Thursday, August 5, 2021

Education Research - Latest Reports


Framework-aligned science instruction early improves science skills in later elementary grades
This study investigated if student placement in a primary grade 1–3 classroom with a teacher who had been trained in a U.S. science Framework-aligned [National Research Council. (2012). *A framework for K-12 science education: Practices, crosscutting concepts and core ideas*. The National Academies Press] professional development science approach impacted student science achievement as measured in 5th grade. Students in the treatment group also received take-home science materials and treatment families were invited to participate in community-based science events. A two-level, ... read more

Positive effects of the Classroom Strategies Coaching Model in 14 high-poverty urban elementary schools
Job-embedded professional development is needed to effectively and efficiently enhance teachers' use of evidence-based practices in high-poverty urban communities. This study employed a three-cohort, waitlist controlled, randomized block design to investigate the effectiveness of the Classroom Strategies Coaching Model (CSC) in 14 high-poverty urban elementary schools. The CSC Model is guided by observations of teachers' instructional and behavioral management practices as measured by the Classroom Strategies Assessment System. Primary dependent measures included teacher use of e... read more

Most Positive Effects in First Year of Literacy Program Pairs One-on-One Tutoring with Family Engagement
This report presents the results of a two-year randomized control trial evaluation of the SPARK foundational literacy program. SPARK is an early grade literacy program developed by Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee that pairs one-on-one tutoring with parent engagement. In 2010, SPARK was awarded an Investing in Innovation (i3) U.S. Department of Education grant to test its impact in seven low-income and low-achieving Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS). In the fall of 2013, 286 students were randomly assigned to receive SPARK for two years and 290 assigned to the control condit... read more

Reading Interventions for Students with Reading and Behavioral Difficulties
This meta-analysis systematically identified reading intervention research for students with reading difficulties and problem behaviors in grades K–12 to determine the (a) impact of these reading interventions on reading outcomes and (b) extent to which reading outcomes varied based on student characteristics (e.g., grade, disability), intervention characteristics (e.g., group size, additional behavioral supports), and quality indicator characteristics. Follow-up analyses investigated three of the four hypothesized mechanisms underlying the high co-occurrence rate between readin... read more

New Report on Further Education after Earning a Bachelor’s Degree
Twenty-three percent of 2015*–*16 bachelor’s degree earners enrolled in more education the next year. These students were nearly evenly split between those who had received a Pell Grant for their college degree and those who did not. A new National Center for Education Statistics Data Point, *One Year Later: Relationship Between 2015**–**16 Bachelor’s Degree Recipient Enrollment in Further Education and Pell Grant Receipt*, examines education after earning a bachelor’s degree by prior receipt of a Pell Grant. The report includes information on enrollment and financial aid status ... read more
Education Research Report1 day ago
Using a Survey of Social and Emotional Learning and School Climate to Inform Decisionmaking
A new study from *REL Mid-Atlantic* explores how one district could use data on social and emotional learning (SEL) competencies and school experiences to better support students and schools. These competencies—such as how well students persevere, manage their thoughts and emotions, and understand what others think and feel—are related to many important life outcomes and can be shaped through education. The District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS), which has prioritized supporting SEL competencies and the school experiences that promote them (also called school climate), began ... read more

Girls are less likely to see science as a viable career when taught alongside scientifically confident classmates
Peer-Reviewed Publication Being in a classroom surrounded by children who are confident and interested in science can actually put girls off pursuing a career in STEM subjects, according to a new study. In contrast, boys seem to be inspired by their peers’ confidence and are more likely to see themselves in STEM roles as a result. Despite studies consistently showing that girls perform at least as well as boys in science subjects at school, women are far less likely to work in STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) occupations than men. One explanation for this phen... read more

New study suggests teachers across the country can play influential role in pandemic safety as students go back to school this fall
Peer-Reviewed Publication GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY PrintEmail App [image: School mask mandates] IMAGE: A NEW STUDY SUGGESTS TEACHERS ACROSS THE COUNTRY CAN PLAY INFLUENTIAL ROLE IN PANDEMIC SAFETY AS STUDENTS GO BACK TO SCHOOL THIS FALL view more CREDIT: GW WASHINGTON (Aug. 2, 2021)—School districts in Iowa were more likely to adopt COVID-19 mask mandates if they had a strong teachers union, according to a study in the August issue of the journal Health Affairs. The new study suggests teachers unions may play a crucial role in ensuring that COVID-19 recommendations from t... read more

Almost no impact of Florida’s merit aid scholarship on college enrollment and degree completion
This study replicates and extend prior work on Florida’s Bright Futures merit aid scholarship to consider its effect on college enrollment and degree completion. The authors estimate causal impacts using a regression discontinuity design to exploit SAT thresholds that strongly determine eligibility. They find no positive impacts on attendance or attainment, and instrumental variable results generally reject estimates as small as 1 to 2 percentage points. Across subgroups, the authors find that eligibility slightly reduces 6-year associate degree attainment for lower socioeconomi... read more

The Large Impact of Urban–Suburban Desegregation Programs on Educational Attainments
Interdistrict desegregation programs, which provide opportunities for urban children of color to attend suburban schools, are a potential means of addressing persistent racial inequalities in educational opportunities and outcomes. These voluntary programs offer a test of whether nonresident students can leverage the resources and social capital available at high-performing suburban schools to improve their educational outcomes. In tthe first impact study of Boston’s long-running program, the author finds large differences in the adjusted high-school graduation and college enr... read more

Is Online Education Working at the College Level?
The pandemic has revived the longstanding debate about the effect of online versus face-to-face instruction on student achievement. The goal of this paper is to provide new evidence on the impact of online versus face-to-face instruction on student learning outcomes, using rich, transcript-level longitudinal data from a public university. The authors pay particular attention to eliminating selection bias by incorporating student and instructor fixed effects into the empirical analysis as well as to separate out the impact of online versus in-person education from COVID-19-related... read more

Fit kids, fat vocabularies
*New study suggests exercise can boost kids’ vocabulary growth* Swimming a few laps likely won’t turn your child into the next Katie Ledecky or Michael Phelps, but it just might help them become the next J.K. Rowling or Stephen King. A recent study by University of Delaware researchers suggests exercise can boo... read more

High-quality, culturally responsive instructional materials that are enabled by technology
New research released today by the Center for Public Research and Leadership (CPRL) at Columbia University finds that digitally accessible, high-quality instructional materials designed to bring students, families and educators together increased student learning and engagement during the COVID-19 pandemic. The research reveals possibilities for sustained partnership between schools and families moving forward. Despite challenges associated with remote learning, students, families, and educators from nine school districts and charter school organizations across seven states told ... read more

School Report Card Design: Usability, Understanding, and Satisfaction
The Every Student Succeeds Act requires state education agencies to produce user-friendly school report cards that present information about school characteristics and performance. Charts, graphs, and other design elements in these report cards must meet the needs of educators, administrators, parents, community members, and other stakeholders. *REL Mid-Atlantic* partnered with the District of Columbia Office of the State Superintendent of Education to test five different online report card designs with users. The study looked at how easy it is to use and understand the report ca... read more

Data on Postsecondary Tuition, Fees and Degrees
Between 2018-19 and 2020-21, the average tuition and required fees at 4-year public institutions increased less than 1 percent for in-state and decreased approximately 1 percent for out-of-state students (after adjusting for inflation). During that same time period, tuition and required fees increased approximately 2 percent at 4-year nonprofit institutions and decreased about 2 percent at for-profit institutions. The National Center for Education Statistics released a new set of data and web tables today (July 27) that includes fully edited and imputed data from the Integrated P... read more

Principals’ Perceptions of Influence Over Decisions at their Schools in 2017–18
A new National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Data Point, *Principals’ Perceptions of Influence Over Decisions at Their Schools in 2017*–*18*, examines public and private school principals’ perceived influence over seven activities at their schools. Findings include: - Most principals felt they had a major influence over decisions made about any or all of the seven activities at their schools. - For more than half of the activities, private school principals more frequently expressed having major influence over decisions than did traditional public school p... read more

Black and low-income students: no academic gains from participating in a school’s gifted program
Growing concerns about inequitable access have made public investment in gifted programs controversial in many school districts, yet advocates maintain that gifted services provide necessary enrichment for exceptional students to succeed at school. This study provides evidence on whether the typical gifted program indeed benefits elementary students’ achievement and nonachievement outcomes, using nationally representative data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, 2010–2011 kindergarten cohort. Leveraging within-school and within-student comparisons, the study finds tha... read more

SROs lead to disproportionately harsh disciplinary consequences
The “defund the police” movement has recently called for the removal of police—or school resource officers (SROs)—from schools. This call is driven by concerns that SROs may heighten student contact with criminal justice or lead to disproportionately harsh disciplinary consequences. This study uses linked disciplinary, academic, juvenile justice, and adult conviction data from North Carolina to estimate the effects of middle school SROs on a variety of student outcomes. The findings indicate that SROs not only decrease the incidence of serious violence but also increase the use ... read more

Teacher performance pay increases the conditional Black–White gap
Teacher performance pay is often introduced with the goal of reducing gaps in test scores across groups, yet little is known about how well they achieve this aim. This study finds that performance pay increases the conditional Black–White gap. The effect is particularly evident when bonuses are large, consistent with a causal response to performance pay. read more

Online Course-Taking Increases High School Completion Buy Decreases College Enrollments
Recent increases in high school graduation rates have been linked anecdotally to online course-taking for credit recovery. Online course-taking that supports high school completion could open opportunities for postsecondary education pursuits. Alternatively, poorer quality online instruction could diminish student learning and discourage persistence toward graduation and further education. This study finds positive associations between online course-taking, credits earned and high school graduation, and for those with limited online course-taking, small increases in college enro... read more

Early Childhood Education on Promotes the Skills and Social Mobility of Disadvantaged African Americans Long Term
This paper demonstrates multiple beneficial impacts of a program promoting intergenerational mobility for disadvantaged African-American children and their children. The program improves outcomes of the first-generation treatment group across the life cycle, which translates into better family environments for the second generation leading to positive intergenerational gains. There are long-lasting beneficial program effects on cognition through age 54, contradicting claims of fadeout that have dominated popular discussions of early childhood programs. Children of the first-gener... read more

Athletes Greatly Benefit from Participation in Sports at the College and Secondary Level
The recent Supreme Court decision NCAA vs Alston (June 2021) has heightened interest in the benefits and costs of participation in sports for student athletes. Anecdotes about the exploitation of student athletes were cited in the opinion. This paper uses panel data for two different cohorts that follow students from high school through college and into their post-school pursuits to examine the generality of these anecdotes. On average, student athletes’ benefit—often substantially so—in terms of graduation, post-collegiate employment, and earnings. Benefits in terms of social ... read more

Effectiveness of Early Literacy Instruction—Summary of 20 Years of Research
Children entering kindergarten vary greatly in language and literacy skills. To minimize gaps in school readiness before kindergarten entry, knowledge and use of evidence-based practices is essential. A 2008 National Early Literacy Panel report and the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) provide quality information about evidence-based practices in early childhood education, but neither provides comprehensive fully up-to-date information that encompasses the latest research. A new *REL Southeast* study reviews 20 years of research on early literacy interventions aimed at improving lan... read more

New study shows transcendental meditation reduces emotional stress and improves academics

CENTER FOR WELLNESS AND ACHIEVEMENT IN EDUCATION Research News SHARE PRINT E-MAIL [image: IMAGE] IMAGE: DURING A FOUR-MONTH PERIOD, STUDENTS PRACTICING THE TM TECHNIQUE EXPERIENCED SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENTS IN MEASURES OF EMOTIONAL HEALTH AS COMPARED TO STUDENTS WHO ENGAGED IN SUSTAINED SILENT READING. view more CREDIT: CWAE Students who participated in a meditation-based Quiet Time program utilizing the Transcendental Meditation (TM) technique for four months had significant improvements in overall emotional stress symptoms, quality of sleep, and English Language Arts (EL... read more
Education Research Report2 weeks ago
Emotion, cooperation and locomotion crucial from an early age

Researchers at the UNIGE have found that emotion knowledge, cooperative social behavior and locomotor activity are three key skills for promoting numerical learning in children aged 3 to 6 UNIVERSITÉ DE GENÈVE Research News SHARE PRINT E-MAIL [image: IMAGE] IMAGE: CONTENT OF ITEM 1 OF THE SECOND PART OF THE EMOTION AWARENESS TASK. THE INSTRUCTIONS ARE AS FOLLOWS: LEFT: THIS BOY HAS JUST RECEIVED A PRESENT FOR HIS BIRTHDAY. RIGHT:... view more CREDIT: © UNIGE What are the fundamental skills that young children need to develop at the start of school for future academic suc... read more
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Transforming Public Education: A Green New Deal for K-12 Public Schools
Complete Report Public education in the United States has reached a critical point. Over the last 20 years, polling has shown that Americans are divided when it comes to their satisfaction with the K–12 public school system. There is a clear need for American schools to offer a broader portfolio of educational opportunities to students, to equip them for a full range of possible futures. Beyond questions of curricula, recent polling also shows that nearly two thirds of Americans are in favor of federal investment in public school buildings. And schools need the investment. The ... read more
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Does Florida Versus Kentucky Prove School Choice Improves Public School Performance?
A recent report from Kentucky’s Bluegrass Institute for Public Policy Solutions claims, with little supporting evidence, that trends from the 1990s to 2019 on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) show that choice programs catalyze significant educational improvement. Sam Abrams and Steven Koutsavlis of Teachers College, Columbia University, *reviewed* *Florida Versus Kentucky: School Choice Improves Public School Performance, Too*, and determined that its findings fall far short in proving the efficacy of school choice programs. The NAEP is administered to a sam... read more
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Study finds "thriving gap" between students who attend high school remotely vs. in person
Data from the pandemic show high school students studying remotely suffered socially, emotionally, and academically AMERICAN EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH ASSOCIATION Research News New research finds that high school students who attended school remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic suffered socially, emotionally, and academically compared with those who attended in person. The study was published today in *Educational Researcher (ER)* by researchers Angela L. Duckworth, Tim Kautz, Amy Defnet, Emma Satlof-Bedrick, Sean Talamas, Benjamin Lira, and Laurence Steinberg. ER is a peer-reviewed... read more
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New Report Released on Crime and Safety in Schools and College Campuses
[image: 2021092] Overall, crime and safety issues have become less prevalent in the nation’s schools and college campuses throughout the last decade. *Report on Indicators of School Crime and Safety: 2020*, jointly produced by the National Center for Education Statistics at IES and the Bureau of Justice Statistics at the U.S. Department of Justice, highlights new data on victimization, bullying, school conditions, safety and security measures at school, and postsecondary campus safety and security. Key findings from the report include: - Of students ages 12–18, lower percenta... read more
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Recess quality influences student behavior, social-emotional development
Recess quality, not just the amount of time spent away from the classroom, plays a major role in whether children experience the full physical, mental and social-emotional benefits of recess, a new study from Oregon State University found. "Not all recess is created equal," said William Massey, study author and an assistant professor in OSU's College of Public Health and Human Sciences. With schools returning to full-time in-person classes this fall, he said, "Now is a good time to rethink, 'How do we create schools that are more child-friendly?' I think ensuring quality access t... read more
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The Dynastic Benefits of Early Childhood Education
This paper monetizes the life-cycle intragenerational and intergenerational benefits of the Perry Preschool Project, a pioneering high-quality early childhood education program implemented before Head Start that targeted disadvantaged African-Americans and was evaluated by a randomized trial. It has the longest follow-up of any experimentally evaluated early childhood education program. The authors follow participants into late midlife as well as their children into adulthood. Impacts on the original participants and their children generate substantial benefits. Access to lif... read more

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