eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This paper overviews strategies employed by the Appalachian Rural Systemic Initiative (ARSI) to implement systemic reform in math, science, and technology education in rural Appalachia. ARSI is one of four Rural Systemic Initiative projects funded by the National Science Foundation to target regions characterized by low population density and high levels of poverty. The initiative targeted 66 counties encompassing 89 school districts in Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. The ARSI project is based on two fundamental strategies: school and community-based action and technology as a tool for access. Specifically, the initiative involved the creation of six regional resource collaboratives made up of key organizations such as universities and community colleges, business and industry, federal and state agencies, teacher enhancement projects, exemplary schools, and… Continue Reading →
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eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Constructivist approaches to mathematics instruction based on the standards of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) have been widely advocated and are expanding in use. However, many educators express a need for constructivist approaches that provide specific student materials, assessments, teachers’ manuals, professional development, and other supports to enable a broad range of teachers to succeed with a broad range of children. MathWings, part of a comprehensive school reform effort funded by New American Schools, was designed to accomplish this goal. In grades 3 through 5, MathWings provides a practical, comprehensive approach based on the NCTM standards. Three evaluations have examined the impact of MathWings. One, involving four rural Maryland schools, found substantially greater gains on the mathematics sections of the Maryland School Performance Assessment… Continue Reading →
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eric.ed.gov har udgivet: The Learning by Making (LbyM) project is funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s Investing in Innovation Fund (i3). As a five-year development project (2014-2018), Sonoma State University (SSU), in partnership with high-need schools and districts, has been developing an innovative, integrated high school Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) curriculum. The curriculum consists of Disciplinary Core Ideas (DCIs) in earth science and biology as described in the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS, 2013) and utilizes an easy-to-use Logo programming language that conducts data transfer and network communications in support of student-designed investigations. The purpose of this study is to understand how LbyM is implemented in high school classrooms in rural environments, to observe the influences of this curriculum on student learning and engagement, and to explore… Continue Reading →
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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 har udgivet: Rural schools, like others in the nation, are enjoined to use national and state standards as the basis for educational reform. Moreover, national standards for mathematics education were established early (1989) and have been disseminated widely. Nevertheless, little is known about the dynamics of standards-based reform of mathematics in rural schools. This paper reports findings from a set of four case studies of mathematics education in rural secondary schools to provide insights into the dynamics of instructional reform. Analysis of data from interviews, observations, and documents revealed two emergent themes: (1) math teachers address calls for improvement by building on traditional practices and (2) math teachers meld traditional and reform practices. Link til kilde
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eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Pennsylvania Intermediate Unit 8 (IU8) seeks to scale innovations that are evolving as local solutions to educational challenges in rural school districts. Consistent with its mission of creating customized solutions, IU8 seeks to make the innovations better, meaning more learner centered and community focused. IU8 is evolving the Getting Better Together (GBT) initiative that includes a process called Catalyzing Action for Responsive Education (CARE). Unfortunately, with its singular focus on “adequate yearly progress” in math and reading test achievement the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law devalued the role of public education in many rural communities. School and classroom doors became closed to key partners that traditionally reinforced the symbiotic relationship of mutual benefits shared between a rural school and its community. The local school lost… Continue Reading →
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eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Quality teaching is essential to providing children with the knowledge and skills necessary for a high quality of life. It’s essential to the economy, as well. Business thrives when it has ready access to an educated workforce, allowing Arizona to compete for the best industries and companies. Quality teaching helps build the society in which we live today and tomorrow. This report uses hard data as well as voices from teachers themselves to describe the current state of Arizona’s educational workforce, specifically focusing on the factors that attract new teachers into the profession and those factors that drive too many existing teachers out of it. Highlights of the findings include the following: (1) Teachers of the baby-boom generation are approaching the end of their careers and will… Continue Reading →
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eric.ed.gov har udgivet: In lower- and middle-income countries, including Ghana, students in rural areas dramatically underperform their urban peers. Rural schools struggle to attract and retain professionally trained teachers (GES 2012; World Bank 2012). We explore one potential solution to the problem of teacher recruitment: distance instruction. Through a cluster randomized controlled trial, we estimate the impact of a program that broadcasts live instruction via satellite to rural primary school students. The program equipped classrooms in 70 randomly selected Ghanaian schools with the technology required to connect to a studio in Accra. An additional 77 schools served as the control. Instructors in Accra provided math and English lessons to classrooms in the treatment group. The model is interactive, and students in satellite classes could communicate in real time with their… Continue Reading →
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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 har udgivet: A challenge for contemporary rural educators (especially teachers) is how to imagine rural education in a way that is not entirely focused on defining the rural as a problems space or as something simultaneously left behind by history and outmigration. Problems of community economic development come into the picture when we attempt to imagine rural schools that support and contribute to their communities rather than mostly serving as way-stations for outward bound youth. These are the kinds of questions raised by the ACCLAIM project, organized by the University of Tennessee Knoxville, Ohio University, West Virginia University, the University of Louisville, and the University of Kentucky. ACCLAIM is doing ground-breaking work in the United States simply by asking a number of key questions about the relationship between math… Continue Reading →
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