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 Beating the Odds - An Analysis of Student Performance and Achievement Gaps on State Assessments (Results from 2006-2007 School Year) Council of the Great City Schools (April 2008 - Education Commission of the States/ECS) This 8th annual analysis of state-mandated tests in 67 big city school districts in 37 states, reveals urban systems are continuing to improve in reading and math. What We Think - Parental Perceptions of Urban School Climate A Project of the Urban Student Achievement Task Force (April 2008 - ECS) This report reveals findings of a survey of 10,270 parents in 112 urban schools from 17 states gauging perceptions about bullying; expectations of student success; influence of race; parental involvement; safety; and trust, respect and ethos of caring. A 'Nation at Risk' - 25 years later The CATO Institute (April 2008 - Public Education Network - PEN) In 1983, A Nation at Risk misidentified what is wrong with our public schools and consequently set the nation on a school reform crusade that has done more harm than good. The diagnosis of the National Commission on Excellence in Education was flawed in three respects. The Foundation for Child Development - Child and Youth Well-Being Index (CWI) Project (April 2008 - ECS) In a wide-ranging look at how children have fared in their first decade of life, this new study offers a promising picture of American childhood: Sixth-graders feel safer at school. Reading and math scores are up for 9-year-olds. More preschoolers are vaccinated. The analysis reports an almost 10% boost in children's well-being from 1994 to 2006. Rankings of the States 2006 and Estimates of School Statistics 2007 National Education Association (Released December 2007, posted April 2008) This research collects, maintains, and analyzes data on issues and trends affecting the nation’s public education systems and their employees. It Jobs For The Future (March 2008) One of the largest and most persistent inequities in the modern American education system is the gap in math achievement along income and race lines. This is not a universal case though, as some secondary schools are demonstrating their capacity to beat the odds and produce consistently strong math performance with students who typically fail in traditional settings. This paper highlights several obstacles to raising math achievement that deserve more attention and also provides key characteristics of model schools. (Public Education Network - PEN) Organized Communities, Stronger Schools Community Involvement Program of the Annenberg Institute for School Reform (March 2008) Findings from this landmark six-year study reveal that sophisticated community organizing at the grassroots level produces major improvements in student achievement. The study uncovered strong and consistent evidence that indicates effective organizing has lasting results. High-risk Families Limit Participation in Out-of-School Activities Participation in an out-of-school program is related to better outcomes for children. Child Trends conducted a study that analyzed data for children ages 6 to 17 from the 2003 National Survey of Children's Health. These findings suggest that active recruitment of children in high-risk families may be necessary if these children are to become involved in out-of-school activities. (March 2008) Girl Scouts of the USA (March 2008) According to this nationwide survey commissioned by the Girl Scouts of the USA, a majority of children and youths in the U.S. have little or no interest with achieving leadership roles when they become adults. (Education Commission of the States - ECS) A Summary of Research on the Effects of Test Accomodations: 2005 - 2006 National Center on Educational Outcomes (March 2008) This new report summarizes test accommodations research that indicated that the most commonly studied accommodations were extended time, oral accommodations (e.g., reading aloud) and computerized administration. The report also notes that most oral presentation and timing accommodations empirically tested had a positive effect on scores. A more shocking report finding indicates that testing accommodations recorded on a student's individualized educational plan did not always match those provided. (PEN) Digest of Education Statistics (2007) The National Center for Education Statistics/Institute of Education Services (March 2008) The Center has released the latest edition. The report provides a wealth of information on American education from prekindergarten through graduate school, with data on a variety of topics, including the number of schools and colleges, teachers, enrollments and graduates, in addition to educational attainment, finances and federal funds for education, libraries and international comparisons. Frameworks for Systemic Transformation of Student and Learning Supports Center for Mental Health in Schools at UCLA (March 2008) This paper argues current school improvement practices present an inadequate response to the complex factors that interfere with positive development, learning and teaching. In addition, the paper provides frameworks to guide school improvement efforts in transforming student/learning supports at both the school and district level. Foundations for Success: Report of the National Mathematics Advisory Panel U.S. Department of Education (March 2008) The National Mathematics Advisory Panel has presented its Final Report to the President of the United States and the Secretary of Education. These "ground-breaking" reports, rich with information for parents, teachers, policy makers, the research community and others, are accessible here. The Dana Consortium Report on Arts and Cognition (March 2008) In 2004, the Dana Arts and Cognition Consortium brought together cognitive neuroscientists from seven universities across the U.S. to grapple with the question why arts training has been associated with higher academic performance. The consortium can now report findings that allow for a deeper understanding of how to define and evaluate the causal relationships between arts training and the ability of the brain to learn in other cognitive domains. How Well Are American Students Learning? Brown Center on Education Policy, The Brookings Institution (March 2008) This is the seventh edition of the Brown Center Report on American education. There are three sections: 1. An examination of the latest test score data on math and reading achievement; 2. an invesitgation of a general theme or trend in education - enrollment patterns in private and public schools; 3. a look at an issue of policy relevance - international test data are examined to see whether a relationship exists between national math scores and the amount of time students spend learning math in different countries. A Report Card on Comprehensive Equity Economic Policy Institute (February 2008) The National Assessment of Educational Progress should be broadened to gauge how youths are faring on a range of academic, social, health and cultural indicators, contends this new report. The authors argue that NAEP results offer a "distorted" picture of student achievement because of their exclusive focus on academic skills and shift attention away from nontested areas that often fall under the purview of schools. The Education Trust (January 2008) The seventh report in an EdTrust series identifying which states are ensuring fair funding for districts serving concentrations of low-income and minority students, and which aren’t. The report also looks at funding disparities in states with significant numbers of English Language Learners. Science and Engineering Indicators National Science Board (January 2008) The United States remains the world leader in scientific and technological innovation, but its dominance is threatened by economic development elsewhere, particularly in Asia, a National Science Board report concluded. The report recommends increased financing for basic research and greater "intellectual interchange" between researchers in academia and industry. The board noted that student math performance has improved, but progress in science is far less robust. Decision 2008 The Educational Policy Institute - Policy Perspectives (January 2008) As of January 1, several potential presidential candidates were on the campaign trail. The number will be reduced over the next few weeks as several states hold their individual party caucauses to determine the candidates their delegates will support. This report looks at the candidates and analyzes their positions on education. How Well Are American Students Learning? - With sections on the nation's achievement, the mysteries of private school enrollment, and the impact of time on learning Brown Center on Education Policy, The Brookings Institution (December 2007) This is the seventh edition of the Brown Center Report on American Education. As in the past, the report consists of three sections. The first examines the latest test score data on math and reading achievement. The second investigates a general theme or trend in education. Section three looks at an issue of policy relevance. The Family: America's Smallest School Educational Testing Service (December 2007) If the U.S. is to reach our ambitious national education goals, we need to focus as much attention on the starting line as we do on the finish line. While most reform debate centers on improving schools, increasing teaching quality and raising student achievement, success also requires changes within America's smallest school as well: the family. Critical factors examined in the report include child care quality, parental involvement in schools, parent/pupil ratio, family finances, literacy development, student absences and physical home environments. Outcomes Linked to High-Quality Afterschool Programs: Longitudinal Findings from the Study of Promising Afterschool Programs University of California - Irvine, University of Wisconsin - Madison, Policy Studies Associates, Inc. (November 2007) This study finds that regular participation in high-quality afterschool programs is linked to significant gains in standardized test scores and work habits as well as reductions in behavior problems among disadvantaged students. To Read or Not To Read - A Question of National Consequence National Endowment for the Arts (November 2007) This new report paints a dire picture of plummeting levels of reading among young people over the past two decades. Reading ability has fallen as well. Possibly the most striking finding is that regardless of income, levels of reading for pleasure correlate closely with levels of social life, voting and political activism, participation in culture and fine arts, volunteerism, charity work and even regular exercise. Here's the Executive Summary and the full report. The Turnaround Challenge - Why America's best opportunity to dramatically improve student achievement lies in our worst-performing schools Mass Insight Education and Research Institute (November 2007) This report concludes state, district and school leaders must link arms to create a different model for turning around the worst-performing schools, including a "protected space" free from many traditional rules. This link will take you to a page offering the executive summary, full report and add-on report. Chance Favors the Prepared Mind: Mathematics and Science Indicators for Comparing States and Nations American Institutes of Research (November 2007) According to this study, American students even in low-performing states do better on math and science tests than students in most foreign countries. The bad news is that students in Singapore and several other Asian countries significantly outperform American students, even those in high-achieving states. Experts said it was the first such effort to link standardized tests scores, state by state, with scores from other nations. Here is a press release with more information. How the World's Best Performing School Systems Come Out on Top McKinsey & Company (September 2007, posted November) This global consulting group conducted this study to find out why some schools succeed where others do not. They studied 25 of the world's school systems, including 10 of the top performers. The experiences of these systems suggests that three things matter most: 1) getting the right people to become teachers, 2) developing them into effective instructors, and 3) ensuring that the system is able to deliver the best possible instruction for every child. Here's the report. Read about the report in this The Economist article. Lasting Consequences of the Summer Learning Gap Report as appeared in the April issue of American Sociological Review - Karl L. Alexander, Doris Entwisle, Linda Olson - Johns Hopkins University (Posted Novermber 2007) It's been a truism for decades that students' learning slips during the summer, and that low-income children fall farther behind than their classmates, but no one had connected the longitudinal data dots to show just what the cumulative consequences of the summer slide might be. Until this study. The Costs and Benefits of an Excellent Education for All America's Children Center for Benefit-Cost Studies of Education at Teachers College, Columbia University (July 2007) The study attempts to provide answers for those individuals who currently fail to graduate from high school. The present cohort of 20-year-olds in the U.S. today includes more than 700,000 high school dropouts, many from disadvantaged backgrounds. The report investigates the economic consequences of improving their education. contains data based on information from state departments of education and other, largely governmental, sources. Are Private Schools Better Academically Than Public High Schools? Center on Education Policy (October 2007) This study, based on an analysis of the National Longitudinal Study of 1988 - 2000, finds that, once family background characteristics are taken into account, low-income students attending public urban high schools generally performed as well academically as students attending private schools. Status of Education in Rural America National Center for Education Statistics (July 2007) In 2006, NCES released a new classification system to make the reporting of locale data consistent across the various surveys and to be more precise in its classification of rural areas. This report brings together data from NCES and Census surveys and applies the new classification system to create a series of indicators on the status of education in rural America. Race-Conscious Policies for Assigning Students to Schools: Social Science Research and the Supreme Court Cases National Academy of Education (July 2007) Following the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on race-conscious policies for assigning students to K-12 schools, a distinguished group of education scholars has issued this report that supports the type of policies the high court struck down. Condition of Education The National Center for Education Statistics (June 2007) The National Center for Education Statistics has released its annual report that is a statistical portrait of education in the U.S. It summarizes important developments and trends in education using the latest available data. The report presents 48 indicators on the status and condition of education and a special analysis on high school coursetaking. A Survey of Finance Adequacy Studies Education Commission of the States (May 2007) The purpose of school finance adequacy studies is to determine the cost of providing students with an "adequate education." As this report demonstrates, the definition of an adequate education can vary greatly from one study to the next. The definition of what an adequate-education is, and the measures used to define it, can be influenced in each study by several factors. Although Georgia is not one of the 15 states surveyed, the analysis is interesting and informative. Widening Disparity Between States and Federal Gauges of Student Progress Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE) (April 2007) This study compiling tests scores from 1992 to 2006 from 12 states, finds far greater shares of students are proficient on state reading and mathematics tests than on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), and those gaps have grown to unprecedented levels since No Child Left Behind became law (scroll down). Beating the Odds - A City-By-City Analysis of Student Performance and Achievement Gaps on State Assessments (Results from the 2005 - 2006 school year) Council of the Great City Schools (April 2007) This latest edition of the Council's "Beating the Odds" series examines achievement in urban districts, including student achievement in math and reading through spring 2006 and achievement gaps between cities, states and racial groups. |
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