eric.ed.gov har udgivet: America’s schools are facing a critical shortage of teachers just as student enrollments are rising and more rigorous assessments of student achievement are being implemented. The shortage is especially acute in hard-to-staff schools in urban and rural areas, as well as in high-demand subjects such as math, science, and bilingual and special education. The teacher shortage is serious and real, and comes at a time when the nation’s educational system is at a crossroads. With the current emphasis on students’ academic performance and job-readiness, it is imperative that schools find and retain dedicated, high-quality teachers. These teachers must be able to teach to the highest standards while navigating complex challenges previously unknown in the profession. Examples from the field show that afterschool programs can provide current and… Continue Reading →
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eric.ed.gov har udgivet: In low-income countries, private schools are perceived as superior alternatives to the public sector, often improving achievement at a fraction of the cost. It is unclear whether private schools are as effective in middle-income countries where the public sector has relatively more resources. To address this gap, this paper takes advantage of lottery-based admissions in first grade for a Mexico City private school that targets and subsidizes attendance for low-income children. Over three years, selected students via lottery scored 0.21 standard deviation higher than those not selected in literacy tests, corresponding to a normalized gain of one-half of a grade level every two years. Lottery winners also statistically outperformed those not selected in math, but the gains were more modest. Relative to the control group, parents of… Continue Reading →
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eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Charter schools are largely viewed as a major innovation in the public school landscape, as they receive more independence from state laws and regulations than do traditional public schools, and are therefore more able to experiment with alternative curricula, pedagogical methods, and different ways of hiring and training teachers. Unlike traditional public schools, charters may be shut down by their authorizers for poor performance. But how is charter school performance measured? What are the effects of charter schools on student achievement? Assessing literature that uses either experimental (lottery) or student-level growth-based methods, this analysis infers the causal impact of attending a charter school on student performance. Focusing on math and reading scores, the authors find compelling evidence that charters under-perform traditional public schools in some locations, grades,… Continue Reading →
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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 har udgivet: The last two decades have witnessed a vast expansion in the use of education data to improve classroom instruction and raise student achievement. Schools and districts face important challenges in implementing increased data use for instructional improvement. One key challenge is the need for teachers and administrators to have “data literacy”–the skills to analyze data, and to use a variety of data sources to refine and improve instruction. Data systems and data initiatives have grown at a much faster pace than educator training around data use. This reality justifies the evaluation of a program such as TERC’s Using Data, which aims to provide teachers with the needed training. A table and figure are appended. Using school-level random assignment, this study seeks to estimate the causal impact of… Continue Reading →
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eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Hispanics are one of the largest and fastest-growing minority groups in the United States. Projections indicate a need for an increase of 20% of practicing engineers by 2010. Despite the growing number of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) careers in the American economy, education statistics suggest that too few Hispanic students are being encouraged and equipped to take advantage of opportunities in technical disciplines. American business and industry and the nation’s Hispanic communities would both benefit from addressing this mismatch. In summer 2007, the IBM International Foundation asked Public Agenda to interview Hispanic and Latino leaders in a variety of fields, asking for their views on what will be needed to bring more Hispanic students into the technical and scientific disciplines. This report is based on… Continue Reading →
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eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This two-part investigation (a) assessed the impact of the Jaime Escalante Math Program (JEMP), a structured summer mathematics intervention program, on the math achievement of urban middle school students, (b) identified the characteristics of the program that the administrators and teachers perceived to contribute to student achievement, and (c) compared the JEMP characteristics to those found in the literature on effective mathematics intervention programs. A mixed methods approach included analysis of two years of student math assessment data, administrator interviews, and teacher surveys. Quantitative findings indicate that student participants in the JEMP achieved significant growth in mathematics on two measures. Additionally, effective program elements are revealed in the qualitative data including specific classroom instructional strategies used in the JEMP. The results of this study will assist educators… Continue Reading →
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eric.ed.gov har udgivet: In light of shortages of mathematics and science teachers, alternative certification was introduced in the mid-1980s. This study examined the effect of alternative certification among math and science teachers who moved to a different school or left the profession. This was accomplished using the national “SASS” and “TFS” databases. The results indicated that alternatively certified teachers were comparable in their commitment to their current school and the teaching profession when compared with their traditionally certified colleagues. Findings are discussed with respect to their relevance for education policy makers and school administrators. Link til kilde
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eric.ed.gov har udgivet: At a national level, the supply of teachers has remained stable in recent years–however, at the state and local level, school districts have been wrestling with long-standing teacher shortages in a number of specific fields, including science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) subjects; career and technical education (CTE); bilingual education; and special education. Schools and students in low-income and minority neighborhoods often face particularly significant challenges in terms of recruiting and retaining teachers in hard-to-staff subjects. The report looks at the challenge of teacher shortages facing public schools across the U.S., and the role that internationally educated and trained immigrant and refugee professionals can play in addressing these shortages. The discussion focuses in particular on “alternative teacher certification” initiatives that seek to attract a diverse group of… Continue Reading →
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eric.ed.gov har udgivet: As the recession that began in 2008 continues to impact schools at every level, collaboration among educational entities is a matter of survival because public schools and universities are strapped for resources. Therefore, they must reach out and combine their efforts to provide needed services at a minimum cost. A natural partnership exists between public schools and institutions of higher learning that provide the lifeline to schools via their teacher preparation programs. When properly coordinated, collaboration between a college of education and public schools can benefit everyone involved. This article outlines the collaborative efforts between a university and a school district focusing on a math program, the eX-Games Project, a community-based project that brings together pre-service and in-service teachers, graduate students, and K-8th grade students to develop… Continue Reading →
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