What Works Clearinghouse: 2 new Quick Reviews

The Advantage of Abstract Examples in Learning Math: "This study examined whether college students are better able to apply knowledge of simple mathematical concepts when they are taught the concepts using abstract symbols or concrete examples... College students taught the mathematical concepts using abstract symbols were better able to apply this knowledge to a new example than college students taught using concrete examples."

The Effects of Teach for America in High School: "This study examined whether having a Teach For America (TFA) teacher instead of a non-TFA teacher affects the academic performance of high school students...TFA improved student performance on standardized end-of-course tests in math and science—by about one-tenth of a standard deviation. This is equivalent to moving a student from the 50th to the 54th percentile."

New report issued on the impact of the Spellings Commission

The National Assoc. of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO) has issued an analysis of what's happened in the two years since the Spellings Commission (A Test of Leadership: Charting the Future of U.S. Higher Education) issued its report on higher education. According to Inside Higher Ed (July 15), "It dispassionately presents and balances the often conflicting viewpoints of participants in the commission’s work and aftermath..." Inside Higher Ed has put together this bibliography of news coverage on the Commission's report: http://insidehighered.com/news/focus/commission

The NACUBO report itself offers this: “[T]he impact of the Commission and the effectiveness of the initiative overall can be seen most clearly in: 1) the attention it afforded to the issues and themes addressed in the Report and follow-up activities; 2) the dialogue that has been stimulated by these efforts; and 3) the numerous voluntary improvement projects and programs that have been energized and inspired during this period...However, the effort has had considerably less impact and success in fostering the kind of mutual respect, constructive collaboration, and engaged partnering that seems necessary to unite the higher education community, Congress, and the Department in the joint pursuit of a common agenda.” Read the full report here:
Assessing the impact of the Spellings Commission : the message, the messenger, and the
dynamics of change in higher education. Brent D. Ruben, Laurie Lewis, Louise Sandmeyer ;
with Travis Russ, Stacy Smulowitz, Kate Immordino.

America's Children: Key Indicators of Well-Being, 2008

The Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics has released America's Children in Brief: Key National Indicators of Well-Being, 2008. The annual report profiles the status of the nation's children and youth, presenting up-to-date federal statistics in one convenient reference. The National Center for Education Statistics in the Institute of Education Sciences is one of the 22 federal agencies that participate in the Forum and contribute to the report. In addition to information on education, the report also includes indicators on child poverty, health care, housing, and at-risk behavior.

You can view, download, and print the report at http://www.childstats.gov/

NCSER grant applications: Letters of intent due August 4

The National Center for Special Education Research (NCSER) within the Institute of Education Sciences is accepting applications for its research grant programs. The ten research topics are:

* Early Intervention and Early Childhood Special Education
* Reading, Writing, and Language Development
* Mathematics and Science Education
* Social and Behavioral Outcomes to Support Learning
* Transition Outcomes for Special Education Secondary Students
* Cognition and Student Learning in Special Education
* Teacher Quality
* Related Services
* Systemic Interventions and Policies for Special Education
* Autism Spectrum Disorders.

The Request for Applications is currently available on the NCSER website http://ies.ed.gov/ncser/funding/. The application package will be available through www.grants.gov by August 4, 2008. Letters of intent are due August 4, 2008. Applications must be submitted electronically by October 2, 2008 at 4:30 p.m., Washington, D.C. time. For more information, please contact Kristen Lauer (Kristen.Lauer@ed.gov; 202-219-0377).

Stanford School of Ed mandates open access for scholarly publishing

I actually heard this information from a faculty member at Stanford who was a panelist on open access publishing at the national library conference a couple weeks ago. This blurb made it into Inside Higher Education today (July 10).

"Stanford University’s School of Education has decided to require all faculty members to make their scholarly articles available online and free. The open access movement has been gaining ground of late, and the Stanford move is the first such policy by an education school."

A more complete account is in the July 9 Stanford News Service.

Are you really ready for the TEACH grants?

This article in the July 1 Inside Higher Ed cautions that the application for and acceptance of TEACH grants be accompanied by clear information about the obligations of grantees that must be met in order to avoid these monies turning into loans that accrue interest--especially since the Congressional Budget office estimates that 80% of these grants will convert to loans. Useful discussion about the situations where these grants are likely to be most beneficial is included. There is a link to the TEACH grant page itself, a link to implementation suggestions and a link to a powerpoint presentation outlining actions that education institutions can take to get ready for the program.

NCTQ issues report on elementary math prep for teachers

The National Council on Teacher Quality has issued a new report which reports the results of their study of elementary math teacher education programs. According to the July 3 Inside Higher Ed, "A report released Friday by the National Council on Teacher Quality looked at 77 elementary education programs from all states but Alaska, examining the math courses elementary teacher candidates had to take. The report looked at three factors: “relevance,” the extent to which courses were relevant to what candidates would be teaching in the field; “breadth,” the degree to which “essential” topics are covered; and “depth,” if enough time was given to these topics.

Only 10 of the 77 programs scored adequately on all three criteria, according to the report,"No Common Denominator: The Preparation of Elementary Teachers in Mathematics by America's Education Schools."

Several appendices in the report offer rubrics for evaluating elementary mathematics textbooks, sample math course syllabi and sample practice teaching assignments.