Monthly Archive for September, 2006

More WWC

Published on 29 September 2006 in Administration and News. 0 Comments

The What Works Clearinghouse released two new intervention reports this week. One addresses prevention of dropping out and the other focuses on English Language Learning interventions.

Dropout Prevention: High school dropout rates continue to be an issue of national concern. This review focuses on interventions in middle school, junior high school, and high school designed to increase high school completion, including techniques such as the use of incentives, counseling, or monitoring. More information about the Dropout Prevention topic is available at http://www.whatworks.ed.gov/Topic.asp?tid=06&ReturnPage=default.asp.

English Language Learning: English language learners are among the most academically at-risk groups in our schools today, and their numbers will rise steadily in the near future. This review focuses on interventions designed to improve the English language literacy or academic achievement of elementary school students who are English language learners. More information about the English Language Learning topic is available at http://www.whatworks.ed.gov/Topic.asp?tid=10&ReturnPage=default.asp.

It’s good to see this center beginning to crank out the reviews. The announcement promises 40 reports by the end of the year, including reviews covering beginning reading, character education, elementary school math, early childhood education, and middle school math. In addition to the links to individual reports, see the main page for the clearinghouse. For previous Teach Effectively coverage of the W-W-C, look here.

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Model

Published on 26 September 2006 in Musings and News. 0 Comments

Special educators from Kaohsiung Taiwan visited schools in Hacienda La Puente District (CA, US) and, according to a story by Leland Ornelaz, apparently the message they will take home is inclusion. Writing in the Whittier (CA, US) Daily News, Mr. Ornelaz reported that Beth Nishida of the California schools showed high school models of co-teaching to the teachers and administrators from the National Kaohsiung Normal University (a place I visited happily last spring).

Special education students mix with the general population at Los Altos. They learn together and are held to the same educational standards, Nishida said.

Each class has two teachers: one to teach the class and one to aid special education students.

Tsuey-shiang Lin, a principal, said most special education students in Taiwan attend programs that separate them from others.

“Here, we can’t distinguish general education students from special education students,” Lin said.

The delegation will use what they have learned to improve Taiwan’s special education system.

Do you think that’s the most important thing that one should learn from visiting US schools?

Link to Mr. Ornelaz’s story.

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WWC’s new reports

Published on 15 September 2006 in Behavior Management, News and Research. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

The US What Works Clearinghouse announced the release of seven new reports examining the benefits of various interventions. The reports cover methods related to character education, English language learning, and elementary school math. Here’s a clip from an announcement:

  • Character Education: Character education looks at how families, schools, and related social institutions support the positive character development of children and adults. This review focuses on programs designed for use in elementary, middle, or high schools with attention to student outcomes related to positive character development, prosocial behavior, and academic performance. More information about the Character Education topic is available at http://www.whatworks.ed.gov/Topic.asp?tid=12&ReturnPage=default.asp.
  • English Language Learning: English language learners are among the most academically at-risk groups in our schools today, and their numbers will rise steadily in the near future. This review focuses on interventions designed to improve the English language literacy or academic achievement of elementary school students who are English language learners. More information about the English Language Learning topic is available at http://www.whatworks.ed.gov/Topic.asp?tid=10&ReturnPage=default.asp.

  • Elementary School Math: Curriculum-based interventions outline the fundamentals of mathematics that students should know and be able to do, instructional programs and materials that organize the mathematical content, and assessments. This review focuses on curriculum-based math interventions that specify clear learning goals for students and assess student outcomes related to mathematics achievement. More information about the Elementary School Math topic is available at http://www.whatworks.ed.gov/Topic.asp?tid=04&ReturnPage=default.asp.

For previous Teach Effectively coverage of the W-W-C, look here.

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Outside influences are potent

Published on 12 September 2006 in Administration, Musings, News and Research. 0 Comments

Writing in Contemporary Economic Policy John M. Kreig and Paul Storer of Western Washington University compared the characteristics of schools that did and did not meet standards for making adequate yearly progress (AYP) in the US state of Washington. In their paper, entitled “How Much Do Students Matter? Applying the Oaxaca Decomposition to Explain Determinants of Adequate Yearly Progress,” they report a study of 99% of 3rd-, 99% of 6th-, and 93% of 9th-grade students who took national, standardized achievement tests (the Iowa Test of Basic Skills for 3rd- and 6th-graders; the Iowa Test of Educational Developement for 9th-graders). They found that at least 59% and perhaps as high as 96% of the differences between students for overall achievement in schools that do and do not reach AYP standards is accounted for by factors outside the schools’ control (e.g., gender, ethnicity, availability of computers in homes, etc.).

The federal government and many state governments have recently passed legislation that punishes school districts for not showing consistent improvement in standardized test scores. This article measures the extent to which school performance reflects student characteristics. After splitting schools in the state of Washington based on adequate yearly progress, the authors find that an overwhelming percentage of the difference between high- and low-performing schools is explained by characteristics beyond the control of school administrators. Thus legislation designed to penalize poorly performing schools may hurt students who are most in need of academic aid.

That there are substantial effects for features beyond schools’ control is not news. It’s been known since at least the 1960s that many measures of educational inputs (teacher salaries, number of books in libraries, teacher-pupil ratios, etc.) are overwhelmed by the characteristics of children coming to the schools. This does not absolve educators of responsibility for doing as well as they can, however. In fact, in my view, it places an even greater emphasis on providing high-quality instruction: If we educators can only influence a small proportion of the outcomes for students, it behooves us to make the most of that small proportion.

Link to the article (pdf).

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Matthews on ed schools

Published on 10 September 2006 in News and Teacher education. 0 Comments

Jay Matthews, educational columnist for the Washington (DC, US) Post, has had two columns about the failings of education schools, the institutions that are supposed to prepare people to teach. In one he recommends that schools of education take lessons from teachers who have been recognized as outstanding educators by varioius groups and in the other he reviews a book by David Labaree, The Trouble With Ed Schools.

Mr. Matthews makes some good points in these columns. For example, he reports Mr. Labaree’s observations about the lack of impact of teacher preparation on what teachers actually do in classrooms. Sadly, the columns have nothing about teaching effectively.

Link to part 1 and part 2 of Mr. Matthews’ take on ed schools.

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IDEA portal

Published on 5 September 2006 in News. 0 Comments

The US Department of Education has launched a portal that provides quick access to materials relevant to the implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) of 2004. The materials, which include those that are available from the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation and its contractors, are organized by user (students, parents, teachers, or administrator) and content (grants and contracts, financial aid, research and statistics, policy, or programs). The link for the splash page, http://idea.ed.gov, is easy to remember. Use the drop-down menus in the navigation element to locate materials or simply explore the site directly.

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