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Class
size alone not enough to close academic achievement gap
A Northwestern University study
investigating the effects of class size on the achievement gap between high
and low academic achievers suggests that high achievers benefit more from
small classes than low achievers, especially at the kindergarten and first
grade levels.
“While decreasing class size may
increase achievement on average for all types of students, it does not appear
to reduce the achievement gap within a class,” said Spyros Konstantopoulos,
assistant professor at Northwestern’s School of Education and Social Policy. Konstantopoulos’ study, which
appears in the March issue of Elementary School Journal, questions commonly
held assumptions about class size and the academic achievement gap -- one of
the most debated and perplexing issues in education today.
Konstantopoulos worked with data on
mathematics and reading achievement provided by Tennessee’s Project STAR
(Student/Teacher Achievement Ratio), an unprecedented four-year longitudinal
class-size study encompassing over 11,000 K-3 students in 79 schools. The project found, not
surprisingly, that smaller class size is a better situation for the children
at all achievement levels, and previous analyses saw rising achievement on
average. For most advocates, parents, and policy makers, this was enough. But when Konstantopoulos dug
deeper, he found that the children who are already high achievers benefited
the most from the extra attention afforded by smaller classes. Low achievers
also benefited from being in small classes (compared to low achievers in
regular size classes), but they did not benefit as much as high achievers.
Unfortunately, he also found that the smaller classes produced higher
variability in achievement, which indicates that the achievement gap between
low and high achievers is larger in small classes than in regular size
classes, especially in kindergarten and first grade.
Do smaller classes help
students" Yes...and no. Konstantopoulos finds that “although all types
of students benefited from being in small classes, reductions in class size
did not reduce the achievement gap between low and high achievers” He
concludes by calling for more observational studies of classrooms themselves,
as we still do not know how to address one of the most vexing problems—the
achievement gap between students—facing educators and policy-makers, today. “It is likely that high achievers
are more engaged in learning opportunities and take advantage of the teaching
practices that take place in smaller classes, or that they create
opportunities for their own learning in smaller classes,” said
Konstantoupoulos. “Given that class size reduction is
an intervention that benefits all students, it’s tempting to expect that it
also will reduce the achievement gap,” he added. Previous research, however,
has provided weak or no evidence that class reduction benefited
lower-achieving students more than others. The Northwestern study underscores
that research. The Northwestern study findings
suggest that small classes produce significantly higher variability in
achievement than regular classes in kindergarten mathematics and in first
grade reading. Overall the results indicate that class size reduction
increases not only achievement for all students on average, but the
variability in student achievement as well. “It is unfortunate that data about
classroom practices that could be useful in identifying ways of improving
academic success for lower achieving students were not available in Project
STAR,” Konstantopoulos said. “A new randomized experiment with the objective
of collecting high-quality observational data in the classrooms would provide
invaluable information about the effects of small classes.” Children’s under-achievement could be down to
poor working memory Children who under-achieve at
school may just have poor working memory rather than low intelligence
according to researchers. The researchers from Durham
University, who surveyed over three thousand children, have produced the
world's first tool to assess memory capacity in the classroom. They found that ten per cent of
school children across all age ranges suffer from poor working memory
seriously affecting their learning. Nationally, this equates to almost half a
million children in primary education alone being affected. However, the researchers identified
that poor working memory is rarely identified by teachers, who often describe
children with this problem as inattentive or as having lower levels of
intelligence. The new tool, a combination of a
checklist and computer programme informed by several years of concentrated
research into poor working memory in children, will for the first time enable
teachers to identify and assess children’s memory capacity in the classroom
from as early as four years old. The researchers believe this early
assessment of children will enable teachers to adopt new approaches to
teaching, thus helping to address the problem of under-achievement in
schools. Without appropriate intervention,
poor working memory in children, which is thought to be genetic, can affect
long-term academic success into adulthood and prevent children from achieving
their potential, say the academics. Although the tools have already
been piloted successfully in 35 schools across the UK and have now been
translated into ten foreign languages, this is the first time they are widely
available. Working memory is the ability to
hold information in your head and manipulate it mentally. You use this mental
workspace when adding up two numbers spoken to you by someone else without
being able to use pen and paper or a calculator. Children at school need this
memory on a daily basis for a variety of tasks such as following teachers’
instructions or remembering sentences they have been asked to write down. Lead researcher Dr Tracy Alloway
from Durham University’s School of Education, who, with colleagues, has
published widely on the subject, explains further: “Working memory is a bit
like a mental jotting pad and how good this is in someone will either ease
their path to learning or seriously prevent them from learning. “From the various large-scale
studies we have done, we believe the only way children with poor working
memory can go onto achieving academic success is by teaching them how to
learn despite their smaller capacity to store information mentally. “Currently, children are not
identified and assessed for working memory within a classroom setting. Early
identification of these children will be a major step towards addressing
under-achievement. It will mean teachers can adapt their methods to help the
children’s learning before they fall too far behind their peers.” The checklist, called the Working
Memory Rating Scale (WMRS), will enable teachers to identify children who
they think may have a problem with working memory without immediately
subjecting them to a test. A high score on this checklist shows that a child
is likely to have working memory problems that will affect their academic
progress. If the teacher feels significantly
concerned about a child’s performance in class, he or she can then get the
child to do the computerised Automated Working Memory Assessment (AWMA). The
tools also suggest ways for teachers to manage the children’s working memory
loads which will minimise the chances of children failing to complete tasks.
Recommendations include repetition of instructions, talking in simple short
sentences and breaking down tasks into smaller chunks of information. Both tools are published by Pearson
Assessment. The research that provided the foundation for the AWMA was funded
by the Economic and Social Research Council and the British Academy. Case study – Head teacher from
Lakes Primary School in Redcar, Cleveland Lakes Primary School has been
working with Dr Alloway in learning how to identify poor working memory using
the new tools. A number of teachers have been trained to screen the children
for working memory. Head teacher Chris Evans said: “Dr
Alloway’s research into working memory really caught my interest as I could
readily recognise how some children at Lakes School may well suffer from poor
working memory. With some of the staff now trained to identify problems, we
have the knowledge and tools to carry out a proper assessment and have the
skills to help these children be more successful in school.
“We are already beginning to see
children in a different light knowing more about the difficulties faced by
children with impaired working memory. We realise that they are not
daydreamers, inattentive or underachieving, but children who simply need a different
approach. We think these new ways of learning can help both the teacher and
the children to successfully complete their work.”
When do we use working memory in
everyday life? ·
Remembering a new
telephone number, PIN number, web address or vehicle registration number. ·
Following spoken
directions such as go straight over at the roundabout, take the second left
and the building is on the right opposite the church. ·
Remembering the
unfamiliar foreign name of a person who has just been introduced to you for
long enough to enable you to introduce them to someone else. Measuring and combining the correct
amounts of ingredients (rub in 50g of margarine and 100g of flour, and then
add 75g of sugar) when you have just read the recipe but are no longer
looking at the page. Why Do We Have a Knowledge Deficit? The idea that reading skill is
largely a set of general-purpose maneuvers that can be applied to any and all
texts is one of the main barriers to our children's overall low achievement
in reading, argues Policy Perspectives author E. D. Hirsch, Jr. It leads to
activities that are deadening for agile and eager minds, and it carries huge
opportunity costs. These activities take up time that could be devoted to
gaining general knowledge, which, according to Hirsch, is the central
requisite for high reading skill. Writes Hirsch: "We need to help create a
public demand for the kind of knowledge-oriented reading program that is
needed. If that demand arises, then the rest can safely be left to the
cunning of the market, for most of us in the United States desire the same
democratic goal — to give all children an opportunity to succeed that depends
mainly on their own talents and character and not on who their parents happen
to be. We also need to encourage an early curriculum that is oriented to
knowledge rather than the will-o’-the-wisps of general, formal skills." Full paper: http://www.wested.org/online_pubs/pp-07-02.pdf The Enhanced Reading Opportunities Study: Early
Impact and Implementation Findings This report presents early findings from the
Enhanced Reading Opportunities (ERO) study — a demonstration and rigorous
evaluation of two supplemental literacy programs that aim to improve the
reading comprehension skills and school performance of struggling ninth grade
readers. The present report — the first of three — focuses
on the first of two cohorts of ninth grade students who will participate in
the study and discusses the impact that the two interventions had on these
students’ reading comprehension skills through the end of their ninth-grade
year. The report also describes the implementation of the programs during the
first year of the study and provides an assessment of the overall fidelity
with which the participating schools adhered to the program design specified
by the developers. The
Supplemental Literacy Interventions The ERO study is a test of supplemental literacy
interventions that are designed as fully ear courses and targeted to students
whose reading skills are two or more years below grade level as they enter
high school. Two programs — Reading Apprenticeship Academic Literacy,
designed by WestEd, and Xtreme Reading, designed by the University of Kansas
Center for Research on Learning — were selected for the study from a pool of
17 applicants by a national panel of experts on adolescent literacy. To
qualify for the project, the programs were required to focus instruction in
the following areas: (1) student motivation and engagement; (2) reading
fluency, or the ability to read quickly, accurately, and with appropriate
expression; (3) vocabulary, or word knowledge; (4) comprehension, or making
meaning from text; (5) phonics and phonemic awareness (for students who could
still benefit from instruction in these areas); and (6) writing. The overarching goals of both programs are to help
ninth-grade students adopt the strategies and routines used by proficient
readers, improve their comprehension skills, and be motivated to read more
and to enjoy reading. Both programs are supplemental in that they consist of
a year-long course that replaces a ninth-grade elective class, rather than a
core academic class, and in that they are offered in addition to students’
regular English language arts classes. The primary differences between the two literacy
interventions selected for the ERO study lie in their approach to
implementation. Implementation of Reading Apprenticeship Academic
Literacy is guided by the concept of “flexible fidelity” — that is, while the
program includes a detailed curriculum, the teachers are trained to adapt
their lessons to meet the needs of their students and to supplement program
materials with readings that are motivating to their classes. Teachers have
flexibility in how they include various aspects of the Reading Apprenticeship
curriculum in their day-to-day teaching activities, but have been trained to
do so such that they maintain the overarching spirit, themes, and goals of
the program in their instruction. Implementation of Xtreme Reading is guided by the
philosophy that the presentation of instructional material — particularly the
order and timing with which the lessons are presented — is of critical import
to students’ understanding of the strategies and skills being taught. As
such, teachers are trained to deliver course content and materials in a
precise, organized, and systematic fashion designed by the developers. Xtreme
Reading teachers follow a prescribed implementation plan, following specific
day-by-day lesson plans in which activities have allotted segments of time
within each class period. Teachers also use responsive instructional
practices to adapt and adjust to student needs that arise as they move
through the highly structured curriculum. The key findings discussed in the report include
the following: • On average, across the 34 participating high
schools, the supplemental literacy programs improved student reading
comprehension test scores. This impact estimate is statistically significant. Despite the
improvement in reading comprehension, 76 percent of the students who enrolled
in the ERO classes were still reading at two or more years below grade level
at the end of ninth grade. • Although they are not statistically
significant, the magnitudes of the impact estimates for each literacy
intervention are the same as those for the full study sample. • Impacts on reading comprehension are larger
for the 15 schools where (1) the ERO programs began within six weeks of the
start of the school year and (2) implementation was classified as moderately
or well aligned with the program model, compared with impacts for the 19
schools where at least one of these conditions was not met. The difference in impacts on reading comprehension
between these two groups of schools is statistically significant. It is
important to note, however, that these two factors did not necessarily cause
the differences in impacts and that other factors may be also associated with
differences in estimated impacts across schools. Full report: http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/pdf/20084015.pdf The System-wide Change for All
Learners and Educators Project – Math and Science SCALE is a national network of more
than 50 working groups of educators and researchers focused on improving
mathematics and science teaching and learning at all levels. Funded in the 2002
Math and Science Partnership (MSP) competition, this 5-year comprehensive MSP
project currently includes four major urban school districts (Denver Public
Schools, Los Angeles Unified School District, Madison Metropolitan School
District, and Providence (RI) Public Schools), and three universities
(University of Wisconsin-Madison, California State University, Dominguez
Hills and Northridge). The vision of the SCALE partnership
is to make it the rule, instead of the exception, for every student, every year,
to experience high-quality teaching of core mathematics and science concepts.
The partnership brings together mathematicians, scientists, engineers and
education practitioners to build a new approach to reforming K-12 mathematics
and science education. The partnership seeks to improve
the mathematics and science achievement of all students at all grade levels
in the four partner school districts by engaging them in deep and authentic
science and mathematics instructional experiences. Simultaneously, the
partnership seeks to improve pre-service and in-service mathematics and
science professional learning. Finally, the partnership seeks to improve
models of collaboration among K-12 and post-secondary institutions in ways
that more fully integrate engineering, mathematics and science faculty. The
goal is to provide a seamless K-through-Infinity education system in the
service of mathematics and science education for all. Students' performance on annual
math and science assessments improved in almost every age group when their
schools were involved in a program that partners K-12 teachers with their
colleagues in higher education. While an earlier study tracked schools that
began work in the first year of the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Math
and Science Partnership program (MSP), the most recent study followed more
than 300 schools participating in partnerships that began to be funded during
the program's second year. Read more: http://www.scalemsp.org/index.php?q=Student_Results_Show_Benefits More reports: http://www.scalemsp.org/index.php?q=taxonomy_menu/13/121 As Schools Spend More Time on Reading and Math, Curriculum-Narrowing Effect is Revealed Last summer, a groundbreaking report verified what
many in the education and policy communities had long suspected: that a
majority of the nation’s school districts were increasing time spent on
reading and math in elementary schools since the No Child Left Behind Act
became law in 2002, while most of these districts cut back on time spent on
other subjects. A follow-up report issued by the Washington, D.C.-based
Center on Education Policy provides an unprecedented look at the magnitude of
those changes. In its earlier report, CEP found that a majority of
school districts—62 percent— had increased time for English language arts
(ELA) and/or math in elementary schools since school year 2001-02. Meanwhile,
44 percent had increased time for ELA and/or math at the elementary level,
while simultaneously cutting time from one or more areas including science,
social studies, art and music, physical education, recess, and lunch. CEP’s new report, Instructional Time in
Elementary Schools: A Closer Look at Changes for Specific Subjects, examines the size of the shifts in those
districts, in order to determine just how extensive the changes were. According to the report, districts increasing time
for ELA and math had done so by an average of 43 percent, or about three
hours each week. To make room for the added time for ELA and math, districts
reducing time in other areas averaged cuts of about 32 percent across those
subjects, nearly 2.5 hours each week. Some of the districts reduced their
time in one subject, while other districts decreased instructional time in
several areas. “We knew that many school districts had made shifts in the
time spent teaching different subjects since the No Child Left Behind was
enacted, but we had little evidence of the magnitude of these changes within
those districts,” said Jack Jennings, president and CEO of CEP. “Digging
deeper into the data, we now know that the amount of time spent teaching
reading, math and other subjects has changed substantially. In other words,
changes in curriculum are not only widespread but also deep.” According to the report, eight out of 10 of the
districts that increased time for ELA did so by at least 75 minutes per week,
and more than half (54 percent) increased by 150 minutes or more per week, or
at least 30 minutes per day. Of the districts adding time for math, 63
percent increased by at least 75 minutes per week, with 19 percent adding 150
minutes or more per week. Of the districts that both increased time for ELA
or math and reduced time in other subjects, a large majority—72 percent—cut
time by at least 75 minutes per week for one or more of the other subjects.
For example, more than half (53 percent) of these districts cut instructional
time by at least 75 minutes per week in social studies, and the same
percentage (53 percent) cut time by at least 75 minutes per week in science.
Both of CEP’s reports on curriculum, including Instructional Time in
Elementary Schools: A Closer Look at Changes for Specific Subjects, and Choices, Changes, and Challenges:
Curriculum and Instruction in the NCLB Era (July 2007) are based on CEP’s nationally representative
survey of 349 school districts conducted between November 2006 and February
2007. Both reports are part of CEP’s multiyear effort to track the impact of
the No Child Left Behind Act since it became law in 2002, and are available
online at www.cepdc. org. Full report: http://www.cep-dc.org/_data/n_0001/resources/live/InstructionalTimeFeb2008.pdf A Report Card on Comprehensive
Equity Racial Gaps in the Nation's
Youth Outcomes The "achievement gap"
usually refers to the difference between black and white students' basic
skills test scores. But education and youth development consists of more than
basic skills -- it also includes critical thinking, social skills and a work
ethic, citizenship and community responsibility, physical health, emotional
health, appreciation of the arts and literature, and preparation for skilled
work. Greater equity in outcomes requires narrowing the achievement gap in
each of these areas. In this "Report Card on
Comprehensive Equity," the authors estimate the black-white achievement gaps
in each of these aspects of education and youth development, and illustrate
the types of data gathering which should be undertaken for ongoing
measurement of these gaps. Full report: http://www.epi.org/studies/study-report_card.pdf Voucher study finds parity The first full-force examination
since 1995 of Milwaukee's groundbreaking school voucher program has found
that students attending private schools through the program aren't doing much
better or worse than students in Milwaukee Public Schools. The study is the first from a
five-year project aimed at providing a comprehensive evaluation of the
voucher program, which this year is allowing more than 18,000 Milwaukee
children from low-income families to attend private schools, 80% of them
religious schools. The authors caution repeatedly that
stronger conclusions will come only when trends over several years can be
examined, and not much should be read into this year's results. But the early findings, based on
examining standardized test results for voucher students and comparing them
to those of a matched set of MPS students, are unlikely to be seen as good
news by advocates of the program that was launched in 1990 with hopes of being
a powerful step to increase educational success among the city's children. The Milwaukee program is the
largest, oldest and arguably most significant school voucher effort in the
United States. As Patrick J. Wolf, the lead researcher in the project, wrote,
"When one thinks of school choice, one thinks of Milwaukee." "We have displayed a rough and
limited snapshot of the average performance of Choice (Milwaukee Parental
Choice Program) students in certain grades that suggests they tend to perform
below national averages but at levels roughly comparable to similarly
income-disadvantaged students in MPS," Wolf, a professor at the
University of Arkansas, concluded… Full article: http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=721737 Full report: http://www.uark.edu/ua/der/SCDP/Research.html Why Do We Have a Knowledge Deficit?
A new
WestEd Policy Perspectives paper authored by E. D. Hirsch, Jr., argues that
U.S. students are failing at math, science, and reading partly because
reading experts have overlooked the most important aspect of literacy -- that
reading comprehension depends on learning factual background knowledge in a
broad array of subjects. Hirsch
asserts that educators often mistakenly understand reading comprehension to
be a skill, like typing, that can be transferred from one text to another
regardless of topic. That approach, which assumes that students can apply
all-purpose cognitive skills and critical thinking strategies to unfamiliar
texts on any subject, deprives students of the substance and intellectual
structure they need to succeed in reading comprehension. It also
can negatively impact student achievement in all subject areas (not just
reading). The resulting comprehension deficit is apparent in fourth-grade
achievement scores nationwide, and it becomes more acute as students advance
through each successive grade. "The
only thing that transforms reading skill and critical thinking skill into
general, all-purpose abilities is a student's possession of general,
all-purpose knowledge," says Hirsch. "Cognitive science shows that
domain-specific background knowledge is the key to comprehension." According
to Hirsch, American educators have uncritically adopted notions about
learning inherited from romanticism, an anti-intellectual 19th century
movement, and therefore believe that reading is a natural stage of child
development; in other words, children will naturally develop "reading
readiness" and learn to read as readily as they learned to talk.
American educators also mistakenly believe that kids need only learn formal
reading skills disembodied from content, such as prediction, summarizing,
questioning, and clarifying. When student achievement remains low, despite
teachers' good-faith efforts to teach such formal skills and create
naturalistic learning environments, educators too often blame other factors
-- such as poverty and social inequities -- rather than faulty reading
comprehension methods. Full paper: http://www.wested.org/online_pubs/pp-07-02.pdf Improving Teacher Quality The process of improving teacher
quality requires interpreting research and understanding the practical
realities of schools. To help administrators and policymakers improve the
quality of teachers and instruction, the new resource Teacher Quality
Research (TQR) provides research evidence on the characteristics and education
of effective teachers. The site addresses questions including, What is the
best way to measure each teacher’s contribution to student achievement—their
“value-added?" What teacher characteristics are associated with higher
teacher value-added? Are teachers with high value-added also considered
effective according to other measures? TQR research focuses on the
distinction between centralized and decentralized approaches to improving
teacher quality and on the different ways that teacher quality measures can
be used. TQR is a partnership between Florida State University and the
University of Wisconsin-Madison, and is funded by the U.S. Department of
Education and the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS).
More information is available here: http://www.teacherqualityresearch.org/ Parental intervention boosts
education of kids at high risk of failure University of Oregon
neuroscientists are using basic research findings to address real world
problems An eight-week-long intervention
program aimed at parents from low socioeconomic backgrounds reaped
significant educational benefits in their preschool-aged children. Courtney Stevens, a postdoctoral
research fellow in the Brain Development Lab of UO neuroscientist Helen J.
Neville, described preliminary results of a parent-intervention portion of a
larger study that also includes other approaches aimed at the children in a
federal Head Start program in Oregon. The parent training program was
developed by UO doctoral student Jessica Fanning, who recently completed her
dissertation. At the end of the intervention
effort, participating parents reported dramatic reductions in family stress,
including reduced behavioral problems, compared to parents in the control
group. The UO researchers also documented, through testing and brain-wave
scans, improvements in the children's language-acquisition skills, memory and
cognitive abilities. The experimental group included 14
children between 3 and 5 years old and their parents. The children underwent
brain scans before and after the research period. The parents attended weekly
2.5-hour sessions in which they were coached on improved communication skills
and strategies to use with their children to help control their behavior. At
the end of testing, they were compared with results from a control group of
14 children who were tested and had brain scans at the beginning and end of
the study period, but whose parents did not receive an intervention protocol. "Our findings are important
because they suggest that kids who are at high risk for school failure can be
helped through these interventions," said Stevens, who earned master's
and doctoral degrees at the UO and is currently a visiting faculty member at
New York's Sarah Lawrence College. "Even with these small numbers of
children, the parent training appears very promising. "We are continuing to assess
the parent training program," she added. "We are looking at the
effects of the training on children's brain organization, using event-related
brain potentials. We are following these children for the next few years to
see whether the improvements we see after training persist and generalize to
the school environment." The intervention strategies, being
tested with funding from the Institute of Education Science, were created
after 30 years of basic research by Neville on the changeability of the human
brain, supported primarily by the National Institutes of Health. Neville has
studied children and adults with a variety of experiences, including deafness
and blindness, to see impacts in the brain. She had found that the auditory
cortex and areas of the brain associated with visual abilities -- for years
thought to be genetically determined at birth -- rewire and adapt for other
helpful uses. Neville, who initially was
scheduled to present the new findings, did not attend the AAAS meeting. She
described her early work in an interview at the UO. "We've identified different
neuroplasticity profiles," Neville said. "Within vision, within
hearing, within attention and within language some systems in the brain don't
seem to change very much when experiences are very different, and others
change remarkably. As we looked more into basic development and developmental
disorders, these same systems that were enhanced in the deaf and blind were
the same ones that appear to be most vulnerable and deficient in disorders
such as dyslexia and specific language impairments. "We've learned that plasticity
is a double-edged sword," she said. "A system that is changeable
can be enhanced, but it can also be very vulnerable to deficits if it doesn’t
get the appropriate help at the right time." Catching children while they are
young is the right time, Neville said. Targeting children from families with
low socioeconomic status makes sense, she said, because research in the
United States, United Kingdom and several other countries has repeatedly
shown a correlation between children's educational achievement and their
parents' education and income levels. "Knowing the plasticity
profiles and learning which are most changeable provides us with an
opportunity to help in the real world," she said. A societal payoff for
such interventions is economic, she added. "The research is not just
good for the children; it is good for the economy. "Economists say that
investment in early education returns $18 for every dollar spent." Children with autism may learn
from 'virtual peers' Using “virtual peers” -- animated
life-sized children that simulate the behaviors and conversation of typically
developing children -- Northwestern University researchers are developing
interventions designed to prepare children with autism for interactions with
real-life children. Justine Cassell, professor of
communication studies and electrical engineering and computer science,
recently presented a preliminary study on the work at a meeting of the
American Association for the Advancement of Science. “Children with high-functioning
autism may be able to give you a lecture on a topic of great interest to them
but they can’t carry on a ‘contingent’ -- or two-way -- conversation,” said
Cassell, director of Northwestern’s Center for Technology and Social
Behavior. Cassell and researcher Andrea
Tartaro collected data from six children with high-functioning autism aged 7
to 11 as they engaged in play during an hour-long session with a real-life
child, and with a virtual peer named Sam. In an analysis of those
interactions, they found that children with autism produced more and more
“contingent” sentences when they spoke with the virtual peer, while their
sentences did not become increasingly contingent when they were paired with
the real-life children. “Certainly we’re not saying that
virtual peers make the best playmates for children with autism,” said
Tartaro. “The overall goal is for the children with autism to generalize the
skills they learn in practice sessions with virtual peers to meaningful
interactions with real-world children.” Nor are Northwestern researchers
saying they can teach “contingency” -- appropriate back and forth
conversation -- in a single session. But their findings hold promise that
virtual peers can be useful in helping children with autism develop
communication and social skills. And virtual peers have some
distinct advantages over real-life children when it comes to practicing
social skills. For starters, children with autism often like technology. “It
interacts to us,” said one child with autism upon first meeting a virtual
peer. What’s more, said Cassell, virtual
peers don’t get tired or impatient. “We can program their conversation to
elicit socially-skilled behavior, and we can vary the way that they look and
behave so children with autism are exposed to different kinds of behavior.” Cassell and Tartaro’s study is part
of larger efforts taking place in the Articulab, the Northwestern University
laboratory where Cassell and colleagues explore how people communicate with
and through technology. In the Articulab, Cassell, who was
trained as a psychologist and linguist, and Tartaro are teaming up with
psychologist Miri Arie to develop assessment and intervention procedures that
they hope will give them a better understanding of peer behaviors of children
with autism. A major challenge for children with
autism is learning the rules of social behavior that typically developing
children seem to learn intuitively. “Although children’s play appears
spontaneous and wild, it follows certain basic social rules,” said Arie. “We
hope virtual peers like Sam will allow children with autism to practice the
rules behind joining a game, holding a conversation and maintaining social
interaction. Then they can apply their newly acquired skills to real-life
situations.” For further information about
Cassell’s work at the Articulab, visit http://articulab.northwestern.edu/. Bullying Victimization Study A University of Denver study shows
a curriculum-based bullying prevention program reduced incidents of bullying
by 20 percent, twice as much as in the study control group. Jeffrey M. Jenson and William A.
Dieterich of the University of Denver’s Graduate School of Social Work
studied more than 1,100 students in 28 elementary schools in Denver public
schools. One group was exposed to a bullying prevention program called “Youth
Matters” (YM). A second “control” group of students was not. Self-reported bully victimization
among students taking the “Youth Matters” curriculum decreased at 20 percent
compared to a 10 percent drop from students in the control group. “By the end of the study bully
victimization was significantly lower in the YM group relative to the control
group,” Jenson reports. “This outcome is encouraging because the curriculum
modules tested in the study focused on teaching the social and emotional
skills necessary to avoid becoming a bully victim.” The results are detailed in a
paper, “Effects of a Skills-based Prevention Program on Bullying and Bully
Victimization among Elementary School Children,” published in the December
2007 issue of Prevention Science by the Society for Prevention Research. Previous research has shown that
about 25 percent of elementary students either bully or are victims of
bullying. Studies also suggest that both bullies and victims are at risk for
later mental health problems and involvement in anti-social activities.
Educators have focused attention on bullying in the wake of school shootings
over the last decade. In some of those cases there were indications that the
shooters had themselves been bullied as young children. Students in the Jenson-Dieterich
study who participated in the “Youth Matters” curriculum received training in
four 10-week modules over the course of two academic years. The curriculum
focused on two themes: issues and skills related to bullying and other forms
of early aggression. In skills instruction, students
learned how to use social and interpersonal skills to decrease the likelihood
of being bullied by classmates. They also were taught ways to stand up for
themselves and others, and instruction in asking for help when confronted by
a bully. The goal of the training was to teach students how to use these
skills to stay out of trouble, build positive relationships, make good decisions,
and avoid anti-social behavior. “Understanding the consequences of
bullying from both a bully and a victim perspective is emphasized in training
sessions,” Jenson reports. “Our findings point to the importance of social
and emotional skills in reducing bullying.” Stock Investing Program Improves
Academic Performance Middle school students
participating in a stock investing program that teaches them strategies for
earning, saving and investing money outperformed other students in several
key academic areas, according to researchers at the Center for the Social
Organization of Schools at The Johns Hopkins University. The seventh-graders who took part
in the Stocks in the Future program scored 31 percent higher in reading,
vocabulary and math than did students in a control group, and sixth-grade
participants’ scores were 18 percent higher in reading comprehension and
math. These results reflect the positive
impact of the supplemental program, which was offered to 400 students in
Baltimore and Washington who were identified as needing incentives to improve
school performance. The study included students at Barclay School, Francis
Scott Key Elementary/Middle School and Oakland Mills Middle School in
Baltimore City; Deep Creek Middle School and Dundalk Middle School in
Baltimore County; and Washington Jesuit Academy in Washington, D.C. The scripted Stocks in the Future
curriculum was developed at the Center for Social Organization of Schools.
Under the terms of the program, students who attend school regularly and
improve their grades earn “SIF Dollars” that enable them to buy real,
publicly traded stocks, which they receive when they graduate from high
school and turn 18. “The positive impact of the Stocks
in the Future program is substantial,” said Anne Swain, a CSOS employee who
is also executive director of the program. “Stocks in the Future helps
students improve their school performance in core academic areas of reading
and math, while the incentive provides a needed ‘excuse’ to attend school.” Proven effective during a
multi-year pilot, Stocks in the Future is ready to launch its program
throughout the region, Swain said. Related Web site (including study
results):
Stocks in the Future: http://www.stocksinthefuture.org/live/index.htm State High School Exit Exams: A Move Toward End-of-Course Exams
States continue to move toward
end-of-course exams. The use of end-of-course exams as a graduation
requirement began with one state in 2002, four states in 2007, and an
expected 12 states in 2015. This brief illustrates this shift and summarizes
some of the upcoming changes. Full report: http://www.cep-dc.org/_data/n_0001/resources/live/HSEEPolicyMoveTowardEOCExamsJan2008.pdf More than 1/3 of states have
raised high school standards and graduation requirements While a majority of states have
committed to raise expectations for high school students, more than one-third
have already adopted college- and career-ready standards and graduation
requirements, according to a report from the Washington, D.C.-based Achieve,
Inc. According to the third annual
report from Achieve, Closing the Expectations Gap 2008,
states have made the most progress in aligning academic standards and raising
graduation requirements, but have moved more slowly on putting complementary
tests, data, and accountability systems into place. “Its clear that states are leading
the way in ensuring that students leave high school with the knowledge and skills
they need to be successful in college and careers,” said Michael Cohen,
president of Achieve. “For states this is not just an academic exercise, it’s
about preparing students for the global economy and the demands of
citizenship in an increasingly complex world.” Currently, 18 states and the
District of Columbia now require students to complete a college and
career-ready curriculum in order to earn a diploma, including four years of
challenging mathematics through at least Algebra II and four years of
rigorous English, and 12 states are expected to follow suit. Just three years
ago, only two states had such requirements in place. In addition to raising graduation
requirements, states have also achieved significant progress in making
academic standards rigorous enough in English and mathematics so that they
reflect the expectations of colleges and employers. Nineteen states now
report that their high school standards are aligned with college and
workplace expectations, and 26 more are in the process of aligning standards
or plan to do so. In comparison, far fewer states
have developed college and career-ready testing systems or moved to hold high
schools accountable for the readiness of their students. Additional findings
from the report include the following: · Testing: nine states now administer
college readiness tests to all high school students, while 23 others plan to
do so. · Accountability: four states now hold high schools
accountable for the college readiness of their graduates and offer incentives
for improving college-ready graduation rates, while seven more are planning
to do so. · Data Systems: eight states now have
longitudinal data systems that can track students from pre-K through college
graduation, while 39 states have plans to develop such systems. “The pace and the progress of high
school reform efforts are encouraging,” said Matthew Gandal, executive vice
president of Achieve, “but no state has done everything that is necessary to
close the gap between what is required of students in high school and what
will be expected of them after they graduate. Higher standards must be
accompanied by better assessments and next generation accountability systems
if we are to realize the goal of all students graduating college and career
ready.” The report comes three years after
45 of the nation’s governors joined leaders from education and business to
make high school reform a national priority at the 2005 National Education
Summit on High Schools. Acknowledging that too few high school students
graduate prepared for college and 21st-century jobs, governors at the Summit
committed to dramatic state action to raise high school expectations and
achievement in order to help ensure the nation’s competitive position in the
global economy. Since the Summit, 32 states have
joined the American Diploma Project (ADP) Network, a coalition of states
committed to preparing all students for college and work. Collectively, the
ADP Network states educate nearly 75 percent of all U.S. public school
students. Achieve provides policy leadership, and support to the ADP Network
states, who announced in 2007 the development of a common Algebra II
end-of-course test that will be used across some of the states that are part
of the Network. For more information, please
visit www.achieve.org. Full report: http://www.achieve.org/files/50-state-2008-prepub.pdf The American High School
Graduation Rate: Trends and Levels National Bureau of Economic
Research (NBER)
This paper uses multiple data
sources and a unified methodology to estimate the trends and levels of the
U.S. high school graduation rate. Correcting for important biases that plague
previous calculations, we establish that (a) the true high school graduation
rate is substantially lower than the official rate issued by the National
Center for Educational Statistics; (b) it has been declining over the past 40
years; (c) majority/minority graduation rate differentials are substantial
and have not converged over the past 35 years; (d) the decline in high school
graduation rates occurs among native populations and is not solely a
consequence of increasing proportions of immigrants and minorities in
American society; (e) the decline in high school graduation explains part of
the recent slowdown in college attendance; and (f) the pattern of the decline
of high school graduation rates by gender helps to explain the recent
increase in male-female college attendance gaps. You may purchase this paper
on-line in .pdf format from SSRN.com ($5) for electronic
delivery. Education and Economic Mobility A major new look at the trends and
issues impacting economic opportunity for Americans was released by the
Economic Mobility Project, an initiative of The Pew Charitable Trusts. “Getting Ahead or Losing Ground:
Economic Mobility in America,” is authored by three Brookings Institution
scholars, Julia B. Isaacs, Isabel V. Sawhill and Ron Haskins and includes new
chapters on education, wealth, international comparisons and trends over
time. These, combined with previously released chapters on gender,
race, immigration and families, comprise the entire volume As income growth has slowed for the
typical family and income inequality has increased since the 1970s, many
middle class Americans are anxious about their own and their children’s
economic prospects,” said Sawhill. “These insecurities need to be
assessed against the backdrop of whether the opportunity to improve one’s lot
remains strong.” Most Americans believe that the
road to achieving the American Dream passes through the schoolhouse
door. This chapter examines evidence of the returns to schooling in the
American economy, changes in the average level of education by various groups
of Americans during the twentieth century, and the role of education and
family background in promoting economic mobility. Across every income group,
Americans are more likely to surpass their parents’ income in absolute terms
if they earn a college degree, reinforcing the conventional wisdom that
higher education provides a means for opportunity. The report, authored
by Ron Haskins and using data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, finds
that 84 percent of Americans born into the bottom quintile who earn a college
degree move up at least one rung on the economic ladder—and 19 percent make
it to the top. This compares to only 5 percent of those born into the
bottom that make it to the top without a college degree. Yet, family background plays an
equally, if not more important, role than education. Of Americans born
into the top quintile who earn a college degree, 54 percent remain there as
adults; nearly triple the percentage of college graduates born to parents at
the bottom that make it to the top of the income distribution. Perhaps
more strikingly, 23 percent of those born into the top quintile that do not
get a degree stay at the top as adults, a slightly higher percentage than the
number of college graduates from the bottom quintile who manage to climb to
the top. “The good news is that education
matters and provides a robust return to all Americans,” said
Haskins. “The more sobering news is that family background still
has a big impact on economic success and the nation’s educational system does
not do enough to help poor children overcome their family background.” Full report: http://www.economicmobility.org/assets/pdfs/EMP_Education_ChapterVIII.pdf One Hundred CALIFORNIA HIGH SCHOOLS ACCOUNT
FOR MORE THAN 40 PERCENT OF THE STATE’S DROPOUTS State
Data Shows Charter and Alternative High Schools Account for Disproportionate
Number of Dropouts A
study indicates that a relatively small group of California schools account
for a significant number of high school dropouts. Based on data from the
California Basic Educational Data System (CBEDS), the study conducted by the
California Dropout Research Project (CDRP) shows that just 100 high
schools--out of 2,462 high schools in California--account for more than 40
percent of the state’s dropouts. “While
the dropout crisis is systemic, this latest research tells us that we don’t
need to fix every school to begin addressing the dropout crisis,” said
Russell W. Rumberger, UCSB professor of education and director of CDRP. “We
need to focus our energy and resources on finding solutions to improve the
schools and school districts with the highest number of dropouts. Even in
challenging budget times, there are immediate and cost-effective steps we can
take to turn the tide.” The
California State Department of Education collects data for CBEDS from all
2,462 public high schools. CDRP has taken the CBEDS data, and for the first
time, enabled it to be sorted in a user-friendly way by county, district,
school, enrollment, number of dropouts and dropout rates. In addition, CDRP has classified the
data by type of school: “traditional” schools --regular comprehensive high
schools--and “non-traditional” schools, which include charter and alternative
schools. The entire list of
schools is available at http://www.lmri.ucsb.edu/dropouts/sb7table.php. Highlights
from CDRP Statistical Brief 7, entitled Which California High Schools Have
the Most Dropouts (http://www.lmri.ucsb.edu/dropouts/) include: §
Just 100
California high schools--4 percent of high schools and enrolling 11 percent
of all students--account for more than 40 percent of all California dropouts. §
Twenty-five
California high schools--1 percent of high schools--account for 21 percent of
the state’s dropouts (See page three of this press release for the list of these
25 schools). §
The average
individual school dropout rate in California is 3.5 percent. More than half of California high
schools have dropout percentages less than or equal to the state average. §
Seventy-three high
schools have dropout rates greater than 50 percent. §
Six-hundred
sixty-two schools (27 percent), report zero dropouts. Non-traditional schools
account for a majority of these zero dropout schools. -
california
schools with the most dropouts – Page 2 o
Of the 10 schools
with the highest number of dropouts, seven are charter, two are alternative
and one is a traditional high school. o
Of the 100 schools
with the highest number of dropouts, 42 are non-traditional. o
Seventy-three of
the 74 schools with dropout rates above 50 percent are non-traditional
schools. o
Non-traditional
schools enroll 12 percent of California’s high school students and account
for 50 percent of all California’s dropouts. “Many
alternative schools serve disadvantaged students who are often not well
served in traditional high schools, so school dropout rates, by themselves,
do not reveal whether a school is effective or ineffective in improving the
likelihood that students will graduate,” noted Rumberger. “As with
traditional public high schools, there are charter and alternative schools
that are doing a great job and are models of innovation and others that are
not,” added Rumberger. A companion report also released
today by CDRP, Statistical Brief 8, analyzes the CBEDS data by school
district. The data show that the proportion of students that districts enroll
in non-traditional high schools varies greatly: 196 districts enroll 6
percent or fewer of their students in non-traditional schools, while 42 districts
enroll more than 17 percent of the students in non-traditional schools.
Districts with more students enrolled in non-traditional schools have higher district
dropout rates. Simply as a function of its size,
the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) has the highest number of
dropouts in the state, with 10,588 dropouts (15 percent of the state
total). However, LAUSD’s overall
dropout rate is five percent, ranking them 75th among the 531 school districts
enrolling ninth through twelfth graders. A list of all California school districts is available at http://www.lmri.ucsb.edu/dropouts/sb8table.php. Full
report: http://www.lmri.ucsb.edu/dropouts/ Time spent in physical education
does not negatively affect academic performance Among girls, higher amounts of
physical education may be associated with an academic benefit. Using data from the Early Childhood
Longitudinal Study, researchers examined the association between time spent
in physical education and academic achievement in a nationally representative
sample of U.S. students entering kindergarten in fall 1998 who were followed
through fifth grade. Researchers found that physical education did not appear
to negatively affect academic achievement in elementary school students.
Furthermore, a small but significant benefit for academic achievement in math
and reading was observed for girls enrolled in higher amounts of physical
education. “Physical education should be
promoted for its many benefits, and fear of negatively affecting academic
achievement does not seem to be a legitimate reason for reducing or
eliminating programs in physical education,” the study’s authors said. [From:
“Physical Education and Academic Achievement in Elementary School: Data from
the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study.” Full report: http://www.ajph.org/cgi/reprint/AJPH.2007.117176v1 California Sees Little Success With Struggling
Schools Facing “Restructuring” Under No Child Left
Behind Over 1,000 Schools Now Face Sanctions; Few
Have Made AYP Because of its long history of school
accountability dating back to the mid 1990s, California is one of the first
states to see a significant number of persistently low performing schools
face restructuring—the No Child Left Behind Act’s ultimate sanction for
struggling schools. As a result, education officials and policymakers
nationwide are monitoring the state’s experience in working to lift
achievement in the struggling schools. That experience, however, has been largely
frustrating, according to a new report from the Washington, D.C.-based Center
on Education Policy (CEP), a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that has
tracked the impact of the No Child Left Behind Act since it became law in
2002. The number of California schools in restructuring,
which have missed adequate yearly progress (AYP) targets for five or more
consecutive years, has increased by over 150 percent since 2005-06—about 300
schools per year over the last two years. The total number now stands at
1,013, representing about 11 percent of all California public schools and by
far the largest number in any state nationwide. While urban schools are still
the majority of the 1,013 schools in restructuring (60 percent), the
proportion of suburban schools among all of California’s schools in
restructuring has risen to about 35 percent. By entering restructuring, the schools are
subjected to a number of major, school -wide reform strategies intended to
dramatically boost their performance. However, the report indicates that few
schools have raised achievement enough to exit the improvement status. Based
on 2006-07 testing, only 33 schools, or 5 percent of schools in restructuring
that year, raised test scores enough to exit improvement. In 2005-06, just 10
schools, or 3 percent of those in restructuring, exited improvement. Overall,
several hundred schools have been in restructuring for six years or more,
having failed to meet performance targets after years of restructuring. “California’s experience shows how difficult it is
to turn around schools facing so many challenges,” said Jack Jennings,
president and CEO of the Center on Education Policy. “We should all have a
sense of humility about the complexity of this task, and not go rushing off
looking for simplistic solutions.” The study, Managing More Than A Thousand
Remodeling Projects: School Restructuring in California, finds that among the five restructuring options
in federal law, a large majority of California schools implementing
restructuring in 2006-07—90 percent—used the “any-other option,” which allows
schools and districts to take any major action aside from the other four
options to produce fundamental change in the school’s governance structure.
Actions taken under this option varied widely, from adding district employees
to guide each restructuring school to dividing schools into several smaller
schools. In contrast, far fewer schools elected to turn school management
over to an outside organization (10 percent) or reopen as a charter school (1
percent). Meanwhile, the report finds that no single federal
restructuring option, based on statistical analysis, has proved to be more
effective than the others in helping schools meet overall AYP targets overall
or AYP targets in English language arts or math separately. As part of its report, CEP conducted in-depth case
studies of four California school districts with schools in
restructuring—Grant Joint Union, Oakland Unified, Palmdale Elementary, and
Tahoe- Truckee Joint Unified—and of nine restructuring schools within those
districts. In its case studies, CEP found that in their efforts to boost achievement: § Schools have employed multiple strategies
beyond federal restructuring options, including using data to inform instructional decisions; increasing
teacher collaboration and team planning time; adding teacher or principal
coaches; and changing schedules to allow more time for special instruction
for struggling students.
§ Non-academic factors appear to compromise
efforts to raise achievement. Interviews with district and school officials revealed that many
believe that efforts to improve student achievement are compromised in part
by the challenges of working with students who arrive at school unprepared to
learn, lack support for homework, are influenced by gangs, or face other
problems often found in low-income communities. According to the report, federal
and state officials can take several steps to assist California districts and
schools in the restructuring process, including: § Provide more guidance on how to raise achievement
and additional monitoring of the effectiveness of ongoing restructuring
efforts; § Examine non-academic supports, given the impact
of factors in students’ lives outside of school on their achievement; and § Expand funding for school
improvement to overcome the situation in California and other states that
have improvement efforts undermined by declines in available resources and
sharp increases in the numbers of schools that need funding. Full
report: http://www.cep-dc.org/_data/n_0001/resources/live/CARestructuringFeb2008.pdf Education Next: Under Mayor Bloomberg's
Control, Many Innovations and Much Controversy for New York City Schools Results More Positive in Math
Than in Reading Have New York City’s public school
children received a better education while Mayor Michael Bloomberg has been
at the reins of the city’s schools? The question is likely to be extremely
important if the multibillionaire businessman-turned-New York City mayor
decides to throw his hat into the ring as an independent candidate in the
U.S. presidential race. Bloomberg has staked much of his
political reputation on his ability to reform the dismal performance of the
city’s schools. Education Next contributing editor Peter Meyer examines the mayor’s progress in the
new issue of the journal (spring 2008). Using data from both the New York
state tests and the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), the
article tracks changes in city test scores against changes statewide to see
if New York City schools are improving at a more rapid rate than schools
across the state. In math, test scores for New York
City students have clearly risen during Bloomberg’s tenure. Between 2003 and
2007 the percentage of fourth graders performing at the proficient level or
above on the state Regents exam was 5.6 percentage points higher than that of
fourth graders in the state as a whole; for eighth graders that improvement
was 3.4 percentage points. The NAEP results show a similar pattern: Average
fourth-grade scores improved by 3 points more in New York City than
statewide, whereas New York City eighth-grade scores improved by 4 points
more than students state-wide. The picture in reading, however, is
the opposite. On the Regents exam, the percentage of New York City fourth
graders performing at the proficient level dropped, by a slight 0.2
percentage points, compared to the state as a whole. At the eighth-grade
level, the number of proficient students dropped 2.5 percentage points.
Similarly, the average score of city fourth graders on the NAEP improved by
only 1 point over the state average, and the scores of city eighth graders
slipped by 2 points. The overall pattern in the NAEP
reading and math tests is also evident in the city’s African American
students. In math, the average fourth-grade test scores of African Americans
students in New York City maintained pace with African American students
statewide, and eighth graders closed the gap by 2 points. But in reading the
difference between city and state test scores widened by 2 points at the
fourth-grade level and by 5 points at the eighth-grade level. After assuming office in 2002,
Bloomberg and New York City Schools Chancellor Joel Klein introduced sweeping
changes to the school district, first centralizing, then decentralizing,
power. Klein dissolved the 32 community boards and created 10 regional
districts, under his direct command. During the next five years, Bloomberg
and Klein pushed for more charter schools (starting 45); dramatically
increased the number of small middle and high schools (231 of them), enticing
the Gates Foundation to contribute more than $100 million to the effort;
established a “leadership academy” (with more than $70 million in private
funds) to train principals; and eliminated “social promotion” in the third
and fifth grades. Bloomberg also put in place a new
rating system for schools, principals, and teachers; a financing scheme that
would get more money to needier schools; a process of rigorous review of
teachers before granting tenure; and more principal autonomy, tied to a sharp
increase in the role of private and nonprofit groups in school organization
and administration. Why have Bloomberg’s reforms had a
greater impact on math scores than reading? That cannot be ascertained with
any certainty, Meyer says. But he points out that critics, such as education
historian Diane Ravitch, have been particularly severe on New York City's reading
strategy. Bloomberg’s former deputy chancellor, Diane Lam, who resigned in
2004 amid a storm of controversy, ended the city’s highly regarded
phonics-based program and replaced it with a whole language-leaning,
“balanced literacy” one. The city spent hundreds of millions of dollars
retraining teachers and then ordered schools to devote 150 minutes of every
school day to the program. Despite those efforts, critics have been quick to
point out that New York City students have, for the most part, lost ground in
reading when compared with their peers across the state. Apparently, however, many New
Yorkers are impressed with Bloomberg’s efforts. A November 2007 Quinnipiac
University poll showed that, by a 47 to 25 percent margin, voters consider
Bloomberg’s takeover a success. And, in 2007, the city won the Broad Prize
for Urban Education, awarded by the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation. Read “New York City’s Education
Battles” online at http://www.hoover.org/publications/ednext/15548227.html Does socializing make us
smarter? Research published in
Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin by SAGE Article lead author Oscar Ybarra
and his colleagues at the University of Michigan explored the possibility
that social interaction improves mental functioning. In a series of related
studies, they tested the participants’ level of cognitive functioning,
comparing it to the frequency of participants’ social interactions. They
found that people who engaged in social interaction displayed higher levels
of cognitive performance than the control group. Social interaction aided
intellectual performance. “Social interaction,” the authors
suggest, “helps to exercise people’s minds. People reap cognitive benefits
from socializing,” They speculate that social interaction “exercises”
cognitive processes that are measured on intellectual tasks. “It is
possible,” the authors conclude, “that as people engage socially and mentally
with others, they receive relatively immediate cognitive boosts.” The article, “Mental Exercising
Through Simple Socializing: Social Interaction Promotes General Cognitive
Functioning,” written by Oscar Ybarra, Eugene Burnstein, Piotr Winkielman,
Matthew C. Keller, Melvin Manis, Emily Chan, and Joel Rodriguez of the
University of Michigan, and published by SAGE in the February issue of
Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, is available at no charge for a
limited time at http://psp.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/34/2/248. K-20 Partnership: A Definition and Proof of
Concept Recent calls to improve preservice
teacher education have prompted policymakers and others to rethink models of
instructional improvement and teacher preparation. One model involves
partnerships between K–12 institutions and institutions of higher education,
or K–20 partnerships. To determine the value of partnerships for improving
teaching, learning, and educational institutions, evaluators must make firm
links between partnerships, interventions, and outcomes. The authors
carefully define ‘partnership’ to distinguish it from other forms of
organization and inter-organizational relationships. They test their
definition through a proof-of-concept study. http://www.wcer.wisc.edu/publications/workingPapers/Working_Paper_No_2007_09.php Children show goal-oriented
behavior by age 3 Study shows when kids'
actions reflect their awareness that some outcomes are worth chasing more
than others After the terrible twos come the
goal-oriented threes. Kids seem to grow into the ability to act in pursuit of
goals outside of what they can immediately sense sometime around that age,
according to a new study published in the February issue of the Journal of
Experimental Psychology: General, published by the American Psychological
Association (APA). Researchers found that by around
age 3, children appear to shape their behavior in response to the outcomes
they’ve come to expect. Anticipated outcomes that they value move them to act
more than do outcomes that they don’t – a hallmark of emerging autonomy. At the University of Cambridge, a
trio of psychologists trained 72 children between 18 months and 4 years old,
divided into three 10-month age bands (averaging 1.3 to 2.2 years, 2.3 to
3.075 years, and 3.08 to 4 years) to touch a red or green butterfly icon on a
touch-screen display to see different cartoon video clips. The children came to
associate one butterfly with one cartoon sequence and the other butterfly
with another. After that, the experimenters
devalued one of the outcomes by showing that sequence repeatedly, until the
children became bored with it. Thus, the less-viewed cartoon clips became, by
contrast, more interesting and valuable. The researchers then re-tested the
children, who should now have associated one butterfly with a valued cartoon
and the other butterfly with a less-valued cartoon. Relative to the younger children,
those who were 32 months (nearly 3 years) and older touched the butterfly for
the less-valued cartoon significantly less often than they touched the
butterfly for the more novel cartoon. During that test, the cartoons were not
actually presented; the children had to rely on their memories of which
butterfly icon produced which cartoon. This test thus showed that the actions
of the older children behavior depended on the current values of the
outcomes, whereas the actions of the younger children did not. Co-author Ulrike Klossek, PhD,
points out that although all the children were sensitive to changes in
outcome value and preferred the less-repeated cartoon, only the older
children actually acted in a way that, based on their experience, would get
them their favorite cartoon. The authors said that although
adults take goal-directed action for granted, it’s not in us from birth but
rather emerges in a normal developmental timeline that, according to this and
similar studies, appears to emerge roughly between the ages of 2 and 3 years
-- hence the “terrible twos.” “One possible interpretation is
that the period between 2 and 3 years of age brings about a transition in
behavioral control from stimulus-outcome learning to fully intentional
goal-directed action,” the authors wrote. In other words, by age 3, children
can pursue specific goals even if they cannot directly sense those goals,
which may now be more abstract. These older toddlers are sensitive to how
goals change in value, begin to internalize their relationship to and control
over events, and start to act in ways that will help them reach the goals
they value most – such as more exciting cartoons. It’s all a part of growing up. As
the authors concluded, “This capacity [to internalize one’s control over the
environment] is an important component of becoming a fully autonomous
intentional agent.” School Readiness in Hawaii This report looks at the different facets of school
readiness and recommends actions that promote children’s
healthy development and school success. Full report: http://www.auw.org/PDF/school_readiness.pdf Teens, Romance, and ...
Contraception? New Research: The Quality of Teen Relationships Influences
Decisions About Contraception New
research from Child Trends indicates that teens in strong, positive romantic
relationships are more likely to use contraception. The study finds:
- Teens who identify their relationships as "romantic" and who
spend more time with their partners in dating activities are more likely to
use contraceptives.
- Female teens who discuss contraception with their partners before sex are
twice as likely to practice safe sex.
- Female teens whose partners are similar to themselves, particularly in age,
are more likely to use contraception.
- Teens continue habits from previous relationships. Those who used
contraception consistently in an earlier relationship (either on their own
initiative or from a partner) are more likely to also do so in a current
relationship, indicating that teens may learn from their experiences across
relationships.
A new fact sheet summarizes the findings of the study, which was published in
the journal Demography and analyzes survey data from high school students to
identify contraceptive use patterns. Among the other findings:
- Many teens use contraception inconsistently. In four out of 10
relationships, teens never or only inconsistently used contraception.
- Teens' contraceptive consistency varies across their sexual relationships.
In other words, teens may use contraception every time they have sex with one
partner, but may use contraception only sometimes or not at all with a
different partner.
- Teens who engage in a high number of relationships are less likely to
consistently use contraceptives across these relationships than their peers
who have fewer relationships.
"Inconsistent use of contraceptives puts teens at a high risk for
sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and unplanned pregnancies," said
Jennifer Manlove, Ph.D., one of the study's authors. "Pregnancy
prevention programs should pay more attention to the importance of partners
and relationships in teens' sexual decision making and should consider
integrating the multiple dimensions of sexual relationships into role-playing
exercises to help teens learn how to negotiate contraceptive use with their
partners."
Child Trends' analysis is based on the National Longitudinal Study of
Adolescent Health, a nationally representative survey of youth in grades
seven through twelve. U of Minn researchers find
primary alcohol prevention programs are needed for 'tweens' Study recommends that
prevention programs occur as early as third grade A study by the University of
Minnesota School of Public Health and the University of Florida suggests that
‘tweens’ should receive alcohol prevention programs prior to sixth grade,
when nearly one in six children are already alcohol users. The study found that adolescents
who already use alcohol are less receptive to prevention programs aimed at
all students. Intervening at earlier ages, specifically between third and
fifth grade, would allow for truly universal anti-alcohol messages that would
also provide support for high-risk students. “Children who use alcohol in sixth
grade respond differently to messages about alcohol use than those have not
used alcohol,” said Keryn Pasch, M.P.H., Ph.D., University of Minnesota
School of Public Health and first author of the study. “By sixth grade it’s
too late; we’ll miss many of the at-risk kids.” The study, published in the journal
Health Education and Behavior, compared sixth-graders who had used alcohol in
the past year to those who had not, in a multi-ethnic, urban sample of more
than 4,000 students in 61 Chicago schools. Among this sample, 17 percent had
used alcohol within the past year. The study found that sixth-grade
users of alcohol were significantly different from the non-users on almost
all risk factors examined. For example, users were more likely to be male,
engage in violent or delinquent behavior, and have friends who used alcohol. Factors such as lacking the
confidence to refuse alcohol and failing to perceive and value the negative
consequences of alcohol use are critical in at-risk children. “These are
important to note because they are amenable to intervention,” Pasch said. Researchers suggest a prevention
program prior to sixth grade in which parent involvement is central. Students
should receive developmentally-appropriate messages that correct inaccurate
perceptions that ‘drinking is normal’ and that provide tweens with the skills
to refuse alcohol. In addition, interventions should include parental
involvement in order to help create opportunities for increased parent-child
communication and provide parents with the skills to increase monitoring. “Parents and the general public
don’t realize how early alcohol use starts,” Pasch said. “However, in early
intervention, parental involvement is a key factor in delaying alcohol use.” Learning How to Say "No"
to Alcohol Advertising and Peer Pressure Works for Inner-City Adolescents Teens who can recognize and resist
the persuasive tactics used in alcohol ads are less likely to succumb to
alcohol advertising and peer pressure to drink. The results of a three-year study
of inner-city middle school students by Weill Cornell Medical College
researchers appears online in the journal Addictive Behaviors (April print
edition). Previous research has shown the connection between advertising and
adolescent alcohol, use as well as the influence of peers in promoting
adolescent alcohol use. "There are many pressures on
teens to drink. One very powerful influence is advertising -- from television
to billboards, it's everywhere. Our study found their ability to be
critically aware of advertising as well as their ability to resist peer
pressure are both key skills for avoiding alcohol," says Dr. Jennifer A.
Epstein, lead author and assistant professor of public health in the Division
of Prevention and Health Behavior at Weill Cornell Medical College. Results were taken from surveys of
over 2,000 predominantly African-American adolescents from 13 inner-city
junior high schools in New York City over three years. The study found that seventh
graders better able to be critically aware of advertising -- something the
study terms "media resistance skills" -- were significantly less
likely to drink alcohol as ninth graders. These same seventh graders were
more likely to have developed better skills for resisting peer pressure by
the eighth grade, further reducing their likelihood of drinking. Armed with
media resistance and peer refusal skills (saying "no"), these
students were less likely to succumb to advertising and peer pressure to drink
alcohol subsequently in the ninth grade. Alcohol is the number one drug of
choice in this country and among our nation's youth. A recent report by the
Surgeon General found that despite laws against it, underage drinking is
deeply embedded in American culture, viewed as a rite of passage and
facilitated by adults. "Our findings point to the
need for prevention programs that teach adolescents media resistance skills
and peer refusal skills to reduce the likelihood that they will succumb to
the powerful dual influences of alcohol advertising and peer pressure,"
says Dr. Gilbert J. Botvin, the senior author; professor of psychology in
public health and professor of psychology in psychiatry; and chief of the
Public Health Department's Division of Prevention and Health Behavior. Despite Popularity, Not Everyone
Can Successfully Learn Through Online Courses Success in Distance Learning
Tied to Success in the Classroom Since the 1990s, online courses
have provided an opportunity for busy adults to continue their education by
completing courses in the comfort of their own homes. However, this may not
be the best solution for everyone. A researcher at the University of Missouri
has found some students may find success in these types of courses more
easily than others. Shawna L. Strickland,
clinical assistant professor in the MU School of Health Professions, studied
the demographics and personality types of distance learners. “Correlations between learning
styles and success in distance education have shown to be inconclusive,”
Strickland said. “However, one common theme reappears: the successful
traits of a distance learner are similar to the successful traits of an adult
learner in traditional educational settings.” With a mere 30 percent of distance
learners actually completing their courses, learning more about the
characteristics of these students would help educators structure online
courses to be as beneficial as possible. Considering the lack of
institutional support and isolation involved in the nature of online courses,
success in these courses requires a person that is determined and
responsible, Strickland said. “The success of distance learning
is dependent on communication among the learner, his or her peers and the
instructor,” Strickland said. “To encourage success in distance
learning, it is necessary to evaluate each individual’s needs on a
case-by-case basis.” One trait that aids in distance
learning is related to personality type. Strickland found those with quiet,
introverted personalities are more likely to feel comfortable with online
learning courses. Shy individuals have a tendency to be uninvolved in
the typical classroom setting. Online courses allow them to complete work on
their own with a degree of anonymity. “Distance learning allows the
learner to overcome traditional barriers to learning such as location,
disabilities, time constraints and familial obligations,” Strickland said.
“However, not every learner will be successful in a distance learning
environment.” The study – “Understanding
Successful Characteristics of Adult Learners” – was published in the most
recent edition of Respiratory Care Education Annual. New Child Health Data Show State-to-State
Differences in Quality of Care A new government survey reveals children with special
health care needs, such as autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
and asthma, don’t consistently get the care that is federally recommended and
that there are vast state-to-state differences. This is the first time
standardized data at the national and state level has been available to the
media and families in an easily accessible way. “Parents with children with special health care
needs often have obstacles in getting the information they need,” said Christina
Bethell, Ph.D., director of the Data Resource Center and associate professor
of pediatrics in the Oregon Health & Science University School of
Medicine. “The Maternal and Child Health Bureau, which designed and sponsored
this survey, is committed to making this data available to the public,
parents and media through the Data Resource Center, where you can find
specific information about how your state fares in an easy-to-use Web site.” The survey is especially significant because it
finds that more than 10 million American children have a special health care
need – that amounts to one in five households with children younger than 18.
While states perform well in specific areas, no state is providing all of the
recommended care to the majority of their children with special health care needs.
These differences found between states are cause
for concern. For instance, in Kansas, just 28 percent of children younger
than 12 with special health needs receive care that meet all five of the
performance measures recommended by the federal government. By contrast, in
Montana, only 13 percent of children with special health care needs meet all
five of these measures. For adolescents, the best-performing state was New
Hampshire and the worst was Mississippi. In addition to state-by-state comparisons, the Data
Resource Center Web site housed at OHSU allows media and families to search
by other factors such as income or race/ethnicity. The public and others are
encouraged to take advantage of the federally funded Data Resource Center for
Child and Adolescent Health Web site at www.childhealthdata.org. Additional findings of the survey include: · Only one-third of children with special needs who
are Hispanic or who are living below the federal poverty level get
coordinated and family-centered care from their health care providers. · Out-of-pocket medical costs exceeded $1,000 for 1
in 5 children with special health care needs during 2005-06. · Family members of nearly 2.5 million children with
special health care needs had to cut back or stopped working because of their
child’s health conditions. In the National Survey of Children with Special
Health Care Needs, 40,465 families of were interviewed, covering an average
of 800 or more children with special health care needs younger than 18 in
each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Tp access site: http://cshcndata.org/Content/States.aspx?sid=2 |
