Status and Trends in the Education of American Indians and Alaska Natives: 2008

"This report examines both the educational progress of American Indian/Alaska Native children and adults and challenges in their education. It shows that over time more American Indian/Alaska Native students have gone on to college and that their attainment expectations have increased. Despite these gains, progress has been uneven and differences persist between American Indian/Alaska Native students and students of other racial/ethnic groups on key indicators of educational performance." (Description from website)

WWC Review of Dropout Prevention Studies

What Works Clearinghouse reviewed 84 studies--looking at 22 school and community based projects targeted to dropout prevention or recovery. Only 23 studies, looking at 16 projects, met WWC evidentiary standards. Tabular presentation indicates which studies demonstrated positive or potentially positive effects on at least one of these three outcome domains: "staying in school, progressing in school, and completing school." The overview with links to all sections of the report and appendices is here: http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/reports/dropout/topic/

IES Practice Guide: Reducing Problem Behaviors in the Elementary Classroom

Although I don't always agree with the exclusive focus on quantitative research promoted by the What Works Clearinghouse, I think the approach is warranted and fruitful in this area. This Practice Guide provides a detailed review of the evidence in support of 5 intervention strategies along with fairly detailed information for implementation (e.g., exemplar charts for tracking behaviors). Targeted to general classroom teachers of K-5 students (including special education students who spend time in the general classroom).

Research training seminars: Application deadline Nov. 23

Two three-day seminars on the use of longitudinal datasets for education research and policy analysis will be held January 13-15, 2009 in Washington D.C. The seminars will focus on the Pre-Elementary Education Longitudinal Study (PEELS) database and the National Longitudinal Transition Study 2 (NLTS2) database. PEELS and NLTS2 study children and youth with disabilities and are administered by the National Center for Special Education Research within the Institute of Education Sciences.

Both seminars are open to advanced graduate students and faculty members from colleges and universities nationwide and to researchers, education practitioners, and policy analysts from federal, state, and local education and human services agencies and professional associations. The application deadline is November 23, 2008.

PEELS
The PEELS includes a sample of over 3,000 children with disabilities and is designed to describe the characteristics of children receiving preschool special education, their educational programs and services, and their transitions from preschool programs to elementary schools. For more information about PEELS, see http://www.peels.org

For more information about the PEELS database training seminar, see
http://ies.ed.gov/whatsnew/conferences/?id=378&cid=4

NLTS2
The NLTS2 includes a sample of more than 11,000 students with disabilities and is designed to support research on a wide range of topics pertaining to youth with disabilities as they move from secondary school into adult roles. For more information about NLTS2, see http://www.nlts2.org

For more information about the NLTS2 database training seminar, see http://ies.ed.gov/whatsnew/conferences/?id=379&cid=4

Results of Childhood Longitudinal Study

This new report looks at the children who were in the kindergarten cohort of 1998-99 (representing about 4m children) and who are now in eighth grade. The report itself is not long with most data presented in tabular form. Narrative Introduction and Selected Findings are just a couple of pages and provide an overview of the findings. Factors such as ethnicity/race and parental characteristics (e.g., mother's level of education) are correlated to performance on reading, math and science measures, as well as participation in school activities, and educational aspirations.

Summary of recent WWC reports

Perhaps the What Works Clearinghouse should be called the "What Works and What Doesn't Clearinghouse." Of course it does not roll quite so trippingly off the tongue, but what distinguishes WWC from other publication & information venues is that they publish results of what was not found or supported. This is of course closely tied to whether or not you agree to their criteria for what works and what doesn't :-) Here is a rundown of recent reports:

Practice Guides!
- Dropout Prevention
http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/publications/practiceguides/#dp_pg
- Improving Adolescent Literacy: Effective Classroom and Intervention Practices
http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/publications/practiceguides/#adlit_pg
- Turning Around Chronically Low-Performing Schools
http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/publications/practiceguides/#turning_pg

Intervention Reports in the Following Topic Areas!

Beginning Reading:
- Reading Mastery
http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/reports/beginning_reading/rdgmastery/
- Open Court Reading(c)
http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/reports/beginning_reading/open_court/
- Houghton Mifflin Reading(c)
http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/reports/beginning_reading/houghton/

Early Childhood Education:
- Breakthrough to Literacy
http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/reports/early_ed/btl/

Dropout Prevention:
- Accelerated Middle Schools
http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/reports/dropout/ams/
- New Century High Schools Initiative
http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/reports/dropout/new_century/

Middle School Math:
- Mathematics in Context - http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/reports/middle_math/math_context/

Quick Reviews!
- Abstract Examples in Learning Math Study
http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/publications/quickreviews/abmath/
- Arkansas Teacher Performance-Pay Study
http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/publications/quickreviews/littlerock/
- Board Games and Numeracy Skills Study
http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/publications/quickreviews/boardgames/
- Los Angeles Charter School Performance Study
http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/publications/quickreviews/charterschool/
- Sixth Grade in Middle School Study
http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/publications/quickreviews/sixthgrademiddle/
- Student Incentives in Charter Schools Study
http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/publications/quickreviews/payforas/
- Teach For America Study
http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/publications/quickreviews/tfa/
- Texas Advanced Placement Incentive Program Study
http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/publications/quickreviews/texasapip/

Medical school study documents the value of affirmative action

An article in today's (Sept. 10) CHE also alerted me to this study that just came out in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Saha, S., Guiton, G, Wimmers, P.F. and Wilkerson, L. (2008). Student body racial and ethnic composition and diversity-related outcomes in U.S. medical schools. JAMA, 300(10), 1135-1145.
The authors state in their abstract, " White students within the highest quintile for student body racial and ethnic diversity, measured by the proportion of underrepresented minority (URM) students, were more likely to rate themselves as highly prepared to care for minority populations than those in the lowest diversity quintile ... This association was strongest in schools in which students perceived a positive climate for interracial interaction. White students in the highest URM quintile were also more likely to have strong attitudes endorsing equitable access to care..."

Mostly good new about the teacher shortage

The Woodrow Wilson Foundation issued the results of their recent survey on college educated adults interested in changing careers to become teachers. According to an article in today's Chronicle of Higher Education, "42 percent said they would consider entering the field. Those in engineering, science and information technology are “somewhat more likely” to consider teaching, and those who have a postgraduate degree, have attended selective colleges, and report having higher-than-average grades are also disproportionately represented in the potential teacher pool."

These talented people are motivated by desires to contribute to society and find personally rewarding careers as well as balancing work and family life. What they need is more money and training opportunities that mesh better with their learning styles and life styles. A link to recommendations for capitalizing on this pool of talent is available at the report summary "Teaching as a Second Career."