Intervention based on science of reading, math boosts comprehension, word problem-solving skills English learners with math difficulty

New research from the University of Kansas has found an intervention based on the science of reading and math effectively helped English learners boost their comprehension, visualize and synthesize information, and make connections that significantly improved their math performance.

The intervention, performed for 30 minutes twice a week for 10 weeks with 66 third-grade English language learners who displayed math learning difficulties, improved students’ performance when compared to students who received general instruction. That indicates emphasizing cognitive concepts involved in the science of reading and math are key to helping students improve, according to researchers.

“Word problem-solving is influenced by both the science of reading and the science of math. Key components include number sense, decoding, language comprehension and working memory. Utilizing direct and explicit teaching methods enhances understanding and enables students to effectively connect these skills to solve math problems. This integrated approach ensures that students are equipped with necessary tools to navigate both the linguistic and numerical demands of word problems,” said Michael Orosco, professor of educational psychology at KU and lead author of the study. 

The intervention incorporates comprehension strategy instruction in both reading and math, focusing and decoding, phonological awareness, vocabulary development, inferential thinking, contextualized learning and numeracy.

“It is proving to be one of the most effective evidence-based practices available for this growing population,” Orosco said.

The study, co-written with Deborah Reed of the University of Tennessee, was published in the journal Learning Disabilities Research and Practice.

For the research, trained tutors developed the intervention, developed by Orosco and colleagues based on cognitive and culturally responsive research conducted over a span of 20 years. One example of an intervention session tested in the study included a script in which a tutor examined a word problem that explained a person made a quesadilla for his friend Mario, giving him one-fourth of it, then needed to students to determine how much remained.

The tutor first asked students if they remembered a class session in which they made quesadillas, what shape they were and demonstrated concepts by drawing a circle on the board, dividing it into four equal pieces, having students repeat terms like numerator and denominator, and explaining that when a question asks how much is left, subtraction is required. The students also collaborated with peers to practice using important vocabulary in sentences. The approach both helps students learn and understand mathematical concepts while being culturally responsive.

"Word problems are complex because they require translating words into mathematical equations, and this involves integrating the science of reading and math through language concepts and differentiated instruction," Orosco said. "We have not extensively tested these approaches with this group of children. However, we are establishing an evidence-based framework that aids them in developing background knowledge and connecting it to their cultural contexts."

Orosco, director of KU’s Center for Culturally Responsive Educational Neuroscience, emphasized the critical role of language in word problems, highlighting the importance of using culturally familiar terms. For instance, substituting "pastry" for "quesadilla" could significantly affect comprehension for students from diverse backgrounds. Failure to grasp the initial scenario can impede subsequent problem-solving efforts.

The study proved effective in improving students’ problem-solving abilities, despite covariates including an individual’s basic calculation skills, fluid intelligence and reading comprehension scores. That finding is key as, while ideally all students would begin on equal footing and there were little variations in a classroom, in reality, covariates exist and are commonplace.

The study had trained tutors deliver the intervention, and its effectiveness should be further tested with working teachers, the authors wrote. Orosco said professional development to help teachers gain the skills is necessary, and it is vital for teacher preparation programs to train future teachers with such skills as well. And helping students at the elementary level is necessary to help ensure success in future higher-level math classes such as algebra.

The research builds on Orosco and colleagues’ work in understanding and improving math instruction for English learners. Future work will continue to examine the role of cognitive functions such as working memory and brain science, as well as potential integration of artificial intelligence in teaching math.

“Comprehension strategy instruction helps students make connections, ask questions, visualize, synthesize and monitor their thinking about word problems,” Orosco and Reed wrote. “Finally, applying comprehension strategy instruction supports ELs in integrating their reading, language and math cognition… Focusing on relevant language in word problems and providing collaborative support significantly improved students’ solution accuracy.”

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JOURNAL

Learning Disabilities Research and Practice

DOI

10.1177/09388982241229407

Teaching Teachers To Use Computer Assisted Learning Effectively

 Mastery learning - the process by which students must demonstrate proficiency with a single topic before moving on - is well recognized as one of the most effective ways to learn, yet many teachers struggle or remain unsure about how to implement it into a classroom setting. 

This study evaluates a program to encourage greater mastery learning through technology and proactive continuous teacher support. Focusing on elementary and middle school mathematics, teachers receive weekly coaching in how to use Computer Assisted Learning (CAL) for helping students follow a customized roadmap of incremental progress. 

Results from two field experiments indicate significant Intent To Treat effects on math performance of 0.12 - 0.22 standard deviations. Further analysis indicates that these gains are from students in classrooms with at least an average of 35 minutes of practice per week. Teachers able to achieve high-dosage practice have a high degree of initial buy-in, a clear implementation strategy for when practice occurs, and a willingness to closely monitor progress and follow-up with struggling students.

The current state of the teaching profession is at or near its lowest levels in 50 years

 This study examines the state of the U.S. K-12 teaching profession over the last half century by compiling nationally representative time-series data on four interrelated constructs: occupational prestige, interest among students, the number of individuals preparing for entry, and on-the-job satisfaction. 

The authors find a consistent and dynamic pattern across every measure: a rapid decline in the 1970s, a swift rise in the 1980s extending into the mid 1990s, relative stability, and then a sustained decline beginning around 2010. The current state of the teaching profession is at or near its lowest levels in 50 years.

The authors  identify and explore a range of hypotheses that might explain these historical patterns including economic and sociopolitical factors, education policies, and school environments.

Five-minute exercise sessions during lectures: positive impacts

 

In a new study, a professor at The Ohio State University showed that five-minute exercise sessions during lectures were feasible and that students reported positive impacts on their attention and motivation, engagement with their peers and course enjoyment.

 

The results may not be particularly surprising, but they do suggest a solution for a long-standing issue in college classrooms, said Scott Hayes, author of the study and associate professor of psychology at Ohio State.

 

“Nobody can stay on task for 80 minutes straight without their mind wandering and their attention waxing and waning,” Hayes said.

 

“If you give students a break and get their bodies moving for just a few minutes, it can help them get their minds back to the lecture and probably be more productive. I know it helps me, as well.”

 

The study was published recently in the journal Frontiers in Sports and Active Living.

 

Hayes said he was inspired to do this research by a similar laboratory-based study of how students responded to exercise breaks during a single video lecture.

 

That study found positive results, but Hayes wondered if it could work in the real world of in-person university lectures, over the course of a full semester.

 

He tested it in four of his own classes. One to two student-led exercise sessions (five minutes each) were implemented in each lecture during upper-level psychology courses with 20 to 93 students. The classes were 80 minutes long.

 

At the beginning of the course, Hayes broke the class into small groups, and each group was responsible for developing a five-minute exercise session. Hayes reviewed the exercise sessions beforehand to make sure they were workable and safe.

 

“I wanted the students to design and lead the sessions because I thought it would help them buy into the idea, and help with their engagement and investment,” he said.

 

Hayes admitted that the sessions were sometimes a bit awkward at the beginning of the semester.  The students didn’t know exactly how to act, and they weren’t used to doing something like this during a class.

 

But students soon got into the flow and had fun with the sessions. Some of the exercises students included were jumping jacks, lunges, overhead press (with a backpack) and hamstring stretches.

 

Hayes said a few student groups got creative in designing their sessions.

 

“One of the groups designed a theme of going to an orchard and picking apples. So they had their fellow students reaching up as if they were picking apples from a tree and reaching down to put them in a basket,” Hayes said.

 

Hayes said he knew the program was a success when students spontaneously provided anonymous comments with their end-of-semester students evaluations. One student’s comment reflected a common response: “I enjoyed the exercise breaks in class and really felt like they motivated me to focus more.”

 

In one of the classes studied, Hayes gave the students a survey at the end of the course about the exercise sessions.  All the students reported that they had never taken a class that had an exercise break during the lecture.

 

Students rated the exercise breaks as improving attention, enjoyable, and improving peer engagement.  They reported that, compared to other classes, they preferred the class with an exercise break and they would like more classes to offer such sessions.

 

One open question could be whether these exercise sessions improved student learning and grades.  Hayes said that is beyond the scope of this study, and it would be difficult to do that kind of research.  Comparisons of different classes, at different times of day, and with a variety of teachers, would make comparisons challenging to make.

 

But this study found that exercise breaks were feasible to do and that students enjoyed them and found them useful – which he said may make it worthwhile for other faculty to try.

 

Some already have.

 

“Two colleagues in the psychology department here at Ohio State have told me they have started exercise breaks in their courses,” Hayes said. “It may be catching on.”

 

Updated school nutrition standards

 Setting kids up for success. It’s what every parent, guardian, and educator wants for our nation’s schoolchildren. They understand the power that small changes have to make a big difference in the learning environment. That’s why the USDArecently announced updated school nutrition standards.

Right now, schools across our country are serving breakfasts and lunches to nearly 30 million children every day. Healthy school meals that represent the main source of nutrition for more than half of these students and are an essential part of the educational landscape — like teachers, books, or computers – helping to unlock kids’ full potential in and out of the classroom.

It is no surprise that poor nutrition and diet-related diseases are correlated with lower academic achievement, worse health outcomes, and more behavioral problems for kids. We recognize the tremendous work that educators and school nutrition professionals do every day to ensure our children are fueled to thrive. Healthy school meals are an essential element of a quality education and are a part of the solution to promote children’s health. 

School breakfast offers the jump start to a great day. It sets the tone for the rest of the day, especially for children. It’s why kids who eat breakfast have increased alertness and improved moods throughout the morning, fostering a better learning experience. What’s more, studies find that students who participate in school meal programs consume more whole grains, milk, fruits, and vegetables during mealtimes and enjoy better overall diet quality.

These pivotal updates  to school nutrition standards have been shaped by a host of stakeholders, including parents, devoted teachers, school administrators, school nutrition directors, and industry leaders, and are informed by the latest Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

These new standards put kids’ health at the forefront by:

• Reducing the amounts of added sugars in school meals, especially at breakfast.
• Making it easier to offer healthy proteins at breakfast.
• Scaling back sodium levels over time.
• Continuing to emphasize fruits and vegetables, as well as whole grains, to give kids the right balance of nutrients for healthy, tasty meals.
• That’s not all. We are also providing flexibilities to make it easier for schools to accommodate vegetarian diets and the cultural and religious food preferences of students. This way, every child has access to the nutritious foods they desire and deserve to nourish their bodies and minds.

We encourage educators to uplift these school meal enhancements as an opportunity to maximize the impact of what they do best – educate. Because it’s that commitment to inspire that enables all students to thrive.

For that important gift, our nation couldn’t be more grateful.

To learn more about the updated school nutrition standards, please visit the USDA Food and Nutrition Service website.

Largest Year-to-Year Increase in Over 20 Years for Public School Spending Per Pupil

 Nationally, public school spending per student rose 8.9% from $14,358 in FY 2021 to $15,633 in FY 2022, according to new data from the 2022 Annual Survey of School System Finances released today by the U.S. Census Bureau. This represents the largest percentage increase in public school spending per pupil in the 50 states and the District of Columbia in over 20 years. Statistics are not adjusted for inflation or cost-of-living differences between geographic areas.

The states spending the most per pupil were New York ($29,873), the District of Columbia ($27,425), New Jersey ($25,099), Vermont ($24,608), and Connecticut ($24,453). The states spending the least per pupil were Utah ($9,552), Idaho ($9,670), Arizona ($10,315), Oklahoma ($10,890), and Mississippi ($10,984).

Other highlights:

• Seven out of nine states in the Northeast region ranked among the top 10 in current spending per pupil in FY 2022; the remaining two states in the region, Pennsylvania and Maine, ranked 11th and 14th, respectively. Sixteen out of the 20 states with the lowest per pupil spending were in the South or West regions. The remaining four were Iowa, Missouri, Indiana and South Dakota.
• Among  the 100 largest school systems (by enrollment), New York City School District in New York ($35,914) spent the most per pupil in FY 2022, followed by Washington Schools in the District of Columbia ($27,425), San Francisco Unified in California ($23,654), Atlanta School District in Georgia ($22,882), Los Angeles Unified in California ($21,940), and Detroit School District in Michigan ($21,771).
• Public school systems in Mississippi (23.3%), South Dakota (21.7%), Montana (20.9%), Alaska (20.6%), and Arkansas (20.4%) had the highest percentage of revenue from federal sources compared to their total revenue in FY 2022, while those in New York (7.2%), New Jersey (7.4%), Connecticut (8.0%), New Hampshire (8.8%),  and Massachusetts (9.4%) had the lowest.
• Total school district debt increased by 2.1% from $532.5 billion in FY 2021 to $543.9 billion in FY 2022.

Revenue

Elementary and secondary education revenue from all sources in FY 2022 amounted to $878.2 billion, up 8.4% from the prior year.

• Revenue raised from local sources amounted to $375.2 billion (42.7%) of elementary-secondary funding, while the federal government contributed $119.1 billion (13.6%).
  • Of the $375.2 billion schools received from local sources, $326.2 billion was from taxes and parent government contributions while property taxes accounted for 65.4% of revenue from local sources.
    
• State governments contributed the greatest share (43.7% or $383.9 billion) of all public school system funding.

Expenditures

Total expenditure by public elementary-secondary school systems totaled $857.3 billion in FY 2022, up 7.8% from the prior year.

• Of the total expenditure for elementary and secondary education, current spending made up $746.9 billion (87.1%) and capital outlay made up $84.2 billion (9.8%).
• The largest expenditure category was instructional salaries with public elementary and secondary school systems spending $266.4 billion for salaries in FY 2022, which was 31.1% of total expenditures.
• Expenditure for instruction for all school systems amounted to $446.9 billion or 59.8% of total current spending, while expenditure for support services amounted to $264.6 billion (35.4%).

The Annual Survey of School System Finances provides data about public school spending – including per student (pre-K to grade 12) expenditures – debt and assets (cash and security holdings) for all states and the District of Columbia.

A new dashboard that centralizes state-level data from the Digest of Education Statistics.

 

The Digest State Dashboard provides users with a compilation of state-specific data, presented in an easy-to-use format. As the first-ever Digest data tool, the Dashboard was developed to visualize state-level Digest data on topics of interest in U.S. education. With individual pages for each of the 50 states, DC, the Bureau of Indian Education, American Samoa, Guam, Northern Marianas, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, users can explore state- and entity-specific data, all in one place. Selected state findings from the Digest State Dashboard include: Overall trends of public school enrollment In Puerto Rico , 434,609 students were enrolled in public elementary and secondary schools in 2012 and 250,668 were enrolled in 2022. Characteristics of public school students In Arizona in 2022, some 48 percent of public school students were Hispanic, 35 percent were White, and 6 percent were Black. Also in 2022, some 13 percent of Arizona public school students had a disability. Private school education In the District of Columbia in 2021, there were 80 private elementary and secondary schools, which enrolled 20,620 students and employed 2,370 full-time-equivalent teachers. 4-year adjusted cohort graduation rate (ACGR) In 2021–22 in Kentucky, the overall 4-year ACGR was 90 percent. For economically disadvantaged students the ACGR was 88 percent, and for students with disabilities it was 80 percent. Each figure in the Dashboard features the most recently published data from the Digest. The Dashboard will be continuously updated throughout the year, as data become available in the Digest, including two postsecondary figures on enrollment and institutions and student charges in May 2024. To learn more about the features of this new tool, read the blog post NCES Centralizes State-Level Data in New Digest State Dashboard.

Research reveals tools to make STEM degrees more affordable

 In a new study in Issues, Dominique J. Baker, an associate professor in the College of Education and Human Development and the Joseph R. Biden, Jr. School of Public Policy & Administration at the University of Delaware, explored the role of student loans on hopeful students striving for college degrees, particularly in STEM. 

The cost of attending a public four-year college in the United States has more than doubled since the early 1990s, when inflation is factored in. 

Undergraduate student loan debt has become unmanageable for a wide swath of borrowers in the United States. Bachelor’s degree recipients borrow on average $41,300, with a median of $30,000. The median borrower still owes 92% of their loan four years after earning a bachelor’s degree, and nearly one-third of people who took out a student loan between 1998 and 2018 fell into default. As part of its emergency response to the pandemic, the US Department of Education suspended action on federal student loans that were in default as of March 13, 2020, until at least September 2024.

Student loan debt is uneven across racial groups.

Recent data has also shown variation in loan repayment patterns by major, challenging the popular assumption that all STEM graduates have similar prospects after college. Though the median amount owed on student loans for STEM majors four years after earning their degree is 80%, this varies—from 59% for engineering to 94% for biological and physical sciences and agricultural sciences. These figures do not include the amount of additional debt students may incur in pursuit of further graduate education. Due to interest accrual, delayed repayment of undergraduate student loans can also result in greater debt burdens.

The fact that differential tuition may make a STEM major more expensive than a non-STEM major at some universities deserves more attention when considering how to make STEM degrees more affordable. For example, advanced, in-state students at the University of Maryland pursuing engineering and computer science degrees pay $1,500 more per semester than their peers enrolled in other disciplines (nearly 27% higher).

The United States currently relies on a rough patchwork of policies and mechanisms to project the image of college affordability while actually depending on students to navigate huge variances in higher education costs. Inevitably, they’re often left to shoulder a debt burden that might follow them around for decades. Lessons from other countries on how to assemble the policy patchwork more deliberately—to actually lower student costs and subsidize tuition in targeted disciplines—may help.

Experts on college affordability, tuition setting, and other related topics in higher education should convene to examine the value of tuition caps as a policy, particularly within the context of bringing the missing millions into STEM disciplines. Since most public university subsidies come from state coffers, federal efforts alone are unlikely to solve college affordability. And yet there are no clear policy tools available to ensure that states contribute their due for higher education. The decentralized nature of US higher education conceals useful information from researchers, decisionmakers, and policymakers—like the national average tuition increase for STEM degrees under differential tuition. Higher education leaders, especially in STEM fields, should be invested in creating spaces for ongoing conversations about real changes in college affordability as another avenue for removing barriers to STEM education and careers.

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JOURNAL

Issues in Science and Technology

DOI

10.58875/RNDC4525

Adolescents: almost 17% experience weight-related bullying online, almost 70 percent of Twitter users reporting being bullied

 

The freely available article in PLOS ONE: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0299830

Each additional hour of social media use equaled a 13% increase in weight-related bullying

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From a survey of about 12,000 adolescents from Australia, Canada, Chile, Mexico, the US, and the UK, about 17 percent of respondents reported experiencing weight-related bullying online, especially users of Twitter and Twitch, according to a study published April 17, 2023 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Kyle Ganson from University of Toronto, Canada, and colleagues.

Screen time and social media use are common among adolescents—and people in general—for entertainment and social connection, though many cons exist, including cyberbullying. Here, Ganson and colleagues investigated weight-related bullying in adolescents across different types of recreational screen time and more specifically, across six different social media platforms.

The authors analyzed data from 12,031 adolescents (ages 10-17 years) from Australia, Canada, Chile, Mexico, the United Kingdom, and the United States originally surveyed in the 2020 International Food Policy Study Youth Survey. In addition to demographic data, adolescents provided the number of weekday hours they spent “watching YouTube,” “on social media (messaging, posting, or liking posts),” “watching TV shows, series, or movies,” “playing games on smartphones, computers, or game consoles,” and “browsing, reading websites, googling, etc,”, and noted whether or not they used any of six different social media platforms: Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, Snapchat, and Twitch. They also responded to the question “Do you get teased or made fun of because of your weight?”

The surveyed adolescents spent an average of 7.5 hours total on recreational screen time every weekday. Almost 17 percent of respondents also reported weight-related bullying sometimes, a lot, or all the time, with a 13 percent increase in bullying reported for every additional hour of screen time reported. Almost 70 percent of Twitter users reported being bullied, and Twitch was the second-highest social media platform linked to weight-related bullying. The associations between screen time, social media use, and weight-related bullying were strongest for adolescents in Canada, Australia, and the UK. Boys were less likely to experience weight-related bullying than girls when using Twitch or playing video games.

The authors note all the data was self-reported, which may have introduced recall bias, and note future research is needed to address this growing social issue.

The authors add: “Adolescents across 6 diverse countries who use social media are more likely to experience weight-related bullying victimization. This experience can have adverse effects, including poor body image, disordered eating behaviors, and anxiety and depression symptoms. There is a strong need to make social media and online spaces more accepting and safer for young people to engage in.”

The 2023 State of Preschool Yearbook

 

The 2023 State of Preschool Yearbook provides critical insights into the current landscape of preschool education in America. Amidst the challenges of the past few years, state pre-K programs have shown remarkable resilience, with enrollment, spending, and quality standards reaching new highs in 2022-2023. However, there is still much work to be done to ensure equitable access to quality preschool education for every child.

Here are some key highlights from the report:

• Enrollment Increase: Enrollment in preschool increased in 2022-2023, reaching all-time highs for the percentage of both 3-year-olds and 4-year-olds enrolled. Despite this progress, the number of children enrolled in state-funded preschool remains lower than pre-pandemic levels.

• Increased Spending: State spending on preschool surpassed $11.73 billion, with per-child spending exceeding $7000. Spending increased more than $1 billion from the prior year but inadequate funding remains a nearly universal problem.

• Quality Progress: Progress was made in improving quality standards in four states but too many states still fall short of setting high standards for program quality. Quality matters, and continued efforts are needed to ensure that every child receives a high-quality preschool education.

Gender stereotypes in schools impact on girls and boys with mental health difficulties

 

Gender stereotypes mean that girls can be celebrated for their emotional openness and maturity in school, while boys are seen as likely to mask their emotional distress through silence or disruptive behaviours.

 

Children and teachers who took part in the study said they feared the mental health needs of boys might be missed at school, which makes them an ‘at risk’ group.

 

Researchers have warned of the negative impacts on girls where the manifestation of emotional distress such as crying or self-harm could become “feminised and diminished”, so taken less seriously.

 

They have called for increased awareness of the role of gender in mental health services offered in schools and resultant inequalities.

 

The study was carried out by Lauren Stentiford, George Koutsouris, Tricia Nash and Alexandra Allan from the School of Education at the University of Exeter. They interviewed pupils at two secondary schools in England to ask them: ‘Do you think that girls and boys experience mental health in the same way?’.

 

One school was a mixed grammar school in a predominantly white, middle-class rural area and another was a mixed comprehensive school in a predominantly white, working-class urban area. The research took place in autumn 2022.

 

Researchers spoke to 34 students aged between 12 and 17. Seventeen students identified as female, 12 as male, and 5 as gender diverse. They also interviewed 18 members of staff, including a headteacher, school counsellor, SENCO, and classroom teacher.

 

The majority - 43 out of 52 - felt girls and boys experienced mental health in different ways because of stereotypes that girls are open about their emotions, but boys will hide them.

 

One pupil, Willow, said: “Girls are more inclined I feel to talk to each other about [mental health] because we’re not told to repress our emotions”. Another, Kayla, said: “Boys just don’t, they barely tell anyone anything that they don’t want to talk about because they feel like they’ll be looked at and be told the phrase ‘man up’ or ‘boys don’t cry”.

 

The phrase ‘man up’ was referenced multiple times by different staff members and students in both schools.

 

Participants spoke of persistent and troublesome expectations that boys should not show their emotions.

 

Dr Stentiford said: “There was a perception that girls are at an advantage over boys in receiving mental health support.

 

“Students and staff members tended to position girls as above boys in the hierarchy for mental health support because of their perceived emotional openness. Girls were seen as being more emotionally mature than boys and would actively look for help when they needed it.

 

“There was also evidence of participants understanding emotional distress as manifesting itself differently in girls and boys in school, with girls more likely to cry or withdraw, and boys more likely to engage in off-task or disruptive behaviours such as ‘messing around’ in class.

 

“The implications were that girls are seen as more likely to be identified quickly as in need of mental health support, whereas boys could be ‘missed’ because their disruptive behaviours are misinterpreted. Both girls and boys therefore remain ‘trapped’ in unhelpful gender stereotypes around mental health.   

 

“The research suggests there is a new and emerging form of gender inequality, set against the context of a perceived growing mental health ‘crisis’ amongst young people.

 

“There are dangers around devaluing girls’ wellbeing if ‘emotional’ girls are seen as unfairly advantaged and taking up time and support for mental health difficulties at the expense of boys, who are seen as particularly ‘at risk’ and a hidden problem.”

 

DOI

10.1080/00131911.2024.2306947 

Report finds significant gender and racial inequities in the educational measurement profession

 

Gender and racially based employment disparities, differences in perceptions of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), and workplace discrimination remain significant issues in the field of educational measurement, according to a new report supported by the American Educational Research Association (AERA), the National Council on Measurement in Education (NCME), and Women in Measurement (WIM). Educational measurement professionals who work at universities, thinktanks, and other research organizations are on the cutting-edge of designing methods and techniques used to measure learning and other educational outcomes.

The report was authored by Thao Vo (Washington State University), Susan Lyons (WIM), Felice J. Levine (AERA), Nathan E. Bell (AERA), and Ye Tong (NBME). Among the major findings of the study of 1,312 individuals who are members of AERA’s Division D—Measurement and Research Methodologies, NCME, and WIM:

• There are significant differences in salary and professional rank across gender and racial groups, with White men reporting higher salary ranges and occupying more senior positions compared to their counterparts from other gender and racial groups.
• Professionals from different gender and racial groups are experiencing DEI issues differently, with women of color consistently reporting the lowest perception of organizational DEI effectiveness.
• Nearly 13 percent of respondents reported experiencing discrimination within the last 12 months that hindered their professional growth, with women of color being the most affected group. The overwhelming majority of these instances were reportedly unaddressed.  

“With an increasingly diverse student population, it is important the field of educational measurement is attuned to and reflects that diversity,” said AERA Executive Director Felice J. Levine. “Creating a more just and equitable profession will ensure that what is being measured and how it is being measured fully captures the full range of experiences across groups of students.”

“This important work shines a spotlight on the community of professionals working in educational measurement and the employers who recruit and develop them and benefit from their work,” said NCME President Michael Walker. “Employers and organizations need to take significant steps toward creating more equitable and inclusive workplaces.”

Susan Lyons, co-founder and executive director of Women in Measurement, highlighted the need to take action: “Our findings serve as a call of action for ongoing commitment and tangible change, emphasizing the importance of understanding and addressing the unique challenges faced by underrepresented groups in educational measurement. We urge employers to take proactive steps to further support and advance DEI and antidiscrimination efforts in the educational measurement profession.”

The report provides five actionable recommendations for employers across all institutional and organizational settings to enhance DEI in the workplace.

1. Employers should publicly evaluate, acknowledge, and commit to a plan for increasing diversity representation.
2. Employers should conduct thorough pay equity audits and make necessary corrections so employers can ensure that their employees are compensated fairly regardless of gender, race, or ethnicity.
3. Employers should invest in antibias and antidiscrimination training to foster a work culture where employees understand their conscious, subconscious, and unconscious biases.
4. Employers should focus on transparently communicating how policies are evaluated and enacted, including providing employees with a clear understanding of the decision-making process and the rationale behind policy changes.
5. To effectively gauge the impact of DEI policies and initiatives, employers should invest in gathering regular feedback from employees.

Public Preschool Predicts Stronger Third-Grade Academic Skills

 

Complete study

Public preschool boosts academic skills in kindergarten, but little is known about whether that boost lasts to third grade because many studies stop directly assessing children after kindergarten. The current study tests for sustained associations between preschool attendance and an array of repeatedly measured, directly assessed language and math skills. The study does this separately for public pre-K and Head Start, the two major publicly funded preschool programs., drawing on a large, racially diverse sample of children from families with low incomes in Tulsa, OK (N = 689, Mage at 3rd = 8.5 years). 

Using propensity score weighting, the authors compare children who attended school-based pre-K or Head Start to those who did not attend preschool. Both school-based pre-K and Head Start attenders outperformed preschool nonattenders on numeracy in third grade. There was weaker evidence of a sustained preschool advantage on language and literacy skills, and no evidence that associations differed by preschool program.

Does Family Socioeconomic Status Influence Children’s Reading Ability?

 Many studies have shown that family socioeconomic status (SES) influences the development of children’s reading ability; however, the mechanisms underlying this effect remain unclear. This study used meta-analytic structural equation modeling (MASEM) analysis to examine the mediating role of children’s linguistic skills (phonological awareness and vocabulary knowledge) in the relationships between SES and reading (accuracy, fluency, and comprehension), as well as potential moderators including age, country SES, SES measurement type, and writing system based on 85,102 individuals from 471 independent studies. 

The results indicated that (1) the relations between SES and reading were partially mediated by phonological awareness and vocabulary knowledge and (2) although age, country SES, SES measurement type, and writing system did not moderate the direct associations between SES and reading abilities, the moderation effects of age, country SES, SES measurement type, and writing system could manifest through the linguistic mediation pathway: older age, higher country SES, composite SES index, and alphabetic languages might induce a larger indirect impact from SES to reading ability. 

These results suggested that SES exerted both direct and indirect effects on reading via linguistic skills. Such a linguistic mediation mechanism may be moderated by age, country SES, SES measurement type, and writing system.

Effect of Early Warning System on Student Absence

 

Many schools across the United States use the Early Warning System (EWS) to identify chronically absent students on time and intervene. The prediction power of the EWS is well examined but more evidence is needed about their effectiveness at reducing student absence. This study examines the effect of EWS on student absence in a large urban school district using a multiple-cutoff regression discontinuity design. 

Findings indicate that EWS reduces chronic absence among socioeconomically advantaged students. However, it has no significant effect on chronic absence among socioeconomically disadvantaged students. Furthermore, EWS has no significant effect on moderate absence. These results suggest that schools should consider social and institutional barriers to improving attendance, especially among socioeconomically disadvantaged students.

Growth mindset messages can close grade gap for first-generation students

. – Just two emails, at the right time with the right message, can make a big difference for students who are the first in their families to go to college.     

A recent Washington State University study highlighted the power of an instructors’ growth mindset -- the belief that abilities are not innate but can be improved. Researchers found that when first-generation students in an introductory science course received growth mindset emails after their initial exams, they did better in the whole course than a control group.

On average the students raised their final grade by about a third of a letter grade, such as moving from a C+ to a B-, making their overall performance on par with “continuing-generation” students, whose parents had graduated from college. The findings are reported in the journal CBE: Life Sciences Education.

“It's a pretty sizable effect,” said lead author Elizabeth Canning, a WSU psychology researcher. “Many studies have shown that continuing generation students outperform first-generation students, but in the condition where we sent emails from the instructor that had growth mindset language, we saw that difference in performance completely go away.”

Canning and graduate student Makita White conducted the study in a large, introductory biology class taught by WSU Professor Bill Davis online in 2021 during the pandemic. The course is considered challenging, and as a prerequisite to many majors, it can determine whether a student continues on to a medical or scientific career.

After the first two exams about 200 students were sent a standard email telling them that exam grades had been posted online and reminding them of the professor’s office hours. Another 200 students received longer emails after those exams which also contained the professor’s growth mindset views.

The messages were based on a theory called “wise interventions,” Canning said, meaning they are designed to come at critical times of uncertainty in a student’s development. The emails not only emphasized that improvement in the class was possible even after a low exam grade but also normalized struggling academically.

For example, the professor said he had worked with many students in the past who performed poorly on the first exam but turned things around on future tests, and they did so by figuring out better ways to learn in the course. Then, he gave specific actions they could take, such as forming a study group or accessing extra resources.

Since the course was taught completely online, the researchers could see if the students’ behavior changed following the exams. They found that the students who received the growth mindset messages went to the course website, accessed lecture materials and study notes more often. The first-generation students performed better on the third exam, and ultimately, achieved a better grade in the whole course than the control group.  

First-generation college students tend to face a lot of challenges simply because they do not have parents who have university-experience to help them. Other research shows that they tend to ask fewer questions in class and do not access resources, such as attending instructor office hours, as often as continuing-generation students. They also represent about one-third of all college attendees.

“Just for equity reasons, it’s important to help first-generation students,” said Canning. “But especially in STEM fields, to keep up with medical advances and rapidly changing technology, we need apable students who have a foundation in science, so retaining them is especially important.”

This study received support from the National Science Foundation. Based on the promise of this work, Canning’s team has received another NSF grant for a larger, national study involving 10,000 students to look at the impact of this type of intervention on minority students. 

Researchers explore the notion of virtue in Japan, with potential implications for both academic integrity and educational policy

 

Peer-Reviewed Publication

CHIBA UNIVERSITY

 

IMAGE: 

ESS AND THE GP IN JAPAN ASSOCIATE DIFFERENT WORDS WITH VIRTUE. THE FONT SIZE OF EACH WORD OR SET OF WORDS IS PROPORTIONAL TO THE RELATIVE FREQUENCY OF OCCURRENCE.

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CREDIT: KOJI TACHIBANA FROM CHIBA UNIVERSITY IMAGE SOURCE LINK: HTTPS://WWW.FRONTIERSIN.ORG/FILES/ARTICLES/1171247/FPSYG-14-1171247

Virtue is a normative concept comprising a set of moral and social codes acceptable to society. Historically, in the West, especially in ancient Greek and Christian belief systems, virtue was viewed as "excellence" aspirational to all human beings. In contrast, the East, especially in a Confucian belief system, viewed it similarly but being aspirational to only select individuals, such as rulers. However, the rise of modern values and sociopolitical overhauls almost pushed the concept of virtue into oblivion. 

In the 20th century, however, virtue was resurged in academic fields, yet it remained relatively dormant in the public consciousness. Virtue impacts society in multiple ways—it is a concept commonly found in many cultures, associated with psychological and sociological studies, and reflected in the educational curricula of a country. Given that the notion of virtue has a multitiered impact on society, exploring potential perception differences between educational specialists (ESs) and the general public (GP) is the need of the hour. 

A recent study published in Frontiers in Psychology on 15 February 2024 explored these gaps in multicultural Japanese society. The study, conducted by Dr. Koji Tachibana and Dr. Eisuke Nakazawa, revealed that the concept of virtue was relatively unknown to the GP compared to ESs. The results also showed significant differences in how the GP and ESs perceive virtue. The GP identified with passive, emotional virtues, whereas the ESs identified with active, intellectual virtues. Notably, both groups thought positively of virtue but poorly understood the Confucian concept of virtue. 

Dr. Tachibana underscores the significance of the research, stating, "If there is a gap between the GP and ESs on the subject of virtue, where ESs frame discussions or publish textbooks neglecting this gap, they could contain errors in theoretical and empirical research on the concept of virtues and deter the actual design of an education system. Thus, we sought to endeavor on theoretical and practical perspectives to address the gaps between the GP and ESs groups in understanding virtue." 
 
Accordingly, the team conducted an online survey in Japan targeting both groups. They recruited individuals of various ages and genders for the GP group and individuals from academic societies related to philosophy and education for the ES group. Subsequently, they evaluated the responses for the frequency of encountering the term "virtue" in daily life, the impressions associated with virtue, words associated with virtue, virtues that are difficult to understand, and virtues deemed important to either group.

Notably, the researchers arrived at five main conclusions: Firstly, the ES group was more familiar with the term "virtue" when compared to the GP group. Secondly, both groups held positive impressions of virtue. Thirdly, ESs tend to associate more with ancient Greek virtues, although both groups acknowledged Buddhist elements. Fourthly, there existed a mutual lack of understanding of Confucian virtues. Lastly, differences existed in the emphasis on virtues—the GP leans towards Eastern values while ESs toward Western ones.

These findings reveal that the notion of virtue was being perceived differently by different members of society. Practically, this points to the possibility of a gap in the understanding of the notion of virtue among ESs, which, if neglected, can have negative practical implications. The authors believe that since the ESs hold the power to influence the national curriculum, formulate educational policies, and authorize textbooks in the educational system, they must exercise caution in using the notion of virtue. On the contrary, not exercising caution in doing so could have a detrimental impact on the education system.    

Sharing his closing thoughts on the study, Dr. Tachibana says, "Our study showed that ESs and the GP understood virtue differently in Japan. This finding has several social implications in areas such as academic integrity and educational policy." Indeed, the findings of this study could serve as a trailblazer for future studies about the concept of virtue in society.