schools district was struggling. Fewer than half of its students were proficient on the state reading exam. Math performance was better, but 63 percent of 10th-graders and 43 percent of younger students failed to meet proficiency benchmarks. Compared with the state, Hartford looked even worse; its proficiency rates trailed by as many as 39 percentage points. The arrival of Steven Adamowski as district superintendent in 2006 began a new chapter at Hartford Public Schools (HPS). Within months, Adamowski introduced a plan to improve the quality of a Hartford education. The first pillar was school choice, allowing students’ families to choose the schools their children would… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Principals’ Perceptions of the Causes of Teacher Ineffectiveness in Different Secondary Subjects

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: With issues of teacher quality in the spotlight, it has been suggested that teachers of mathematics and science too often lack content knowledge in the subjects they teach. Accordingly, research is needed to determine whether teacher ineffectiveness in these subjects is more frequently caused by deficiencies in content knowledge or in pedagogical knowledge, and whether teachers of mathematics and science are more often content-deficient relative to other teachers. Research as such requires that teacher performance be assessed, but this assessment has proven contentious. Use of principals’ evaluations to assess teacher performance, while hardly foolproof, has the advantage of providing school-level managers’ perspective on whether content knowledge or pedagogical knowledge constitutes the more frequent perceived cause of teacher ineffectiveness in secondary schools, especially in mathematics and science. Research… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – What Principals Need to Know about Teaching Math.

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Designed for principals of elementary and middle schools, this guide addresses the essential elements of a high-quality mathematics program and is intended to be a practical, ongoing resource. The guide begins with an overview of the important issues in mathematics education and a discussion of the basic elements of a mathematics program. It continues with guidance on how mathematics should be taught, ways to use assessment data to inform mathematics instruction, and approaches for assisting students who are struggling in mathematics. Finally, it outlines strategies for collaborating with teachers and parents, improving teachers’ skills in delivering mathematics instruction, and conducting effective observations of mathematics lessons. The guide includes checklists and other materials to use to evaluate a school’s mathematics program and to collaborate with teachers and parents;… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – How Elementary School Principals with Different Leadership Content Knowledge Profiles Support Teachers’ Mathematics Instruction

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Classroom observation and teacher supervision is an important part of the life of schools. From the teacher’s point of view it can be an opportunity for one’s principal to get to know one’s work and provide opportunities for continued learning; or it can be an ordeal. From the principal’s point of view it can be an opportunity to understand what is going on in mathematics classrooms in his school and to offer help to teachers; or it can be a perfunctory process of filling out a checklist. This article reports the results of a study conducted to determine the role principals’ leadership content knowledge (LCK) plays in their observations of mathematics classrooms and conferences with teachers. The researchers were particularly interested in how different LCK “profiles”–particular combinations… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Structural and Social Constraints in the Teaching of Life Skills for HIV/AIDS Prevention in Malawi Primary Schools

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: The Ministry of Education in Malawi introduced a life skills education program with the intention to empower children with appropriate information and skills to deal with social and health problems affecting the nation, including the fight against HIV infections. This study investigated factors affecting the teaching of the life skills education in four primary schools in the Zomba district, Malawi. Cornbleth’s (1990) notions of the structural and social contexts and Whitaker’s (1993) identification of key role players in curriculum implementation framed the study. Data was collected through interviews with teachers and principals and observations of teachers’ lessons. Findings suggest that the teaching of life skills is constrained by a variety of social and structural contextual factors such as the poor conditions under which teachers are working; greater… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Implementing Cross-Sector Collaboration through the District-Charter Collaborative: A Case Study of Promising Practices

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: District-Charter Partnerships (DCP) is an initiative that is part of the Equity and Excellence for All agenda established by Mayor De Blasio. Its goal is to support meaningful collaboration between the district and charter sector in order to increase educator capacity and student learning in all New York City public schools. The District-Charter Collaborative (DCC) is one of the principal programs under the DCP umbrella. Spearheaded by the NYC Department of Education’s (DOE) Office of School Design and Charter Partnerships and Office of Leadership, the program brings quads of schools (2 district and 2 charter) together to engage in structured collaboration through the creation of professional learning communities (PLCs). These PLCs aim to improve practice in one of the following Learning Focus Areas (LFAs): math instruction, supporting… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Learning from Charter School Management Organizations: Strategies for Student Behavior and Teacher Coaching

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: The National Study of Charter Management Organization (CMO) Effectiveness is a four-year study designed to assess the impact of CMOs on student achievement and to identify effective structures and practices. An earlier report from this study documented the substantial variation in CMO student achievement impacts as well as variation in CMOs’ use of particular educational strategies and practices. That report noted that the most effective CMOs emphasize two practices in particular: schoolwide behavior strategies and intensive teacher coaching and monitoring. This report is designed to provide an in-depth description of the student behavior and teacher coaching practices of five high-performing CMOs that rely on these practices. Focusing on five high-performing CMOs, the report seeks to help educators learn more about these promising practices. To identify practices associated… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – The Perceptions of Primary Grade Teachers and Elementary Principals about the Effectiveness of Grade-Level Retention

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: The purpose of this study was to ascertain the attitudes of primary grade teachers and elementary principals about grade retention. Because grade retention is typically initiated in the primary grades, it is important to understand educators’ beliefs about it as a viable option for low-performing students. A paper survey was sent to teachers and principals in one school district, inviting them to provide their perceptions about the reasons for grade retention, the most appropriate time to retain students, and the effectiveness of interventions in deterring the use of grade retention. Overall, teachers and principals believed students should be retained because of academic performance and perceived parental involvement as the most promising intervention to deter the use of grade retention. Teachers agreed significantly more than principals that retention… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – School Turnaround in North Carolina: A Regression Discontinuity Analysis. Working Paper 156

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This paper examines the effect of school turnaround in North Carolina elementary and middle schools. Using a regression discontinuity design, we find that turnaround led to a drop in average school-level math and reading passing rates and an increased concentration of low-income students in treated schools. We use teacher survey data to examine how teacher activities changed. Treated schools brought in new principals and increased the time teachers devoted to professional development. The program also increased administrative burdens and distracted teachers, potentially reducing time available for instruction. Teacher turnover increased after the first full year of implementation. Overall, we find little success for North Carolina’s efforts to turn around low performing schools under its federally funded Race to the Top grant. Link til kilde

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Eric.ed.gov – Transfer Incentives for High-Performing Teachers: Final Results from a Multisite Randomized Experiment. NCEE 2014-4003

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: One way to improve struggling schools’ access to effective teachers is to use selective transfer incentives. Such incentives offer bonuses for the highest-performing teachers to move into schools serving the most disadvantaged students. In this report, we provide evidence from a randomized experiment that tested whether such a policy intervention can improve student test scores and other outcomes in low-achieving schools. The intervention, known to participants as the Talent Transfer Initiative (TTI), was implemented in 10 school districts in seven states. The highest-performing teachers in each district–those who ranked in roughly the top 20 percent within their subject and grade span in terms of raising student achievement year after year (an approach known as value added)–were identified. These teachers were offered $20,000, paid in installments over a… Continue Reading