HS Transcript data

Not sure if this data set will help with anyone's current and/or future research, but thought I would make the link available.
"The NAEP Data Explorer for the High School Transcript Study database now provides more information on the coursetaking patterns of high school graduates. Users can access the data and create statistical tables and charts on the types of courses students take, credits earned, grade point averages, the relationship between coursetaking patterns and achievement on NAEP assessments, and performance on other assessments."
http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/hstsdata/

A wealth of data: Create your own tables!

"The International Data Explorer (IDE) has been updated to include data from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2007. The TIMSS IDE allows users to create statistical tables and charts based on data for the United States and 57 other jurisdictions. Results include mathematics and science achievement of fourth and eighth-grade students; responses to student questionnaires about their background, attitudes, and school experiences; responses to a teacher questionnaire about instructional practices, resources, and background and training; and responses to a school questionnaire about school characteristics and resources.

The TIMSS IDE can be accessed at
http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/international/ide/

Data from earlier administrations of TIMSS in 1995, 1999, and 2003 will be added in the future, allowing users to examine trends in student performance across a large number of countries and other education jurisdictions."

PISA 2009 results from NCES

photo © 2005 Tahbepet | more info (via: Wylio)
(with small apology for the visual joke ;-) Whether or not you think such international comparisons are valid, they are part of the education conversation, so keep up to date with the newest release.

"PISA, or the Program for International Student Assessment, is designed to assess what students have learned – both inside and outside of school – as they near the end of compulsory schooling, and how well they apply that knowledge in real-world contexts. Some 69 percent of the U.S. students sampled for PISA are tenth-graders. PISA is coordinated by the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), an intergovernmental organization made up of 34 mostly industrialized member countries such as the United States, Japan, Germany, Korea, and the United Kingdom. Some non-OECD member countries, such as Brazil, as well as non-national education systems like Shanghai and Dubai, also participated in the administration of PISA 2009.

NCES’s PISA 2009 report provides international comparisons of average performance in reading literacy and three reading literacy subscales and in mathematics literacy and science literacy; average scores by gender for the United States and other countries, and by student race/ethnicity and school socioeconomic contexts within the United States; the percentages of students reaching PISA proficiency levels, for the United States and the OECD countries on average; and trends in U.S. performance over time."

Links to summary findings, full report and supplemental tables are at:
http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2011004

Longitudinal data on HS graduation & dropout rates

Nevada still tops the list--of lowest graduation rates (51.3%). Wisconsin must be doing something right since they graduate 89.6% of their students. Data from NCES covers the period 1978-2008 and is also broken down by race/ethnicity, sex and age. Overall, "approximately 3 million 16- through 24-year-olds were not enrolled in high school and had not earned a high school diploma or alternative credential as of October 2008, [representing] 8 percent of the 38 million non-institutionalized, civilian individuals in this age group living in the United States..." Highest dropout rates continue to be among Hispanic Americans while Asian Americans and students of more than one race have the lowest rates. Full report is here:
http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2011012

Ethnicity and reward structure effects on learning

The greatest benefits on learning for African American students were seen when students in small groups were asked to help each other (communal learning, no reward condition); whereas, the greatest increase in learning for white students (also working in small groups) occurred in response to offers of reward for individual performance. The study met WWC evidence standards:
http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/publications/quickreviews/QRReport.aspx?QRId=136
The original study citation is:
Hurley, E. A., Allen, B. A., & Boykin, A. W. (2009). Culture and the interaction of student ethnicity with reward structure in group learning. Cognition and Instruction, 27(2), 121–146.

Want to increase college enrollment?

photo © 2010 Kristin Wall | more info (via: Wylio)
A study that looked at both independent adults and dependent students (ages 15 - 30 in low to moderate SES groups) found that providing information about and assistance with completing forms for federal financial aid had positive effects on the numbers of people applying for aid, the numbers receiving aid, and the numbers enrolling in college. For specifics, see http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/publications/quickreviews/QRReport.aspx?QRId=142

National Center for Public Policy & Higher Ed to close

A short news item from Inside Higher Ed (Dec. 13, 2010) notes that the higher ed policy body is slated to close next July.  An editorial by two board members in the latest issue of the policy center's publication, CrossTalk, discusses the decision

Newest data on college retention and graduation

photo © 2008 Jackie Bucci | more info (via: Wylio)
Nice summary from Inside Higher Ed today (Dec. 2, 2010) on the graduation rates of the 2003-04 cohort of students entering college. 49% had earned a certificate or degree from a post-secondary institution within 6 years and these rates have not improved since the last cohort (1994-95) was surveyed. The article provides a table comparing data from the two cohorts. This survey looks at retention and graduation from the student rather than the institutional perspective so is able to offer information on the relative completion rates of students who do and don't transfer, as well as comparisons between those who start at community colleges vs. 4-year institutions. Data on different ethnic groups is also provided. A link to the full report from NCES/IES is here: http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2011151

12th grade math and reading scores published

NAEP has provided national scores for 12th graders in math and reading.
Highlights of the results include:

• The overall average reading score for 12th graders was 2 points higher than in 2005, but 4 points lower than in 1992.
• There were no significant changes from 1992 to 2009 in the reading score gaps between White and Black students or between White and Hispanic students.  In mathematics, the overall average score was 3 points higher in 2009 than in 2005.
• There was no significant change from 2005 in the mathematics score gaps between White and Black students or between White and Hispanic students.
• The percentage of 12th graders who expect to graduate from college increased from 58 percent in 2005 to 60 percent in 2009.
• In the 11 participating states, average reading scores in seven states were higher than the score for the nation, and scores for three states were lower; in mathematics, the average scores for six states were higher than the nation, and scores for three states were lower.

Scores should be viewed with qualifications since large numbers of ESL students and students with disabilities are excluded from reports. Also, states are not required to report 12th grade scores. And then there are all those students who don't make it to 12th grade or take the tests at all. I expect Dr. Loveless will have something to say about the scores at today's Brookings talk (Nov. 18) since he was interviewed by Education Week regarding the new report.

Copyright and copy wrong in the classroom

A new article reviewed in Wired Campus (Nov. 17--part of CHE) discusses the issues of copyright, especially around the use of social media, for today's students. The authors, one a professor in communications and the other teaching pre-service English teachers, have written up a set of guidelines.
McGrail, E. & McGrail, J.P. (2010). Copying right and copying wrong with Web 2.0 tools in the teacher education and communications classroom. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 10(3). Retrieved from http://www.citejournal.org/vol10/iss3/languagearts/article1.cfm

Lots of new lesson planning sites...

I've added a lot of new links for lesson planning resources to the Education Guide: http://guides.library.unlv.edu/content.php?pid=9423&sid=61979
The Education Guide is intended to support your teaching and your students, so please suggest additions that you think would be useful.

"Transforming teacher education through clinical practice"-- New report from NCATE

Released Nov. 16, this new report sponsored by NCATE emphasizes clinical preparation as the key to reforming teacher preparation programs. The entire report is available here.
An article from Inside Higher Ed provides an overview stating in part, "At the report’s core is the assertion that for teachers to be effective, they need educations grounded in immersion and clinical practice. The report calls for more rigorous accountability; strengthening candidate selection and placement; revamping curriculums, incentives and staffing; and identifying what works and supporting continuous improvement. " All of this probably shounds familiar if you went to hear Jane West speak at the Alumni Center a couple of weeks ago.

Advice for writers

Kerry Ann Rockquemore has a regular column on dealing with the tenure-track, but her focus is often on writing. I think her suggestions would also be useful for graduate students working on dissertations, so thought I would post a link to her latest piece. (Inside Higher Ed, Nov. 15, 2010).

New COACHE report on best institutions for tenure track faculty

Harvard's Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education has published the results of their most recent job-satisfaction survey of tenure-track faculty in four-year institutions. They state, "two inescapable conclusions: first, that positive climates and cultures are the sine qua non of pre-tenure faculty retention and success; and second, that climates and cultures—and institutional quality—are defined and defended by tenured faculty in their roles as colleagues, collaborators, mentors and chairs."


This Inside Higher Ed article (Nov. 15, 2010) provides an overview with one summary table. The criteria include clarity of tenure expxectations, climate/culture/collegiality, and "nature of the work" in several areas (research, teaching, etc.). The COACHE site has links to the report and all tables (about half way down on the left under "latest news")

Innovative strategies for teacher prep

This short piece on MSNBC news discusses the use of virtual classrooms to help prepare teachers. The program was developed at the University of Central Florida and one of our own, Dr. David Grant, is actually one of the stars in this 2 min. 23 sec. video. In addition to the points made about being able to give students classroom experience earlier in their curriculum, I think one of the real advantages is being able to present the developing teachers with specific classroom behaviors and challenges--with the opportunities to get formative feedback on handling them. Putting them in real classrooms, doesn't necessarily offer the chance to deal with particular kinds of situations while they are still in a position to get formative feedback (from education faculty, classmates, etc.). So students would get more practice, with a greater variety of situations/behaviors, earlier in their preparation!

National survey finds college students lack basic research skills

The newest in a series of studies and reports from Project Information Literacy is summarized in today's (Nov. 10, 2010) Chronicle of Higher Ed. I wanted to highlight just a couple of their findings that I can attest to based on my own years of experience working with student researchers...

"Alison J. Head, a co-principal investigator for the project, said the results suggest that today’s students... [are]basically taking how they learned to research in high school with them to college, since it’s worked for them in the past... findings show that college students approach research as a hunt for the right answer instead of a process of evaluating different arguments and coming up with their own interpretation.  'Not being aware of the diverse resources that exist or the different ways knowledge is created and shared is dangerous.' she said. 'College is a time to find information and learn about multiple arguments, and exploring gets sacrificed if you conduct research in this way.'”

Newest data on 100 largest public school districts (2008-09)

This annual report provides information from the Common Core of Data about the nation's largest public school districts in the 2008-09 school year. The data include such characteristics as the number of students and teachers, number of high school completers, the averaged freshman graduation rate, and revenues and expenditures. Clark County and Washoe are both included in this group. Clark County still comes in at #6. There were some astounding variations in annual per pupil expenditures, i.e., these ranged from a low of $6,363 in the Granite District, Utah to a high of $23,298 in Boston, Massachusetts.

The full report is found here: http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2011/2011301.pdf

Improving group work in your classes

Good article in today's CHE (Mon., Nov. 8) on using team based learning (TBL) to improve group work in classes (large and small). Included a link to an informative video of TBL used in several classes at UT-Austin. Included interviews with faculty and students, overviews of the key steps to make this process work, etc. http://www.utexas.edu/academic/ctl/teaching/tblvideo.php
There was also a link to a web-site for a community of practitioners, with a growing "case bank" of activities: http://teambasedlearning.apsc.ubc.ca/
If you're already doing a successful TBL activity, submit a poster proposal (Dec. 15 deadline). The national conference will be here in Las Vegas next March: http://tblc.roundtablelive.org/

Teaching the academic essay as conversation

Having myself written a couple of articles about using conversation as a metaphor for the research process, I immediately jumped into this post by Dr. Kelli Marshall where she talks about her students' writing problems as a result of never having been taught that "they need to “enter a conversation,” using what other people say as a springboard for their own ideas/thesis." I couldn't agree more. Even if you're not familiar with the Burkean Parlor metaphor, experienced writers will recognize the need to read widely in order to write well. As Peter Elbow also addressed this conversational nature of academic writing when he said, “this is what we academics do: carry on an unending conversation not just with colleagues but with the dead and unborn” (1995, p. 79).

IES compares effectiveness of 4 early elementary math curricula

Four math curricula, (1) Investigations in Number, Data, and Space, (2) Math Expressions, (3) Saxon Math, and (4) Scott Foresman-Addison Wesley Mathematics (SFAW), were compared for effectiveness in the 1st and 2nd grades of 110 schools in 12 participating districts in 10 states. A brief overview of the findings and links to the full reports are located here: http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/pubs/20114001/

Advice for dissertation writers and the advisors thereof...

Interesting post in today's Chronicle (Nov. 1, 2010) directed primarily to faculty advising students working on dissertations. The suggestions however are useful as well for those actually writing the dissertation, so I encourage both groups to have a look. Here are the major areas addressed:

• Create a collaborative environment.
• What is your student really interested in?
• Steer them away from the beginning.
• Perfect is the enemy of done.
• A time to read, a time to type.

New study on bullying in high schools

According to the press release, "... a new study by the Josephson Institute of Ethics (the largest ever undertaken of the attitudes and conduct of high school students), [shows that] half of all high school students (50 percent) admit they bullied someone in the past year, and nearly half (47 percent) say they were bullied, teased, or taunted in a way that seriously upset them in the past year. The study reports the responses from 43,321 high school students. The margin of error is less than 1%." The Internet is cited as a factor in increasing the frequency and severity of bullying. 

NCATE and TEAC are now CAEP

As you may have heard from speaker Jane West yesterday, or via some other news source, the two major accrediting bodies for teacher education programs have now merged into the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation. West called this a positive step in creating a unified voice for teacher preparation programs. Here's an excerpt from the new organization's web site:
"October 22, 2010, was a historic day for educator preparation. The NCATE and TEAC governing boards voted to create a single accrediting body for educator preparation. The two organizations will consolidate into one organization, CAEP, within a two-year period. The new organization will offer accreditation options."

Report on the world's best-performing school systems

A record for this report, "How the world's best-performing school systems come out on top," examining 25 school systems, has been added to the UNLV Libraries catalog or is available here:
http://www.mckinsey.com/App_Media/Reports/SSO/Worlds_School_Systems_Final.pdf
They found 3 things that matter most: (1) getting the right people to become teachers, (2) developing them into effective instructors, and (3) ensuring that the system is able to deliver the best possible instruction for every child. Success is not strictly related to cost; for example, Singapore is among the top performers and yet spends less on primary education than 27 of the 30 OECD countries.

Searching for better researchers

Today's (Sept. 29) Inside Higher Ed had this article, "Searching for better research habits," describing a couple of presentations at the recent Ithaka Sustainable Scholarship Conference.  I couldn't agree more with those interviewed that we need to be teaching students concepts of research, not just how to use the tools. Google's Daniel M. Russell, a senior research scientist for search quality, said, "One of the things we have to do is not teach the little twiddlybits about search...Technical knowledge of... search interface ... becomes obsolete, because the interfaces are constantly changing. So I don’t want to teach them algorithms...I don’t want to teach them what’s in the index and all that stuff...I do want to teach them what’s possible.” In other words: If students do not know what is out there to find, they cannot search for it effectively.

The benefits of summer reading on reading achievement scores

This is an addendum to an earlier post about improvements in reading achievement scores for elementary children who received free summer reading materials. The study has been reviewed by the WWC and found to meet evidence standards and to demonstrate significantly positive effects. "The study analyzed data on about 1,300 students from 17 high-poverty elementary schools in two large districts in Florida. Student-level reading achievement was measured by the Florida Comprehensive Achievement Test, the state-mandated reading assessment. The study compared reading scores of students randomly assigned to receive summer reading books with those of students who did not receive them. Scores were compared at the end of the third summer, at which time most students were in 4th or 5th grade....The study found that students who received three consecutive years of free, self-selected summer reading books had statistically significantly higher reading test scores than students who did not receive summer reading books. The reported effect size of 0.14 is interpreted by the WWC as roughly equivalent to moving a student from the 50th percentile to the 56th percentile of reading achievement."

The Quick Review of this grant funded study is here: http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/publications/quickreviews/QRReport.aspx?QRId=158
The study was initially presented at 2007's AERA:
Allington, R. L., McGill-Franzen, A. M., Camilli, G., Williams, L., Graff, J., Zeig, J., et al. (2007). Ameliorating summer reading setback among economically disadvantaged elementary students. Paper presented at the American Educational Research Association, Chicago.
And is forthcoming in the journal, Reading Psychology.

Top 100 Universities for Federal R & D Expenditures

2009 data on institutions receiving/spending the most federal research dollars:
http://chronicle.com/article/The-Top-100-Institutions-in/124626/
And no, UNLV is not in the list. The accompanying article in the Chronicle of Higher Ed discusses the large increases in corporate funding of research at universities.

IES publishes practice guide on Improving Reading Comprehension: K -3

A new guide from the Institute for Education Sciences is now available: http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/pdf/practiceguides/readingcomp_pg_092810.pdf
 An addendum (9/30/10): Here is a summary from the introduction: "....presents a set of evidence-based practices that teachers and other educators can use to successfully teach reading comprehension
to young readers." A record for this report has also been added to the UNLV Libraries catalog.

New Table of Contents alerting service

I am posting here the full text of Choice Reviews Online's evaluation of a new cross-publisher TOC service:
"Journal TOCs, from the Institute for Computer Based Learning, Heriot-Watt University, Scotland.

http://www.journaltocs.hw.ac.uk/index.php

[Visited Jul'10] Journal TOCs makes viewing tables of contents from scholarly journals easy. One of many projects from Heriot-Watt's Institute for Computer Based Learning, this resource features the table of contents (TOCs) for over 14,000 journals from more than 500 publishers, with more being added continuously. JournalTOCs features TOCs from publishers such as Elsevier, SAGE, Oxford University Press, Wiley, Springer-Verlag, and the American Psychological Association. Users may search by journal title/ISSN, or look for articles via keywords. Alternatively, browsing by Publishers or by Subjects is available. Subjects range from Ceramics, Glass and Pottery to Library and Information Sciences. Not all scholarly titles in a particular field are included. Some 70 titles are listed in the library category, e.g., Library Hi Tech News, D-Lib Magazine, Community and Junior College Libraries, and Journal of Religious & Theological Information. Others, such as Journal of Academic Librarianship, College & Research Libraries, and Portal, are not included. In a quick comparison of results from a literature review using ABI/INFORM (CH, Sep'06, 44-0039), this reviewer found less than one-fourth of the ABI/INFORM journal titles listed in JournalTOCs. Granted, ABI/INFORM has many non-scholarly titles, but missing were refereed titles, as identified by Ulrich's (CH, Feb'03, 40-3121) such as The Journal of Information Systems Education and EDUCAUSE Review. Additional publishers are being included in JournalTOCs at a surprisingly fast rate, which will make this resource very valuable indeed. The developers have added many handy features including an application programming interface (API) to allow users to embed journal TOC functionality within a Web page. Additionally, MyTOCs, an RSS feed, and RefWorks software features are available, along with a project blog, at http://www.journaltocs.hw.ac.uk/API/blog/. This practical, significant Web site will soon be an indispensable tool for students, faculty, and researchers. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-level undergraduates and above; general audience. -- K. Condic, Oakland University"

UNLV Writing Workshops this fall

Take advantage of these 50-minute workshops offered by the Writing Center. Topics include "Writing Research Papers" and "Mastering APA Style."

From UNLV Today:
Beginning Sept. 27, the Writing Center is offering two weeks of free workshops to UNLV students and staff.
To sign up for workshops, please call the Writing Center at 895-3908, or stop by Central Desert Complex Building 3.

More information can be found here: http://writingcenter.unlv.edu/wkshops/schedule.html

Contact: Jacquie Elkouz
Email: writingcenter@unlv.edu
Phone: 702-895-3908

Phonics based reading program shows potential

"Sound Partners (Vadasy et al., 2004) is a phonics-based tutoring program that provides supplemental reading instruction to elementary school students grades K–3 with below average reading skills. The program is designed specifically for use by tutors with minimal training and experience." According to the WWC's examination of 7 studies that met evidence standards (with or without reservation), "Sound Partners was found to have positive effects on alphabetics, fluency, and comprehension and no discernible effects on general reading achievement on beginning readers." A tabular summary of the results is here: http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/reports/beginning_reading/sound_partners/

Charter Schools: Not better grades, but more satisfied customers

In a well designed study of over 2,100 students in 15 states, children who attended charter schools via lottery selection fare no better than those who were not selected--but their parents were happier. According to the WWC brief, "On average, students admitted to charter middle schools through the lottery scored no differently on math and reading assessments than students not offered admission. These program impacts varied widely across study sites; some had positive outcomes and some had negative outcomes.
The authors also found no significant overall effects on attendance, grade promotion, or student conduct.
When comparing student and parent satisfaction, however, the authors reported consistent statistically significant positive results for students offered a spot in the charter schools." The Quick Report is here: http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/publications/quickreviews/QRReport.aspx?QRId=160

KIPP Middle Schools show positive results

According to this quick review fromt he What Works clearinghouse, charter schools using the Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP) showed favorable gains in math and reading skills when matched with students in public schools. The brief report is here: http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/publications/quickreviews/QRReport.aspx?QRId=159

WWC reviews adolescent literacy interventions

What Works Clearinghouse reviewed five adolescent literacy intereventions. Summary findings and links to the reports are below:

Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID): The WWC reviewed 66 studies that investigated the effects of AVID on adolescent learners. "One study of AVID that falls within the scope of the Adolescent Literacy review protocol meets What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) evidence standards with reservations...AVID was found to have no discernible effects on comprehension for adolescent learners." http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/reports/adolescent_literacy/avid/

Corrective Reading: A total of 129 studies reviewed by the WWC examined the effects of Corrective Reading on adolescent learners' alphabetics, reading fluency, and comprehension. "One study of Corrective Reading that falls within the scope of the Adolescent Literacy review protocol meets What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) evidence standards...Corrective Reading was found to have no discernible effects on the alphabetics, reading fluency, and comprehension domains for adolescent learners." http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/reports/adolescent_literacy/corrective_reading/

Reading Plus®: The WWC reviewed 18 studies..."One study of Reading Plus^® that falls within the scope of the Adolescent Literacy review protocol meets What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) evidence standards with reservations...Reading Plus^® was found to have potentially positive effects on comprehension for adolescent learners." http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/reports/adolescent_literacy/reading_plus/

Reciprocal teaching: The WWC reviewed 164 studies that investigated the effects of reciprocal teaching on adolescent learners.  "Five studies of reciprocal teaching that fall within the scope of the Adolescent Literacy review protocol meet What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) evidence standards, and one study meets WWC evidence standards with reservations...Reciprocal teaching was found to have mixed effects on comprehension for adolescent learners." http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/reports/adolescent_literacy/rec_teach/

Book clubs:  The WWC identified 284 studies of book clubs for adolescent learners (1989-2009). All studies either fell outside the Adolescent Literacy review protocol or did not meet WWC evidence standards. http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/reports/adolescent_literacy/book_clubs/

WWC Reviews Study Comparing Two Approaches to Teaching Reading for ELL Students

Overall, the study found that a structured English immersion program was superior in teaching reading skills (as compared to a transitional Spanish to English reading program) to predominantly Spanish language youngsters, particularly at the lower grades (K-1). By grade 4, there were still significant differences on some measures, though others had diminished to statistically non-significant levels. The quick review is here: http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/publications/quickreviews/QRReport.aspx?QRId=155#go2
The study reported on is:
Slavin, R. E., Madden, N., Calderon, M., Chamberlain, A., & Hennessy, M. (2010). Reading and language outcomes of a five-year randomized evaluation of transitional bilingual education. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University.
The full report is available from Johns Hopkins University's School of Education website: http://www.bestevidence.org/bilingual.htm

Improvements from Adolescent Literacy Programs not Sustained

Over 6,000 9th grade students who were reading at least two-years below grade level were randomly assigned to receive a year of Reading Enhancement  support (Reading Apprenticeship Academic Literacy and Xtreme Reading programs) or remain in a regular class. Some improvements were seen on standardized reading tests, but 77% of the students were still reading two or more years below grade at the end of the year. Improvements were also seen in general academic performance and credits earned, but these benefits disappeared a year later. The full report is linked here: http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/pubs/20104021/

U. of Washington a case study of declining state support for higher ed

The more successful they are, the less money they get...at least that seems to be the equation at universities that strive to be the research and education leaders in their state. As a two-time alumna of University of Washington graduate programs, this article in the Chronicle (Aug. 29, 2010) caught my attention. It describes the perverse dynamic that makes success in generating grants the legislative rationale for cutting state funding. Several major research universities now receive a larger proportion of their funding from student tuition than state support monies. Overall, state support for higher education has declined significantly in the last 8 years (see chart in article). One noteworthy observation here is that legislatures have a very short-term view of funding; whereas, universities take decades to build momentum--through good hiring and retention of faculty as well as by gradually building reputation and support for research. The response by universities is to seek more private (read corporate) funding.

The real problem with cheating

This article by Michael Ruse in the Chronicle (Aug. 23, 2010) talks about why the recent scandal with Harvard's Professor Hauser hurts us all. He says that the particularly painful aspect of Hauser's "scientific misconduct" has to do with "the nature of science. Seventy years ago, the great sociologist Robert K. Merton made a number of points about science, and they seem still to hold today. Above all, he stressed that science is a community activity. Scientists may not always work together, although of course that is now very much the norm, but they do rely on each other, particularly for the ideas and theories that they use in their own research. In turn, they contribute—and want to contribute—to the general pool of knowledge." So unlike the misbehavior that characterizes corporate executives--admittedly bad--instances of academic dishonestly reverberate throughout the community and the shared body of knowledge, in a very pernicious way, or as Ruse notes, "If you fake the ideas or results, and publish them, the poison spreads. We are all now at risk of using phony information, and our own work suffers. The community suffers." Although Ruse talks about "science", the arguments can be reasonably applied to most area of academic endeavor and discourse, I think.  I am particularly susceptible to thinking about these aspects of scholarly communication as I dive into working with students at the beginning of fall term and talk to them about peer-reviewed articles and other supposed indicators of quality and credibility. I now remind them that no system is perfect and they need to keep a bit of healthy scepticism at hand when evaluating any resources.

College rankings--what's important?

Looking at several of the major college ranking bodies (e.g., U.S.News and World Report, Kiplinger, Forbes, Times Higher Education, Washington Monthly) the Chronicle (Aug. 29, 2010)  found few factors that most--or even a few--would agree upon.

19 states planning to implement performance based pre-licensing assessment for teachers

According to Education Week (Aug. 30, 2010), "Education programs across 19 states are piloting a performance-based assessment for teacher-candidates that potentially could serve as a common prelicensing measure for new teachers. Based on a test in use in about 30 education schools in California, the Teacher Performance Assessment includes a “teaching event” requiring teachers to extensively document and submit for review artifacts of their planning, instruction, and ability to assess and respond to student needs...Five of the states taking part in the work—Massachusetts, Minnesota, Ohio, Tennessee, and Washington—have committed in legislation to use a performance-based licensing test, and officials have signed memoranda of understanding agreeing to adopt the assessment if it proves to be technically valid and reliable."
Additional states planning on participating include California, Colorado, Iowa, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, New York, New Jersey, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.

Audiobooks as medicine?

Ran across an intriguing post on audiobooks today...here's an excerpt: "Scientific research on recovery after a stroke showed that audiobooks significantly improved sensory memory and resulted in higher cognitive function. I’d be interested to see this University of Helsinki study replicated with Alzheimer’s patients. The findings mirror much of the research done on the positive impact of audiobooks in literacy development of students." 

Having had a decades long interest in the power of books to heal emotionally, this was an inspiring bit of news about the power of narrative to heal physically. It should be noted that the study referred to in this post also used music to help post-stroke victims. The research cited is: Sarkamo, T. Pihko, E. Kaitinen, S. Forsblom, A., Soinila, S. Mikkonen, M., Autti, T. Silvennoinen, H.M., Kerkkila, J, Laine, M. Peretz, I, Hietanan, M. Tervaniemi, M. "Music and speech listening enhance th recovery of early sensory processing after stroke." Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience. 2010 Dec;22(12):2716-27.

A link to the article is here.

New IPEDS data released

Findings from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) fall 2009 data collection,  includes three survey components: institutional characteristics for 2009-10 (e.g.,  degrees offered, type of program, application information, tuition and other costs); the number and type of degrees conferred from July 2008 through June 2009; and 12-month enrollment data for the 2008-09 academic year.
Among other findings:

• An increasingly higher percentage of women are getting higher education degrees (2- and 4-year)
• Tuition has increase across the spectrum of higher education institutions (duh!)

To view the full report please visit: http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2010161

Mountain West higher ed in the news

Big article in Aug. 22's CHE on the challenges faced by higher ed in the "Mountain West" which includes Nevada, Idaho, Utah, Arizona, Colorado, Montana, Wyoming, and New Mexico. Chancellor Dan Klaich's picture and several quotes from him are prominently featured (see sections on "A time to heal" and "College-completion goals"). The article reports that "States in this region account for four of the five fastest-growing states, in terms of high-school graduates. Nevada, Arizona, Utah, and Idaho, in that order, are projected to have the greatest growth in high-school graduates from 2010 to 2020, according to the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education." The budget picture is grim, as mentioned in an earlier post; Nevada is projected to have the biggest budget gap of any state in 2011 (as a percentage of its general-fund budget). according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

Check out the new Almanac of Higher Education

The Chronicle's new Almanac is out. Go through the libraries' journal title search so you get access from off campus. Check out Nevada's demographic profile (right hand column).

"Google's Book Search a disaster..."

According to Geoffrey Nunberg in the Chronicle  Review today, "the book search's metadata are a train wreck: a mishmash wrapped in a muddle wrapped in a mess." He has lots of good examples of bad dates, classifications, and more.

WWW finds minimal benefits from Lovaas Model of Applied Behavior Analysis

Only two studies met WWW evidence standards fully or with qualifications. They summarize their findings:
"Based on these two studies, the WWC considers the extent of evidence for the Lovaas Model for children with disabilities to be small for cognitive development, communication/language competencies, social-emotional development and behavior, and functional abilities. No studies that meet WWC evidence standards with or without reservations examined the effectiveness of the Lovaas Model on children with disabilities in the literacy, math competencies, or physical well-being domains." Read the short report and see a tabular presentation of data here: http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/reports/ece_cd/lovaas_model/

Teacher educators go back to the classroom!

Not just teacher educators, and not permanently, but just to reconnect with the realities of what your students face--so advises a teacher educator from Towson University, Shaun Johnson, in his blog today. He overcame the obstacles of schedules, certifications, etc. by teaching a summer term in a charter school. Some excerpts:  "First, and this will be my strongest opinion of all: Teacher educators and education professors are not worth their salt if they do not return to the classroom with some regularity during their tenure. I plan to do so every summer that I can....So, I stand by my new rule: if you’re going to tell young people how to teach, then do it yourself. The opportunities are out there...I think I’m a much better professor and a much better teacher as a result. All I needed was a little jolt to both my intellectual and professional identities to give me new purchase on the teaching of teachers....Now that I had a brief return to elementary teaching this summer, I challenge both education professors and those in other disciplines to do the same."
What are your thoughts on this??

Clark County SD in the news

An article in the New York Times, "Given Money, Schools Wait on Rehiring Teachers," quoted Jeff Weiler, chief financial officer for Clark County schools, "“We’re a little wary about hiring people if we only have money for a year, but we know that’s the intent of this bill.” The article goes on to suggest the stimulus monies may not have the desired effect because of this collective financial caution among school administrators. Teachers unions, are of course, pushing for the money to be used to rehire laid off teachers and reduce class size.

Breathing and Pedagogy

I loved this simple idea in the ProfHacker blog today about using a minute of focused breathing to enhance the classroom experience. Here's an excerpt...
"So, inspired by recent research in the neurosciences about how the brain responds to even very simple breath practice, I decided to introduce one minute of conscious breathing into the beginning of each class meeting....I typically teach in the afternoon and my students are primarily working adults who commute to campus. By the time they arrive in my classroom, many of my students have either already attended two or three other classes, worked six or more hours at a job, or taken care of children and family responsibilities. Add to that an automobile commute of sometimes as much as 90 minutes each way, parking shortages at peak hours, and always-on cellphones, and you get a group of tired, wired, and often distracted students.
More often than I'd like, I myself arrive in class having just come out of a committee meeting, another class, or from rushing to make copies of a last-minute handout. Sometimes I'm tired and distracted too. Taking 60 seconds helps all of us set that stuff aside and fully arrive in the classroom and in the present moment. "
Read the full blog post here: http://chronicle.com/blogPost/BreathingPedagogy/26230/?sid=wc&utm_source=wc&utm_medium=en

Summer reading turns around summer slide

According to this article in Tennessee Today, "University of Tennessee, Knoxville, faculty members Richard Allington and Anne McGill-Franzen have completed a three-year study showing a significantly higher level of reading achievement in students who received books for summer reading at home...
According to the professors’ research, the summer reading setback is the primary reason for the reading achievement gap between children who have access to reading materials at home and those who do not. Students who do not have books at home miss out on opportunities to read...'What we know is that children who do not read in the summer lose two to three months of reading development while kids who do read tend to gain a month of reading proficiency,' Allington said. 'This creates a three to four month gap every year. Every two or three years the kids who don’t read in the summer fall a year behind the kids who do.'...The researchers’ study found that summer reading is just as effective, if not more so, as summer school. 'We found our intervention was less expensive and less extensive than either providing summer school or engaging in comprehensive school reform,' Allington said. ... 'Spending roughly $40 to $50 a year on free books for each child began to alleviate the achievement gap that occurs in the summer.'” This was a multi-year study, where students in first and second grade were allowed to choose the books they took home.

College graduation rates for African Americans and Latinos don't need to lag

Two new reports from Education Trust find that there are ways to close the historically large gaps between college graduation rates for minority groups compared to those of white students. Institutions of similar student body make-up have been able to close or even reverse the gaps through consistent utilization of "transition programs for at-risk students and 'early warning' systems that alert officials to struggling students," according to this overview of the two reports in today's (Aug. 10) Inside Higher Ed.

WWC review of "Accelerated Reader" effectiveness

 This brief summary from IES is remarkable for at least a couple of reasons. First, of 318 studies reviewed, only two met their evidence standards (one with reservations)! Second, this is such a widely used program and yet they found "no discernible effects"... Hmmm

"The Accelerated Reader™ guided reading intervention uses reading practice and computerized quizzes to supplement regular K–12 reading instruction. The WWC reviewed 318 studies on Accelerated Reader™. One study, a randomized controlled trial, meets WWC evidence standards. A second study, a quasi-experimental design, meets WWC evidence standards with reservations. The two studies include 2,877 students in grades 4 to 8 in Oregon and Texas. Based on these studies, the WWC found the Accelerated Reader™ to have no discernible effects on reading fluency or comprehension for adolescent learners. Read the full WWC report now at http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/reports/adolescent_literacy/accel_read/"

Will college enrollments now drop?

This blog posting caught my eye because I read this week that our fall enrollment at UNLV is currently around 22,000--a decrease that flies in the face of conventional wisdom that recessions lead to higher enrollments. The blogger (a community college dean) wonders if this is a trend. Their Admissions department called people who had applied, but then hadn't registered. They were told that money was the issue.

HIgher ed finance and the upcoming gubernatorial elections

Citing the most recent (2009) "State Higher Education Finance" report, Inside Higher Ed  ( Aug. 5) provides an overview of economic projections and the issues that face higher ed financially in the next few years. They also review some of the promises made by gubernatorial candidates about protecting higher ed even though jobs--not education--is the major election issue right now. Nevada is mentioned briefly as focusing on eliminating duplicate programs.

Study finds EARLY absenteeism significantly affects academic performance

Children with chronic absenteeism in kindergarten show deficits in reading and math performance throughout their school career. A study sponsored by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, "Present, Engaged, and Accounted For," found that a pattern of absence in kindergarten significantly lowered reading and math scores in first and still in fifth grade. Additionally, these patterns are strong predictors of later dropping out of school--even better predictors than test performance. The decrements were especially significant for children who missed more than 10% of classes and according to the report, 10% of kindergarten and first grade students miss a month of school a year. Strategies to address this often overlooked problem are offered. See also the Attendance Counts website which has some great videos on projects to reduce absenteeism.

Readicide

I just read a review of the book Readicide, which talk about how schools are unwittingly discouraging students from meaningful reading...this has been my contention for several years, ever since I suggested some young adult books to my sister who was, at the time, a reading resource teacher for 7th and 8th graders. 'Oh no' she replied, 'we get in trouble if we use anything not in the prescribed package...' or words to that effect. I.e., some curriculum publisher determined what was read, regardless of individual interests or needs. Bah!
Link to a book preview is here. There's also an interview with the author, Kelly Gallagher, here. The book should be on the shelves in the CML library pretty in a few weeks.

Updated public school data (2008-2009)

NCES has released the 2008-09 school year data from the State Nonfiscal Survey of Public Elementary/Secondary Education Survey of the Common Core of Data (CCD) survey system. The accompanying First Look presents national and state level data on student enrollment by grade and by race/ethnicity within grade, the numbers of teachers and other education staff, and several student/staff ratios for the school year.


To view the full First Look report please visit:
http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2010347

Access to publically funded research

In her Library Babel Fish blog post this morning, Barbara Fister points out the many disingenuous--actually self-serving and downright dishonest--remarks made in support of the current scholarly publishing system. She concludes, "I find these logic-defying arguments based on faulty reasoning, misrepresentation of how the process works, and appeals to anxiety about foreigners even more angering than the fact that in 2009 Elsevier made a billion dollars in profits with a tidy 35% profit margin. Wasn't that the very same year that saw enormous hardship in higher education, with layoffs, rising tuition, and libraries scrambling to manage huge budget cuts? What a weird coincidence.
But don't worry about it. There is no crisis. You whiners have plenty of access to information. All you have to do is buy it."

Two new reports from College Board on college completion

Two new reports have been issued by the College Board on college completion. The first, "College Completion Agenda: 2010 Progress Report,"  provides data on issues related to college completion rates: associate and beyond,  internationally as well as state by state, breakdowns by age and race, etc...with 10 detailed recommendations. The second is a briefer set of policy recommendations, "The College Completion Agenda: State Policy Guide."

Newest data on 100 largest public school districts (2007-08)

Clark County is 6th in size and Washoe is 57th. Data on high school completion rates, students eligible for school lunch program, students with IEP's, racial breakdown of student population, revenue sources, expenditures per pupil, etc.
Summary and link to full report is here: http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2010/2010349.pdf

Elementary math package shows mixed results

This updated WWC Intervention Report reviews the research on Scott Foresman–Addison Wesley Elementary Mathematics, a core curriculum for students at all ability levels in prekindergarten through grade 6. The program focuses on developing questioning strategies and problem-solving skills and features embedded assessments and tailored exercises. The studies that meet WWC evidence standards included more than 2,800 elementary students from grades 1 through 5 in 49 schools. The schools were located in a mix of urban, suburban, and rural settings... Based on the review of the research, the WWC found the curriculum to have mixed effects on mathematics achievement for elementary school students.

Read the full report now at: http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/reports/elementary_math/sfawem/

Mixed results for "Literacy Express"

Literacy Express is a preschool curriculum designed for three- to five-year-old children. It is structured around units on oral language, emergent literacy, basic math, science, general knowledge, and socioemotional development.
Three studies of Literacy Express that fall within the scope of the Early Childhood Education review protocol meet What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) evidence standards. The three studies include 1,004 preschool children from three to five years of age from 70 preschools...
Literacy Express was found to have positive effects on oral language, print knowledge, and phonological processing and no discernible effects on cognition and math for preschool children.

Summary and links to intervention report and technical appendices are here:
http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/reports/early_ed/lit_express/

Research assignments short on the "how to"

A new report from Project Information Literacy, "How Handouts for Research Assignments Guide Today's College Students," finds that although product mechanics are provided, very little information or guidance helps students with locating and using sources in the conduct of research. Project Directors Head and Eisenberg did a "content analysis of 191 course-related research assignment handouts distributed to undergraduates on 28 college campuses across the U.S." Faculty often make some unwarranted assumptions about college students ability to locate and identify appropriate sources of information.

According to an article in CHE today, "The study found that 83 percent of assignment handouts called for a standard individual research paper, as opposed to alternatives such as collaborative, oral, or multimedia projects. Ms. Head and Mr. Eisenberg analyzed handouts for the diversity of their suggested sources, combing them for recommendations of library resources, course readings, primary sources, and the Internet as elements in the research process."

Dr. Head is quoted as saying, ""I think this study gives professors an opportunity to question whether they're accomplishing what they want to do with their handouts and whether, if they included different details, it might give them better research papers at the end of the day."

New copyright exemption may help your teaching

A recent article from Inside Higher Ed highlights increased ability to use excerpts from DVD's for educational purposes...
"The U.S. Copyright Office on Monday promulgated a number of new exemptions* to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, including one allowing university staffers and students to hack DVD content and display it for educational purposes. If a university or student lawfully obtains copy of a DVD, the agency says, they can bypass the encryption so long as "circumvention is accomplished solely in order to accomplish the incorporation of short portions of motion pictures into new works for... Educational uses by college and university professors and by college and university film and media studies students." The exemption applies when professors or students want to use excerpts of the hacked DVD in documentary films or "non-commercial videos." Tracy Mitrano, director of I.T. policy at Cornell University and a technology law blogger for Inside Higher Ed, called the decision "very big news," and "good news," for higher education, noting that advocates in academe have been lobbying for an expansion of fair use exemptions for some time. One campus that might take heart is the University of California at Los Angeles, which an educational media group threatened to sue last spring for copying and streaming DVD content on course websites. The university had refused to stop the practice, and a UCLA spokesman said the group, the Association for Information and Media Equipment, has not followed through. He said UCLA is reviewing the new rules."

*See item #1 midway down the page here.

Fewer Latino students attend 4-year colleges

According to a recent article in Education Week, "When Latinos go to college, they are less likely than any other major racial or ethnic group to attend a four-year college or university, according to an unpublished analysis of federal education data by the Pew Hispanic Center." Recent trends suggest that the higher education prospects for students from low-income families are getting worse--"Overall, the proportion of college-eligible, low-income students across the nation who are going to four-year colleges or universities is declining, according to a federal report sent to the U.S. Congress and the U.S. Department of Education last month by the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance, which gives Congress advice on student financial aid policy" But Latinos seem to be particularly vulnerable--"48 percent of Latinos who are first-time, full-time college freshmen enroll in four-year institutions. That’s the lowest proportion of any major racial or ethnic group, Richard Fry, a senior research associate for the Washington-based Pew Hispanic Center, found in an analysis of 2008 data from the federally administered Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System. Meanwhile, the proportion of students enrolling in four-year institutions is 69 percent for Asian or Pacific Islander students, 66 percent for whites, 54 percent for blacks, and 53 percent for American Indians or Alaska Natives." However, a recent study conducted in California find that fairly low-cost mentoring interventions can significantly increase the percentage of such at-risk students attending college.

Using Library Experts Wisely - Inside Higher Ed

Using Library Experts Wisely - Inside Higher Ed
This article today describes a collaboration between faculty teaching a writing course and their library liaison. Thought it might be of interest to get a non-librarian's perspective!

PowerStats: New analysis tool from NCES for Post-Secondary Education Data

"PowerStats, a data analysis tool, provides access to nine NCES postsecondary education datasets and the thousands of variables they contain. PowerStats includes the two most recent National Postsecondary Student Aid Studies (NPSAS), the Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS), the Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study (B&B), and the National Study of Postsecondary Faculty (NSOPF).

Users create tables and regressions with a visually intuitive drag and drop interface, receiving their results in a range of formats, including Excel and PDF. As the replacement to the NCES Data Analysis System (DAS), PowerStats provides helpful new features for users, including an improved capacity to search for variables, and saving recoded variables for future use. In addition, PowerStats allows users to build an online library of their work and to share their work with other PowerStats users."
Access PowerStats at http://nces.ed.gov/datalab

The recession will impact children for years to come

According to a report just released by the Foundation for Child Development, numerous indicators of child well-being are headed in a negative direction as a result of the recession. Education Week notes, "More children will live in poverty this year. More will have two parents who are unemployed. Fewer children will enroll in prekindergarten programs, and fewer teenagers will find jobs. More children are likely to commit suicide, be overweight, and be victimized by crime." The full report, "Child and Youth Well-Being Index," is available here: http://www.fcd-us.org/usr_doc/FINAL_2010_CWI_Annual_Release.pdf
Project director, Kenneth Land, is sociology and demography professor at Duke and a Fellow of the American Statistical Association, the Sociological Research Association, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, and the American Society of Criminology.

2007-2008 Data on HS Graduation Rates

This newest data from NCES shows Nevada with the lowest high school graduation rate in the nation: 51%. Tthe only other jurisdiction with a graduation rate in the 50's is Washington, D.C. at 56%.

"Nationwide, 75 percent of public high school students who started as freshmen in the fall of 2004 graduated high school in 2008—up from 74 percent who graduated on time in the spring of 2007.

This First Look presents findings associated with public high school graduation and event dropout counts for the 2007–08 school year. These data were collected as part of the Common Core of Data (CCD), a universe survey of public schools operating in the United States and associated other jurisdictions by the National Center for Education Statistics."
To view the full report please visit
http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2010341

Common Core Standards issed

Links to downloadable versions of the Common Core Standards are available here: http://www.corestandards.org/the-standards

2010 Condition of Education available

"The National Center for Education Statistics today released The Condition of Education, a Congressionally mandated report to the nation on education in America today. It covers all aspects of education, with 49 indicators that include findings on enrollment trends, demographics, and outcomes.

The report projects that public school enrollment will rise from 49 million in 2008 to 52 million by 2019, with the largest increase expected in the South. Over the past decade, more students attended both charter schools and high-poverty schools (those in which more than 75 percent of the students qualified for free or reduced-price lunch). One in six U.S. students attends a high-poverty school; and the number of charter school students has tripled since 1999."

The report is also linked under the Statistics and Demographics tab on the Education subject guide.

Evaluating education journals

I'm providing a link to a site created by the Education librarian at Michigan State which pulls together both resources and commentary on the evaluation of education journals. This is a question that librarians in all disciplines regularly receive when faculty are trying to document their scholarship impact for promotion and tenure.
http://libguides.lib.msu.edu/content.php?pid=57490&sid=421433

The CML has a new website!

Check out the lovely new website for the UNLV Curriculum Materials Library. The site uses Drupal to facilitate keeping content current. Links to this blog, the Education subject guide, and my main research project are at the bottom of the page.

NAEP: Reading 2009 Trial Urban District Assessment

Comparative data on reading performance of 4th and 8th graders in 18 selected large urban areas (Las Vegas is not one of these). Comparisons are made across time for those cities that have previously participated, and also between the TUDA's and large cities (over 250K population) generally and national scores. Highlights and links to the full report are here:
http://nationsreportcard.gov/reading_2009/

New report on public school revenues and expenditures: 2007-2008

"This brief publication contains basic revenue and expenditure data, by state, for public elementary and secondary education for school year 2007-08. It contains state-level data on revenues by source and expenditures by function, including expenditures per pupil."
The full report is linked here: http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2010326

Tips for discussing controversial issues in the classroom

Great little advice piece from the Professor Hacker blog today on how to effectively lead classroom discussions on controversial issues. He suggested using other people's words, i.e., bringing in quotes from people representing various perspectives and asking students to respond. Or asking students to take the view of various vested interests / groups and generate reasons for their positions. If only I could make this work in faculty meetings. The article is here.

Literacy Collaborative shows significant improvements in reading

A longitudinal (4 year) study funded by IES found substantial (32%) gains in reading skills as a result of implementing the Literacy Collaborative program. Differences were notable between schools and between teachers at studied schools, and the amount of coaching teachers received seemed to play a determining role. Highlights of the research findings include:

• Students’ average rates of learning increased by 16% in the first implementation year, 28% in the second implementation year, and 32% in the third implementation year.

• Teacher expertise increased substantially, and the rate of improvement was predicted by the amount of coaching a teacher received.

• Professional communication amongst teachers in the schools increased over the three years of implementation, and the literacy coordinators became more central in the schools’ communication networks.

A summary of the report is available here; the study will be published in an upcoming issue of The Elementary School Journal.

Computers in public schools: Fall 2008

"First Look report presents data from a fall 2008 Fast Response Survey System (FRSS) survey of public schools on the availability and use of educational technology. This includes information on computer hardware and Internet access, availability of staff to help integrate technology into instruction and provide timely technical support, and perceptions of educational technology issues at the school and district level. It follows a series of school level surveys dating back to 1994; the 2008 surveys also included one conducted at the district level and another asked of teachers.

Findings from the survey of schools include:

* ...All public schools reported having one or more instructional computers with Internet access. Nearly all-97 percent -- had one or more instructional computers located in classrooms and 58 percent of schools had laptops on carts. Schools report having one instructional computer with Internet access for every three students.

* Public schools used their district network or the Internet to provide standardized assessment results and data for teachers to individualize instruction (87 percent), data to inform instructional planning at the school (85 percent), online student assessment (72 percent), and high-quality digital content (65 percent)..."

To view the full report please visit
http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2010034

Dialogic reading shows promise with children with disabilities

"Dialogic reading is an interactive shared picture-book reading practice designed to enhance young children’s language and literacy skills. During the shared reading practice, the adult and the child switch roles so that the child learns to become the storyteller with the assistance of the adult, who functions as an active listener and questioner.
Two studies of dialogic reading that fall within the scope of the Early Childhood Education Interventions for Children with Disabilities review protocol meet What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) evidence standards. The two studies included 52 students with language delays, from ages three to six, participating in early childhood programs in the Pacific Northwest.³ Both studies examined intervention effects on children’s communication and language competencies...
Dialogic reading was found to have potentially positive effects on communication and language competencies for children with disabilities."

The 2 studies meeting WWC criteria are:
Crain-Thoreson, C., & Dale, P. S. (1999). Enhancing linguistic performance: Parents and teachers as book reading partners for children with language delays. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 19(1), 28–39.
Dale, P. S., Crain-Thoreson, C., Notari-Syverson, A., & Cole, K. (1996). Parent-child book reading as an intervention technique for young children with language delays. Topics in Early Childhood
Special Education, 16(2), 213–235.

Links to study descriptions are here:
http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/reports/ece_cd/dialogic_reading/#go_3

NCES Releases 2009 Digest of Education Statistics

"The "Digest of Education Statistics, 2009" is the 45th in a series of publications initiated in 1962. The Digest's primary purpose is to provide a compilation of statistical information covering the broad field of American education from prekindergarten through graduate school. The Digest contains data on a variety of topics, including the number of schools and colleges, teachers, enrollments, and graduates, in addition to educational attainment, finances, and federal funds for education, libraries, and international comparisons."
To view the full reports please visit:
http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2010013 (Digest) and
http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2010014 (Mini-Digest)

Trends in the Use of School Choice: 1993 to 2007

"This report uses data from the National Household Surveys Program (NHES) to present trends that focus on the use of and users of public schools (assigned and chosen), private schools (church- and non church-related), charter schools, and homeschoolers between 1993 and 2007."
The full report is linked here: http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2010004

ProfHacker now aligned with CHE

The blog which discusses technology in teaching, ProfHacker, is now under the umbrella of the Chronicle of Higher Education blogs. This is from their post about the move...
"Today marks a new partnership between ProfHacker and the Chronicle of Higher Education. Since George and Jason founded the site, ProfHacker has focused on pedagogy, productivity, and technology, and the various ways these intersect in higher education. ... The Chronicle was interested in the idea of a site that looked at the practical side of academic life, and rather than starting one themselves, they offered to bring us on board."

WWC evaluates Saxon Math textbook series for middle school

"Saxon Math is a textbook series covering grades K–12 based on incremental development and continual review of mathematical concepts to give students time to learn and practice concepts throughout the year. The series is aligned with standards of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) and various states, and can be adapted for special education students in inclusion classrooms, pullout programs, or self-contained resource classrooms. Although content differs by course, the incremental, distributed approach of Saxon Math is the same, with mathematical concepts presented in a series of short “lessons” intended to gradually build understanding and previously-taught concepts practiced and assessed throughout the course. ...This report includes studies that investigate the potential impact of Saxon Math texts on math achievement of middle school students...

One study of Saxon Math meets What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) evidence standards, and four studies meet WWC evidence standards with reservations. The five studies included over 6,500 students from grades 6 to 8 in 52 schools in four states.

Based on these five studies, the WWC considers the extent of evidence for Saxon Math to be medium to large for math achievement."

Full report is linked here: http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/reports/middle_math/saxon/

Bi-lingual and immersion approaches found equally effective

The results of a randomized study, which compared reading performance of children exposed to either a bi-lingual or English immersion version of "Success for All" starting in kindergarten, were found to be comparable, according to a report in Education Week. The full report from the Johns Hopkins University Center for Research and Reform in Education is linked from the article.

New Blog link--CHE Campus Cuts

Not sure how long I will leave this blog linked (see right hand side of the page) but thought some might be interested to see what programs are being cut at other campuses.

NCSER announces FY 2010 grant awards

"NCSER is investing over $36 million in 21 new special education research grants. The Center received 162 research grant applications across 10 program areas focusing on improving educational outcomes for students with or at risk for disabilities.

As a group, the new research projects cover a variety of topics and age ranges—from infants and toddlers with or at risk for disabilities, to students with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), to children who are deaf or hard of hearing and parents of children with hearing loss. Research projects include one that focuses on developing an assessment of American Sign Language (ASL) proficiency, a project that will develop a mobile phone-based instructional program of ASL for parents of children with hearing loss, a project that will validate a behavioral and emotional screening assessment for preschool students and a project that focuses on evaluating the effectiveness of an intervention that targets social communication and emotional regulation in children with ASD in kindergarten through second grade."

The list of award winners is here.

WWC adds new topic area: Students with Learning Disabilities

The Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences What Works Clearinghouse (the arbiter of what is good research in education ;-) has added a new Topic Area. According to their recent newsletter, "WWC is now conducting reviews of research on interventions that focus on students who have learning disabilities. This new topic area aims to help educators make important decisions about curriculums [sic], supplemental products, and classroom methods....it is often difficult to identify research-based interventions—whether those are programs, products, or practices—that have shown to be effective specifically for these students. The WWC will evaluate research on curricula and instructional strategies that are intended to improve achievement for students with learning disabilities in grades K–12 and provide educators with insight on these important questions:

• Which interventions improve achievement in reading, writing, math, science, or social studies? Which promote student progress?
• Are some interventions especially effective for certain subgroups of students with learning disabilities—students of different ages, for example, or students with particular learning disabilities, students of specific racial/ethnic groups, or English language learners?"

Those least likely to go benefit most from college

A "Quick Take" in today's Inside Higher Ed alerted me to this study due to be published in the April issue of American Sociological Review. You can see a pre-print here.
"The economic value of a college degree is nearly twice as high for women from disadvantaged backgrounds as for women from privileged backgrounds, the study says. For disadvantaged men, a college education is worth three times more than is the case for privileged college-goers." (from Inside Higher Ed). There are undoubtedly confounding factors, the authors suggest, such as high motivation levels among those who overcome the hurdles presented when "college is not a culturally expected outcome" (Brand & Xie, 2010, p. 32)

Something a little lighter--a book review!

See the book review below from Choice Reviews Online that convinced me to order this book for our collection at CML...
Wartenberg, Thomas E. Big ideas for little kids: teaching philosophy through children's literature. Rowman & Littlefield, 2009. 150p
Wartenberg (philosophy, Mount Holyoke) presents a one-volume introduction to doing philosophy for pre-college students. He draws on the methods Gareth Matthews pioneered in such works as Philosophy and the Young Child (1980) and his own work with elementary and middle school students, giving readers an explanation of why one ought to do philosophy with children as well as how to do so. The first two parts of the book will be quite informative for those new to the movement, but little new ground is covered for those who have traveled this path themselves. The real star of the book is the eight chapters of part 3 that display how to use picture books (and one chapter book) to engage in real philosophical discussions on topics from concept formation (Bernard Wiseman's Morris the Moose, 1991) to justice (Leo Lionni's Frederick, 1967). Those unfamiliar with philosophy will love the brief introduction to the disciplines of philosophy; philosophers will find the use of children's literature a refreshing starting point. While intended for educators new to pre-college philosophy, this book nicely encapsulates for philosophers one method of doing such work. Far preferable to Marietta McCarty's Little Big Minds (2006). Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readership levels. -- R. E. Kraft, York College of Pennsylvania

A tally of possible program cuts

Someone's been doing their homework! The Chronicle put together a list of universities and the programs slated for possible cuts. UNLV and UNR are among them.

High quality schools CAN close the achievement gap for the poorest minority students

What Works Clearinghouse reviewed this study and found it to meet their evidentiary standards. This was a study of the Promise Academy Middle School in Harlem which provided:

• Extended school day and year with additional after-school tutoring and Saturday classes
• Intensive test preparation including morning, mid-day, after-school, and Saturday sessions
• Student incentives for high achievement, such as money and trips to France
• School health clinic provides students free medical, dental, and mental-health services

Sixth graders were admitted by lottery and showed significant improvements on math and English Language Arts on standardized tests by the 8th grade. The full report is here.
Citation:
Dobbie, W., & Fryer, R. G., Jr., (2009). Are high-quality schools enough to close the achievement gap? Evidence from a social experiment in Harlem. (NBER Working Paper No. 15473). Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research.

Journal table of contents (TOC) alerting service

You can set up alerting services to notify you of new journal issues in a number of databases we subscribe to, as well as through individual journals. However, this service, called TicToc, is one I wasn't previously aware of and allows you--like the INgenta service if you're familiar with that--to select as many journal titles as you want across disciplines. Here's what a colleague (thanks Meg Westbury) on a professional listserv has to say about it:
"You set up an account, choose ("tic") which academic journals you'd like to track (from a list of over 10K), and then view the tables of contents ("toc") of those journals when you like. You can set up an RSS feed ... It's a very handy and easy-to-use tool. The one drawback is that you can only view the TOCs of the most current issue of a journal; back issues aren't archived."
Have fun! http://www.tictocs.ac.uk/

Study of reading and math software in the classroom

The study examined the effects of ten reading and mathematics software products on student achievement. The study analyzed data on more than 11,000 students in 400 classrooms and was conducted in 23 primarily urban, low-income school districts. The number of students in the analysis of each curriculum ranged from about 600 to about 2,600...the study found that one of six products reading products (LeapTrack^®, 4th grade) had positive effects on test scores; none of the four math products did.

This study met WWC standards and so the results are considered robust. As is most often the case, they find a lot out there that doesn't do what it's purported to...so WWC is a good place to check before investing in a new curriculum product. The brief review is here.

The complete citation is: Campuzano, L., Dynarski, M., Agodini, R., & Rall, K. (2009). Effectiveness of reading and mathematics software products: Findings from two student cohorts (NCEE 2009-4041). Washington, DC: National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education.

Read the executive summary here.

NCES report on alternative schools

This report presents data from a recent district ... survey about alternative schools and programs available to students during the 2007-08 school year. Alternative schools and programs are specifically designed to address the educational needs of students at risk of school failure in a setting apart from that of the regular public school...The study includes information on the availability and number of alternative schools and programs, the number of students enrolled in alternative schools and program, and district policy on returning students to a regular school. Findings include:

• In the 2007–08 school year, 64 percent of districts reported having at least one alternative school or program for at-risk students
• There were 646,500 students enrolled in public school districts attending alternative schools and programs for at-risk students in 2007–08

To view the full report please visit http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2010026

Culture and the Interaction of Student Ethnicity with Reward Structure in Group Learning

Interesting study reviewed in the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC). Elementary students (4th & 5th grade) were randomly assigned to receive an individual reward, a reward based on group performance, or no reward. The evaluation found that individual rewards led to higher achievement among white students but lower performance among African- American students. This was a study of math learning skills (multiplication). The WWC brief review is here. The full citation is:
Hurley, E. A., Allen, B. A., & Boykin, A. W. (2009). Culture and the interaction of student ethnicity with reward structure in group learning. Cognition and Instruction, 27(2), 121–146.
The article is available through the libraries' electronic journal subscriptions.

Helping high school students get to college

A California based project which linked high school students with college student mentors saw small but significant increases in the number of students taking the SAT, completing applications for financial aid, getting grants and scholarships and enrolling in college. Their results are equivalent to those found from the Upward Bound program but at approximately one-fourth of the cost. Brief description of the project is in this Education Week blog: Inside School Research

Improving Latino college graduation rates

A new report from the American Enterprise Insitute reaffirms the common wisdom that Latino graduation rates lag those of "white students" but also reveals some surprising discrepancies. Within the same groupings, i.e, different levels of admission selectivity, the top 10 performing schools often have 50% higher graduation rates for Latinos than the lowest 10 performing schools. A summary of the findings and links to the full report are here: "Rising to the Challenge: Hispanic College Graduation Rates as a National Priority"

Arizona universities share the pain

Arizona universities are being asked to cut payroll and are also increasing student tuition. They have already eliminated 2,000 positions and instituted furloughs. More in this article from the Arizona Daily Star.

Higher Ed as driver of economic development

Hardly a radical concept. However a new report from the Rockefeller Institute of Government (SUNY) suggests 4 ways in which this works:

• Innovation — that is, using their research power to create knowledge that can have economic impact, and then actively working to help move new ideas into the marketplace.
• Knowledge transfer that helps businesses grow and prosper, through programs such as job training, technical and other consulting assistance, and assistance to startups.
• An activist role in revitalizing the communities in which they are located, such as efforts to help local elementary and secondary schools.
• And their core mission of producing the educated populace that’s needed to build, run and work in the innovation economy.

K-12 draft standards available for feedback

This message forwarded from Tracy Gruber at the Nevada Dept. of Education...

"...the Nevada Department of Education is pleased to announce that the first official public draft of the K-12 standards as part of the Common Core State Standards Initiative were released today. NDE would like to encourage those interested to provide feedback on the standards by Friday, April 2, 2010, at http://www.corestandards.org/. At the website, a copy of the Mathematics and English Language Arts documents are provided, as well as a link to provide feedback. NDE encourages that you and your colleagues provide feedback on these documents. These draft standards, developed together with teachers, school administrators and experts, seek to provide a clear and consistent framework to prepare our children for college and the workforce. The standards define the knowledge and skills students should have within their K-12 education careers so that they will graduate high school able to succeed in entry-level, credit-bearing academic college courses and in workforce training programs. The standards are:

• Aligned with college and work expectations;
• Clear, understandable and consistent;
• Include rigorous content and application of knowledge through high-order skills;
• Build upon strengths and lessons of current state standards;
• Informed by other top performing countries, so that all students are prepared to succeed in our global economy and society; and
• Evidence- and research-based.

The final edition of the standards are expected to be released in early Spring." (end forwarded message)