Search

To many, it seems obvious which schools are failing--schools whose students perform poorly on achievement tests. But since evaluating schools on achievement mixes the effects of school and nonschool influences, achievement-based evaluation likely underestimates the effectiveness of schools that serve disadvantaged populations. In this article, the authors discuss school-evaluation methods that more effectively separate school effects from nonschool effects. Specifically, the authors evaluate schools using 12-month (calendar-year) learning rates, 9-month (school-year) learning rates, and a provocative new measure, 'impact'--which is the difference between the school-year learning rate and the summer learning rate. Using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study of 1998-99, the authors show that learning- or impact-based evaluation methods substantially change conclusions about which schools are failing. In particular, among schools with failing (i.e., bottom-quintile) achievement levels, less than half are failing with respect to learning or impact. In addition, schools that serve disadvantaged students are much more likely to have low achievement levels than they are to have low levels of learning or impact. The implications of these findings are discussed in relation to market-based educational reform.

The article examines reactivity, the idea that people change their behavior in reaction to being observed, evaluated or measured. It indicates that these public measures change expectations and institutions.

Abstract Following a year-long implementation of a standards-based middle school mathematics curriculum, students were surveyed. The survey revealed that positive attitudes toward mathematics prevailed in each of the six middle [...]

Byline: Catalina Amuedo-Dorantes (1), Traci Mach (2), John D. Clapp (1) Keywords: schools; substance use; governance Abstract: We use data from the two rounds of the NLSY97 and the corresponding QED data to examine the effectiveness of school endowments and curricula in targeting juvenile use of tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana. Our results support the notion that schools matter in reducing juvenile involvement in substance use. Higher discretionary dollars per pupil are linked to reduced rates of juvenile initiation and repetitive use rates of cigarettes and marijuana. Additionally, school curricula, as indicated by the implementation of year round classes and some innovative and after-school programs--such as gifted and talented, attendance monitoring, homework hotline, international baccalaureate, extended-day, and mentoring, programs, affect both juvenile initiation to tobacco and alcohol use and juvenile repetitive use of tobacco and alcohol. In particular, we find that juvenile initiation to cigarette use is approximately between 2 percentage points and 3 percentage points lower among youths attending schools with gifted and talented and international baccalaureate programs. In addition, juvenile repetitive cigarette use is approximately 54%, 52%, and 48% lower among youths attending schools offering year round classes, international baccalaureate, and twenty-first century programs, respectively. Finally, juvenile initiation to alcohol use and juvenile repetitive use of alcohol are approximately 3% and 20% lower, respectively, among youths in schools offering gifted and talented programs. In sum, while these programs are not implemented to address substance use problems among the student body, we find that the implementation of these programs is often accompanied by a reduction in juvenile initiation and repetitive substance use. Author Affiliation: (1) San Diego State University, San Diego, California (2) Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Washington D.C Article History: Registration Date: 18/10/2004

Richard F. Elmore has visited many low performing schools that might fail to meet the provisions of No Child Left Behind (NCLB). He states the requirements to be met and the efforts to be made, in building the capacity of educators and schools to deliver high quality instructions to the students.

The trends in school segregation for schools located in various distances from environmental hazards are examined by drawing upon the political economy and urban ecology of race perspectives. The trends in segregation among eighty-four public grade schools between the years of 1987 and 1999 in Hillsborough County School district are studied.

This article systematically reviews U.S. evidence from cross-sectional research on educational outcomes when schools must compete with each other. Competition typically is measured by using either the Herfindahl Index or the enrollment rate at an alternative school choice. Outcomes are academic test scores, graduation/attainment, expenditures/efficiency, teacher quality, students' post-school wages, and local housing prices. The sampling strategy identified more than 41 relevant empirical studies. A sizable majority report beneficial effects of competition, and many report statistically significant correlations. For each study, the effect size of an increase of competition by one standard deviation is reported. The positive gains from competition are modest in scope with respect to realistic changes in levels of competition. The review also notes several methodological challenges and recommends caution in reasoning from point estimates to public policy. KEYWORDS: competition, markets, school choice.

Research into the preferences of choice households in relation to the school they choose is given. The research shows that Whites, African, and Latinos transfer into charter schools where their groups make up 11 to 14 percentage points more of the student body than traditional public schools.

Sixty-two American and 51 Bulgarian undergraduate students completed surveys of their perceptions of the importance of the student, teacher, and government in education and of an ideal teacher. American students endorsed more prominent roles for students and teachers in formulating curriculum and in assessment than Bulgarians, while Bulgarians endorsed a stronger role for government. As for the role of teacher, Americans endorsed Good Relationships with Students and Enthusiasm as the most important qualities, while Bulgarian students ranked Knowledge as the most important and Enthusiasm as the least important. American students ranked Knowledge behind both Enthusiasm and Relations with Students. Both groups rated Planing low., Differences in perceptions of important institutions often help us understand differences between cultures. Differences in the perceptions of educational institutions may provide useful insights into cultural differences as the role [...]

This article provides an evaluation of two community schools that offer educational and non-educational services to the students and families. The schools are centered in low income Latino and Southeast Asian communities, and the authors maintain the support the student and families receive help them surpass poverty and manage their lives efficiently.

A directory of schools and programs that cater to deaf and hard of hearing students in the US is provided. The directory lists programs and schools by state and city, giving information on program name, address, telephone number and contact person. A program and services chart is also provided. This chart lists programs in each state, and gives information on program types, enrollment, age range, services available amd communication modes.

Advocates for school reform question the academic preparation that students are receiving in America's schools. Two Presidential administrations have responded to the public's demand for accountability in education by offering incentives and support to states that develop academic standards. Critics, however, are concerned that standards alone will not effect change in the classrooms. Teachers must buy into the process and they must receive support from districts in the form of training and time to assimilate new ideas into their teaching., Current levels of student achievement in American schools reflect what some reformers view as a system that encourages 'mediocre and undemanding work' (Cohen, 1995, p. 757). Two Presidential administrations have [...]