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The AP has publicized the analysis by Johns Hopkins of high schools with high dropout rates. Here’s the background from Johns Hopkins: “More Information on The Methodology, Data, and Terms Used in the AP Dropout Factory Story The promoting power data used on the AP website is an update of the work we have been doing since 2001. For details see the paper we wrote in 2004 “Locating the Dropout Crisis” at www.gradgap.org. In August we released our analysis of the most recent data available-the Class of 2006-at a Senate briefing. It examined the number of high schools with low promoting power 60% of less at the State level. The AP then asked if we would be willing to work with them on a school level analysis. Because this involves naming schools, we use a three year average. On the AP website we are only listing schools that for the class of 2006, 2005, and 2004 had average promoting power of 60% or less… Use of the Term Dropout Factory We acknowledge that some people may view the term “Dropout Factory” has a harsh and unfair term. We use it to describe a harsh and unfair situation, under-resourced and over-challenged high schools which educate primarily low income and minority students and year after year are unable to graduate the majority or near majority of students who enter the school. We recognize that these schools are filled with hard working and dedicated teachers and administrators and resilient students. Our goal is to shine a spotlight on what has been called a “Silent Epidemic” the low graduation rates of the nation’s low income and minority students and to demonstrate that the dropout crisis is concentrated in a relatively small sub-set of schools… Complete article: http://web.jhu.edu/CSOS/images/AP.html List of Schools: Study Assumed the Worst About Minneapolis Public Schools By William D. Green, superintendent of the Minneapolis public schools Addressing the subject of high school graduation rates without taking into account family mobility is akin to discussing economics without factoring in inflation; the statistics are useful, depending on the type of propaganda one is trying to promote, but not truthful. The Johns Hopkins study of graduation rates that was unveiled in the Oct. 30 Star Tribune presents statistics taken so far out of context as to be virtually meaningless to any thoughtful discussion of what is going on in the Twin Cities' school systems. This study presumes to show -- as clearly demonstrated by the term "dropout factories" -- that students in these institutions are "dropping out" at rates of more than 40 percent. In fact, what it really shows is that these Minneapolis schools happen to be in economically unstable, high-poverty areas. For many families, employment here is sporadic. Meanwhile, home foreclosure rates are skyrocketing. And open-enrollment laws have spawned school competition in greater abundance than in almost any other area of the country. Researcher Bob Balfanz may believe that "while some of the missing students transferred, most dropped out," but the real statistics indicate otherwise. Also, how would he know, given the fact that students who transfer are not tracked from one school to another in this study? And it's wonderful that his study took into account "local events such as plant closings," but what of systemic mobility? …This study has surfaced only two months after the most recent No Child Left Behind report, which showed that six of the seven main Minneapolis high schools had significant increases in their graduation rates this past school year. Even given its myriad shortcomings as a system, No Child Left Behind takes mobility into account when measuring graduation rates. For example, look at Patrick Henry High, which was listed on this "dropout factory" list. Statistics from the Minnesota Department of Education show that only 22 students from the Patrick Henry senior class of 2005-2006 had dropped out since their freshman year. We know this because the state actually tracks those students who transfer to other schools; the Johns Hopkins study doesn't. So, according to the district's enrollment figures, 460 students entered the 2002-2003 freshman class at Patrick Henry High. At the end of their senior year, 2005-2006, 179 of these students graduated and 259 had transferred to other schools or were continuing to pursue their high school diploma through other means. In other words, Johns Hopkins researchers claim that more than 40 percent of Patrick Henry students drop out before graduation; we've shown the most recent figures to be less than 5 percent. It is our belief that schools like Roosevelt and North will show similar results. One final note: In its 2007 Challenge Index, the Washington Post rated Patrick Henry among the top 3 percent of all public high schools nationally and seventh best among all public high schools in Minnesota… Full article: http://www.startribune.com/562/story/1523386.html …Many educators have hoped to maximize students' confidence in their abilities, their enjoyment of learning, and their ability to thrive in school by praising their intelligence… Praising students' intelligence gives them a short burst of pride, followed by a long string of negative consequences. … Praise for intelligence tended to put students in a fixed mind-set (intelligence is fixed, and you have it), whereas praise for effort tended to put them in a growth mind-set (you're developing these skills because you're working hard)… Complete article is available at: Key Considerations for ELL Literacy Research “Key Issues and Questions in English-Language Learners Literacy Research” describes an ambitious research agenda that contributing scholars see as key to accelerating and enhancing academic achievement among ELL students. The paper represents a collaborative analysis involving the International Reading Association, the Center for Applied Linguistics, Teachers of Speakers of Other Languages, the National Association of Bilingual Educators, the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development, the National Institute for Literacy, and the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of English Language Acquisition. According to the paper, there is an immediate need for research that looks at how English-language learning develops among first-language subgroups and as a function of children’s ages or first-language proficiency. With foundational knowledge of how cognition, literacy, and learning interact, educators and policymakers can adopt instructional approaches that support learners when the language of instruction varies from the home language. Another focus for research should be on what works to increase student achievement. While some instruction and intervention approaches have proven effective, questions remain about how and why they work, for which children, and under what conditions. Until these issues are addressed, classroom teachers, reading specialists, and others who work with English-language learners are at a disadvantage in preventing reading difficulties, providing remediation, or accelerating literacy development. Another classroom concern is assessment, which ranges from the daily measures teachers use to check content learning to annual, end-of-year standardized tests. Scholars also believe that teacher preparedness merits research attention: What specific expertise might be required to teach ELL students language, literacy, or subject content? What are the optimal roles for non-native and native-English speaking teachers? How well and under what conditions does professional development transfer to classroom practice and how are students impacted? District policies that accommodate learners with diverse backgrounds and/or move ELL students toward academic literacy and content mastery should be reviewed and evaluated. Finally, the paper also encourages research addressing the impact that community, home, and school cultures have on language and literacy development, particularly with regard to motivation, identity, and literacy practices outside school. “Key Issues and Questions in English-Language Learners Literacy Research” is available on the IRA website at http://www.reading.org/resources/issues/focus_ell.html Do We Really Have a Problem Here? Urban Institute Report Assesses Science and Engineering in America A new Urban Institute report challenges the widely held impressions that American students score worst in the world in math and science and that their poor performance weakens the nation's high-technology workforce. In "Into the Eye of the Storm: Assessing the Evidence on Science and Engineering Education, Quality, and Workforce Demand," Harold Salzman and Lindsey Lowell analyze international test data and domestic workforce statistics. They find that U.S. students do well and are gaining ground compared to math and science students abroad, with American scientists and engineers educated each year in numbers great enough to maintain the nation's technological strength. "When it comes to math and science, American students are no worse, and often score better, than students from many leading countries," says Salzman. Moreover, Salzman and Lowell find the United States is one of only a handful of nations that maintained or improved test performance in all subjects, grades, and years tested. In their study, the scholars reassess the oft-cited standings produced by two major evaluations - the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) - and find that statistically insignificant variations in test scores misrepresent performance differences among nations. For example, on a 2003 4th-grade science exam (the most recent TIMSS data for that grade and subject), the United States placed fifth among the dozens of participating countries, but the score was not statistically different from the marks earned by the nations listed third and fourth. Indeed, as Salzman and Lowell note, once minute statistical differences are eliminated, the test rankings form three groups: top-, middle-, and bottom-performing nations. American students consistently land in the middle group on math and science exams for all grade levels tested, with scores rising measurably over time on some tests. In 2003, American students scored as well as students from Russia and Spain in 8th-grade math and, in science, on par with 15-year-olds in Germany, Austria, Russia, and Sweden. The paper's higher-education data suggest abundant U.S. strength in the science and engineering labor market as well. Salzman and Lowell report that from 1985 to 2000, U.S. colleges and universities granted an annual average of 435,000 bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees to domestic students studying science and engineering, triple the net growth in science and engineering jobs over the same period. Salzman and Lowell, however, caution that despite American students' impressive standing overall, large segments of the U.S. school population fare quite poorly. In fact, the scholars recommend that the low performance of the least-skilled students should be of great concern to policymakers. "The difficulties center on the least proficient students. Leaders preoccupied with bolstering the achievement of students bound for high-tech fields may be neglecting those who need the basic abilities to perform the millions of jobs that keep the economy productive and efficient, day in and day out," says Salzman. "The issue isn't whether American dominance in the international marketplace is threatened-on average, plenty of U.S. students are well-prepared to compete-but whether the nation will work to improve the education of its lowest-performing students." The study can be downloaded from http://www.urban.org/url.cfm?ID=411562 Part of the No Child Left Behind “Choice” Provision Is No Choice at All for Most Many parents don't know about school choice options under the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law, and many schools can't offer them, according to a new report from Indiana University researchers. Under NCLB, public schools that don't make "adequate yearly progress" face sanctions. After two consecutive years of such standing, the school district must offer school choice -- an option to transfer to another school (one not identified as needing improvement under NCLB). The school must notify parents of the choice options and provide transportation to the new school. Schools must provide supplemental educational services (SES) after failing to meet progress standards for three straight years. Under this provision, low-income students must have access to after-school tutoring services, which may be provided by a private company. Both provisions are part of the overall discussion occurring in Congress now about re-authorization of NCLB. Across the country, the study found that participation in the programs is extremely low. "We're talking about participation rates at below 5 percent in most cases," said Justin Bathon, co-author of the report, referring to public school choice. The report found that of 3.9 million students eligible for school choice during the 2003-04 school year across the country, only 38,000 participated. Other studies cited in the brief indicate 2 percent or fewer eligible students transferred to another school. Bathon said that's a great concern since the choice provision is one of the few NCLB measures that present options to parents. Many parents, Bathon said, are simply not aware that they have this option under the law. Since minority and other high-need students tend to comprise the populations in struggling schools, Bathon said special education and English language learners might be particularly impacted by the lack of implementation. The report also indicates schools have a hard time handling the capacity of the programs, both in the additional administrative burden and funding constraints. Rural areas are particularly having a hard time meeting the NCLB requirement of choice and SES. "In rural areas, you typically do not have school choice being an option because there's not a multitude of schools to pick from," Bathon said. "Private supplemental education service providers are unlikely to set up shop because it's unlikely they'll make money in rural areas." Bathon said urban areas have higher participation rates. He recommends lawmakers tweak the law during re-authorization to encourage more providers to work in rural schools. The report also recommends schools do a better job of communicating to parents that the school choice and SES options are available. Some of the proposed changes being considered by Congress to revamp NCLB strengthen the choice and SES provisions while others weaken them, Bathon said. He said they are likely to remain in a re-authorized bill, but they may switch order. "It looks like supplemental educational services will become what's offered first, and school choice will become what's offered next, after SES has already been implemented," Bathon said. The full report may be viewed at: http://ceep.indiana.edu/projects/PDF/PB_V5N8_Fall_2007_EPB.pdf Young Toddlers Think in Terms of the Whole Object, Not Just Parts Seeing through a child's eyes can help parents better introduce new words to young toddlers, according to research from Purdue University. "This new research shows that as young toddlers learn language, they are more likely to focus on objects rather than parts," said George Hollich, an assistant professor of psychological sciences. "Because of this bias, children automatically assume you are talking about an object. So, when labeling more than just an object, adults need to do something special such as pointing at the part while saying its word or explaining what the item does." For example, when introducing a young toddler to a dog, the child automatically thinks of the object as a dog. If adults want to talk about the dog's tail or its bark, then they need to be more explicit when communicating with the child. If adults do not make this effort, it can hinder the child's understanding, said Hollich, who also is director of Purdue's Infant Language Lab. The study appears in the fall issue of the journal Developmental Psychology. Hollich studied 12- and 19-month-olds because their vocabularies are still in the beginning stages of development. Forty-eight children participated in the study. During the experiments, the young toddlers were introduced to familiar objects, such as a cup with a lid and a shoe with laces, as well as two made up objects that were wood cutouts and could be separated. One part of these wood cutouts was designed to be more attractive to a child. Even with the part's visual appeal, Hollich found the children paid more attention to the entire object than to the part. "We expected that because infants are so taken by the part's salience, specifically bright colors and geometric patterns, they would fail to learn the name for a whole object and instead associate the name with the perceptually interesting and separate part," Hollich said. "But we found the opposite. This reinforces that children, even as young as 12 months old, make assumptions about what words might mean. And like all assumptions, sometimes they can be wrong." The average vocabulary comprehension for a 12-month-old is 65-110 words, and that increases to a few thousand by the time the child is 2. "There is a lot going on when infants and young children learn language," Hollich said. "In addition to parents emphasizing an object, its parts and its function when talking to children, parents also should reduce background noises and look at children as they speak to them." Preschool: First Findings From the Third Follow-up of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort (ECLS-B) This is the first report from the third wave of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort (ECLS-B), a study of a nationally representative sample of children born in 2001. The report provides descriptive information about these children when they were about 4 years old. It also includes results from language, literacy, mathematics, and fine motor skills assessments, and information on children's nonparental education and care experiences. For example, the report shows that 65 percent of children between 48 and 57 months of age were proficient in number and shape recognition, a component of the mathematics assessment. Proficiency varied by several child and family characteristics such as socioeconomic status. Forty percent of children from low SES families were proficient compared to 87 percent of children from high SES families. For experiences with nonparental care and education settings, the report shows that approximately 20 percent of the cohort did not regularly attend such settings. The primary nonparental care and education setting was a non-Head Start center for 45 percent of the cohort, a Head Start center for approximately 13 percent of the cohort, a home-based relative setting for 13 percent of the cohort, and a home-based non-relative setting for 8 percent of the cohort. Full report: http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2008025 Reading Across the Nation is designed as a resource for policymakers and professionals who are working to optimize the early language and literacy experiences of young children. By presenting “reading snapshots” for each state, with comparative rankings on literacy indicators, this chartbook will be a useful tool for policy makers and program planners as they consider how to make investments in the early years to enhance literacy and language development. The charts provide detailed state by state information about whether parents are meeting the basic recommendation of daily reading aloud to their children. Data on frequency of reading to young children are from the National Survey of Children’s Health (2003), in which families of a nationally representative sample of children were interviewed by telephone about early childhood routines (US Department of Health and Human Services, 2005). For each state, data are also presented on fourth grade reading performance from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) (2005). Reach Out and Read (ROR) National Center data (2007) and US census data (2000) are used to derive proportions of young children ages 0-5 years in each state who are served by ROR, both in the general population and for those families living in or near poverty. Data are also presented on the ratio of young children to libraries for each state. The Problem: Children entering school not ready to learn Up to one-third of American children enter kindergarten lacking at least some of the skills needed for a successful learning experience. For too many children, the preschool years have left them without the language skills necessary for literacy acquisition. When children are poor readers by the end of first grade, they are likely to remain so in fourth grade. Interventions in the early years that promote language development are powerful, cost-effective routes to improved school performance. The National Research Council’s Committee on the Prevention of Reading Difficulties in Young Children stated that most reading difficulties can be prevented by promoting language and literacy development. Snow CE, Burns S, Griffin P (Eds) (1998) The Solution: Parents reading aloud Parents reading frequently to their children provide language and literacy skills that help children learn to read. Helping children to prepare for the challenge of learning to read before school entry is better than helping them catch up later. Reading aloud is the single most important activity for building the knowledge required for eventual success in reading. Early language skills, the foundation for later reading ability, are based primarily on language exposure and human interaction – parents and other adults talking to young children. The more words parents use when speaking to an eight-month-old infant, the greater the size of the child’s vocabulary at age three. Many children from low-income families hear fewer words and learn fewer words and their limited vocabularies essentially leave them language delayed at school entry, which places them at educational risk. Of all parent-child activities, reading aloud provides the richest exposure to language, so promotion of reading aloud, especially for children from more disadvantaged backgrounds, holds great promise for strengthening school readiness and laying a strong foundation for future educational success. Reach Out and Read: An inexpensive, efficient and effective intervention to promote parents reading aloud. While there are many programs that contribute to children’s emerging literacy, Reach Out and Read offers an evidence-based cost-effective strategy for reaching the families most at risk in the first years of life. Pediatricians and other child health clinicians advise parents to read to their children daily and give children new developmentally appropriate books at each of the 10 pediatric visits from age 6 months to 5 years. The more words parents use when speaking to an eight-month old infant, the greater the size of the child’s vocabulary at age three. Compared to families who have not participated, parents who have received Reach Out and Read are significantly more likely to read to their children and to have more children’s books in their homes. Children exposed to the program also show increased vocabularies on testing. Reach Out and Read programs already operate in practices and clinics in every state; by adopting the program on a statewide basis and working with the Reach Out and Read National Center to bring the program to all high-risk children, states could have a marked impact on early language and literacy experiences, paving the way for later school success. Key Findings from Reading Across the Nation
How do the findings vary by state?
"Reading Across the Nation: A Chartbook" includes data from the 2003 National Survey of Children's Health and the 2005 National Assessment of Educational Progress. For the full report: http://healthychild.ucla.edu/ROR/ROR_Chartbook_2007.pdf Louisiana Regents’ Value-Added Teacher Preparation Assessment Model Breaks New Ground in Education Accountability Is it possible to measure the relative effectiveness of university teacher training programs in preparing their graduates to help students learn? According to the results of a groundbreaking study presented to the Louisiana Board of Regents, the answer to that question is a resounding yes. The initial results of the Regents-sponsored Value-Added Teacher Preparation Assessment Model, in development for four years, not only demonstrate that such an evaluation is possible, but that, contrary to prior research findings, some programs in Louisiana are producing new teachers who are as effective in their first and second years in the classroom as veteran teachers. The ability to quantify the impact of the instruction teachers receive in their college teacher preparation programs has enormous implications for improving education program quality and student learning across the nation. Louisiana will be the first state in the nation to implement a model of this type on a statewide basis. Funding was provided during 2003-04 and 2004-05 for Dr. George Noell, Department of Psychology, Louisiana State University and A&M College, and his research team to study the use of a Value Added Teacher Preparation Assessment Model using data from 10 school districts in Louisiana. During 2005-06 and 2006-07, the study was expanded to test the model using data from all school districts in Louisiana. The 2006-07 study included more than 285,000 students taught by more than 7,000 teachers in 1,300 schools over the 2004-05 and 2005-06 school years. This study could not have occurred without the comprehensive data system within the Louisiana Department of Educations and the collaborative relationship between the Board of Regents, Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, and the Louisiana Department of Education. MAJOR FINDINGS OF STUDY
LOUISIANA’S TEACHER PREPARATION PROGRAMS SURPASSING EXPECTATIONS IN OTHER STATES On July 1, 2003, teacher preparation programs could no longer admit new pre-service teachers into grades PK-3, 1-5, 4-8, and 6-12 programs unless their programs had been redesigned and approved by the Board of Regents and Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. All teacher preparation programs implemented after July 1, 2003 are post-redesign programs. All teacher preparation programs that admitted candidates prior to July 1, 2003, are pre-redesign programs, which are being phased out. In addition to the redesign of the teacher preparation programs, programs were expected to be accredited by the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE), and a Teacher Preparation Accountability System was implemented to assess the quality of programs based upon passage rates on the Praxis examinations for teachers, survey data from first year teachers, and the quantity of graduates from the teacher preparation programs. All teacher preparation programs in Louisiana have successfully addressed these accountability standards as demonstrated by the following results:
Having thus laid a solid foundation, assured that Louisiana’s teacher preparation programs meet or exceed national expectations, the state is now moving further beyond the input standards for teacher preparation in other states and examining outcomes that are based upon how much the students of their new graduates progressed in grades 4-9 classrooms in mathematics, science, and social studies. Louisiana’s teacher preparation programs are the first in the nation to take this step to improve the effectiveness of new teachers and the learning of their students. VALUE ADDED TEACHER PREPARATION ASSESSMENT As an example, the predicted achievement of a student identified as gifted would be greater than the predicted achievement of a student identified as learning disabled. Both students would be expected to demonstrate growth over a one year time period, but the predicted growth of the gifted student would be greater than the predicted growth of the learning disabled student. The model examines the extent to which individual students meet their predicted achievement levels and assesses the extent to which students taught by new teachers from specific teacher preparation programs met predicted achievement levels. The predictors examine student variables, teacher variables, and building variables and differ slightly based upon the content areas (e.g., mathematics, science, and social studies) being examined. Please refer to Table 1 for a listing of the predictors. The teacher preparation effect estimates are based upon multiple new teachers in multiple schools across multiple school districts in the state. Thus, effect estimates for a teacher preparation program reflect a pattern of effectiveness of new teachers based on the average achievement of students taught by new teachers from that teacher preparation program. As an example, a +1.9 teacher preparation effect estimate would indicate that students taught by new teachers from a given teacher preparation program achieved on average a score that was +1.9 points higher than was predicted for students with the same prior achievement and demographic characteristics who were taught by experienced teachers. New teachers in the study were defined as teachers who were in their first or second year of teaching after
The decision to define new teachers as first and second year teachers was based upon findings for the 2005-06 value added study which indicated that growth in effectiveness was demonstrated for new teachers in Louisiana during their first and second years of teaching; however, the growth was flat from their third to seventh years of teaching. Experienced teachers were all other teachers who possessed a 4 standard teaching certificate and were teaching in their area of certification for three or more years. The study used achievement data in the areas of mathematics, science, and social studies for students enrolled in grades 4-9 who attended public schools in Louisiana during a full school year (2004-05 and/or 2005-06). In addition, the study used data for all grades 4-9 teachers in public schools in Louisiana who taught students mathematics, science, and social studies during 2004-05 and/or 2005-06. A Hierarchical Linear Model (HLM) was used for the analysis. This is a layered statistical model that is designed to analyze data within natural layers or groups (e.g., students within classes within schools.) In addition, Propensity Sample Matching (PSM) was used as a preanalysis matching strategy to match the graduates of each teacher preparation program to all teachers who taught demographically similar classes within that school year using classroom means for prior achievement and demographic variables. Simultaneous analysis across both school years was used to produce separate demographic estimates and combined university estimates. Five performance levels were identified to group the effect estimates for the three content areas (mathematics, science, and social studies) and the two pathways to certification (undergraduate and alternate certification). The five performance bands were:
RESULTS All three of the programs were alternate certification programs that required individuals to already possess a baccalaureate degree and pass the content Praxis examination(s) for admission into the programs. All candidates were then required to complete from 21-36 credit hours of alternate certification courses within universities (or 315-450 contact hours for a private provider) over a one to three year time period. The alternate certification programs were redesigned before the undergraduate programs and are of shorter duration, which allowed new teachers to complete the post-redesign alternate certification programs prior to new teachers completing the post-redesign undergraduate programs. It is anticipated that since admissions to pre-redesign programs had been closed since July 1, 2003, each year subsequent to this report considerably more programs will be included as they produce more post-redesign program completers. Of the three post-redesign alternate certification programs, all three programs had first and second year teachers whose students demonstrated growth in achievement in one or more content area (e.g., science, social studies, mathematics) that was at or above the expected achievement of students taught by experienced teachers. The study also found that within the same teacher preparation programs, grades 4-9 students of new teachers demonstrated greater growth in some content areas (e.g., social studies) when compared to other content areas (e.g., mathematics). As an example, Louisiana College attained a teacher preparation effect estimate of +5.5 in the area of social studies which placed the post-redesign alternate certification program at Level 1 (e.g., programs for which there is evidence that new teachers are more effective than experienced teachers). This indicated that on the average grades 4-9 students scored 5.5 points higher on their achievement tests in social studies than grades 4-9 students taught by experienced teachers. In the area of science, the Louisiana College post-redesign alternate certification program attained an effect estimate of +1.7 which placed them at a Level 2 (e.g., programs in which new teachers are comparable to experienced teachers). In the area of mathematics, they attained an effect estimate of -1.6 which placed them at a Level 3 (e.g., programs in which new teachers are comparable to new teachers). This meant that on the average grades 4-9 students taught by new teachers from Louisiana College scored 1.6 points lower on achievement tests in mathematics than students taught by experienced teachers. This effect estimate was not considered to be a program weakness since first and second year teachers are new teachers and still at a point of developing; however, it provides Louisiana College with valuable information about relative strengths and weaknesses within their program. Northwestern State University’s effect estimate of +2.7 in the area of science for their postredesign alternate certification program placed them in the Level 1 performance level. They attained an effect estimate of +2.6 in mathematics and a +1.6 in social studies which placed both at a Level 2 performance level. 6 The New Teacher Project attained a teacher preparation effect estimate of +2.1 in the area of mathematics for their post-redesign alternate certification program which placed them in the Level 1 performance level. They did not yet have a sufficient number of new teachers that met the criteria to be included in the study for effect estimates to be calculated in the areas of science and social studies. Data regarding teacher preparation effect estimates for programs composed primarily or exclusively of pre-redesign program graduates are not reported within this document. Those programs have not admitted new students since July 1, 2003, and the post-redesign programs did not have enough new teacher graduate for the evaluation years (2004-05, 2005-06) to yield a valid evaluation of effectiveness. Effect estimates of these pre-redesign programs have been calculated and will serve as baselines for the post-redesign programs. New effect estimates will be calculated for the post-redesign programs once they have the minimum number of new teachers needed to conduct an analysis of the post-redesign programs. It will then be possible to compare the effect estimates for the post-redesign programs to the pre-redesign programs. CONCLUSION Full report: http://www.regents.state.la.us/Academic/TE/2007/VAA%20 Biennial Survey of Rural Schools Reveals a Dramatic Increase of Minorities and Overall Enrollment Growth Nearly One-Half of ELL Students Live in Rural Communities A biennial report issued by the Rural School and Community Trust uncovered new trends and challenges facing rural educators. Overall, enrollment in rural schools is up by 15%—a reversal of the year-over-year declines these communities have seen. While overall enrollment is on the rise the most startling data revealed in the new report, Why Rural Matters 2007, is the 55% increase in rural minority students, with some states experiencing increases of over 100%. Why Rural Matters 2007: The Realities of Rural Education Growth also serves as a reminder that many rural schools continue to face a number of challenges, including high poverty levels, low student achievement, low teacher salaries and uneven distribution of Title I funds. In Why Rural Matters 2007, the Rural Trust uses the Rural Education Priority Gauge to assess and rank the overall performance of rural schools in all states. Based on an in-depth analysis comprised of 23 equally weighted indicators, the report prioritizes the needs of rural schools using five gauges: (1) importance of rural education, (2) socioeconomic challenges, (3) student diversity, (4) policy context, and (5) educational outcomes. The higher the ranking on a gauge, the more important, or the more urgent rural education matters are in that state. While no single state appeared at the top of each list, Mississippi, Alabama, Arizona, and North Carolina all scored the highest in at least four gauges. By applying the Rural Education Priority Gauge, the report cites that the priority states where rural schools produce the worst student achievement outcomes also face an uphill battle to reverse that trend. Most priority states serve student populations with the severest socio-economic challenges—especially high poverty levels—and they operate with less money than rural schools in other states. Those states are located in four rural education regions: the Southwest (Arizona, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Texas), the Southeast (North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, and Georgia), the Mid-South Delta (Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana), and Appalachia (Kentucky and Tennessee). Specific findings and trends discussed in Why Rural Matters 2007 include: Poorer and more diverse rural communities generate the lowest NAEP scores in the country. The 12 states with the lowest average NAEP scores also have high socioeconomic challenges and high student diversity (Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and West Virginia). Rural graduation rates are below 70% in ten states, most of which are in the Southeast: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. South Carolina leads the nation with the lowest rate at 55%. Some states with the highest overall graduation rates—Nebraska, South Dakota, Iowa, Utah, Wyoming—also had the largest “graduation gaps” between white and minority students, with the graduation rate for minorities between 50-60%.
In the report, the Rural Trust offers some policy considerations to help improve the outlook for rural education, including:
The 2007 edition of Why Rural Matters is the fourth report in a biennial research series from the Rural School and Community Trust, but it is not a longitudinal study. Rather it is a snapshot of rural education using a changing set of indicators that reveal the complexity and diversity of rural education. The reports provide essential information on the condition of rural education in the 50 states. The full text: http://files.ruraledu.org/wrm07/press/why_rural_matters_press_release.pdf Task Force Issues Recommendations to Help States Assess and Improve Early Education Programs The National Early Childhood Accountability Task Force has released its final report and recommendations for developing a comprehensive assessment system to improve the performance of early education programs. Over the past four years, states have invested more than $1.9 billion in preschool to improve outcomes for children, but few have implemented a comprehensive effort for assessing and improving performance to ensure that early education returns intended results. The Task Force’s recommended approaches are flexible enough to be adapted in multiple states, employ state-of-the-art evaluation methods and focus on how assessment data can be used to help improve program performance and enhance positive outcomes for children. Over the next eighteen months, the Council of Chief State School Officers, with funding from The Pew Charitable Trusts, will use the Task Force’s findings to help states document and strengthen preschool program performance. “Currently there is no comprehensive system in place guiding early educators and policy makers as they expand preschool programs in their state,” said Sue Urahn, managing director of Pew’s Center on the States. “Without a consistent means of measuring results and evaluating practices, states have no way of identifying successful practices in programs that work, or of helping to improve programs that don’t.” Launched in 2005, the Task Force is comprised of 15 testing experts and state officials with on-the-ground experience running early learning programs in Georgia, Illinois, Michigan and New Jersey (see below for a complete list of Task Force members and staff). The Task Force was created and supported by the Foundation for Child Development, the Joyce Foundation and The Pew Charitable Trusts; and it was managed by The Pew Charitable Trusts. “By their very nature, early childhood programs are difficult to assess,” said Sharon Lynn Kagan, Task Force Chair and professor and associate dean for Policy Teachers College, Columbia University. “Preschool programs are not yet part of a unified education system and are subject to a variety of federal and state standards, policies and assessment requirements. On top of that, states have limited resources, in light of the costs of providing high-quality programs, as well as the funds needed for careful evaluation of programs and appropriate assessments of young children.” To address these challenges, the Task Force recommends that states should:
Based on these core recommendations, the Task Force designed four approaches that states can use to collect data and report on program performance and child learning. These different approaches allow states to customize an accountability system to meet their particular needs. For example, one methodology would be appropriate if a state simply wants to know how many children are ready for kindergarten, without determining the effectiveness of particular preschools. More complex options assess the quality of each local program, and the effectiveness and impact of specific types of state investments. The report describes each approach in detail, including specific policy questions it addresses, what data are to be collected, designs for data collection, how assessment information can be used to improve programs, and key challenges and safeguards that need to be adopted to prevent misuse of assessment information. “Our report tackles the most controversial issues in early childhood assessment,” said Eugene Garcia, Task Force vice chair and vice president for Education Partnerships, Arizona State University. “Indeed, consensus amongst Task Force members was not entirely possible on some topics but we portray all viewpoints and offer sound solutions that most members could support.” “As prekindergarten expands, policymakers and the public will shift their focus to making sure that children are prepared to read, think, compute, learn self-control and how to work with their peers and adults by the end of Third Grade. Being ready for Kindergarten is just not enough,” said Fasaha Traylor, Senior Program Officer of the Foundation of Child Development. “The National Early Childhood Accountability Task Force sets our nation on that path.” In upcoming months the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), with support from The Pew Charitable Trusts, will help expand awareness of the Task Force’s recommendations among early childhood leaders and help states strengthen their ability to assess and improve preschool programs. "State-funded preschools are expanding to reach more children every year, and state legislators and governors are demanding more information about the quality of these programs," said Ellen S. Alberding, president of the Joyce Foundation. "The Task Force recommendations should help improve accountability and, ultimately, help ensure that we are providing first-rate early learning opportunities for our children." Full report: Schools Not Sustaining Mental Health Aid to Children Displaced by Hurricane Katrina, RAND Study Finds Despite strong initial efforts to support the mental health needs of students displaced by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, many schools have not been able to fulfill students' mental health needs over the long term, according to a RAND Corporation study. "Mental health responses were good during the early part of the crisis, but most schools were not able to sustain their efforts," said Lisa H. Jaycox, the study's lead author and a psychologist at RAND, a nonprofit research organization. "Schools need to respond not only in the weeks following a disaster, but for the months and years afterward when lingering mental health problems start showing up." Researchers from RAND Health found that schools in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas were quick to implement a comprehensive approach to assisting students immediately after the storms, enrolling displaced students, getting them books and uniforms, and providing other services, such as one-on-one counseling. However, within six months of the storms, some schools determined there was no need for those additional services and returned to an emphasis on academics. Other schools felt there was a need for additional mental health services, but either did not have the funding or the properly trained staff, according to the study published in the October issue of Psychiatric Services. Some schools were able to extend additional services to displaced students, but most schools reported facing barriers that kept them from continuing special services. Among the barriers cited were:
More than 196,000 students from kindergarten through grade 12 were displaced in Louisiana alone after Hurricane Katrina made landfall in August 2005. Students in Mississippi and Alabama also were affected by Hurricane Katrina, and students in Texas and Louisiana were affected when Hurricane Rita hit the coast in September 2005. Some reports found that nearly one-third of New Orleans children had elevated symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Jaycox and her colleagues interviewed mental health professionals at 19 public and 11 private or parochial schools or school systems in Louisiana, Alabama, Texas and Mississippi in the spring of 2006 and again in the fall/winter of 2006. These schools had taken in large numbers of displaced students, increasing their populations by more than 10 percent. "A lot of these children lived in inner city New Orleans and faced stress caused by poverty even before the storms hit," Jaycox said. Students with PTSD or anxiety might appear to be fine and might show up for school every day, but still struggle, Jaycox said. Many have nightmares, are hyper vigilant, easily startled, irritable, depressed or want to avoid things that remind them of the trauma, which can include the loss of family members, pets and their homes. These conditions can interfere with their ability to learn and form social relationships. The study recommends that schools develop crisis plans that specify the roles, training and resources required to address longer-term mental health consequences following a disaster, not just for students, but also for staff members and their families. Jaycox said the most effective mental health services for students after a crisis like Hurricane Katrina -- cognitive-behavioral techniques that teach students how to develop coping and problem-solving skills to reduce anxiety and depression -- also can be applied to other kinds of traumatic events such as earthquakes and shootings. "Education is the primary mission of schools, but schools also serve as a community hub in a disaster, doing everything from providing shelter to mental health services," Jaycox said. "Few people are able to access specialty mental health care. If they can get care in a community setting like a school, then many more can be served." The Politics of the Playground: Lack of Athletic Skill Often Means Loneliness and Peer Rejection In the Peanuts comic strip, Charlie Brown was never able to kick the football, fly a kite properly or lead a baseball team. He was also sad and often the target of ridicule from his peers. A new Canadian study looking at the connections between athletic skill and social acceptance among school children confirms that Chuck’s problems were true to life: kids place a great deal of value on athletic ability, and youngsters deemed unskilled by their peers often experience sadness, isolation and social rejection at school. In a study published in The Journal of Sport Behavior, researchers at the University of Alberta in Edmonton examined the relationships among perceived athletic competence, peer acceptance and loneliness in elementary school children. Their findings will likely confirm the experience of anyone who was picked last for the team in gym class: children seen as athletic by their classmates are also better liked and less likely to feel lonely, while unathletic children experience the opposite. “For both boys and girls, we found that popular children reported less loneliness and received higher athletic ability ratings from their peers than rejected children,” says lead researcher Janice Causgrove Dunn, from the Faculty of Physical & Recreation at the University of Alberta. “Conversely, the kids who reported higher levels of loneliness tended to receive lower athletic ability ratings and lower social acceptance ratings from their peers.” Past studies have found that loneliness in childhood and adolescence is associated with many psychosocial and emotional problems, and prolonged loneliness has the potential to seriously undermine an individual's psychological, emotional and physical well-being. Lonely children are often less physically active and less fit, and more likely to experience tension and anxiety than their non-lonely counterparts. In adolescence and early adulthood, loneliness has been linked to behaviors including cigarette smoking, marijuana use and alcoholism, as well as an increased risk of school drop out and depression. “Given the proven negative impact of loneliness on a child’s well being, this kind of research is an important endeavor,” says Causgrove Dunn. “It’s important to identify and understand the factors that might increase a child's likelihood of being accepted by the peer group, because this, in turn, decreases the likelihood of that child experiencing the destructive psychosocial and emotional problems that often come with rejection.” The conclusions of the study—believed to be the first to look at the relationship between loneliness and perceptions of athletic competence in elementary school children—are based on responses from 208 children in Grades 4 through 6 at seven different elementary schools in a western Canadian city. Ninety-nine boys and 109 girls completed questionnaires used to measure children’s loneliness levels in school, as well as self-perceived athletic ability. Researchers also asked participants to rate the athletic ability of their classmates and identify the classmates who they most liked and who they least liked in order to assess peer rejection and peer acceptance. The study appears in the Sept. 2007 issue of The Journal of Sport Behavior. 73% Say Yes to National Standards and Tests Under No Child Left Behind, should there be a single national standard and a single national test for all students in the United States? Or do you think that there should be different standards and tests in different states? 73% said yes in a new national survey of U.S. adults conducted under the auspices of Education Next and the Program on Education Policy and Governance (PEPG) at Harvard University. Complete article: http://www.hoover.org/publications/ednext/8769517.html How the World's Best Performing Schools Systems Come Out on Top An organisation from outside the teaching fold—McKinsey, a consultancy that advises companies and governments—has boldly gone where educationalists have mostly never gone: into policy recommendations based on the PISA findings. Schools, it says, need to do three things: get the best teachers; get the best out of teachers; and step in when pupils start to lag behind. That may not sound exactly “first-of-its-kind” (which is how Andreas Schleicher, the OECD's head of education research, describes McKinsey's approach): schools surely do all this already? Actually, they don't. If these ideas were really taken seriously, they would change education radically. … Studies in Tennessee and Dallas have shown that, if you take pupils of average ability and give them to teachers deemed in the top fifth of the profession, they end up in the top 10% of student performers; if you give them to teachers from the bottom fifth, they end up at the bottom. The quality of teachers affects student performance more than anything else…. Complete article: http://www.economist.com/world/international/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9989914 Exercise Improves Thinking, Reduces Diabetes Risk in Overweight Children Just three months of daily, vigorous physical activity in overweight children improves their thinking and reduces their diabetes risk, researchers say. “Is exercise a magic wand that turns them into lean, healthy kids? No. They are still overweight but less so, with less fat, a healthier metabolism and an improved ability to handle life,” says Dr. Catherine Davis, clinical health psychologist at the Medical College of Georgia and lead investigator. All study participants learned about healthy nutrition and the benefits of physical activity; one-third also exercised 20 minutes after school and another third exercised for 40 minutes. Children played hard, with running games, hula hoops and jump ropes, raising their heart rates to 79 percent of maximum, which is considered vigorous. “Aerobic exercise training showed dose-response benefits on executive function (decision-making) and possibly math achievement, in overweight children,” researchers write in an abstract being presented during The Obesity Society’s Annual Scientific Meeting Oct. 20-24 in New Orleans. “Regular exercise may be a simple, important method of enhancing children’s cognitive and academic development. These results may persuade educators to implement vigorous physical activity curricula during a childhood obesity epidemic.” Functional magnetic resonance imaging studies, which show the brain at work, were performed on a percentage of children in each group and found those who exercised had different patterns of brain activity during an executive function task. “Look what good it does when they exercise,” says Dr. Davis. “This is an important public health issue we need to look at as a nation to help our children learn and keep them well.” Unprecedented obesity and inactivity rates in America’s children are impacting health, including dramatic increases in the incidence of type 2 diabetes, a disease formerly known as adult-onset diabetes. Overweight children also have slightly lower school achievement, on average. “We hope these findings will help persuade policymakers, schools and communities that time spent being physically active enhances, rather than detracts, from learning,” says Dr. Davis. “There have been several studies that have shown that exercise produces kind of a selective effect, particularly with older adults, in cognitive tasks that require regulation of behaviors,” says Dr. Phillip D. Tomporowski, experimental psychologist at the University of Georgia and a key collaborator. For this study, researchers gave the children tests that look at their decision-making processes. In the first such studies in children, the researchers found small to moderate improvements in children who exercised as well as a hint of increased math achievement. “We have a number of studies conducted with animals that examined what influence physical activity has on blood flow, metabolic activity, brain function, glucose regulation, and they all demonstrate the same theme: that physical activity done on a regular basis has a protective effect,” says Dr. Tomporowski. “It doesn’t take too much to make the leap that it might influence developing children as well.” Looking at the children’s insulin resistance, a precursor of type 2 diabetes in which it takes more insulin to convert glucose into energy, researchers found levels dropped 15 percent in the 20-minute exercise group and 21 percent in the 40-minute group. The control group stayed about the same. “Increasing volume of regular aerobic exercise shows increased benefits on insulin resistance in overweight children, indicating reduced risk of type 2 diabetes, regardless of sex or race,” they write. “We also know that if you stop exercising, you lose all the benefits,” adds Dr. Davis. “Exercise works if you do it.” Adult studies have yielded comparable findings regarding exercise’s impact on insulin resistance and cognition. The researchers tested oral glucose tolerance, measuring insulin response after children drank a small amount of glucose, before and after the studies. “Once your glucose levels start to rise, it’s called impaired glucose tolerance and that is a precursor of diabetes. It’s called pre-diabetes now,” says Dr. Davis, noting that overweight children typically have higher insulin resistance than their leaner peers. Insulin resistance is an early sign of diabetes risk that appears before glucose levels start to rise. Growth associated with puberty can temporarily increase insulin resistance, Dr. Davis notes, so because some of the children were beginning puberty, they made adjustments for the level of sex hormones. DEXA scanning, which uses a small amount of radiation to quantify bone, tissue and fat, was used to accurately assess body composition. Executive function was measured using the Cognitive Assessment System and math skills using the Woodcock Johnson Test of Achievement III. “If physical education were ideal, which it’s not – it’s not daily and it’s not active – then children could achieve this within the school day,” Dr. Davis says, pointing to benefits derived by children exercising just 20 minutes a day. “We are not there. To achieve maximum benefit, we were able to show it will take more than PE.” CDC Study Finds U.S. Schools Making Progress in Decreasing Availability of Junk Food and Promoting Physical Activity However, More Progress Needed to Foster Health and Wellness of Students The nation’s schools have made considerable improvements in their policies and programs to promote the health and safety of students, particularly in the areas of nutrition, physical activity and tobacco use, says a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). However, more needs to be done to strengthen school health and wellness policies and programs, according to CDC. The School Health Policies and Programs Study (SHPPS) 2006, conducted by CDC and published in the October 2007 issue of the Journal of School Health, is the largest and most comprehensive study of health policies and programs in the nation′s schools. Previous SHPPS were conducted in 1994 and 2000. “Since the release of the previous SHPPS in 2000, America′s schools have made significant progress in removing junk food, offering more physical activity opportunities, and establishing policies that prohibit tobacco use,” said CDC Director Julie L. Gerberding, M.D., M.P.H. “Our goal with this report is to provide health and education officials with useful information that will help them develop and improve programs that can have significant benefit for our school-aged children.” Major findings include:
The 2006 SHPPS also identified several areas that need improvement including:
“If we want to build on the improvements that schools have made over the past six years, we need to involve many people and programs,” said Howell Wechsler, Ed.D., M.P.H., director of CDC′s Division of Adolescent and School Health. “Families, schools, school boards, and school administrators all need to work together to develop and implement policies and programs that promote health and safety among our nation′s young people.” SHPPS is a national survey conducted every six years to assess school health policies and programs at the state, district, school, and classroom levels. For more information about SHPPS 2006, including fact sheets that summarize study highlights and a summary of state education agency policies, visit www.cdc.gov/SHPPS. Getting Fathers Involved in Children's ADHD Treatment Programs While working with parents of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) at the University at Buffalo, Gregory A. Fabiano noticed something was missing: the fathers. Fabiano, an assistant professor in the Graduate School of Education, made the discovery while still a graduate assistant at the UB Center for Children and Families, which runs a summer treatment program that has helped more than 2,500 children with behavioral, emotional and learning problems. The program uses sports as a way to teach children peer-relationship skills, Fabiano said. "I knew a lot of the dads in that program, because they would show up early to watch their kids on the soccer fields or the softball fields and we'd chat it up when we were out there," recalled Fabiano, who teaches in the counseling, school and educational psychology department. "But then they would take their child and go home in the one car, and then the mom would drive up in another car and go to the parenting group," he added. "I thought 'There is something wrong with this picture.'" To find out why fathers of children with ADHD weren't participating in treatment programs, or why some initially participate, but then drop out soon after, Fabiano turned to research literature on the subject and found…nothing. "I was surprised to find there were no studies on dads with kids with ADHD and so I thought this would be a good area in which we could try to do something. My dissertation was trying out a parenting program specifically for fathers, using sports as a kind of hook to get the dads interested and the kids too," Fabiano said. His new research program, designed for children 6-12 years of age, includes two formats: a control group of fathers and children who receive traditional, evidence-based treatments for ADHD families and another group that receives the same, plus a sports element, in this case, soccer games. This second group is dubbed COACHES, or Coaching Our Acting-Out Children: Heightening Essential Skills. Traditional treatments include teaching parents strategies to deal with the disruptive behaviors that are hallmarks of the disorder. Adding the COACHES element, Fabiano hoped, would result in increased participation for the fathers and improved relationships with their children. "We thought for a chronic disorder like ADHD where these fathers aren't going to be dealing with these problems for a couple weeks or a couple months, but for the child's entire life, the treatment has to be well-liked, palatable and engaging," Fabiano explained. "We had huge differences on things like drop-out rates for both the dad and the child. The dads in the COACHES group were more likely to try out the homework, which was a pretty big accomplishment," Fabiano said. "They also rated the treatment as better." Another surprise was the lack of tension between fathers and players, and between the fathers themselves, when it came to controversies on the playing field. "We were a little nervous about the dads, because you read the newspaper and you see fathers getting into fights with the referee. But we have not had that. The dads seem to be genuinely enjoying the activities, perhaps because the children have struggled in other settings and are successful in this one," Fabiano said. Also, the children themselves seemed to be tension-free while playing, a sharp contrast to their previous experiences with sports, he said. "Families with children with ADHD tell us lots of horror stories about their children failing at team sports because they weren't paying attention when the ball is coming toward them or they have a low frustration threshold, so they stomped off the field if they made an error," Fabiano said. The best result by far was the sense of community that the program offered the fathers. "In groups, the dads said things like 'I didn't realize other dads had kids like this,' so there is sense of isolation among these parents. Maybe putting fathers together who have children challenged in sports takes things in a positive direction as opposed to a negative direction that makes a father defensive because he sees his child struggling when other kids aren't," Fabiano said. At each meeting, while the children practice soccer skills, the fathers meet to learn parenting skills, such as "how to pay attention to the child's good behaviors, give clear commands, use time outs well," Fabiano said. Now recruiting families for another session of COACHES funded by the National Institutes of Mental Health, Fabiano said the program will stick with soccer for now because "it spreads the kids out so the dads can get right out on the field and monitor their kids very well. There's also lots of action, unlike baseball, where you might be standing by yourself for 20 minutes and not have anything come your way." Success on the field means a greater chance of success at home and school. "Soccer engages the kids, who we want to be behaving well when the parents are trying out new skills. We don't want parents trying out a skill during a child's most difficult-to-manage behavior," he said. "If they succeed, they are more likely to try it out at home, when the kids are doing homework or are supposed to clean their rooms." Psychiatrists, Parents Significantly Differ in ADHD, Psychiatric Comorbidities Perceptions 78 percent of psychiatrists and parents provide different responses when asked about patients' 'most concerning behavior' According to a small-scale, in-office, observational study, psychiatrists and parents have significantly different perceptions of the importance of pediatric ADHD and psychiatric comorbidities, particularly regarding the patients’ most concerning behavior. The study, which utilized accepted sociolinguistic methodologies to evaluate the tone, content and structure of in-office visits, was presented recently at the 20th annual U.S. Psychiatric and Mental Health Congress (USPMHC). “We found that among the psychiatrists and parents studied, 78 percent provided different responses when asked about the patient’s ‘most concerning behavior,’” said Robert Findling, M.D., lead author and professor of psychiatry at Case Western Reserve University and director of the division of child and adolescent psychiatry at University Hospitals Case Medical Center. “There was a notable incidence of psychiatrist/parent misalignment regarding the patients’ most concerning behaviors, including aggression and defiance.” The study, designed to capture naturally occurring conversations between psychiatrists, patients with ADHD and their parents, consisted of eleven psychiatrists, thirty-two child and adolescent ADHD patients and their parents. Half of the patients were younger than 13 years old, and the majority fulfilled the criteria of “complicated ADHD,” which was defined in the study as a patient “having or suspected to have one or more psychiatric comorbidities.” Physicians classified 81 percent of patients as having one or more psychiatric comorbidities/learning disabilities. The most common comorbidities greater than 20 percent included: depression (46 percent), oppositional defiant disorder (42 percent), anxiety (38 percent), learning disabilities (35 percent) and bipolar disorder (23 percent). In post-visit interviews, parents most often reported concern about aggression and defiance; however, these behaviors that parents reported as “most concerning” post-visit were unaddressed in one-third of the visits. “These results indicate psychiatrists can adopt several techniques to improve in-office communication about complicated ADHD, including structuring visits, so that all voices are heard, discussing comorbidities using language that is more comprehensible to parents, and eliciting parents’ expectations at the initiation of treatment,” said Dr. Findling. “By focusing on how time is spent and what types of questions are asked of parents and patients, this can lead to successful expectation-setting with both parents and patients. As a result, psychiatrists can have better in-office discussions about ADHD as well as improved treatment of patients suffering from complicated ADHD.” About ADHD Although there is no “cure” for ADHD, there are accepted treatments that specifically target its symptoms. The most common standard treatments include educational approaches, psychological or behavioral modification, and medication. Student Social Norms Healthier than Perceived College students tend to overestimate how much their peers drink, smoke or engage in other unhealthy behaviors. And when they learn the real story, it can have a positive affect on the choices they make themselves. These are some of the findings from an ongoing research project at Westfield State College in Westfield, Mass., assessing student behavior and perceptions, as well as a program that can help change student behavior for the better. “The program uses actual social norms to influence the behavior of other students,” said Nancy Bals, assistant director of athletics and one of the principal program directors. Research by a number of social scientists indicates that our perceptions of social norms can strongly influence our own behavior in many areas, such as alcohol consumption, and other potentially risky behaviors. Some researchers, including H. Wesley Perkins and David W. Craig from the Department of Anthropology and Sociology at Hobart and William Smith Colleges, found that correcting misperceptions about social norms on drinking can reduce campus alcohol misuse. “Our survey data shows that Westfield State students, as well as most athletes, have common misperceptions about drinking on campus. We have learned that presenting the facts about actual student behavior helps alleviate common misperceptions on campus,” Bals said. “The perceived norms around drinking are much higher than the actual norm. By reducing the misperceptions, we hope to lower the incidences of unhealthy behavior.” An example from the data shows that when students were asked how often they think the average student on campus uses alcohol, 81 percent of them overestimated. Most students thought that students typically drink three times a week. The research shows that most (64.4 percent) Westfield State College students drink once a week, less often or not at all. Students also greatly overestimated their peer’s use of tobacco and other substances. Random, anonymous surveys of both athletes and the general student population were done last April to assess student behaviors and to provide a foundation for the social norms campaign. Compared to results from previous surveys on campus, the recent surveys indicated downward trends in use of tobacco and other drugs. Ten Minutes of Talking Has a Mental Payoff Spending just 10 minutes talking to another person can help improve your memory and your performance on tests, according to a University of Michigan study to be published in the February 2008 issue of the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. "In our study, socializing was just as effective as more traditional kinds of mental exercise in boosting memory and intellectual performance," said Oscar Ybarra, a psychologist at the U-M Institute for Social Research (ISR) and a lead author of the study with ISR psychologist Eugene Burnstein and psychologist Piotr Winkielman from the University of California, San Diego. In the article, Ybarra, Burnstein and colleagues report on findings from two types of studies they conducted on the relationship between social interactions and mental functioning. Their research was funded in part by a grant from the National Science Foundation. In one study, they examined ISR survey data to see whether there was a relationship between mental functioning and specific measures of social interaction. The survey data included information on a national, stratified area probability sample of 3,610 people between the ages of 24 and 96. Their mental function was assessed through the mini-mental exam, a widely used test that measures knowledge of personal information and current events and that also includes a simple test of working memory. Participants' level of social interactions was assessed by asking how often each week they talked on the phone with friends, neighbors and relatives, and how often they got together. After controlling for a wide range of demographic variables, including age, education, race/ethnicity, gender, marital status and income, as well as for physical health and depression, the researchers looked at the connection between frequency of social contact and level of mental function on the mini-mental exam. The higher the level of participants' social interaction, researchers found, the better their cognitive functioning. This relationship was reliable for all age groups, from the youngest through the oldest. In a second experiment, the researchers conducted a laboratory test to assess how social interactions and intellectual exercises affected memory and mental performance. Participants were 76 college students, ages 18 to 21. Each student was assigned to one of three groups. Those in the social interaction group engaged in a discussion of a social issue for 10 minutes before taking the tests. Those in the intellectual activities group completed three tasks before taking the tests. These tasks included a reading comprehension exercise and a crossword puzzle. Participants in a control group watched a 10-minute clip of "Seinfeld." Then all participants completed two different tests of intellectual performance that measured their mental processing speed and working memory. "We found that short-term social interaction lasting for just 10 minutes boosted participants' intellectual performance as much as engaging in so-called 'intellectual' activities for the same amount of time," Ybarra said. "To our knowledge, this experiment represents the only causal evidence showing that social interaction directly affects memory and mental performance in a positive way." According to Ybarra, the findings suggest that visiting with a friend or neighbor may be just as helpful in staying sharp as doing a daily crossword puzzle. The findings also suggest that social isolation may have a negative effect on intellectual abilities as well as emotional well-being. And for a society characterized by increasing levels of social isolation—a trend sociologist Robert Putnam calls "Bowling Alone"—the effects could be far-reaching. The Association for Children of New Jersey has published its first Immigrant Kids Count, a profile of the well-being of children in immigrant families. Immigrant families as defined in this report have at least one foreign-born member. As this report shows, children in immigrant families account for 30 percent—nearly a third—of all New Jersey children. Close to 90 percent of children in immigrant families are citizens. This report is divided into three parts. The first focuses on children in immigrant families, the second on immigrant individuals, and the third compares New Jersey immigrant families to immigrant families nationally. The data come primarily from the U.S. Census, which generally groups all immigrants together without regard to legal status; it does not distinguish between legal and undocumented immigrants. Findings include:
Complete report: School Districts Offering More 21st-Century Learning Opportunities, According to NSBA Survey School districts across the country are revising their academic curriculum to give students more 21st century learning opportunities, according to a survey issued by the National School Boards Association (NSBA) at the organization’s annual T+L Conference here. “We believe this is a good indication that school districts are moving beyond the basic requirements of No Child Left Behind and really looking at the advanced skills that students are going to need to perform well in the workplaces of the future,” said NSBA Executive Anne L. Bryant. Among those districts that are revising their curricula, 85 percent reported that technology is playing a part in supporting the changes, especially in the area of using technology tools for project-based learning (83 percent), distance or online learning (nearly 57 percent) and upgrading math and science equipment and facilities (nearly 52 percent). A majority of districts (nearly 53 percent) said that they are using new interactive web tools, such as wikis and blogs, in the classroom. School districts were evenly split (45 percent) between the two biggest technology challenges: funding and integrating technology into the classroom. These two challenges have remained consistent over the four years of the NSBA technology survey. For the fourth straight year, survey respondents said by a wide margin – 92 percent – that technology in the classroom increases educational opportunities for students. And when asked how technology helped, nearly 95 percent said it helps students become more engaged in learning. Home access to the Internet for low-income students continues to be a serious issue with nearly 80 percent of respondents saying it was a problem in their districts, which was about the same reported as last year. Districts are improving Internet access for low-income students by providing opportunities in before- or after-school programs (nearly 54 percent), and supporting access for students at community centers or libraries (48 percent). “This issue of the digital divide is becoming more serious because teachers are using technology not only in the classroom, but assigning more homework that requires use of the Internet,” said Bryant. “Every child must have regular access to what are quickly becoming today’s ordinary tools of teaching and learning.” A new question about the speed of connectivity to the Internet revealed that the majority of school districts rate their speed as a 4 or 5, on a scale from 1 (very slow) to 5 (very fast). The federal E-Rate program continues to be important to school districts in meeting their technology goals. Nearly 72 percent replied that the E-Rate is somewhat or very important to their districts. In terms of improving the program, nearly 76 percent said the application process needs to be enhanced, 35 percent want more additional training and outreach to applicants, and 31 percent want sanctions for rule violators. If school districts received additional technology funding, nearly 75 percent said they would put it into classroom instruction and 66 percent said they would use it for staff professional development. Survey results may be found on the NSBA website: Research-Based Methods of Reading Instruction for English Language Learners, Grades K–4 This practical guide for K-4 teachers helps to ensure that their approach to teaching young English-language learners is based on research and grounded in proven classroom practices. The authors explain how to help English-language learners master the most essential elements of literacy, including phonemic awareness, phonics, word study, reading fluency, vocabulary acquisition, and reading comprehension. Americans Express Strong Support in National Poll for Teaching More Than Basic Skills A new, nationwide poll of registered voters reveals that Americans are deeply concerned that the United States is not preparing young people with the skills they need to compete in the global economy. An overwhelming 80 percent of voters say that the kind of skills students need to learn to be prepared for the jobs of the 21st century is different from what they needed 20 years ago. Yet a majority of Americans say that schools need to do a better job of keeping up with changing educational needs. The national poll was conducted by Public Opinion Strategies and Peter D. Hart Research Associates on behalf of the Partnership for 21stCentury Skills. Among the other key findings:
The poll’s findings are particularly relevant given the current debates over the future direction of the federal No Child Left Behind law, which is up for reauthorization, as well as the focus that important domestic issues such as education will receive during the 2008 presidential election cycle. For years U.S. education policy has been focused on the important task of narrowing the achievement gap for economically disadvantaged and minority students, and improving underperforming schools. But stopping the conversation there denies U.S. students the expanded skills set they now need for success in the globally interconnected society and workforce of the 21st century, according to the Partnership. Providing all students with 21st century skills and making education relevant to today’s world are critical to closing both the achievement gap and the global competition gap. The latest findings mirror a similar study in 2006 of employers by The Conference Board, the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, Corporate Voices for Working Families and the Society for Human Resource Management. In that study, “Are They Really Ready to Work?” employers said that the future U.S. workforce is “woefully ill-prepared for the demands of today’s (and tomorrow’s) workforce” and they cited 21st century skills as “very important” to success at work. About the survey: Public Opinion Strategies and Peter D. Hart Research Associates conducted this national survey of 800 registered voters from September 10-12, 2007. The survey has a margin of error of + 3.46%. Online Education Reaches New Heights; Five Year Growth Trend Shows Nearly 3.5 Million Students Now Learning Online Nearly one in five higher education students now takes at least one class online, according to a new study of more than 2,500 colleges and universities nationwide. The 2007 Sloan Survey of Online Learning, released by the Babson Survey Research Group, reveals that online enrollment rose by nearly ten percent in fall 2006, to 3.49 million students. Approximately 3.18 million students had at least one online course in fall 2005. "The growth in online learning continues to far outpace that of the broader student population," said study co-author Dr. I. Elaine Allen Associate Professor of Statistics & Entrepreneurship, Babson College. "Enrollment has increased at an average annual rate of 21.5 percent over the past five years compared with just 1.5 percent average annual growth for the overall higher education population." The fifth annual survey, a collaborative effort between the Babson Survey Research Group, the College Board and the Sloan Consortium, represents the state of online learning in the United States. The complete survey report, "Online Nation: Five Years of Growth in Online Learning" is available at www.sloan-c.org/publications/survey/index.asp Blackboard Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBB) a leading provider of enterprise solutions for the education industry and Project Tomorrow, a national education nonprofit group, have released Learning in the 21st Century: A National Report of Online Learning. The report underscores the importance and value which online learning plays in increasing student and teacher achievement. Key findings from the report include:
"As schools are exploring new ways to engage today's students, online learning options are crucial," said Julie Evans, CEO of Project Tomorrow. "Increasingly, students, teachers and parents say that online learning is an essential component of the ideal 21st century school environment." The findings of Learning in the 21st Century are based upon data collected as part of the Speak Up 2006 survey conducted from over 250,000 students, teachers and parents representing almost 3,000 schools in the United States. In-Depth Research/Analysis Conducted in Six Varying School Districts Learning in the 21st Century includes in-depth profiles of six school districts effectively leveraging a variety of online learning methodologies to address a range of 21st century education goals. These goals include the use of 21st century tools to:
In addition, the report provides insight into the numerous ways the featured districts gained value from adding online learning to their own spectrum of learning opportunities. "Teachers collaborate with each other," said Michelle Gotico, a 7th grade social studies teacher at Poe Middle School, in Fairfax, Virginia. "There are so many resources on the site (the Blackboard platform); I would not be able to teach without it." The Blackboard-commissioned report, conducted by Project Tomorrow, the facilitator of the annual Speak Up surveys, was unveiled at the National School Boards Association annual T+L conference that was held in Nashville, Tenn. October 17-19, 2007. The full report is available for download free of charge at http://www.blackboard.com/company/k12.aspx University of Florida Study: School District Size Often Determines Fate of Zero Tolerance The size of the school district often determines whether students are punished under zero tolerance policies and given another chance for an education, a new University of Florida study finds. In Florida, larger school districts are more likely than smaller ones to have mandatory expulsion policies for students who bring guns to schools and to impose mandatory suspension for the possession of knives and drugs, as well as bullying, said Brian Schoonover, who completed the research for his doctoral dissertation in education at UF. "Children are increasingly being sent to judges and jails for offenses that traditionally were dealt with in the principal's office and after-school detentions," said Schoonover, who is scheduled to present his findings Tuesday at the National Conference for Safe Schools and Communities in Washington, D.C. "Thirty years ago it would have been unusual to see a child handcuffed by a police officer. Today it is part of a growing trend that is commonly referred to as the 'schoolhouse-to-jailhouse track' or the 'school-to-prison pipeline.'" Perhaps the biggest disparity between the different sized districts is that more than half of the state's small districts - 53 percent - have no alternative educational setting for students who are expelled, compared to only 3 percent of large districts, Schoonover said. "These are children who are no longer being given the opportunity to continue their education," he said. "When these kids get kicked out of school and have nowhere to go, they are at risk for breaking into homes and vandalizing neighborhoods while people are at work." A mandatory 365-day expulsion is required under zero tolerance policies that became effective with 1994 passage of the federal Gun-Free Schools Act, Schoonover said. Because Florida school districts respect each other's expulsions, expelled students have no classroom to attend unless their parents can afford to send them to a private school that will take them, he said. Parents generally support zero tolerance policies as a way to rid schools of students who bring guns, knives and drugs to class, until the time their child is caught committing an offense, which may be unintentional, he said. Currently, all 50 states have zero tolerance policies mentioned in their state laws, but Texas is the only state that requires schools to investigate intent before expelling a student from school for a violation, Schoonover said. "Zero tolerance policies, originally meant to keep guns out of schools, have evolved into a series of broad, all-encompassing policies that in extreme cases expel students as young as 5 years old for having temper tantrums or bringing a toy ax to their classroom Halloween party," he said. Of the 26,990 school-related referrals to the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice during the 2004-05 school year, 76 percent were for misdemeanor offenses such as disorderly conduct, trespassing or assault and battery, which includes fights, he said. It raises the question of whether students, some of whom are quite young, are best disciplined by youth resource officers who take them to detention centers or principals and teachers who instruct them how to change their behavior at school, he said. Schoonover analyzed student conduct codes from Florida's 67 county public school districts, classifying the 33 districts with more than 15,000 students as large and the 34 with fewer than 15,000 students as small. He found that all of Florida's large districts had mandatory expulsion policies for possession of a gun, compared with 85 percent of small districts. Differences were more pronounced for knives, with 88 percent of large districts having mandatory suspension policies, compared with 47 percent of small districts. Next to guns, policies citing drugs were the most common, with 88 percent of large districts and 74 percent of small districts having mandatory suspension. Bullying was far less common, with only 27 percent of large districts and 15 percent of small districts requiring suspension for students who engage in such behavior, he said. "As a researcher and a parent, I am anxious for schools to revise their codes of conduct to make them more useful in helping schools to deal with and change inappropriate behavior, rather than abandoning these students to the possibility of even worse behavior in our communities," said Reece L. Peterson, a University of Nebraska-Lincoln special education professor who directed the "Safe and Responsive Schools" federal violence prevention project. Girls Outpace Boys on ISAT Tests Girls in Illinois grade schools outperformed boys on every state achievement exam last school year, according to a Tribune analysis, a twist in performance that has perplexed state officials and educators across the state. Historically, girls have scored higher than boys in reading and writing, while boys did better on the science and some of the math exams. But while Illinois' boys showed modest increases in most subjects and grades in recent years, girls have progressed much more rapidly, according to the 2007 Illinois State Report Card data…. Some point to the imbalance as a sign of what is being called a "boy crisis" in the nation's schools. A growing body of research has shown that females are more likely than males to get good grades, graduate on time, be named valedictorian and enroll in college. Full article: A Brief Profile of America's Public Schools Data from the 2003-04 SASS are presented on public schools, principals, teachers, school districts, and school library media centers: Public Charter Schools Increase Market Share and Raise Student Academic Achievement Public charter schools are growing in both "market share" and educational impact in an increasing number of American communities, according to two analyses released by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. “Top 10” Communities The Alliance’s annual “Top 10” study identifies communities with the largest percentages of public school students enrolled in public charter schools. This year’s analysis, which examined 2006-2007 enrollment data in communities with at least 10,000 public school students, found New Orleans again heading the list with 57% of students enrolled in charter schools. A total of twenty-nine communities occupy this year's "Top 10" list (with many ties in percentages); that compares to 19 a year ago. Eight communities had at least 1/5th of their public school students in public charter schools, an increase from six in the 2005-2006 school year. The “Top 10” communities are:
The full “Top 10” report is available at The 2005-2006 analysis is available at http://publiccharters.org/content/publication/detail/1420/. “What We Know” About Public Charter School Research The Alliance also conducts an extensive annual review of research on charter school achievement across the nation. This year’s analysis, the fourth edition, incorporates 12 new studies published in the past year for a total of 70 comparative analyses of charter school and traditional public school performance. Of the 70 studies, 39 look at change over time in student or school performance.
The other 31 studies compare two groups of schools or students based on a "snapshot" of performance at a point in time. While these studies don’t examine how much progress students and schools are making over time, and are therefore of limited use in drawing conclusions about the effectiveness of charter schools, the results are still impressive.
For the 2007-08 school year, about 4,200 charter schools are operating in 40 states and DC, serving approximately 1.2 million students. The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools (www.publiccharters.org) is the national nonprofit organization committed to advancing the charter school movement. The Alliance works to increase the number of high performing charter schools available to all families, particularly low-income and minority families who currently do not have access to quality public schools. The Alliance provides assistance to state charter school associations and resource centers, develops and advocates for improved public policies, and serves as the united voice for this large and diverse movement. The full “What We Know” report is available at: http://publiccharters.org/content/publication/detail/2974/. Independent Study of New Century High Schools Cites Achievements, Points to Need for More Progress An independent research study of 75 New Century High Schools (NCHS) reports a significantly higher average graduation rate than the citywide average in the first schools with graduating classes. The study also notes higher rates of student retention, promotion, and attendance than in other New York City public high schools. While highlighting these achievements, the report also identifies several areas of the reform effort that require sustained attention. The study by Policy Studies Associates (PSA) looked at four years of data for the New Century High Schools, with a detailed focus on academic performance in the 2005-06 school year. “We conclude that the NCHS intervention was notable with regard to dropout prevention and on time graduation,” the PSA researchers found. “Keeping youth in school earning credits and passing exams is a significant accomplishment, and it is a basis on which to build deeper accomplishments.” The achievements identified by PSA included:
While the report highlights the strong results relating to students’ academic outcomes, it also identifies continuing challenges for New Century High Schools.
The report’s findings support an earlier announcement this year by New York City Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein that the average preliminary graduation rate for new small high schools in 2007 exceeded 70% for the second consecutive year. “The principals, teachers, parents, students and partners in New Century High Schools have made remarkable progress in a very short time, not only in dramatically lifting graduation rates but in sustaining that performance over time. The achievement at these schools is proof that the challenges of urban education are not insurmountable,” said Chancellor Klein. “When we started this initiative five years ago, many believed that a significant shift in graduation rates was unattainable,” said Robert Hughes, president of New Visions for Public Schools. “These schools have now shown what’s possible. But there is much more work to be done. Graduating from high school is not good enough. We need to raise the bar even higher for our schools so that when our students graduate, we know that they have mastered the content and skills that will allow them to succeed in college and beyond.” Overall, PSA’s findings show that New Century High Schools are attaining strong results with traditionally underserved students. As of 2006, more than 70% of the ninth grade students in New Century High Schools entered below grade level; more than 90% were African American or Hispanic; and more than 80% qualified for free and reduced lunch. The New Century High Schools Initiative was launched in 2001 to create better secondary schools in New York City’s most underserved communities. Funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, and the Open Society Institute, the Initiative has created 88 schools that currently serve over 32,000 students. The Initiative is part of the New York City Department of Education’s broader efforts to improve graduation rates through the creation, since 2002, of 231 small high schools citywide. Full report: http://www.newvisions.org/psa/index.asp Report Critical of Charter Schools Two years into the takeover of failing New Orleans schools -- resulting in a flood of charter schools -- achievement gains are isolated, the system has become more balkanized and many students still do not have access to the city's better public schools, according a teachers union report. The report, "Reading, Writing and Reality Check," released Thursday by the United Teachers of New Orleans, Louisiana Federation of Teachers and American Federation of Teachers, asserts that little evidence shows charter schools are helping to rectify long-standing inequities. Results of recent high-stakes testing were mixed among charters schools. Schools where student achievement improved -- both charters and non-charters -- had the largest percentage of veteran teachers, the report stated. With the post-flood takeover of schools and the proliferation of charter schools -- which now have more than half of the city's approximately 32,000 students -- the union, long a critic of the charter schools and other methods of school choice, lost its collective bargaining rights in New Orleans schools. Since then, the union has fought to reassert itself as a political force and has frequently criticized the state takeover and charter school movement… Full article: Full report: What's the Brain Got to Do with Education? Quite a lot - according to teachers in a recent survey commissioned by The Innovation Unit and carried out by researchers at the University of Bristol. Although current teacher training programmes generally omit the science of how we learn, an overwhelming number of the teachers surveyed felt neuroscience could make an important contribution in key educational areas. The research was undertaken to inform a series of seminars between educationalists and neuroscientists organised by the Teaching and Learning Research Programme (TLRP) and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). Dr Sue Pickering and Dr Paul Howard-Jones, at Bristol University's Graduate School of Education, asked teachers and other education professionals whether they thought it was important to consider the workings of the brain in educational practice. Around 87 per cent of respondents felt it was. Teachers considered both mainstream and special educational teaching could benefit from the neuroscientific insights emerging from modern scanning techniques, such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The researchers also investigated where teachers got their knowledge about neuroscience from and what impact, if any, it was having on their classroom practice. Some teachers already use so-called 'brain-based''teaching methods in their classrooms. These include initiatives such as Brain Gym and methods intended to appeal to different brain-based learning styles (e.g. visual, auditory and kinaesthetic learning - or VAK). Although the scientific basis of these methods is highly contentious, many teachers said they had found them very useful, particularly when children were less receptive to more traditional teaching methods. One respondent said such approaches "improved the success of the teaching and learning" and led to "happier children who are more engaged in the activities". However, teachers are concerned to find out more about the science of the brain. In follow-up interviews, one teacher described her frustration when scientists identified serious flaws in the brain-based teaching method she had been using: ".......we've been a bit misguided about that sort of thing haven't we - but not having the time to verify it for ourselves, we have no choice......." Dr Paul Howard-Jones, who is leading several research initiatives in this area and co-author of the report, said: "Much of what teachers perceive as brain-based teaching, such as educational kinesiology, is promoted in very dubious pseudo-scientific terms and we still don't really know how, and even if, it works. "Other programmes, such as those involving learning styles, draw on some meaningful science but, when children get labelled as "a visual learner" or "an auditory learner" and are only ever taught in either a visual or auditory way, then the science is being seriously over-interpreted and misapplied. The good news, however, is that efforts to bridge the gap between neuroscience and education are debunking many of these ideas, and opening up fresh opportunities for valuable and exciting initiatives that are both scientifically and educationally sound." Although there is concern about the seriously contested science used to promote current brain-based learning programmes, teachers are clearly strongly supportive of future collaboration between neuroscience and education and keen to keep in touch with the latest developments in this interdisciplinary field. The findings from the research suggest that communication with practitioners may become a key factor influencing the success of attempts to enrich classroom practice with scientific understanding about the brain and mind. One version of the report: http://www.bris.ac.uk/education/research/networks/nenet/research/neuroview/teacherfriend.doc Sound Training Rewires Dyslexic Children's Brains for Reading Some children with dyslexia struggle to read because their brains aren't properly wired to process fast-changing sounds, according to a brain-imaging study published this month in the journal Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience (online October 16). The study found that sound training via computer exercises can literally rewire children's brains, correcting the sound processing problem and improving reading. According to the study's first author, Nadine Gaab, PhD, of the Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience at Children's Hospital Boston, the finding may someday help clinicians diagnose dyslexia even before reading begins, and suggests new ways of treating dyslexia, such as musical training. Children with developmental dyslexia confuse letters and syllables when they read. The idea that they may have an underlying problem processing sound was introduced by Paula Tallal, PhD, of Rutgers University in the 1970s, but it has never been tested using brain imaging. Gaab used functional MRI imaging (fMRI) to examine how the brains of 9- to 12-year old children with developmental dyslexia, and normal readers, responded to sounds, both before and after using educational software called Fast ForWord Language, designed in part by Tallal, a co-author on the study. Gaab first tested how the children's brains responded to two types of sounds: fast-changing and slow-changing. These sounds were not language, but resembled vocal patterns found in speech. As Gaab watched using brain fMRI, the children listened to the sounds through headphones. The fast-changing sounds changed in pitch or other acoustic qualities quickly—over tens of milliseconds—as in normal speech. By contrast, slow-changing sounds changed over only hundreds of milliseconds. In typical readers, 11 brain areas became more active when the children listened to fast-changing, compared to slow-changing, sounds. Gaab set this as "normal." In dyslexic children, the fast-changing sounds didn't trigger this ramped-up brain activity. Instead, dyslexic children processed the fast-changing sounds as if they were slow-changing—using the same brain areas, at the same lower intensity. "This is obviously wrong," says Gaab. Infants must correctly process fast-changing sounds, like those within the syllable "ba," in order to learn language and, later, to know what printed letters sound like. Infants use sound processing to grab from speech all the sounds of their native language, then stamp them into their brains, creating a sound map. If they can't analyze fast-changing sounds, their sound map may become confused. "Children with developmental dyslexia may be living in a world with in-between sounds," says Gaab. "It could be that whenever I tell a dyslexic child 'ga,' they hear a mix of 'ga,' 'ka,' 'ba,' and 'wa'." Reading trouble may develop when these children first see printed letters, Gaab and cognitive scientists believe, because at this stage, the children's brains wire their internal sound map to letters they see on the page. Linking normal letters to confused sounds may lead to syllable-confused reading. But the brains of the children with dyslexia changed after completing exercises in a computer program known as Fast ForWord Language (Scientific Learning, Oakland, CA). The exercises involved no reading—only listening to sounds, starting with simple, changing noises, like chirps that swooped up in pitch. The children then had to respond—clicking to indicate, for instance, whether the chirp’s pitch went up or down. The sounds played slowly at first—an easy task for the dyslexic children—but gradually sped up, becoming more challenging. The exercises then repeated with increasingly complex sounds: syllables, words, and finally, sentences. he repetitive exercises appeared to rewire the dyslexic children's brains: after eight weeks of daily sessions—about 60 hours total—their brains responded more like typical readers' when processing fast-changing sounds, and their reading improved. It's unclear, though, whether the improvement lasts beyond a few weeks, since follow-up tests were not done. Brain imaging study in preschoolers Gaab has begun recruiting for a new study of preschoolers whose family members have dyslexia. By looking for sound-processing problems on brain fMRI, she hopes to catch dyslexia at an early stage, before the children begin learning to read—and then remediate it through sound training, sparing them from years of frustration and low self-esteem later in life. She will also investigate what other types of sound training might help dyslexic children. Learning to sing or play an instrument, for example, involves gradual, repetitive, and intense listening and responding to fast-changing sounds. "We've done a few studies showing that musicians are much better at processing rapidly changing sounds than people without musical training," says Gaab. "If musicians are so much better at these abilities, and you need these abilities to read, why not try musical training with dyslexic children and see if that improves their reading." SEF Report Shows Low Income Students Now a Majority in South’s Public Schools For the first time in 40 years, low income children today constitute a majority of the students in the South’s public schools. According to a report by the Southern Education Foundation (SEF), the South is the only region in the nation that enrolls a majority of low income students in public schools. SEF’s report finds that in 2006 low income students were 54 percent of the 15-state South’s public school enrollment and 41 percent in the rest of the nation. The South’s percentage has grown steadily since at least 1989, when low income children were 37 percent of the region’s students in public schools. “The South has a crisis of the first order of magnitude,” declared Lynn Huntley, SEF President. “The region is in the throes of a self-perpetuating, vicious cycle where poverty and low incomes are begetting a lack of education and, in turn, the lack of education is perpetuating and creating poverty and inequality.” SEF documents that the South’s new majority of low income learners lag behind in school achievement and graduation rates while the region provides them the nation’s least educational support. The South already has the nation’s largest population of adults lacking a high school or college education. Eleven of 15 Southern states in 2006 had a majority of low income students: Louisiana (84%), Mississippi (75%), Florida (62%), Texas (56%), Alabama (54%), Arkansas (53%), and Tennessee (53%). Georgia, South Carolina, and West Virginia had 52 percent; Kentucky had 50 percent. North Carolina (49%) and Oklahoma (47%) will probably have a new majority of low income students soon. SEF defines low income students as children eligible for free and reduced lunch in public schools or in households of three persons with an annual income of $31,765 or less. SEF identified three primary factors behind the trends: demographic changes (higher rates of population growth among Latino and African American children, who statistically are more likely to be born into a low income household); state economic problems; and the region’s history of persistent poverty. “If this new majority of students fails in school, an entire state will fail simply because there will be inadequate human capital to build good jobs, an enjoyable quality of life, and a well-informed democracy,” said Steve Suitts, SEF program coordinator and the report’s author. For more information and to see the full report: Family Factors Critical to Closing Achievement Gap Gaps in the critical home conditions and experiences of young children mirror achievement gaps that begin early in life and persist through high school, according to a new report from ETS. The report has been endorsed by the National Urban League and both organizations call on leaders and policymakers to improve not only schools, but also home and family conditions, to help all students succeed. The Family: America’s Smallest School examines the family and home experiences that influence children’s learning. Factors include single parent families, poverty and resources, parents talking and reading to children, quality day care, and parental involvement in school. The report was written by Paul E. Barton and Richard J. Coley of ETS’s Policy Information Center. It includes a preface and endorsement by Marc H. Morial, president of the National Urban League. "When parents, teachers and schools work together to support learning, students do better in school and stay in school longer," says Barton. "Our analysis shows that factors like single-parent families, parents reading to children, hours spent watching television and school absences, when combined, account for about two-thirds of the large differences among states in National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reading scores." Findings in the report show that:
"It’s understandable that education reform efforts would focus on improving schools," says Coley. "In the broader arena of public policy, however, we will have to go far beyond this focus if we hope to significantly improve student learning and reduce the achievement gap. If we are to improve America’s academic standing within the global community, and close our all-too-persistent achievement gaps, we must help assure nurturing home environments and supportive, encouraging family lives for all students."
"The important educational role of parents is often overlooked in our local, state, and national discussions about raising student achievement and closing achievement gaps," notes Marc H. Morial, President and CEO of the National Urban League, former president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors and former mayor of New Orleans. "This report supports the League’s Blueprint for Economic Equality - the Opportunity for Children to Thrive. In this guiding principle, we assert that every child in America deserves to live a life free of poverty that includes a safe home environment, adequate nutrition, and affordable quality health care. We further assert that every child in America deserves a quality education that will prepare them to compete in an increasingly global marketplace." Download the full report, "The Family: America’s Smallest School," for free at www.ets.org/familyreport. When You are Born Matters for Academic Outcomes This report looks at why the youngest children in each academic year performing more poorly, on average, than the older members of their cohort and what, if anything, should be done in light of these disparities. Children born later in the school year perform significantly worse in exams than those born earlier in the school year, according to new research. Policy changes are needed if this unfair disadvantage is not to damage the chances of later-born children. New work by researchers covering the entire public school population in England shows dramatic differences between the proportions of late- and early born children reaching the expected level. Full report: http://www.ifs.org.uk/publications.php?publication_id=4073 Teachers Are Fairly Conservative Teachers are fairly conservative on many public issues, including free speech, family values, religion, social justice, and other key American values, according to new research by education professor Robert O. Slater of the University of Louisiana-Lafayette published in the winter 2008 issue of Education Next. Although teachers’ attitudes tend to be more progressive than the average citizen’s, on many questions, they are surprisingly more conservative than Americans with similar levels of education. Teachers tend to be more educated than other Americans, averaging more than 16 years of formal schooling compared to about 13 years, so Slater compared them to equally educated Americans as well as the public at large. Analyzing data collected from elementary and secondary school teachers from 1972 to 2006 by the National Opinion Research Center’s General Social Survey, Slater found the following:
Slater observes that it is important to note the values that teachers hold because they spend so much time with students. “Teaching is as much a moral effort as it is an intellectual enterprise,” Slater explains. “Teachers not only educate our children how to think and solve problems, they also inform children’s beliefs about what is right, good, and important in life, shaping their values in the process.” There are nearly three and a half million public and private elementary and secondary teachers in the United States, more individuals by far than in any other occupation. During the 2005–6 school year, each teacher spent upward of 1,260 hours working with the nation’s 54 million elementary and secondary school students. The teaching profession is surprisingly homogeneous, points out Slater. According to 2004 data from the National Center for Education Statistics, most elementary and secondary school teachers in this country are white; only about 9 percent are African American, compared to about 13 percent of the U.S. population as a whole and about 16 percent of their students. Most are in their 40s; about 75 percent are women. On average, American teachers have been in the classroom for about 14 years. They earn about $43,000 a year (close to the $43,954 median annual earnings of Americans with bachelors’ degrees). Read “American Teachers: What Do They Believe?” here: Inside NAEP, the Nation's Education Report Card When the U.S. Department of Education and the National Assessment Governing Board released the latest National Assessment of Educational Progress last month, government officials, interest groups, pundits, and policymakers seized on the new NAEP results to attack or defend a wide range of education policies. President Bush remarked the results were "outstanding," and that they "confirm No Child Left Behind is working," while others are divided on what to make of the results, particularly as Congress prepares to reauthorize NCLB. But the limitations of what NAEP can tell us are often lost amid various politically motivated claims and counter-claims. NAEP is a vital tool for measuring student achievement in America. It is the most reliable source of long-term national trends and the best way to compare the educational performance of different states and groups of students. But the challenges inherent in accurately assessing a wide range of subjects, students, and localities make NAEP one of the most complex tests in existence. Such complexity has led to misinterpretation and oversimplification of NAEP results by the media, partisans in education debates, and others. NAEP is also not without controversy, with critics pointing to the exclusion of students with disabilities and limited English proficiency, as well as the use of widely reported but inherently subjective "achievement levels" like "Basic," "Proficient," and "Advanced." "Understanding NAEP", a new Education Sector Explainer, is a guide to deciphering NAEP and all its complexities. It describes NAEP's decades-long history and expanding role in the NCLB era, detailing how the assessment is designed, how its scores are calculated and what they mean, and what controversies surround the reporting and use of NAEP data. It seeks to set straight what conclusions can and cannot be legitimately drawn from the NAEP assessment and examines what challenges lay ahead for the "Nation's Report Card" in an era of increased accountability. Read "Understanding NAEP: Inside the Nation's Education Report Card": Read other Education Sector Explainers: "Making the Cut: How States Set Passing Scores": New Study Finds Schools Don’t Target Resources to Students Near Proficiency Threshold in Response to NCLB STANFORD, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A new study in the winter 2008 issue of Education Next finds no evidence of schools engaging in “educational triage” -- targeting students who are near the proficiency threshold for more attention and resources -- to ensure they meet the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) requirements under the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. In the first statewide analysis of the issue conducted to date, Matthew G. Springer of Vanderbilt University found that schools successfully raised the performance of students who were otherwise at risk of failing the state test without sacrificing the performance of lower- and higher-performing students. Springer analyzed three years of test score and other data on 300,000 students in public schools in a western state. Even in failing schools, he found that students above the proficiency threshold made gains that were greater than would have been expected had the schools concentrated most of their resources on students near the threshold. “When academic achievement is measured with test score performance in this state, the much-politicized argument that NCLB compromises the educational needs and opportunities of high-performing, academically accelerated students holds no water,” writes Springer. In schools that failed to make AYP the previous year, Springer found that students who were expected to perform well below proficient gained more than students nearest the proficiency threshold. The lowest-performing students improved roughly twice as much as those students whose expected gains would leave them just below proficiency. Students expected to be proficient did not lose ground; the most advanced students performed comparably to other already proficient students. In schools that did make AYP, lower-performing students met expectations, with the largest gains coming from students expected to perform the weakest. Springer noted that higher-performing students in these schools lost ground from one year to the next. Remarkably, proficient students enrolled in failing schools experienced larger test score gains than proficient students in nonfailing schools. “These patterns of gains and losses would look much different if schools did indeed engage in educational triage,” explained Springer. “Under educational triage, students near the proficiency threshold would attain the largest gains, while students dispersed away from this threshold and toward the tails of the achievement distribution would suffer diminished performance.” Springer’s analysis focuses on math scores from the Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) Growth Research Database. Starting with the 2002-03 school year, NWEA administered tests in mathematics, reading, and language arts to more than 90 percent of the state’s students. NWEA furnished fall and spring test scores for the first three years after enactment of the state’s accountability program (2002-03 through 2004-05 school years) for students in grades 3 through 8. Springer noted that the particular demographic characteristics of the state -- disproportionately white and rural -- limit the generalizability of the study’s findings to other more demographically diverse states. Read “Accountability Incentives: Do Schools Practice Educational Triage:http://www.hoover.org/publications/ednext/10895041.html Fixing the Milwaukee Public Schools: The Limits of Parent-Driven Reform The Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) district, like many of its big-city counterparts in other states, continues to suffer from poor student performance. Student test scores and dropout rates are at deplorable levels, both in absolute terms and in comparison with the rest of Wisconsin. This fact has led to a veritable cottage industry dedicated to improving educational outcomes in Milwaukee. The district itself has embraced two reforms in particular: public school choice and parental involvement. Advocates of public school choice claim that by permitting parents to choose among a variety of public school options within the district, competition for students will ensue. This should improve school effectiveness and efficiency, and ultimately lead to better student outcomes. Proponents of parental involvement argue that even first-rate schools are limited in their effectiveness unless parents are also committed to their children’s education. Thus, the parental involvement movement seeks to engage parents as partners in learning activities, both on-site and at home. Research has shown that such engagement can produce higher levels of student performance, other things being equal. Research has also shown, however, that both reforms can be stifled in districts like MPS, with relatively large percentages of poor, minority, single-parent families, and families of otherwise low socioeconomic status. With regard to public school choice, many of these families:
As for parental involvement, disadvantaged parents may withdraw from participation in their child’s education because of lack of time, energy, understanding, or confidence. This study offers estimates of the extent and nature of public school choice and parental involvement within the MPS district. The basic approach is to identify the frequency and determinants of parental choice and parental involvement using a national data set, and extrapolate those results to Milwaukee, relying on the particular demographics of the MPS district. This approach leads to the following estimates of parental choice behavior within MPS:
Taken together, these three estimates allow one to perform calculations regarding a hypothetical “ideal consumer” in a public school choice system. This consumer would maximize the marketplace pressures on schools, thereby creating the greatest prospects for school reform and student achievement. Such a consumer would:
The estimate of MPS parents meeting all three criteria is just 10 percent. Given this number, it seems unlikely that MPS schools are feeling the pressure of a genuine educational marketplace. As for parental involvement, this can be broken into two types: on-site involvement (at the child’s school), and at-home involvement. Considering on-site involvement first, an estimated 34 percent of MPS parents can be considered “highly involved” at their child’s school. (Given the comparatively limited impact of on-site involvement on student achievement, only high levels of parental involvement are worth considering.) Estimates of at-home parental involvement were derived separately for three different groups of students. Those groups are listed below, along with the estimates of the percentage of parents in each group that are moderately or highly involved in their child’s educational experience at home:
The numbers above can be combined to estimate the percentage of MPS parents who are highly involved at the school site and moderately to highly involved in their children’s learning at home. The children of these parents would expect to enjoy the most significant boost from parental involvement. The estimates for each age group are as follows:
Taken as a whole, these numbers indicate significant limits on the capacity of public school choice and parental involvement to improve school quality and student performance within MPS. Parents simply do not appear sufficiently engaged in available choice opportunities or their children’s educational activities to ensure the desired outcomes. This may be just as well. Relying on public school choice and parental involvement to reclaim MPS may be a distraction from the hard work of fixing the district’s schools. Recognizing this, the question is whether the district, its schools, and its supporters in Madison are prepared to embrace more radical reforms. Given the high stakes involved, district parents should insist on nothing less. Full report: New Study Funded by U.S. Department of Education Shows Digital Divide Is No Longer as Prevalent Thirty-seven percent of low income families have home computers while 28 percent have Internet access at home; nearly all homes New research funded by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Innovation and Improvement and conducted by the Michael Cohen Group LLC, under the auspices of a grant to the Ready to Learn Partnership (RTLP), reveals that many children from low income families now have access to a variety of technology to help aid in learning. Specifically, nearly 75 percent of caregivers at the federal poverty level (annual household income of less than $25,000) report they subscribe to cable television, two-thirds have DVD players, more than half have mobile telephones, more than one-third have computers and more than one-quarter have home access to the Internet. Most notably, while television took nearly three decades to become universal, nearly 40 percent of low income families now have computers and almost a third have Internet access at home in just the last five to seven years. This new research suggests that given the proliferation of media across the socioeconomic spectrum, although significant differences do exist by income level, a stark digital divide no longer captures the relationship between income and technology ownership and that technology is integrated into children's lives, regardless of their families' income. Key purposes of the Ready to Learn grant are to uncover the role of technology in helping young children get ready to read, particularly children from lower income families and to measure the effectiveness of pre-emergent literacy "media interventions," such as the "WordWorld" program airing on PBS. As such, the Michael Cohen Group, the Principal Investigator for the RTLP, recently conducted a national phone survey of 1,601 parents and caregivers of children ages two to eight to determine technology ownership and usage across income levels. Half (800) of the interviews focused on caregivers with annual household incomes at or below the poverty level. "For years, Congress has supported literacy-based television programming to help pre-schoolers get ready to read and to foster reading skills among school-aged children," said Chairwoman Rosa DeLauro, House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture and a leading advocate for early childhood education. "This new study shows that we are making progress in closing the digital divide and that television and computers can be effective tools to reach children, regardless of income levels, in an effort to help them become productive and successful adults." "According to the survey, families from every income level own and use technology, albeit with differences in the frequency of participation based on income. However, the rate at which lower income families have come to own media technology has been astonishingly quick," said Dr. Michael Cohen, president, Michael Cohen Group, LLC, and principal investigator, Ready to Learn Partnership. "The metaphor of the digital divide no longer captures the relationship between income and technology ownership. The current state is perhaps best described as a digital continuum." Television Usage Television remains the most pervasive form of technology in the home. According to the survey, virtually all (96 percent) children between the ages of two to eight watch television every day, and more than three-quarters (81 percent) typically view more than one hour per day. Furthermore, 41 percent of the parents and caregivers report that their young children typically watch television three or more hours per day. Overall, one-quarter (28 percent) of children have a television in their bedroom. Computer Usage About 45 percent of caregivers at the poverty level report using a computer on a daily basis. This figure increases to nearly 100 percent of caregivers from incomes of more than $75,000 annually. While computer ownership correlates with income, among computer owners, computer use does not seem to correlate with income. In fact, a slightly higher percentage of low-income computer owners compared to the general population report using their home computer once or more a week for professional or work tasks (68 percent compared to 55 percent, respectively), for saving photographs and other images (50 percent versus 40 percent, respectively) and for study purposes (45 percent versus 38 percent, respectively). While television among young children is more popular than computers, young children begin using computers at a very young age. Only four percent of two-year-olds and eight percent of three-year-olds have ever used the computer (in households with computers). This figure increases to one-quarter of four- and five-year-olds (25 percent and 27 percent, respectively), more than half of six-year-olds (53 percent), nearly three-quarters (72 percent) of seven-year-olds and 83 percent among eight-year-olds. Internet Usage The majority of computer owners have Internet access at home, with little variation by income -- meaning, home computer ownership tends to equate with home online access, regardless of income. Ninety-three percent of online households with income levels of $75,000 and higher have high speed access, compared to 65 percent of households with an income of $25 - $75,000 and 58 percent of households at $25,000 or less. About 65 percent of the children who use the home computer go online. About one-third (36 percent) of kids ages five and younger who use computers have spent time online, while 75 percent of six- to eight-year-old children go online while using their home computer. Mobile Telephone Usage Eighty-six percent of mobile telephone owners say they frequently use their mobile phones to make and receive calls, compared with 19 percent who use them frequently to send and receive text messages, 12 percent who use them frequently to take and store photographs and six percent who use them frequently to read or send email. As with computer and Internet usage, lower-income caregivers are less likely to own the technology, but if they own a mobile telephone, they use it in ways that are quite similar to the rest of the population. As with computers, the ability to use a mobile phone among children is strongly correlated with age. While virtually no two- and three-year-olds have ever used a mobile phone, this increases to 12 percent of four-year-olds, 29 percent of five-year-olds and 39 percent of six-year-olds. Mobile phone use is much more common among seven- and eight-year-old children (66 percent and 70 percent, respectively). Questions About Standards and Testing: England England is facing many of the same issues the U.S. is in terms of standards and testing. These report highlight some interesting conclusions. Three reports raise important questions about standards of pupil achievement in English primary schools over recent years, about how English primary pupils compare with those from other countries, and about the national and international tests on which evidence about standards has been based. The reports question significant tenets of recent policy: one of them doubts whether, on the basis of the evidence, the national strategies for primary literacy and numeracy have given value for money; another argues that the evidence does not support the claim that national testing of itself ‘drives up standards.’ The findings from these three detailed and authoritative surveys of published evidence are mixed. In positive vein the evidence shows: the stability of English primary education over time; primary pupils’ positive attitudes towards their learning; improvements in primary mathematics standards during recent years, especially since 1995; and high standards in primary reading and science compared with many other countries. Less positively, the evidence shows: gains in reading skills at the expense of pupils’ enjoyment of reading; increases in test-induced stress among pupils; a narrowing of the primary curriculum in response to the perceived pressure of testing; the limited impact of the national strategies on both reading standards and the quality of classroom discourse on which higher-order learning depends; and the persistence of a much bigger gap between high and low attaining pupils than in many other countries. The evidence raises questions about current national assessment methodology: the generally low level of dependability of the current national testing system; the misleading nature of KS2 results between 1995 and 2000; the narrow definitions of ‘standards’ which have been adopted; and the relative thinness of evidence about how English primary pupils compare with those from other countries. The reports propose major changes to policy and practice in the areas of assessment and monitoring: basing the accountability of individual schools on their contribution to pupils’ education as a whole rather than just on pupil performance in the KS1/KS2 tests; monitoring national standards of pupil achievement through independent sample surveys rather than the KS1/KS2 tests; shifting the emphasis from summative to formative assessment; making greater use of teacher judgment in the former; grounding future policy on assessment, testing and the monitoring of standards more firmly in the research evidence. The reports are: Standards in English Primary Education: the international evidence The Quality of Learning: assessment alternatives for primary education Related articles: |
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