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Eric.ed.gov – Predicting Transition to Postsecondary Programs of GED® Earners in a College Setting

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This applied dissertation was designed to identify the characteristics of students enrolled in a GED® preparation program who transitioned to postsecondary programs at the same institution after passing the GED® test. The characteristics studied included age; gender; ethnicity; prematriculation scores in reading, language, and math in the Test of Adult Basic Education (TABE); and hours spent preparing for the GED® test in an open-entry, open-exit remedial laboratory environment. Through the use of binary logistic regressions to answer the research questions, a prediction model was constructed. The variables that are able to predict an increased likelihood of transition to postsecondary programs were being between the ages of 16 and 24 at the time of enrollment in the GED® program and having an ethnicity category of Asian, White/Caucasian, Hispanic,… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – The Role of Advanced High School Coursework in Increasing STEM Career Interest

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Several avenues are open to students who wish to study advanced science or mathematics in high school, which include Advanced Placement courses and teacher-designed courses unaffiliated with organized programs. We employ a retrospective cohort study of 4,691 nationally representative college students at 34 randomly selected, colleges and universities to examine the relationship between taking advanced high school courses and students’ interest in pursuing a STEM career, while controlling for prior interests and experiences. We are able to distinguish between those students choosing to take an additional year in a science or math subject from those taking Advanced Placement (AP), which is most commonly taken as a second year course, but is increasingly taken as a first year course. We find that the number of years of a… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Texting Parents: Evaluation Report and Executive Summary

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This report presents the findings from an efficacy trial and process evaluation of the Parent Engagement Programme (PEP). The PEP was a school-level intervention designed to improve pupil outcomes by engaging parents in their children’s learning. The programme was developed collaboratively by research teams from the University of Bristol and Harvard University and was delivered between September 2014 and July 2015. The study was conducted by the Centre for Effective Education, Queen’s University Belfast between February 2014 and February 2016. The trial involved 15,697 students in Years 7, 9, and 11 from 36 English secondary schools, with schools sending an average of 30 texts to each parent over the period of the trial. The developers of the intervention managed its delivery to ensure optimal implementation. It was… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – The Effects of School Reform under NCLB Waivers: Evidence from Focus Schools in Kentucky. CEPA Working Paper No. 17-05

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Under waivers to the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, the federal government required states to identify schools where targeted subgroups of students have the lowest achievement and to implement reforms in these “Focus Schools.” In this study, we examine the Focus School reforms in the state of Kentucky. The reforms in this state are uniquely interesting for several reasons. One is that the state developed unusually explicit guidance for Focus Schools centered on a comprehensive school-planning process. Second, the state identified Focus Schools using a “super subgroup” measure that combined traditionally low-performing subgroups into an umbrella group. This design feature may have catalyzed broader whole-school reforms and attenuated the incentives to target reform efforts narrowly. Using regression discontinuity designs, we find that these reforms led to… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Critical Consciousness and Schooling: The Impact of the Community as a Classroom Program on Academic Indicators

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: The present study investigates the extent to which a program guided by the principles of critical pedagogy, which seeks to develop “critical consciousness,” is associated with the improved academic performance of students attending a low-performance middle-school in Buffalo, New York. The students were enrolled in an in-school academic support program called the “Community as Classroom”, which used critical project-based learning to show students how to improve neighborhood conditions. The study found that the Community as Classroom program bolstered student engagement as reflected in improved attendance, on-time-arrival at school, and reduced suspensions. Although class grades did not improve, standardized scores, particularly in Math and Science, dramatically improved for these students from the lowest scoring categories. We suspect that given increased student engagement and dramatically improved standardized test scores,… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Learner Response System: Evaluation Report and Executive Summary

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This Learner Response System (LRS) intervention involves the use of electronic handheld devices that allow teachers and pupils to provide immediate feedback during lessons. For example, pupils can respond to a question using the device and responses are immediately visible to the teacher, or they can work through problems on the device at their own pace with answers provided as they go. The aim is to improve outcomes by increasing the speed and quality of classroom feedback. A team from Edge Hill University developed the intervention and trained teachers to deliver it to pupils in Years 5 and 6 in primary schools with higher than average proportions of children ever eligible for free school meals. The devices were to be used in at least three lessons a… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Due Diligence and the Evaluation of Teachers: A Review of the Value-Added Analysis Underlying the Effectiveness Rankings of Los Angeles Unified School District Teachers by the “Los Angeles Times”

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: On August 14, 2010, the “Los Angeles Times” published the results of a statistical analysis of student test data to provide information about elementary schools and teachers in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). The analysis, covering the period from 2003 to 2009, was put forward as an evaluation of the effects of schools and their teachers on the performance of students taking the reading and math portions of the California Standardized Test. In Los Angeles, teachers were classified into one of five levels of “effectiveness” for their teaching in reading, math and a composite of the two. The decision by the “L.A. Times” to make these results publicly available at a dedicated web site, and to publish an extensive front page story that contrasted–by name–teachers… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Review of “Cross-Country Evidence on Teacher Performance Pay”

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: The primary claim of this Harvard Program on Education Policy and Governance report and the abridged Education Next version is that nations “that pay teachers on their performance score higher on PISA tests.” After statistically controlling for several variables, the author concludes that nations with some form of merit pay system have, on average, higher reading and math scores on this international test of 15-year-old students. Although the author lists numerous caveats, his broad conclusions do not heed these cautions. The fundamental differences among countries in the types of performance pay system are not properly considered. Nations are simply lumped together as having or not having a performance pay plan. Also, the length of time the program had been in place in each country is not addressed… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Spatial Visualization as Mediating between Mathematics Learning Strategy and Mathematics Achievement among 8th Grade Students

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Jordanian 8th grade students revealed low achievement in mathematics through four periods (1999, 2003, 2007 & 2011) of Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). This study aimed to determine whether spatial visualization mediates the affect of Mathematics Learning Strategies (MLS) factors namely mathematics attitude, mathematics motivation, mathematics self-regulation, mathematics self-efficacy, and mathematics anxiety on mathematics achievement. The study consists of 360 students from public middle schools in Alkoura district, selected through stratified random sampling. It employed 65 items to assess MLS, which consists, attitude (18 items), motivation (7 items), self-regulation (25 items), self-efficacy (5 items) and math anxiety (10 items). The mathematics test comprises of 30 items, which has eight items for numbers, 14 items for algebra and eight items for geometry while spatial visualization… 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