The Effects of the Washington State Education Reform on Schools and Classrooms

The Effects of the Washington State Education Reform on Schools and Classrooms
Author:
Publisher:
Total Pages: 104
Release: 2000
Genre: Education
ISBN:

Researchers from RAND are studying the implementation and impact of the Washington reform on school and classroom practices, focusing on the subjects of writing and mathematics. This briefing presents findings from the first round of surveys administered to teachers and principals in the spring of 1999. At this time, elementary schools had already administered the Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL) for two years (voluntary in 1996-97 and mandatory in 1997-98) and middle schools had administered the test for one year (voluntary in 1997-98). Thus, the results describe principals' and teachers' early responses to the state education reform. The findings are based on principal and teacher self-reports about actions taken in their districts, schools, and classrooms, as well as their opinions about the reform.

Betrayed

Betrayed
Author: Laurie H. Rogers
Publisher: R&L Education
Total Pages: 299
Release: 2011-01-16
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1610480465

In America, more money is spent from all sources on K-12 education than on the U.S. Department of Defense. Why then are so many children suffering what amounts to educational malpractice? Why are they crippled for life with a substandard education and a life-altering vision of themselves as 'incapable'? Betrayed is a passionate, well-researched and frank accounting of how a failing public-education system continues to be forced on teachers and students, despite its nearly complete lack of supporting research or successful student outcomes. Betrayed roots out the self-styled 'stakeholders' whose personal, professional and financial interests are served by this failing system. It sympathizes with teachers_many of whom aren't allowed to do their jobs, yet are constantly threatened with removal for 'ineffectiveness' or 'insubordination.' Betrayed is an expose, but it's also a beacon of commonsense and hope. Through the 'Square of Effective Learning,' Betrayed offers practical methods for teachers, parents, advocates and legislators to stand up against this broken system, to effect positive change, and to ensure a good-quality education for all of our children.

A Five-Year Study of the First Edition of the Core-Plus Mathematics Curriculum

A Five-Year Study of the First Edition of the Core-Plus Mathematics Curriculum
Author: Harold Schoen
Publisher: IAP
Total Pages: 422
Release: 2010-07-01
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1607524155

The study reported in this volume adds to the growing body of evaluation studies that focus on the use of NSF-funded Standards-based high school mathematics curricula. Most previous evaluations have studied the impact of field-test versions of a curriculum. Since these innovative curricula were so new at the time of many of these studies, students and teachers were relative novices in their use. These earlier studies were mainly one year or less in duration. Students in the comparison groups were typically from schools in which some classes used a Standards-based curriculum and other classes used a conventional curriculum, rather than using the Standards-based curriculum with all students as curriculum developers intended. The volume reports one of the first studies of the efficacy of Standards-based mathematics curricula with all of the following characteristics: · The study focused on fairly stable implementations of a first-edition Standards-based high school mathematics curriculum that was used by all students in each of three schools. · It involved students who experienced up to seven years of Standards-based mathematics curricula and instruction in middle school and high school. · It monitored students’ mathematical achievement, beliefs, and attitudes for four years of high school and one year after graduation. · Prior to the study, many of the teachers had one or more years of experience teaching the Standards-based curriculum and/or professional development focusing on how to implement the curriculum well. · In the study, variations in levels of implementation of the curriculum are described and related to student outcomes and teacher behavior variables. Item data and all unpublished testing instruments from this study are available at www.wmich.edu/cpmp/ for use as a baseline of instruments and data for future curriculum evaluators or Core-Plus Mathematics users who may wish to compare results of new groups of students to those in the present study on common tests or surveys. Taken together, this volume, the supplement at the CPMP Web site, and the first edition Core-Plus Mathematics curriculum materials (samples of which are also available at the Web site) serve as a fairly complete description of the nature and impact of an exemplar of first edition NSF-funded Standards-based high school mathematics curricula as it existed and was implemented with all students in three schools around the turn of the 21st century.

Education Policy Analysis 2003

Education Policy Analysis 2003
Author: OECD
Publisher: OECD Publishing
Total Pages: 114
Release: 2003-11-20
Genre:
ISBN: 9264104577

Provides state-of-the-art reviews of policy issues and developments in the ways that countries define students with disabilities, difficulties and disadvantages; approaches to career guidance; changes underway in higher education; and policy options for making investments in lifelong learning pays.

Guerrilla Learning

Guerrilla Learning
Author: Grace Llewellyn
Publisher: Turner Publishing Company
Total Pages: 181
Release: 2008-05-02
Genre: Family & Relationships
ISBN: 0470350202

GUERRILLA LEARNING IS CREATING A HOME ENVIRONMENT THAT FILLS YOUR CHILD WITH THE JOY OF LEARNING Let your daughter read her library books instead of finishing her homework . Ask your eleven-year-old's beloved third grade teacher to comment on his poetry. Invite a massage therapist to dinner because your daughter wants to go to massage school instead of college. Give your child the freedom to pursue his interests, develop her strengths, cultivate self-discipline, and discover the joy of learning throughout life. If you've ever felt that your child wasn't flourishing in school or simply needs something the professionals aren't supplying, you're ready to become a "guerrilla educator." Revolutionary and inspiring, Guerrilla Learning explains what's wrong (and what's useful) about our traditional schools and shows you how to take charge of your family's education to raise thinking, creative young people despite the constraints of traditional schooling. Filled with fun and exciting exercises and projects to do with children of all ages, this remarkable approach to childhood, education, and life will help you release your child's innate abilities and empower him or her in the wider world that awaits beyond the school walls.

Handbook of Accessible Achievement Tests for All Students

Handbook of Accessible Achievement Tests for All Students
Author: Stephen N. Elliott
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 342
Release: 2011-04-28
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 1441993568

The Handbook of Accessible Achievement Tests for All Students: Bridging the Gaps Between Research, Practice, and Policy presents a wealth of evidence-based solutions designed to move the assessment field beyond “universal” standards and policies toward practices that enhance learning and testing outcomes. Drawing on an extensive research and theoretical base as well as emerging areas of interest, the volume focuses on major policy concerns, instructional considerations, and test design issues, including: The IEP team’s role in sound assessment. The relationships among opportunity to learn, assessment, and learning outcomes. Innovations in computerized testing and the “6D” framework for standard setting. Legal issues in the assessment of special populations. Guidelines for linguistically accessible assessments. Evidence-based methods for making item modifications that increase the validity of inferences from test scores. Strategies for writing clearer test items. Methods for including student input in assessment design. Suggestions for better measurement and tests that are more inclusive. This Handbook is an essential reference for researchers, practitioners, and graduate students in education and allied disciplines, including child and school psychology, social work, special education, learning and measurement, and education policy.

The Program Evaluation Prism

The Program Evaluation Prism
Author: Martin Lee Abbott
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 326
Release: 2010-11-23
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 0470579048

This book is a comprehensive treatment of correlation/regression techniques and using SPSS for interpretation of findings. Striking a balance between detailed coverage and approachability, this book provides a thorough treatment of the elements of regression and how they can be used with real research problems in program evaluation. The author begins with a basic introduction to evaluation methodology, and its ability to recognize embedded patterns of meaning in research data. Subsequent chapters explore the statistical tools that can be applied by researchers and evaluators irrespective of the design that was used to generate this data. Topics of coverage include: correlation, single predictor regression, multiple correlation, part and partial correlation, detection of extreme scores, multiple regression, regression with continuous predictors, coding of categorical data, regression with categorical predictors, methods for entering predictors in multiple regression, and interaction in multiple regression. Each chapter is presented in the same comprehensive format: an introduction to the topic, followed by a discussion of its primary elements, illustrations of the data through numerous tables and figures, SPSS procedures for designing the analysis, SPSS output of the analysis , and guidance on how to interpret findings from the analyses. Discover Note and Research Steps sections illustrate how using statistical processes can unveil unobserved patterns and assist readers with identifying such patterns in their own data. Real-world analyses are used throughout the book, utilizing meaningful social issues as a catalyst for teaching statistical procedures, and a related Web site features additional data sets, solutions, and research projects for readers.