Showing papers in "Education Policy Analysis Archives in 2000"
Journal Article•
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the ways in which teacher qualifications and other school inputs are related to student achievement across states using data from a 50-state survey of policies, state case study analyses, the 1993-94 Schools and Staffing Surveys (SASS), and the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), and found that measures of teacher preparation and certification are by far the strongest correlates of student achievement in reading and mathematics.
Abstract: Using data from a 50-state survey of policies, state case study analyses, the 1993-94 Schools and Staffing Surveys (SASS), and the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), this study examines the ways in which teacher qualifications and other school inputs are related to student achievement across states. The findings of both the qualitative and quantitative analyses suggest that policy investments in the quality of teachers may be related to improvements in student performance. Quantitative analyses indicate that measures of teacher preparation and certification are by far the strongest correlates of student achievement in reading and mathematics, both before and after controlling for student poverty and language status. State policy surveys and case study data are used to evaluate policies that influence the overall level of teacher qualifications within and across states. This analysis suggests that policies adopted by states regarding teacher education, licensing, hiring, and professional development may make an important difference in the qualifications and capacities that teachers bring to their work. The implications for state efforts to enhance quality and equity in public education are discussed. (Note 1)
3,053 citations
TL;DR: Using data from a 50-state survey of policies, state case study analyses, the 1993-94 Schools and Staffing Surveys (SASS), and the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), this paper examined the ways in which teacher qualifications and other school inputs are related to student achievement across states.
Abstract: Using data from a 50-state survey of policies, state case study analyses, the 1993-94 Schools and Staffing Surveys (SASS), and the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), this study examines the ways in which teacher qualifications and other school inputs are related to student achievement across states The findings of both the qualitative and quantitative analyses suggest that policy investments in the quality of teachers may be related to improvements in student performance Quantitative analyses indicate that measures of teacher preparation and certification are by far the strongest correlates of student achievement in reading and mathematics, both before and after controlling for student poverty and language status State policy surveys and case study data are used to evaluate policies that influence the overall level of teacher qualifications within and across states This analysis suggests that policies adopted by states regarding teacher education, licensing, hiring, and professional development may make an important difference in the qualifications and capacities that teachers bring to their work The implications for state efforts to enhance quality and equity in public education are discussed
1,567 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors summarize the recent history of education reform and statewide testing in Texas, which led to the introduction of the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) in 1990-91.
Abstract: I summarize the recent history of education reform and statewide testing in Texas, which led to introduction of the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) in 1990-91. A variety of evidence in the late 1990s led a number of observers to conclude that the state of Texas had made near miraculous progress in reducing dropouts and increasing achievement. The passing scores on TAAS tests were arbitrary and discriminatory. Analyses comparing TAAS reading, writing and math scores with one another and with relevant high school grades raise doubts about the reliability and validity of TAAS scores. I discuss problems of missing students and other mirages in Texas enrollment statistics that profoundly affect both reported dropout statistics and test scores. Only 50% of minority students in Texas have been progressing from grade 9 to high school graduation since the initiation of the TAAS testing program. Since about 1982, the rates at which Black and Hispanic students are required to repeat grade 9 have climbed steadily, such that by the late 1990s, nearly 30% of Black and Hispanic students were "failing" grade 9. Cumulative rates of grade retention in Texas are almost twice as high for Black and Hispanic students as for White students. Some portion of the gains in grade 10 TAAS pass rates are illusory. The numbers of students taking the grade 10 tests who were classified as "in special education" and hence not counted in schools' accountability ratings nearly doubled between 1994 and 1998. A substantial portion of the apparent increases in TAAS pass rates in the 1990s are due to such exclusions. In the opinion of educators in Texas, schools are devoting a huge amount of time and energy preparing students specifically for TAAS, and emphasis on TAAS is hurting more than helping teaching and learning in Texas schools, particularly with at-risk students, and TAAS contributes to retention in grade and dropping out. Five different sources of evidence about rates of high school completion in Texas are compared and contrasted. The review of GED statistics indicated that there was a sharp upturn in numbers of young people taking the GED tests in Texas in the mid-1990s to avoid TAAS. A convergence of evidence indicates that during the 1990s, slightly less than 70% of students in Texas actually graduated from high school. Between 1994 and 1997, TAAS results showed a 20% increase in the percentage of students passing all three exit level TAAS tests (reading, writing and math), but TASP (a college readiness test) results showed a sharp decrease (from 65.2% to 43.3%) in the percentage of students passing all three parts (reading, math, and writing). As measured by performance on the SAT, the academic learning of secondary school students in Texas has not improved since the early 1990s, compared with SAT takers nationally. SAT-Math scores have deteriorated relative to students nationally. The gains on NAEP for Texas fail to confirm the dramatic gains apparent on TAAS. The gains on TAAS and the unbelievable decreases in dropouts during the 1990s are more illusory than real. The Texas "miracle" is more hat than cattle.
549 citations
Journal Article•
508 citations
TL;DR: The authors examined the results on the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS), the highest-profile state testing program and one that has recorded extraordinary recent gains in math and reading scores.
Abstract: We examine the results on the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS), the highest-profile state testing program and one that has recorded extraordinary recent gains in math and reading scores. To investigate whether the dramatic math and reading gains on the TAAS represent actual academic progress, we have compared these gains to score changes in Texas on another test, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Texas students did improve significantly more on a fourth-grade NAEP math test than their counterparts nationally. But, the size of this gain was smaller than their gains on TAAS and was not present on the eighth-grade math test. The stark differences between the stories told by NAEP and TAAS are especially striking when it comes to the gap in average scores between whites and students of color. According to the NAEP results, that gap in Texas is not only very large but increasing slightly. According to TAAS scores, the gap is much smaller and decreasing greatly. Many schools are devoting a great deal of class time to highly specific TAAS preparation. While this preparation may improve TAAS scores, it may not help students develop necessary reading and math skills. Schools with relatively large percentages of minority and poor students may be doing this more than other schools. We raise serious questions about the validity of those gains, and caution against the danger of making decisions to sanction or reward students, teachers and schools on the basis of test scores that may be inflated or misleading. Finally, we suggest some steps that states can take to increase the likelihood that their test results merit public confidence and provide a sound basis for educational policy.
354 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors used data from a nationally representative survey of 4th through 12th grade teachers and found that teachers who have at least five computers present in their classroom, who have average levels of technical expertise in their use, and who are in the top quartile on a reliable and extensive measure of constructivist teaching philosophy are very likely to have students make regular use of computers during class.
Abstract: Cuban (1986; 2000) has argued that computers are largely incompatible with the requirements of teaching, and that, for the most part, teachers will continue to reject their use as instruments of student work during class. Using data from a nationally representative survey of 4th through 12th grade teachers, this paper demonstrates that although Cuban correctly characterizes frequent use of computers in academic subject classes as a teaching practice of a small and distinct minority, certain conditions make a big difference in the likelihood of a teacher having her students use computers frequently during class time. In particular, academic subject-matter teachers who have at least five computers present in their classroom, who have at least average levels of technical expertise in their use, and who are in the top quartile on a reliable and extensive measure of constructivist teaching philosophy are very likely to have students make regular use of computers during class. More than 3/4 of such teachers have students use word processing programs regularly during class and a majority are regular users of at least one other type of software besides skill-based games. In addition, other factors-such as an orientation towards depth rather than breadth in their teaching(perhaps caused by limited pressures to cover large amounts of content) and block scheduling structures that provide for long class periods-are also associated with greater use of computers by students during class. Finally, the paper provides evidence that certain approaches to using computers result in students taking greater initiative in using computers outside of class time-approaches consistent with a constructivist teaching philosophy, rather than a standards- based, accountability-oriented approach to teaching. Thus, despite their clear minority status as a primary resource in academic subject classroom teaching, computers are playing a major role in at least one major direction of current instructional reform efforts.
203 citations
Journal Article•
TL;DR: In this paper, focus group interview data collected over two years was used to examine how cross-subject matter groups of elementary and secondary New York State teachers respond to one way of learning to change their classroom practices: state-level testing.
Abstract: How do teachers change their pedagogical practices? While many current initiatives seek to raise educational standards and improve student academic performance, there is a curious gap in national and state reforms. Considerable attention is given to defining higher expectations for what students will know and be able to do, yet little attention is given to how teachers should learn new pedagogical ideas and practices. This exploratory study uses focus group interview data collected over two years to examine how cross-subject matter groups of elementary and secondary New York State teachers respond to one way of learning to change their classroom practices: state-level testing. Analysis of the data highlights three issues: the nature and substance of the tests, the professional development opportunities available to teachers, and the rationales for and consequences of the state exams.
78 citations
Journal Article•
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors outline two arguments that challenge those who would advocate a continuation of the exclusive use of raw SET data in the determination of "teaching effectiveness" in the "summative" function.
Abstract: The purpose of the present work is twofold. The first is to outline two arguments that challenge those who would advocate a continuation of the exclusive use of raw SET data in the determination of "teaching effectiveness" in the "summative" function. The second purpose is to answer this question: "In the face of such challenges, why do university administrators continue to use these data exclusively in the determination of 'teaching effectiveness'?"
78 citations
Journal Article•
TL;DR: This paper investigated the influence of school and district size on school performance among schools with eighth grades (n=367) and schools with eleventh grades in Georgia, and found that the influence is dependent on socioeconomic status (SES).
Abstract: In this study, we investigate the joint influence of school and district size on school performance among schools with eighth grades (n=367) and schools with eleventh grades in Georgia (n=298). Schools are the unit of analysis in this study because schools are increasingly the unit on which states fix the responsibility to be accountable. The methodology further develops investigations along the line of evidence suggesting that the influence of size is contingent on socioeconomic status (SES). All
72 citations
TL;DR: The authors conducted a qualitative study at an elite private school and an impoverished public school to explore the relationship between technology, reform, and equality, and found that the reforms introduced at the two schools appeared similar, but underlying differences in resources and expectations served to reinforce patterns by which students channel students into different social futures.
Abstract: A discourse of reform claims that schools must be transformed to take full advantage of computers, while a competing discourse of inequality warns that technology-enhanced reform is taking place only in wealthy schools, dooming poor and minority students to the wrong side of a digital divide. A qualitative study at an elite private school and an impoverished public school explored the relationship between technology, reform, and equality. The reforms introduced at the two schools appeared similar, but underlying differences in resources and expectations served to reinforce patterns by which the two schools channel students into different social futures.
72 citations
Journal Article•
TL;DR: The authors examined photographs taken of American public school classes between the 1880's and the 1940's and found significant gaps and historical amnesias Collections made under conditions of racial segregation are themselves segregated and continue to reproduce images of hierarchy and dominance.
Abstract: This article examines photographs taken of American public school classes between the 1880's and the 1940's Most of the images were found in two virtual archives: The American Memory site at the Library of Congress and The National Archives and Record Center These very large photograph collections were searched for representations of race, gender, and physical ability The photographs were compared and contrasted and analyzed for elements of hidden curricula using techniques drawn from the social sciences and humanities It was found that these large photo collections have significant gaps and historical amnesias Collections made under conditions of racial segregation are themselves segregated and continue to reproduce images of hierarchy and dominance To the extent these sites function as important resources for teachers and students searching for primary source documents for history and social studies projects, the archives convey significantly biased views of the history of education and minority groups in America
TL;DR: In this article, the authors report the results from a national survey directed to the department chairs of political science to assess the current and future state of distance learning in that discipline and suggest critical areas for future research in this dynamic, fluid post-secondary environment.
Abstract: This article reports the results from a national survey directed to the department chairs of political science to assess the current and future state of distance learning in that discipline. The insights of this research are relevant to all social science fields and offer important insights to other academic disciplines as well. Key findings of the study include the low utilization of distance learning courses, a low degree of importance currently attributed to distance learning and modest expectations of future growth, ambivalent acceptance of a future role for distance learning, the common use of Internet-related technologies, low levels of faculty knowledge and interest about distance learning, limited institutional support, and serious doubts about the appropriateness and quality of instruction at a distance. We propose a model of the size and scope of distance learning as a function of three factors: the capacity of distance learning technologies, market demand, and faculty and university interest in distance learning. The article concludes with suggestions of critical areas for future research in this dynamic, fluid post-secondary environment.
TL;DR: Recent developments in the use of technology in schools and in state level testing programs are summarized and two studies indicating that written tests administered on paper underestimate the achievement of students accustomed to working on computers are described.
Abstract: The widening gap between the increased use of technology in schools and the absence of computers in state-level testing programs raises important implications for policies related to the use of both technology and testing in schools. In this article, we summarize recent developments in the use of technology in schools and in state level testing programs. We then describe two studies indicating that written tests administered on paper underestimate the achievement of students accustomed to working on computers. We conclude by discussing four approaches to bridging the gap between technology and testing in U.S. schools.
Journal Article•
TL;DR: The capacity for dual-language programs to deliver specific benefits to students with different primary and secondary language skills continues to be debated Individuals favoring dual language assert that as it relies upon a reciprocal approach, dual language students acquire dual language proficiency without the need for teachers to translate from one language to another.
Abstract: The capacity for dual-language programs to deliver specific benefits to students with different primary and secondary language skills continues to be debated Individuals favoring dual language assert that as it relies upon a reciprocal approach, dual language students acquire dual language proficiency without the need for teachers to translate from one language to another By utilizing and conserving the language skills that students bring, dual language students also gain cross-cultural understandings and an expanded opportunity to realize academic success in the future Research that explores whether these programs meet the needs of monolingual and bilingual students is limited The intent of this study is not to criticize dual language practice Instead, it is to describe a newly implemented dual language immersion program that exists and operates in Phoenix, Arizona In particular, this study examines the
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined the practices of dual language teachers at Leigh Elementary School and the challenges encountered as school personnel worked to provide students with different primary and secondary language skills increased opportunities to learn.
Abstract: The capacity for dual-language programs to deliver specific benefits to students with different primary and secondary language skills continues to be debated. Individuals favoring dual language assert that as it relies upon a reciprocal approach, dual language students acquire dual language proficiency without the need for teachers to translate from one language to another. By utilizing and conserving the language skills that students bring, dual language students also gain cross-cultural understandings and an expanded opportunity to realize academic success in the future. Research that explores whether these programs meet the needs of monolingual and bilingual students is limited. The intent of this study is not to criticize dual language practice. Instead, it is to describe a newly implemented dual language immersion program that exists and operates in Phoenix, Arizona. In particular, this study examines the practices of dual language teachers at Leigh Elementary School and the challenges encountered as school personnel worked to provide students with different primary and secondary language skills increased opportunities to learn.
Journal Article•
TL;DR: Levin et al. as discussed by the authors developed a conceptual framework for studying large-scale education reform across political jurisdictions, based on studies of change in five jurisdictions in four countries (Canada, United States, England, New Zealand).
Abstract: This paper, which is part of a larger comparative project, outlines a conceptual framework for studying large-scale education reform across political jurisdictions. A great deal of comparative work on education reform is now being done, but this work often lacks a clearly articulated conceptual frame. This paper, based on studies of change in five jurisdictions in four countries--Canada, United States, England, New Zealand--develops a model of reform based on four interactive elements: origins (where particular reform proposals came from), adoption (how policies that are finally adopted or made into law differ from the one originally proposed), implementation (the model of implementation used by governments to move their reforms into practice), and outcomes (the available evidence as to the effects of reforms). Within each of these elements, questions and concepts from the relevant literature are developed with the intent of building a more comprehensive approach to the analysis of reform from political, organizational, and educational perspectives. (Contains 41 references.) (Author/DFR) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. Conceptualizing the Process of Education Reform From An International Perspective Paper presented to the American Educational Research Association New Orleans April, 2000 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION of Educational Research and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) VI-his document has been reproduced as received f om the person or organization originating it. Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality. Points of document official 0 view or opinions stated in this do not necessarily represent ERI position or policy. PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND DISSEM BEEN GRANTED BY Benjamin Levin, Ph.D. Deputy Minister Manitoba Education and Training 162 Legislative Building Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3C OV8 Ph: 204/945-3752 Fax: 204/945-8330 E-mail: blevin@leg.gov.mb.ca
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors outline two arguments that challenge those who would advocate a continuation of the exclusive use of raw SET data in the determination of "teaching effectiveness" in the "summative" function.
Abstract: The purpose of the present work is twofold. The first is to outline two arguments that challenge those who would advocate a continuation of the exclusive use of raw SET data in the determination of "teaching effectiveness" in the "summative" function. The second purpose is to answer this question: "In the face of such challenges, why do university administrators continue to use these data exclusively in the determination of 'teaching effectiveness'?"
TL;DR: In this paper, an investigation of primary research studies on public school teacher supply and demand revealed four surprises: enrollments are leveling off, annual hiring increases should be only about two or three percent over the next few years, and only about one in 20 teachers leaves each year.
Abstract: An investigation of primary research studies on public school teacher supply and demand revealed four surprises. Projections show that enrollments are leveling off. Relatedly, annual hiring increases should be only about two or three percent over the next few years. Results from studies of teacher attrition also yield unexpected results. Excluding retirements, only about one in 20 teachers leaves each year, and the novice teachers who quit mainly cite personal and family reasons, not job dissatisfaction. Each of these findings broadens policy makers' options for teacher supply.
TL;DR: In this article, a review of the Advanced Placement (AP) Program is presented, and the authors suggest that the College Board's policy of concentrating on numbers of participants should be changed to an emphasis on student performance and program quality.
Abstract: This is a review of the Advanced Placement (AP) Program. In disagreement with claims of the College Board, there is firm evidence that the average test performance level has dropped. The College Board's scale and claims for AP qualification disagree seriously with college standards. A majority of tests taken do not qualify. It appears that "advanced placement" is coming closer to "placement." This article recommends that the College Board's policy of concentrating on numbers of participants should be changed to an emphasis on student performance and program quality.
Journal Article•
TL;DR: This paper examined K-12 educators' reasons for participating and beliefs in the utility in a large-scale professional development conference and found that while financial support played a significant role in educators' ability to participate, they were drawn to the conference by the promise to learn substantive issues related to, in this case, performance assessment.
Abstract: In an environment increasingly skeptical of the effectiveness of large-scale professional development activities, this study examines K-12 educators' reasons for participating and beliefs in the utility in a large-scale professional development conference. Preand post-conference surveys revealed that while financial support played a significant role in educators' ability to participate, they were drawn to the conference by the promise to learn substantive issues related to, in this case, performance assessment—what it means, how to implement it, and how to address community concerns. In spite of the conference's utility as a means to increase awareness of critical issues and to facilitate formal and informal learning, well conceived linkages to transfer new knowledge to the school and classroom were lacking.
Journal Article•
TL;DR: In this article, the status of women administrators in the state of Alabama in terms of demographic and career patterns was determined. But, the survey was sent to all principals in Alabama and only 42% of the principals responded.
Abstract: The purpose of this research was to determine the status of women administrators in the Alabama in terms of demographic and career patterns. A survey was sent to all principals in Alabama. Five hundred-fifty, or 42% of the principals responded. In Alabama, women principals are generally more recent in their position, are somewhat more likely to have come directly from the classroom, and have less mobility in acquiring the position.
Journal Article•
TL;DR: In this article, a comparative international format was used to examine the way performance models are applied in the United States, England, Australia, New Zealand, Sweden, and the Netherlands.
Abstract: Higher education (HE) administrators worldwide are responding to performance-based state agendas for public institutions. Largely ideologically-driven, this international fixation on performance is also advanced by the operation of isomorphic forces within HE's institutional field. Despite broad agreements on the validity of performance goals, there is no "one best" model or predictable set of consequences. Context matters. Responses are conditioned by each nation's historical and cultural institutional legacy. To derive a generalized set of consequences, issues, and impacts, we used a comparative international format to examine the way performance models are applied in the United States, England, Australia, New Zealand, Sweden, and the Netherlands. Our theoretical framework draws on understandings of performance measures as normalizing instruments of governmentality in the "evaluative state,"
TL;DR: In contrast to his narrow conception of quality, quality in the AP context is subject-specific and multifaceted, embracing course content, the teacher, the student as well as the exam as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Lichten (2000) argues that increased access to AP courses in high schools has led to a decline in AP quality He uses a mix of actual data, inaccurate data, and fabricated data to support this hypothesis A logical consequence of his argument is that a reduction in the availability of AP courses will lead to an improvement in AP quality In this paper, we maintain that his thesis is flawed because he confounds quality with scarcity In contrast to his narrow conception of quality, quality in the AP context is subject- specific and multifaceted, embracing course content, the teacher, the student as well as the exam Increased access will not diminish quality Instead, increased access exposes students to college-level course material, encourages teachers to expand their knowledge domains, serves as a lever for lifting curriculum rigor, and provides students with the opportunity to experience the challenges associated with advanced placement in college
TL;DR: In this article, the main trends of over two decades of development of the governance and financing systems of China's higher education sector are examined, and the authors point out the economic significance for higher education of overcoming diseconomies of scale and inefficiencies.
Abstract: With an introduction to the overall underdevelopment of higher education in China compared with the American counterpart, this article briefly examines the main trends of over two decades of development of the governance and financing systems of China's higher education sector. This article analyzes the resource allocation from governments and revenue generation in institutions under the reform policies of administrative decentralization and financing diversification. The new "Great Leap Forward" in higher education in 1999 and beyond, i.e., the radical and, to a certain extent, desperate mass higher education policy and practice of expanding enrollments in order to spur domestic consumption, is critically analyzed. By examining the ongoing institutional merging and "co-building" and the most recent enrollment expansion, the writer points out the economic significance for higher education of overcoming diseconomies of scale and inefficiencies.
Journal Article•
TL;DR: This article examined academic achievement of immigrant children in the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, and found that the home language background was more associated with poor math and science learning.
Abstract: In this study, I examined academic achievement of immigrant children in the United States, Canada, England, Australia, and New Zealand. Analyzing data from the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), I gauged the performance gaps relating to the generation of immigration and the home language background. I found immigrant children's math and science achievement to be lower than the others only in England, the U.S., and Canada. Non-English language background was found in each country to relate to poor math and science learning and this disadvantage was stronger among native-born children—presumably children of indigenous groups—than among immigrant children. I also examined the school variation in math performance gaps, using hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) to each country's data. The patterns in which language- and generation-related math achievement gaps varied between schools are different in the five countries.
Journal Article•
TL;DR: In Portugal, the Carnations Revolution as mentioned in this paper was called the "Carnations Revolution" because these flowers were in bloom at that time of the year and were placed in the guns of the soldiers.
Abstract: The Revolution of the 25 April in Portugal put an end to a forty-eight year old dictatorship, dominated by a political police, the so-called PIDE. After Salazar’s death in 1968, the new prime-minister Marcello Caetano tried to gradually open the regime (the Marcellist Spring), but it was so weak and rotten that a revolution broke in the early morning hours of 25 April 1974. Zeca Afonso’s banned protest song “Grandola, Vila Morena” was broadcasted on Portuguese radio, as a secret signal to a group of rebel officers to move against the regime. So, it was the army, tired of a bloody and useless war in remote colonies in Africa that led the Revolution. Most of the leading military officers of MFA (Armed Forces Movement) were involved in left wing activities. We can say the Revolution was quite peaceful. It was called the Carnations Revolution because these flowers were in bloom at that time of the year and were placed in the guns of the soldiers. The forces of the “ancien regime” surrendered with little resistance.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigate the influence of school and district size on school performance among schools with eighth grades (n=367) and schools with eleventh grades in Georgia (n =298) and find substantial cross-level influences of school-and district size at the 8th grade and weaker influences at the 11th grade.
Abstract: In this study, we investigate the joint influence of school and district size on school performance among schools with eighth grades (n=367) and schools with eleventh grades in Georgia (n=298). Schools are the unit of analysis in this study because schools are increasingly the unit on which states fix the responsibility to be accountable. The methodology further develops investigations along the line of evidence suggesting that the influence of size is contingent on socioeconomic status (SES). All previous studies have used a single-level regression model (i.e., schools or districts). This study confronts the issue of cross-level interaction of SES and size (i.e., schools and districts) with a single-equation-relative-effects model to interpret the joint influence of school and district size on school performance (i.e., the dependent variable is a school-level variable). It also tests the equity of school-level outcomes jointly by school and district size. Georgia was chosen for study because previous single-level analysis there had revealed no influence of district size on performance (measured at the district level). Findings from this study show substantial cross-level influences of school and district size at the 8th grade, and weaker influences at the 11th grade. The equity effects, however, are strong at both grade levels and show a distinctive pattern of size interactions. Results are interpreted to draw implications for a "structuralist" view of school and district restructuring, with particular concern for schooling to serve impoverished communities. The authors argue the importance of a notion of "scaling" in the system of schooling, advocating the particular need to create smaller districts as well as smaller schools as a route to both school excellence and equity of school outcomes.
TL;DR: In this article, Popham et al. provided empirical evidence to answer the question whether student scores on standardized achievement tests represent reasonable measures of instructional quality, and they found that on average, on average the content reflected in test questions measured material that was important for students to know.
Abstract: This study provides empirical evidence to answer the question whether student scores on standardized achievement tests represent reasonable measures of instructional quality. Using a research protocol designed by Popham and the local study directors, individual test items from a nationally-marketed standardized achievement test were rated by educators and parents to determine the degree to which raters felt that the items reflect important content that is actually taught in schools, and the degree to which raters felt that students' answers to the questions would be likely to be unduly influenced by confounded causality. Three research questions are addressed: What percentage of test items are considered suspect by raters as indicators of school instructional quality? Do educators and parents of school-age children differ in their ratings of the appropriateness of test items? Do educators and parents feel that standardized achievement test scores should be used as an indicator of school instructional quality? Descriptive statistics show that on average, raters felt that the content reflected in test questions measured material that is important for students to know. However, for reading and language arts questions, between about 20% to 40% of the items were viewed as suspect in terms of the other criteria.
TL;DR: The passing of the deadline for fulfillment of the national education goals in the United States (the beginning of 2000) reflects the frequently hyperbolic statements of objectives and the manic pace of school reform efforts over the past two decades as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The passing of the deadline for fulfillment of the national education goals in the United States (the beginning of 2000) reflects the frequently hyperbolic statements of objectives and the manic pace of school reform efforts over the past two decades. The domination by schools of child and family life has combined with a longstanding reliance on schools to solve social problems to make school reform a politically opportune as well as visible issue. Thus, even if the phrasing of national education goals in the U.S. changes to reflect the passing of the nominal deadline, those pressures will remain.
TL;DR: The results of the Third International Study in Mathematics and Science Education (TIMSS) were published in 1996/7 as mentioned in this paper, and since that time the participating countries have reacted in a variety of ways to the comparative performance of their students.
Abstract: The results of the Third International Study in Mathematics and Science Education (TIMSS) were published in 1996/7. Since that time the participating countries have reacted in a variety of ways to the comparative performance of their students. This article investigates the diverse effects these reactions have had on mathematics curricula and teaching methodologies in a selection of these countries, within the context of a wider analysis of the motivations which determine change in education.