eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Last week President Barack Obama announced that the administration plans to waive some aspects of the No Child Left Behind law. But states have to develop solid plans to improve instruction to receive a waiver. Specifically, states must adopt college- and career-ready standards for all students, focus interventions on the bottom 15 percent of low-performing schools, and develop teacher evaluation systems using student performance. Commentators are fixated on waiving the high-profile pieces of the law such as the timeline for ensuring all students are proficient in reading and math and seeking flexibility for the highly qualified teacher targets. But a critical waiver option on expanded learning time is being overlooked in all the hoopla. Expanded learning time is a valuable tool for improving student achievement, as demonstrated… Continue Reading →
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eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Since the emergence of middle schools as distinct educational settings in the 1960s, proponents of the model have advocated for structures and approaches that best meet the particular developmental needs of young adolescents. Middle school researchers have developed frameworks of best practices for schools that have been widely, if not uniformly, adopted. However, there is a paucity of large-scale quantitative research on the efficacy of such best practices. In this study we used state-level administrative data from Texas to estimate the school-level contribution to standardized test scores in math and language arts, along with absenteeism. We then regressed these value-added quantities on indicators of middle school structures, along with research-supported predictors of school efficacy. Results showed that schools with fewer classes in the school day and higher… Continue Reading →
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eric.ed.gov har udgivet: During the past year, Wisconsin state legislators debated a series of bills aimed at closing low-performing public schools and replacing them with privately run charter schools. These proposals were particularly targeted at Milwaukee, the state’s largest and poorest school district. Ultimately, the only legislation enacted was a bill that modestly increases school reporting requirements, without stipulating consequences for low performance. Nevertheless, the more ambitious proposals will likely remain at the core of Wisconsin’s debates over education policy, and legislative leaders have made clear their desire to revisit them in next year’s session. To help inform these deliberations, this report addresses the most comprehensive set of reforms put forward in the 2013-2014 legislative session. Backers of these reforms are particularly enamored of a new type of charter school… Continue Reading →
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eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Citizens Leadership Academy (CLA) in Ohio is preparing its middle schoolers for success in high school, college, and life. CLA is second among all public schools in the city on student growth. The school’s eighth graders reach and surpass proficiency at a rate that is more than three times that of their peers across the city. Reading and math proficiency rates at CLA are more than double those of Cleveland’s. The school’s model–as captured in its name, “Citizens Leadership” Academy–prioritizes and cultivates broader attributes and mindsets necessary for long-term success. As demonstrated in this profile about one student, Keith Lazare Jr., CLA asks students to consider what it means to be active, engaged citizens and community members. Students are asked to grapple not only with tough math… Continue Reading →
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eric.ed.gov har udgivet: In May of 2011, the “Los Angeles Times” published, for the second time, results of statistical studies examining the variation in teacher and school performance in the Los Angeles Unified School District, based on the California Standards Tests for math and English Language Arts (ELA). The studies use data from the seven academic years ending in 2009-2010. The “Times” published teachers’ names along with their effect estimates. These estimates were then used to classify teachers into five categories: least effective; less effective; average; more effective; and most effective. The “Los Angeles Times” previously published the results of statistical analyses designed to address the same issues in August, 2010, using data from the period 2003-2009. The earlier analyses were reviewed by Briggs and Domingue, who identified several serious… Continue Reading →
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eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This summary highlights the findings of a study that examined the survey responses of teachers from 75 Idaho schools working on school improvement. Results of the study showed schools with higher teacher reports of the presence of the goals, processes, and supports essential for student success did not have higher rates of reading proficiency, math proficiency, or attendance. A few significant relationships were found in subsamples of schools. A significant positive relationship was also found between school attendance in elementary schools in 2012 and teacher ratings of five of nine other essential goals, supports, and processes. The findings suggest that Idaho educators and others using teacher perception surveys should proceed cautiously in making decisions based on perception surveys. They might also consider using data from other sources… Continue Reading →
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eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Teacher evaluation is at the center of current education policy reform. Most evaluation systems rely at least in part on principals’ assessments of teachers, and their discretionary judgments carry substantial weight. However, we know relatively little about what they value when determining evaluations and high stakes personnel decisions. The author leverages unique data from a public charter school district to explore the extent to which school administrators’ formative evaluations of teachers align with teacher and school effectiveness and predict future personnel decisions. While previous research has examined administrators’ subjective evaluations of teachers in surveys and in practice, this study links a detailed evaluation in practice with multiple types of personnel decisions to provide new insights into administrator decision-making. A better understanding of the teacher contributions that administrators… Continue Reading →
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eric.ed.gov har udgivet: [Slides] presented at the annual conference of the National Council of Supervisors of Math. Link til kilde
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eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Policymakers and practitioners frequently use teacher surveys to inform decisions on school improvement efforts in low-achieving schools. There is little empirical evidence on how the results of these surveys relate to student outcomes. This study provides information on how perception data from a teacher survey in Idaho is correlated with three student outcomes: reading proficiency, math proficiency, and attendance. The Idaho State Department of Education uses the Educational Effectiveness Survey (EES), an annual teacher survey developed and administered by the Center on Educational Effectiveness, to gather information on school qualities believed to be the goals, processes, and supports essential for school success. Used widely in the Northwest Region, the survey is similar to teacher perception surveys used nationally. This study covers the 75 low-achieving Idaho schools that… Continue Reading →
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eric.ed.gov har udgivet: School performance pressures apply disproportionately to tested grades and subjects. Using longitudinal administrative data and teacher survey data from a large urban school district, we examine schools’ responses to those pressures in assigning teachers to high-stakes and low-stakes classrooms. We find that teachers who produce greater student achievement gains in math and reading are more likely to be placed in a tested grade-subject combination in the following year and that the relationship between prior performance and assignment is stronger in schools where principals have more influence over assignments. This strategic response has the consequence of disadvantaging achievement in early grades, however, concentrating less effective teachers in K-2 classrooms, which in turn produces lower achievement for those students, as measured by low-stakes assessments, that may persist into tested… Continue Reading →
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