0

Eric.ed.gov – Studies in Teaching: 2012 Research Digest. Action Research Projects Presented at Annual Research Forum (Winston-Salem, North Carolina, June 29, 2012)

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This document presents the proceedings of the 17th Annual Research Forum held June 29, 2012, at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Included herein are the following 25 action research papers: (1) “Reading and Writing”: A Study Comparing the Strengths of Peer Review and Visible Author Writing Strategies (Elizabeth Behar); (2) Project Based Learning: Is this New Method an Effective Educational Approach to Learning? (Camille Collier); (3) Building a Sense of Community in a High School Physics Class (Nick Corak); (4) Seeing Double: Visual Media and Expanding Definitions of Literacy in the English Classroom (John Randall Davis); (5) Improving Student Attitudes towards Science through Scientific Module Instruction (Carson V. Dobrin); (6) Web 2.0 in High School Social Studies: What Happens? (Kate Douglass); (7) Creative Expression in… Continue Reading

0

Eric.ed.gov – Children’s Outcomes and Program Quality in the North Carolina Pre-Kindergarten Program: 2012-2013 Statewide Evaluation

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: The purpose of the 2012-2013 North Carolina Pre-Kindergarten (NC Pre-K) Evaluation study was to examine the quality of the program and the outcomes for children, along with comparisons to previous years. The primary research questions addressed by this evaluation included: (1) What were the key characteristics of the local NC Pre-K programs?; (2) What was the quality of the NC Pre-K classrooms attended by children and what factors were associated with better quality?; (3) What were the outcomes of children attending the NC Pre-K Program and what factors were associated with better outcomes?; and (4) To what extent have there been any changes over time in these results? To address these questions, information was gathered from multiple sources, including monthly service reports, teacher surveys, observations of classroom… Continue Reading

0

Eric.ed.gov – Children’s Kindergarten Outcomes and Program Quality in the North Carolina Pre-Kindergarten Program: 2013-2014 Statewide Evaluation

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: The 2013-2014 North Carolina Pre-Kindergarten (NC Pre-K) Evaluation study was designed to examine the longitudinal outcomes through kindergarten for children who attended the Pre-K program, along with comparisons to previous cohorts of program attendees. A sample of 561 children was included in the study, with data gathered at the beginning and end of NC Pre-K (2012- 2013) and kindergarten (2013-2014) to examine their growth in skills. Researchers conducted individual assessments of children’s language, literacy, math, and general knowledge skills and gathered teacher ratings of behavior skills. For 119 Spanish-speaking dual language learners (DLLs) in the sample, parallel assessments were conducted in both English and Spanish to examine their progress when measured in both languages. In addition, program characteristics and services were examined for the 2013-2014 NC Pre-K… Continue Reading

0

Eric.ed.gov – Examining the Effects of School Composition on North Carolina Student Achievement over Time

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This study explores the effects of school-level characteristics on North Carolina students’ reading and math achievement from fourth through eighth grade, focusing on the relationships between achievement and the racial and poverty composition of schools. After creating race-by-poverty cohorts of schools, I use multilevel models to examine math and reading achievement for the same students in fourth, sixth, and eighth grades. The racial and poverty composition of schools affect student achievement after factoring in student, family, and other school influences. In addition, increasing teacher quality and school resources reduces but does not eliminate the effects of school racial and poverty composition on student achievement. Policies leading to reductions in racial and poverty isolation in schools and increases in teacher quality should be pursued to guarantee equality of… Continue Reading

0

Eric.ed.gov – The Impact of Incentives on Effort: Teacher Bonuses in North Carolina. Program on Education Policy and Governance Working Papers Series. PEPG 10-06

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Teacher effort, a critical component of education production, has been largely ignored in the literature due to measurement difficulties. Using a principal-agent model, North Carolina public school data, and the state’s unique accountability system that rewards teachers for school-level academic growth, we show that we can distill effort from teacher absence data and capture its effect on student achievement in a structural framework. We find that: (1) Incentives lead teachers to try harder. The bonus program reduced the number of sick days taken by about 0.6 days for an average teacher; (2) When teachers try harder, students do better. Increased effort of teachers translates into improved student performance. Estimates show that standardized reading scores increased by about 1.3% of a standard deviation and standardized math scores by… Continue Reading

0

Eric.ed.gov – School Turnaround in North Carolina: A Regression Discontinuity Analysis. Working Paper 156

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This paper examines the effect of school turnaround in North Carolina elementary and middle schools. Using a regression discontinuity design, we find that turnaround led to a drop in average school-level math and reading passing rates and an increased concentration of low-income students in treated schools. We use teacher survey data to examine how teacher activities changed. Treated schools brought in new principals and increased the time teachers devoted to professional development. The program also increased administrative burdens and distracted teachers, potentially reducing time available for instruction. Teacher turnover increased after the first full year of implementation. Overall, we find little success for North Carolina’s efforts to turn around low performing schools under its federally funded Race to the Top grant. Link til kilde

0

Eric.ed.gov – Effects of Participation in the North Carolina Pre-Kindergarten Program at the End of Kindergarten: 2015-2016 Statewide Evaluation

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: The purpose of the 2015-2016 NC Pre-Kindergarten (NC Pre-K) Evaluation study was to examine the long-term effects of participation in NC Pre-K at the end of kindergarten. Two groups of children were compared–those who attended NC Pre-K (treatment) and those who had not attended NC Pre-K (comparison). Propensity score matching (PSM) was used to select a matched sample of children with similar characteristics across the two groups. This study found significant treatment effects for participation in the NC Pre-K Program on children’s outcomes at the end of kindergarten in the areas of math skills and executive function. Although effect sizes were in the small range, there were effects across all aspects of math. There were significant differences for calculation skills and the math composite, and marginally significant… Continue Reading

0

Eric.ed.gov – Vital Signs: North Carolina

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Business leaders in North Carolina cannot find the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) talent they need to stay competitive. Students’ lagging performance in K-12 is a critical reason why. The good news is that the nation’s most effective STEM education programs can help turn the tide. North Carolina students have made some progress in math over the past decade. Yet not enough students have the chance to learn rich and challenging content to prepare them for college and careers. The state faces challenges in science. Students in the state spent little time on elementary science, and science teachers say they don’t have the resources they need. Link til kilde

0

Eric.ed.gov – Vital Signs: South Carolina

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Business leaders in South Carolina cannot find the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) talent they need to stay competitive. Students’ lagging performance in K-12 is a critical reason why. The good news is that the nation’s most effective STEM education programs can help turn the tide. South Carolina students’ performance in K-12 math and science has been basically flat since 2003, and not enough students–least of all minorities–are exposed to challenging content to prepare them for college and careers. Most eighth graders don’t have teachers with an undergraduate major in math or science. Link til kilde

0

Eric.ed.gov – Students’ Performances in Selected Mathematics Teacher Training Programs in North Carolina

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: (Purpose) The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of math teacher program on students’ performances in math teacher training programs in five selected colleges in North Carolina. (Methodology) This study collected 300 data (150 pre-tests and 150 post-tests) data of college students enrolled in the five selected colleges. The ANOVA and multiple comparison t-tests analyses showed that there were significant differences among students in the experimental group compared to those in the control group. (Results) Results indicate that there was a major role teaching pedagogy played in the performances of the students. (Conclusions) Results revealed that over a period of three years (2010-2013), there were more improvements in the performances of the students as they proceeded through the math teaching pedagogy at the experimental… Continue Reading