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Eric.ed.gov – State Teacher Policy Yearbook: Progress on Teacher Quality, 2007. National Summary

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Countless reports have analyzed the impact of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 on teacher quality and student achievement. What many of these reports truly leave behind, however, is the reality that state governments–not the federal government–have the strongest impact on the work of America’s 3.1 million teachers. With that in mind, three years ago the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) began the process of analyzing states’ teacher policies. NCTQ analysts sifted through tens of thousands of pages of state codes, regulations and rules, regularly corresponding with state officials who graciously provided their important knowledge and perspectives. The “State Teacher Policy Yearbook” is the first project of its kind to provide a 360-degree detailed analysis of any and every policy that states have that… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Children’s Pre-K Outcomes and Classroom Quality in Georgia’s Pre-K Program: Findings from the 2013-2014 Evaluation Study. Executive Summary

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This the executive summary of the 2013-2014 study which provided the baseline year for the longitudinal study. The study included observations of teaching practices in a random sample of 199 Georgia’s Pre-K classrooms and assessments of the language, literacy, math, general knowledge, and behavior skills of a sample of 1,169 children attending these classrooms, including parallel assessments in English and Spanish of 139 dual-language learners (DLLs). Classroom/teacher characteristics were examined as predictors of the quality of classroom practices, while both classroom quality as well as child/family and classroom/teacher characteristics were examined as moderators of children’s growth in skills. [To view the full report, see ED593274.] Link til kilde

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Eric.ed.gov – Kindergarten Impacts of the Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts Program: A Statewide Evaluation

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts (PA PKC) is a state-funded prekindergarten program for 3- and 4- year-old children to help them gain school readiness skills. The goal of PA PKC is to help reduce educational disparities by providing high quality prekindergarten for children who lack opportunities or reside in environments that place them at risk of school failure. This Impact Study examined the effects of participation in PA PKC on children’s early academic, social, and executive function skills in kindergarten. In particular, the study focused on whether there were differences in performance for children with 1 or 2 years of enrollment in PA PKC compared to children with no early childhood education (ECE) experience in the 2 years prior to kindergarten. Two primary research questions (1 and 2) guided… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Closing the Math and Science Gap.

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: High schools throughout the United States are turning out graduates who are deficient in mathematics and science education. The field of education has come to be staffed by less competent teachers, as more qualified and more able individuals have been lured away to higher paying professions. The result of this has been the impairment of American ability to compete in the world market. Many high schools have deemphasized traditional core courses along with mathematics and the sciences. The National Education Association (NEA) has been a barrier to quality science and mathematics education in the public schools. The NEA has resisted efforts to institute standardized testing for teachers or assessment of teacher competence. The Department of Education has had deleterious effects on education, since it tends to promote… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Teacher Effectiveness: The Conditions that Matter Most and a Look to the Future

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Over the last decade, policy and business leaders have come to know what parents have always known: teachers make the greatest difference to student achievement. With new statistical and analytical methods used by a wide range of researchers, evidence has been mounting that teacher quality can account for a large share of variance in student test scores. The evidence on the distribution of qualified and effective teachers is also clear–and the findings are not good. Teachers who have met the demanding standards of National Board Certification and those who have generated higher “value-added” student achievement gains are far less likely to teach economically disadvantaged and minority students. As a result, high-poverty schools are more likely to be beset with teaching vacancies in math and special education, and… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Evidence Based Education Request Desk. EBE #591D

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Teacher quality research and the study of teacher effects received renewed attention and emphasis with Sanders and Rivers’ (1996) startling finding that teacher effects are both additive and cumulative, persisting up to an estimated two years after the student has left the teacher’s classroom. Sanders and Rivers estimated that a student receiving regular assignments (even by chance) to more effective teachers resulted in differential impact on math achievement by as much as 50 percentile points. Although these findings have undergone subsequent criticism and dispute, they serve to underscore the importance of teaching quality on student learning. This Evidence Based Education (EBE) Request seeks to provide an overview of recent research regarding teacher quality with special concentration on the teacher effects literature. Particular emphasis has been placed on… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Report Card on the Effectiveness of Teacher Training Programs

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Tennessee Code Annotated 49-5-108 specifies that the State Board of Education “with the assistance of the department of education and the Tennessee higher education commission, shall develop a report card or assessment on the effectiveness of teacher training programs.” The State Board is directed to “annually evaluate performance of each institution of higher education providing an approved program of teacher training and other state board approved teacher training programs.” The performance is meant to “focus on the performance of each institution’s graduates and shall include, but not be limited to, the following areas: (1) Placement and retention rates; (2) Performance on Praxis examinations or other tests used to identify teacher preparedness; and (3) Teacher effect data created pursuant to Section 49-1-606.” Each teacher training institution and each… 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 – The Economic Value of Higher Teacher Quality. Working Paper 56

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Most analyses of teacher quality end without any assessment of the economic value of altered teacher quality. This paper combines information about teacher effectiveness with the economic impact of higher achievement. It begins with an overview of what is known about the relationship between teacher quality and student achievement, which provides the basis for consideration of the derived demand for teachers which comes from their impact on economic outcomes. Alternative valuation methods are based on the impact of increased achievement on individual earnings and on the impact of low teacher effectiveness on economic growth through aggregate achievement. A teacher one standard deviation above the mean effectiveness annually generates marginal gains of over $400,000 in present value of student future earnings with a class size of 20 and… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Blueprint for Change in Georgia: State Teacher Policy Yearbook, 2010

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: The 2009 “State Teacher Policy Yearbook” provided a comprehensive review of states’ policies that impact the teaching profession. As a companion to last year’s comprehensive state-by-state analysis, the 2010 edition provides each state with an individualized “Blueprint for Change,” building off last year’s “Yearbook” goals and recommendations. State teacher policy addresses a great many areas, including teacher preparation, certification, evaluation and compensation. With so many moving parts, it may be difficult for states to find a starting point on the road to reform. To this end, this paper provides a state-specific roadmap, organized in three main sections. Section 1 identifies policy concerns that need critical attention, the areas of highest priority for state policymakers. Section 2 outlines “low-hanging fruit,” policy changes that can be implemented in relatively… Continue Reading