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Eric.ed.gov – Online Course Use in Iowa and Wisconsin Public High Schools: The Results of Two Statewide Surveys. REL 2015-065

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: As the use of online courses in high schools increases rapidly across the United States, schools are using courses from a multitude of sources to achieve a variety of educational goals. Policies and practices for monitoring student progress and success in online courses are also diverse. Yet few states formally track or report student participation in online learning. Iowa and Wisconsin are among the states that do not track such information. This study analyzed data from a survey developed to describe how and why brick-and-mortar public high schools in Iowa and Wisconsin use online learning for their students. The survey, developed by Regional Educational Laboratory Midwest in collaboration with members of its Virtual Education Research Alliance, reflects the need for better information about the basic characteristics of… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Algebra for All: The Effect of Algebra Coursework and Classroom Peer Academic Composition on Low-Achieving Students

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 – Instruction Quality or Working Condition? The Effects of Part-Time Faculty on Student Academic Outcomes in Community College Introductory Courses

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: More than half of community college courses are taught by part-time faculty. Drawing on data from six community colleges, this study estimates the effects of part-time faculty versus full-time faculty on students’ current and subsequent course outcomes in developmental and gateway courses, using course fixed effects and propensity score matching to minimize bias arising from student self-sorting across and within courses. We find that part-time faculty have negative effects on student subsequent enrollments. These negative effects are driven by results in math courses. We also find that course schedules could explain substantial proportions of the estimated negative effects, while faculty individual characteristics could not. Survey results on faculty professional experiences suggest that part-time faculty had less institutional knowledge regarding both academic and nonacademic services. We infer that… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Math Student Teachers: How Well Prepared Are They?

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This study was conducted to find out how well mathematics majors at the University of Northern Iowa were prepared in the foundations of effective teaching practices and how well they performed during the student teaching experience. Data were gathered from mathematics student teachers (N=22) who were observed, interviewed, and asked to keep daily journals. Results suggest that mathematics teacher education students: (1) be required to create practical problems for pupils for every mathematics course in grades 7-12; (2) be required to take a course that deals with writing across the curriculum so they can better incorporate English into their classroom instruction; (3) spend time working with and investigating the use of technology in classroom instruction; and (4) enroll in course work outside the department of mathematics that… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Expectations Meet Reality: The Underprepared Student and Community Colleges. 2016 National Report

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Improving college completion is a shared objective of higher education. It is the focus of colleges, foundations, state governments, and the White House. Students have gotten the message–their aspirations are on the rise. But the nation’s collective ambition far exceeds today’s outcomes. Many students are not attaining their goals. College readiness is at the heart of this disconnect between aspirations and results. If student outcomes are to equal student aspirations, colleges must be more effective in helping underprepared students move into–and successfully complete–college-level work. This 2016 National Report presents innovative strategies that are showing promise– multiple measures for assessing readiness, corequisite courses, redesigned math, accelerated developmental courses, computer-assisted developmental math, developmental education paired with workplace skills, high school partnerships, and improved preparation for placement tests. Examples of… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Certification Requirements and Teacher Quality: A Comparison of Alternative Routes to Teaching. Working Paper 64

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Traditionally, states have required individuals complete a program of study in a university-based teacher preparation program in order to be licensed to teach. In recent years, however, various “alternative certification” programs have been developed and the number of teachers obtaining teaching certificates through routes other than completing a traditional teacher preparation program has skyrocketed. In this paper I use a rich longitudinal data base from Florida to compare the characteristics of alternatively certified teachers with their traditionally prepared colleagues. I then analyze the relative effectiveness of teachers who enter the profession through different pathways by estimating “value-added” models of student achievement. In general, alternatively certified teachers have stronger pre-service qualifications than do traditionally prepared teachers, with the least restrictive alternative attracting the most qualified perspective teachers. These… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – A Changing Paradigm in High School Mathematics. CCRC Working Paper No. 125

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: In the United States, the prevailing high school mathematics course sequence begins with a year of Algebra I, followed by a year of geometry and a year of Algebra II. Educators and others have raised concerns about the extent to which this sequence, which prioritizes the mastery of algebra, is appropriate for the longer-term education and career goals of students who do not intend to pursue STEM degrees in college. These concerns have impelled educators and policymakers to reexamine the prominence of algebra in high school mathematics curricula and to consider new approaches that provide students with more mathematics course options better aligned with their academic and career goals. In this paper, we explore existing approaches to high school mathematics curricula as well as new developments in… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Incoherent by Design: What You Should Know about Differences between Undergraduate and Graduate Training of Elementary Teachers

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This brief quantifies the fundamentally chaotic nature of elementary teacher preparation for initial certification, which is by far the most popular choice of individuals who consider teaching. In order to understand the different approaches taken by programs housed on the same university campus, researchers examined 13 institutions that offer both a graduate and undergraduate program preparing new elementary and/or secondary teachers. While there is overlap in the topics each undergraduate/graduate program pair covers, what’s more striking are the different course requirements–even though both programs are offered by the same education school at the same institution. Ideally, teacher candidates in each program pair should receive preparation that is not only consistent, but also high quality in its design. Teacher candidates in elementary programs should begin teacher preparation having… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – “Math Makes Me Sweat” The Impact of Pre-Service Courses on Mathematics Anxiety

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: We investigate mathematics anxiety amongst education majors currently enrolled as pre-service teachers in special education, deaf and hard of hearing, early childhood and elementary education. The impact of a compulsory freshmen content course and sophomore methodology course on mathematics anxiety for each education major was studied over a two year period. Results indicate that the highest level of mathematics anxiety, as measured by the Revised-Mathematics Anxiety Survey (R-MANX), occurred amongst pre-service deaf and hard of hearing teachers as they enter their training as teachers. Results reveal that certain education majors benefit more than others from mathematics training courses. (Contains 9 tables and 1 figure.) Link til kilde