High School Students Receiving Instruction Focused on “Deeper Learning” Do Better in Math and English and Have Higher Graduation Rates than Their Peers

Students at high schools focusing on deeper learning had higher scores on standardized tests in mathematics and English, and higher graduation rates than their peers, according to a study by the American Institutes for Research (AIR).

In conducting the Study of Deeper Learning: Opportunities and Outcomes, AIR researchers found positive effects on students from a wide range of deeper learning approaches.

Deeper learning involves using strategies and resources aimed at helping students master core academic content – like reading, mathematics and science – while developing the ability to think critically and to work effectively with others. AIR’s research team examined a set of selected high schools associated with 10 established deeper learning networks.  The schools were identified as being moderate or high implementers of deeper learning practices.

The study included a survey of 1,762 students in 22 schools in California and New York. The schools serve a diverse and traditionally underserved group of students, including substantial populations of students living in poverty and, in some cases, large populations of English language learners.

In high schools focusing on deeper learning:

• Students – regardless of their prior levels of academic achievement – attained higher scores than their peers on standardized tests in such subjects as English Language Arts, reading, mathematics and science and were more likely to graduate from high school on time.
• Students reported higher levels of collaborative skills, academic engagement, motivation to learn and self-efficacy compared with their counterparts in comparison schools.
• Graduates were more likely to enroll in four-year colleges or universities. Overall there was no significant effect on the likelihood of students attending postsecondary institutions.
• There were positive effects on students at each deeper learning school, and no statistically significant evidence that the students trailed behind their peers in any areas.

Online Research and Comprehension: Rethinking the Reading Achievement Gap

Is there an achievement gap for online reading ability based on income inequality that is separate from the achievement gap in traditional, offline reading? This possibility was examined in this study of students in two pseudonymous school districts: West Town (economically advantaged) and East Town (economically challenged; N = 256). 

Performance-based assessments were used within a simulation of the Internet developed as part of a larger project. Seventh graders completed two online research and comprehension assessments, which evaluated four skill areas (locate, evaluate, synthesize, and communicate) and two knowledge domains in science. Students also completed an assessment of prior domain knowledge and a short Internet use questionnaire. Standardized state reading and writing test scores served as measures of offline literacy skills. 

Results indicated that there was a significant achievement gap favoring West Town students in offline reading scores, offline writing scores, and online research and comprehension scores. A significant gap persisted for online research and comprehension after we conditioned on pretest differences in offline reading, offline writing, and prior knowledge scores. 

The results of the questionnaire indicated that West Town students had greater access to the Internet at home and were required to use the Internet more in school. These results suggest that a separate and independent achievement gap existed for online reading, based on income inequality. Current estimates of this gap, which rely solely on measures of offline reading, may underrepresent the true nature of the U.S. reading achievement gap in an online age. Policy implications are explored.

New Report Finds Latino Children Gaining Ground in Education

America’s Hispanic Children--Gaining Ground Looking Forward, issued by Child Trends Hispanic Institute includes the latest data released by the U.S. Census Bureau and documents key areas in which Latino children are finding greater success, especially in education, health and elsewhere, while also examining key challenges. 

The report paints a complex picture of the 17.5 million Hispanic children, the largest racial/ethnic minority group of children in the United States. With more than 22 statistical charts, it provides a comprehensive portrait of Hispanic children across six areas: demographics, economics, family, education, health, and media use.  

Some key findings from the report include:

• The percentage of Hispanic eighth graders achieving at or above the “proficient” level in math (an important predictor of high school completion) has increased from 8 percent in 2000 to 21 percent in 2014
• Latino children’s participation in center-based early care and education programs has increased by one-third since 2007
• Hispanics are more likely to be born at a healthy weight and more likely to be breastfed relative to other racial/ethnic minority groups.

Lack of sleep increases risk of failure in school

A new Swedish study shows that adolescents who suffer from sleep disturbance or habitual short sleep duration are less likely to succeed academically compared to those who enjoy a good night's sleep. The results have recently been published in the journal Sleep Medicine.

In a new study involving more than 20,000 adolescents aged between 12 and 19 from Uppsala County, researchers from Uppsala University demonstrate that reports of sleep disturbance and habitual short sleep duration (less than 7 hours per day) increased the risk of failure in school.

The study was led by researcher Christian Benedict and doctoral student Olga Titova at the Department of Neuroscience. The results suggest that sleep may play an important role for adolescents' performance at school.

"Another important finding of our study is that around 30 percent of the adolescents reported regular sleep problems. Similar observations have been made in other adolescent cohorts, indicating that sleep problems among adolescents have reached an epidemic level in our modern societies", says Christian Benedict.

“Brain Breaks” increase activity, educational performance in elementary schools

A recent Oregon survey about an exercise DVD that adds short breaks of physical activity into the daily routine of elementary school students found it had a high level of popularity with both students and teachers, and offered clear advantages for overly sedentary educational programs.

Called “Brain Breaks,” the DVD was developed and produced by the Healthy Youth Program of the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University, and is available nationally.

Brain Breaks leads children in 5-7 minute segments of physical activity, demonstrated by OSU students and elementary school children from Corvallis, Oregon. The short periods of exercise aim to improve the physical health, mental awareness and educational success of children.

“We’re increasingly recognizing the importance of physical activity for children even as the academic demands placed on them are cutting into the traditional programs of recess and physical education,” said Gerd Bobe, an assistant professor in the OSU College of Agricultural Sciences, an expert in public health nutrition and behavior, and principal investigator with the Linus Pauling Institute.

“Kids need to move, they can’t just sit all day long,” Bobe said. “Given the time constraints and multiple demands that schools are facing, we really believe the concept of short activity breaks, right in the classroom, is the way to go.”

Oregon law, for instance, mandates that by 2017 elementary schools will be required to have 30 minutes a day of physical education classes, in addition to recess periods. But a survey conducted by the Healthy Youth Program found that 92 percent of Oregon public elementary schools currently do not meet this standard. And sometimes, Bobe said, elimination of recess is used as a disciplinary tool, potentially taking activity away from those students who may need it the most.

Brain Breaks was created to bring more activity back into classrooms, especially when it may be most useful – in the afternoon after lunch, for instance, when attention spans and concentration tend to waver. Research has shown that physical activity can increase academic performance, student focus and classroom behavior, Bobe said.

The program offers a variety of segments, including six based on stretching and relaxation, five on endurance, and one on strength, with imaginative concepts such as “space adventures” and “crazy kangaroos.” No equipment is needed, other than a chair for the strength segment, and all activities can be done in a classroom setting. An abstract of the work has been published in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior.

A recent survey of the Healthy Youth Program that was sent to participating Oregon school districts found that:

• Almost all teachers said the program was appropriate for their classes and well-understood by the class;

• More than 90 percent of teachers said the exercise segments had the right length, and that students were more focused after using the program;

• All of the segments were popular with more than 80 percent of students, but the stretching and relaxation activities had the highest approval, at 95 percent, and were also most frequently used by teachers;

• About three-fourths of the teachers were using the program two to three times per week, and more than 90 percent plan to continue its use.

“Longer periods of exercise have a place, but research shows that these short programs can be very valuable as well,” Bobe said. “They can increase oxygen consumption, range of motion, endurance, and get kids in the habit of being more active. A little bit of exercise can go a long way.”

A second edition of the DVD is being developed, Bobe said. More information on the DVD is available online at http://bit.ly/1o6rcHk, including a video trailer and how to buy a copy.

“This survey shows a program that’s working and is valuable,” Bobe said. “We hope it becomes popular across the nation.”

Fear of failure hurts educational achievement - high standards create fear

An early established fear of failure at school can influence students' motivation to learn and negatively affect their attitude to learning.

This is the finding of a study by Dr. Michou, (Bilkent University, Turkey), Dr. Vansteenkiste (Ghent University, Belgium), Dr. Mouratidis (Hacettepe University, Turkey) and Dr. Lens (University of Leuven, Belgium) that will soon be published in theBritish Journal of Educational Psychology.

Over 1,000 students undertook questionnaires relating to their motivation to learn and learning strategies they use (606 high school student and 435 university students).

The analysis found that irrespective of the goal students adopt (such as 'my aim is to completely master the material presented in this class' or 'my aim is to avoid doing worse than other students') those who had developed a fear of failure at an early age were more likely to adopt the goal to validate their ego rather than for their own personal interest and development, and were less likely to use effective learning strategies but more likely to cheat.

Dr. Michou said: "These findings suggest two important points for children's optimal learning. First, teachers and parents have to be more sensitive on how they evaluate young children's competence. Very high standards and criticism result in increased levels of fear of failure.

"Second, teachers and parents have to be more sensitive to the rational they provide to children to adopt a goal or engage in an activity. Suggesting children to improve their skills for their own enjoyment and development is much more beneficial than suggesting them to improve their skills in order to prove themselves. Future research would benefit from examining these ideas through longitudinal and experimental studies."

"The Efficiency Index" Makes No Sense

A recent report purporting to score and rank national education systems on efficiency has drawn extensive media attention in both Europe and North America. But a new review published today explains that the report has serious problems and generates extreme conclusions and unrealistic policy proposals.
 
Professor Clive Belfield reviewed The Efficiency Index, written by Peter Dolton, Olivier Marcenaro-Gutiérrez, and Adam Still and published by GEMS Education Solutions, based in London, England. Belfield’s review is published today by the Think Twice think tank review project of the National Education Policy Center, housed at the University of Colorado Boulder School of Education.
 
Belfield is an economist at Queens College in New York whose research focuses on resource allocation and cost-effectiveness.
 
The Efficiency Index ranks 30 countries on their educational system “efficiency” through a model that compares national test scores, national teacher wage rates, and pupil-teacher ratios. The test scores used are from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA).
 
“Looking across the 30 countries, the model predicts that, in order to get a 5% increase in PISA scores, teacher wages would have to go up by 14% or class sizes would have to go down by 13 students per class,” Belfield writes. “But the optimal wages and class sizes for any given country may sometimes demand an increase or decrease in one or the other factor.”
 
Based on its model, the report identifies those wage levels and class sizes that are optimally efficient for each country. Those optimal levels, Belfield notes, are sometimes surprisingly extreme. Switzerland, for example, would have to cut wages nearly in half to achieve its “optimal” teacher salary, while Indonesia would have to triple teacher wages. “For four countries, the optimal class size is estimated at fewer than two students per teacher,” Belfield writes.
 
Such anomalies expose the weaknesses in each of the study’s three key elements, Belfield says: “the output measure is questionable, the input measures are unclear, and the econometric method by which they are correlated does not have a straightforward economic interpretation.”
 
Consequently, the report does nothing more than “satisfy an apparent keenness for reports that rank countries – and especially for reports that castigate low-rank countries,” Belfield writes – but it fails, he concludes, to advance an understanding on how to make education more efficient.