2011 NAEP Science data available: 8th grade

Data from the 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) find that our nation’s eighth-grade students have made gains in science since 2009. The Nation’s Report Card: Science 2011 presents results for the nation, all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Department of Defense Schools.

Key findings from The Nation’s Report Card: Science 2011 include:

• In 2011, a higher percentage of students performed at or above the Basic and Proficient achievement levels than in 2009.

• The achievement gap between Black and White students narrowed between 2009 and 2011, with average scores since 2009 rising by 1 point for White students and by 3 points for Black students.

• The achievement gap between Hispanic and White students also narrowed between 2009 and 2011, with average scores since 2009 rising by 1 point for White students and by 5 points for Hispanic students.

• Public school students in 16 states and jurisdictions have made gains since 2009.

• No state scored lower in 2011 than in 2009.

• Public school students in 28 states scored higher than their peers in the nation; students in 15 states and the District of Columbia scored lower than their peers nationally.

The Nation’s Report Card is a product of the National Center for Education Statistics at the Institute of Education Sciences, part of the U.S. Department of Education.

To view the full science report please visit
http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2012465

Number & types of public school agencies

Two more sets of data from the 2010-11 Common Core... (NCES)

Numbers and Types of Public Elementary and Secondary Local Education Agencies From the Common Core of Data: School Year 2010-11, presents findings on the numbers and types of public elementary and secondary local education agencies in the United States and the territories in the 2010-11 school year. Findings include:

• There were 17,911 operating local education agencies in the 2010-11 school year, and among those agencies, 13,592 were regular school districts.

• Twenty-six of the 13,592 active regular school districts enrolled 100,000 or more students.

• Approximately 953,000 students were enrolled in the 2,359 independent charter agencies, districts in which all schools were charter schools."

To view the full First Look report please visit
http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2012326

Numbers and Types of Public Elementary and Secondary Schools From the Common Core of Data: School Year 2010–11, presents findings on the numbers and types of public elementary and secondary schools in the United States and the territories in the 2010-11 school year. Findings include:

• There were 98,817 operating public elementary/secondary schools in the 2010-11 school year. Of those schools, 88,929 were regular schools.

• By 2010-2011, charter schools had been established in 40 states and the District of Columbia. Charter schools enrolled about 1.8 million students.

• Across all regular public schools that had membership, the overall pupil/teacher ratio in 2010–11 was 15.7.

The Common Core of Data and this report are products of the National Center for Education Statistics at the Institute of Education Sciences.

To view the full First Look report please visit
http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2012325


 

New data on school enrollment & staff counts

Public Elementary and Secondary School Student Enrollment and Staff Counts from the Common Core of Data: School Year 2010–11, presents findings on the numbers and types of public elementary and secondary state-level data in the United States and the territories in the 2010-11 school year. Findings include:

• Public elementary and secondary schools enrolled 49.5 million students.

• Public elementary and secondary schools and local education agencies employed a total of 6.2 million full-time-equivalent (FTE) staff.

• The student/teacher ratio (i.e., the number of students for every teacher FTE) in public schools is 16.0.

The Common Core of Data and this report are products of the National Center for Education Statistics at the Institute of Education Sciences.

To view the full First Look report please visit
http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2012327

Summer training from NCER

On August 13-17, the National Center for Education Research, in conjunction with the Institute for Policy Research at Northwestern University, will host a summer research training institute workshop on the use of within-study comparison designs to compare causal effects from an experiment with those from a quasi-experiment that share the same treatment group comparisons. The workshop will be held at Northwestern University and the application deadline for this workshop is May 14, 2012. For more information about the institute and registration click here:


http://ies.ed.gov/whatsnew/conferences/?id=981&cid=5

New data on Latino/a college completion

From this morning's (4/11/12) Inside Higher Ed...
Excelencia in Education on Tuesday released data showing Latino college completion rates, by state. "The state-level data on Latino college completion show that today’s investment, or lack thereof, in Latino academic preparation and degree attainment can have a compounding effect on state populations, economies, and communities in the near future,” said Deborah Santiago, the organization's co-founder and vice president for policy and research.

State level and summary reports are available for download here: http://www.edexcelencia.org/eaf/50states

Peer instruction works!

An article in today's (April 11, 2012) Chronicle reports on a study testing whether or not peer instruction is actually helping students learn vs. just pressuring those less sure of themselves into conforming. An excerpt:
"The questions were given in pairs of “isomorphic” questions, having different contexts and “cover stories” but assessing the same core concepts. First, a question was asked using the usual vote-discuss-revote model. Then the second, isomorphic question was asked with only individual voting taking place.
If the peer discussion was merely creating an environment of peer pressure to vote the same as the knowledgeable students, then what you’d expect is that the percentage of students answering correctly would be relatively low on the first vote on Question 1, then high on the revote, then back to low again on Question 2. But that’s not what the study found! On the first vote, an average of about 50% of students were voting correctly. On the revote of the first question, that average went up to just shy of 70%. On the first vote of the second question — testing the same concept but in a new context — the percent voting correctly was above 70%."
The study cited is: M. K. Smith, W. B. Wood, W. K. Adams, C. Wieman, J. K. Knight, N. Guild, and T. T. Su. Why Peer Discussion Improves Student Performance on In-Class Concept Questions.
Science 2 January 2009: 323 (5910), 122-124. [DOI:10.1126/science.1165919]

Poetry for STEM curricula and common core standards

April is National Poetry Month and Booklist (April 2012) offers lots of ideas for utilizing poetry to support and enhance lesson plans.
Poetry to support STEM curricula:
Bug Off!Creepy, Crawly Poems . By Jane Yolen. Illus. by Jason Stemple. 2012. 32p. Boyds Mills/Wordsong, $16.95 (9781590788622) 811. Gr. 1–5.
Incredible Inventions. Ed. by Lee Bennett Hopkins. Illus. by Julia Sarcone-Roach. 2009. 32p. Greenwillow, $17.99 (9780060872458). 811. Gr. 1–5.
A Leaf Can Be . . . By Laura Purdie Salas. Illus. by Violeta Dabija. 2012. 32p. Millbrook, $17.95 (9780761362036). K–Gr. 3.
One Big Rain:Poems for Rainy Days . Ed. by Rita Gray. Illus. by Ryan O’Rourke. 2010. 32p. Charlesbridge, $9.95 (9781570917165). 811.008. Gr. 2–4.
Steady Hands: Poems about Work. By Tracie Vaughn Zimmer. Illus. by Megan Halsey. 2009. 48p. Clarion, $16 (9780618903511). 811. Gr. 4–7.
Step Inside! A Look inside Animal Homes. By Catherine Ham. 2012. 32p. illus. EarlyLight, $14.95 (9780983201427). 591.56. K–Gr. 3.
Track That Scat! By Lisa Morlock. Illus. by Carrie Anne Bradshaw. 2012. 32p. Sleeping Bear, $15.95 (9781585365364). 591.479. Gr. 1–4.
Water Sings Blue:Ocean Poems . By Kate Coombs. Illus. by Meilo So. 2012. 32p. Chronicle, $16.99 (9780811872843). 811.6. Gr. 2–6.
What’s Looking at You, Kid? By J. Patrick Lewis. Illus. by Renee Graef. 2012. 32p. Sleeping Bear, $14.95 (9781585367931). PreS–K.
UnBEElievables: Honeybee Poems and Paintings. By Douglas Florian. Illus. by the author. 2012. 32p. Simon & Schuster/Beach Lane, $16.99 (9781442426528). 811. Gr. 2–5. 
Outside Your Window: A First Book of Nature. By Nicola Davies. Illus. by Mark Hearld. 2012. 108p. Candlewick, $19.99 (9780763655495). 808.81. PreS–Gr. 2.
Out of This World: Poems and Facts about Space. By Amy E. Sklansky. Illus. by Stacey Schuett. 2012. 40p. Knopf, $17.99 (9780375864599); lib. ed., $20.99 (9780375964596). 811. Gr. 3–5. Swirl by Swirl. By Joyce Sidman. Illus. by Beth Krommes. 2011. 32p. Houghton, $16.99 (9780547315836). PreS–Gr. 3
A Mirror to Nature:Poems about Reflection . By Jane Yolen. Illus. by Jason Stemple. 2009. 31p. Boyds Mills/Wordsong, $17.95 (9781590786246). Gr. 2–5. 
Edgar Allan Poe's Pie: Math Puzzlers in Classic Poems. By J. Patrick Lewis. Illus. by Michael Slack. 2012. 40p. Harcourt, $16.99 (9780547513386). 811. Gr. 3–5.



Poetry to facilitate teaching Core Curriculum: (RL.1.4—RL.6.4)
RL.1.4. Identify words and phrases in stories or poems that suggest feelings or appeal to the senses.
In the Wild. By David Elliott. Illus. by Holly Meade. 2010. 32p. Candlewick, $16.99 (9780763644970). PreS–Gr. 2.

Peaceful Pieces: Poems and Quilts about Peace. By Anna Grossnickle Hines. Illus. by the author. 2011. 32p. Holt, $16.99 (9780805089967). Gr. 2–5.
Swirl by Swirl. By Joyce Sidman. Illus. by Beth Krommes. 2011. 32p. Houghton, $16.99 (9780547315836). PreS–Gr. 3.

RL.4.4. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including those that allude to significant characters found in mythology.
Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night. By Joyce Sidman. Illus. by Rick Allen. 2010. 32p. Houghton, $16.99 (9780547152288). 811. Gr. 3–6.

A Foot in the Mouth: Poems to Speak, Sing, and Shout. Ed. by Paul B. Janeczko. Illus. by Chris Raschka. 2009. 61p. Candlewick, $17.99 (9780763606633). 811. Gr. 4–7.

A Mirror to Nature:Poems about Reflection . By Jane Yolen. Illus. by Jason Stemple. 2009. 31p. Boyds Mills/Wordsong, $17.95 (9781590786246). Gr. 2–5.


RL.6.4. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of a specific word choice on meaning and tone.
Lemonadeand Other Poems Squeezed from a Single Word . By Bob Raczka. Illus. by Nancy Doniger. 2011. 48p. Roaring Brook, $16.99 (9781596435414). 811. Gr. 2–5.
Under the Mambo Moon. By Julia Durango. Illus. by Fabricio VandenBroeck. 2011. 48p. Charlesbridge, $12.95 (9781570917233). 811. Gr. 3–5.

Sweethearts of Rhythm: The Story of the Greatest All-Girl Swing Band in the World. By Marilyn Nelson. Illus. by Jerry Pinkney. 2009. 80p. Dial, $21.99 (9780803731875). 811. Gr. 5–8.