Jodi Herold
Reading Notes
ED 633
Citation: Balfanz, R., Legters, N., West, T., & Weber, L. (2007)
Keywords: NCLB, high schools, AYP, graduation rates
Introduction:
Only 60% of students who begin their high school careers graduate.
Many of these students attending high schools are Latino students (40%) and African American (nearly 50%)
NCLB was created to identify schools that are failing and ensure that all students receive a high quality education.
Schools that do not pass AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress) over a period of years will receive remedies from the district and state. AYP is based on students’ state test scores in academic skills (e.g. reading, writing, and math).
AYP is the means to determine improvement.
There are weaknesses in the law both in theory and implementation that question its validity to effectively identify and encourage improvement.
Methods:
Research Questions
Is NCLB working as proposed?
Does it accurately identify and encourage improvement in low-performing high schools?
It is an effective tool to reform high schools?
Problem area is that states have latitude in developing standards, graduation qualifications, and baselines numbers for subgroup accountability. This can cause difficulty for schools to meet AYP.
Data
Three sources: Common Core of Data (CCD), state and district report cards for the 2003-2004 and 2004-2005, and National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)
Sample: 2,030 low-performing high schools across the country, 10% random sample of high-schools (202 high schools)
Findings:
2005-majority of low-performing high schools in sample did not make AYP
Success varied by state. Half in south made AYP, 1/3 in north and south
Table 1-4 show school characteristic and if made AYP or not (e.g. free lunch, Title1, teacher-student ratio, urban v. rural, ethnic groups).
Was a cluster—attributed to possible school characteristics or effective reform
Poverty, Title 1 and higher teacher-student ratio separated schools from make/not make AYP
Low-performing schools with less subgroups accountability are more likely to pass. Southern states and rural areas prove this finding.
Less kids=lower teacher-student ratio and less students in a subgroup=more likely to make AYP
NCLB has a theory that the higher the sanctions and interventions a school might face, the more it will be motivated to initiate reform
More pressure to pass AYP=less possibility of making AYP
States design their own performance standards and assessments and determine proficiency as well as decide what students belong in a subgroup.
Each state determines how schools are progressing towards AYP
States can make AYP and have decreasing graduation rates
Schools are improving significantly and not making AYP
There is not strong correlation with the NAEP exam results and NCLB tests
Implications:
Four Points:
1. There are three tiers of high schools-high performance 10-20%, Low performance 30-40%, and 12-15% average
2. Low-performing schools have the hardest battle. Children are losing attachment to schooling, and attendance is an issue. Many live in poverty and are below grade level. Over half are located in urban areas.
3. There is a pattern of students dropping out. Low grades=worse attendance. Repeat freshman year and then try alternative high school programs.
4. Improving a low-performing school takes money, time, and a tremendous amount of effort.
Proposals:
1. Focus on the problem areas and not on AYP and the kids that “bring the school down”
2. Determine goals of Title 1 funds and redefine school entitlement (poverty and educational challenges)
3. Schools need support from the federal, state, and local entities to provide guidance, trainings, and resources. Fix them or replace them.
Research Notes:
Look at other testing completed nationwide when using test score data on state v. state or region v. region
AYP is not a useful tool to compare states’ proficiency rates due to the states’ authority to determine proficiency
Look at alternative forms within my classroom, school, and district to demonstrate progress and improvement
AYP does not allow for data that proves progress but not meeting AYP
Balfanz, R., Legters, N., West, T., & Weber, L. (2007). Are NCLB's measures, incentives, and improvement strategies the right ones for the nation's low-performing high schools? American Educational Research Journal, 44(3), 559-93.
Citation: Graue, E., & Hatch, K. (2007)
Keywords: class-size reduction, elementary education, professional development, team teaching
Introduction:
CSR (class-size reduction) is a proposal to help increase academic achievement, build up foundational skills in primary grades and to reduce the effects of economic and social inequities
In the last two decades, more than 30 states and the federal government have implemented CSR programs
First generation researchers note-higher student achievement and student and teacher attitudes
Second generation researchers note -teacher were able to do activities that created opportunities for student learning
Third generation researchers note-classroom practice is embedded into the school culture that is created by teacher beliefs, administration, and district or state policy
CSR’s theory is that smaller class sizes=more opportunities to have positive-student interactions, few behavioral issues, and more effort to teach and learn. Teachers can have deeper relationships with parents and tailor instruction to specific needs of the students.
Problems-need more teachers, more space. More space may be cutting other programs (i.e. art, special ed, libraries, computer labs) to have more classrooms. Schools do not have the budget.
Class size 15:1 or 30:2
SAGE is comprehensive legislative reform in Wisconsin designed to reduce the impact of poverty on student achievement. Its components are CSR, professional development for teachers, school available after hours, and challenging curriculum.
Methods:
Research Questions
How is teacher action related to the resource of CSR?
How is this resource facilitated or constrained by physical layout of the school?
How is implementation shaped by educator beliefs about team teaching and working with colleagues?
Data
8 half-day visits for observations
Standardized assessment of environments through the use of the Assessment of Practices in Early Elementary Classrooms (APEEC) and Early Language and Literacy Classroom Observation Toolkit (ELLCO)
Collection of artifacts (e.g., lesson plans, curriculum, examples of home–school communication, report cards, assessment instruments, photographs).
Interviews with classroom teachers, principals, and students
WI State reading comprehension tests 3rd grade
WI State knowledge and concepts test 4th grade
Sample: nine high-poverty schools in urban, semiurban, and rural communities.
Findings:
Studies done of classroom practice could not be described by test scores and standardized observations
Principals in schools that were high achieving or showing improvement readily were will to get creative in facing space issues. Low- achieving schools were not.
Class-size configuration is but only a small part that creates student outcomes
Teachers are able to differentiate instruction with smaller class sizes
Space allowed students to learn in their “bubble”; small group activities were more feasible; teachers can interact more with the students
Space is a resounding issue in CSR, especially in at 30:2 classrooms
Some schools involved in CSR were constrained by square footage in a school
15:1 classrooms had slightly higher ratings in the APEEC and ELLCO (assessment of environment) except for ELLCO literacy activities
30:2 classrooms issues: teachers found it hard to work together without CSR professional development, had same resources as a 15:1 classroom, when one teacher was absent, a substitute was not provided, one teacher took the lead and the other did miscellaneous tasks
In 30:2 classrooms-“tag team” teaching was prevalent but not effective. It did provide for less lesson planning and one to deal with behavioral issues
In 30:2 classrooms, students needed to be split into to groups to provide engagement and meaning activities.
Professional development focused on balanced literacy, visits to other schools, or PLCs and not on CSR
Authors did not receive the final outcomes to the question of student outcomes of children in small classrooms.
Discussion/Implications:
1. SAGE’s biggest challenge was space and staffing
2. Student achievement increased by the strengthening of student–teacher interactions
3. Teachers with ample space felt at liberty to do various activities-small and large groups, pull-out sessions, and individualized activities.
4. Teachers in small spaces grappled with effective instruction and could not do many hands-on activities or small group work.
5. In 30:2 classrooms, teachers tend to “tag team” teach
6. SAGE/CSR made teaching feasible. Teacher talked with each other and communicated with parents, and the bookkeeping and housekeeping lessened. Teachers could differentiate instruction as well.
7. Problem areas-teachers must change teaching styles, get used to the new space set up, develop curriculum for different ability levels, and differentiate instruction
Suggestions:
1. Examine instruction activities and learn more about strategies that are effective for small groups and co-teaching settings.
2. Provide help for teachers and staff to develop new strategies to complement small class sizes
Research Notes:
CSR is still a new approach that needs to be more researched
Small group sizes or 30:2 classroom does not automatically produce higher student achievement.
CSR classrooms need to have effective strategies to balance large and small group activities, individualized activities, and clearly identified responsibilities of each teacher
Both teachers must take co-ownership of the classroom and be willing to work together and change teaching styles to be effective
Graue, E., & Hatch, K. (2007). The wisdom of class-size reduction. American Educational Research Journal, 44(3), 670-700. doi: 10.3102/0002831207306755
Citation: Spires, H., Lee, J., & Turner, K. (2008)
Keywords: technologies, academic engagement, middle grades, student perspectives
Introduction:
Children are comfortable using various forms of technologies to access information and communicate globally= “digital native”
Examples include internet, handheld devices, cell phones, and gaming devices.
Students use this technology outside of school, but it is not found in many classrooms as a tool for learning. Often schools prohibit these devices and cause the students to be “unplugged”
Workplaces are saturated with digital communications and information management systems. Employers expect potential workers to have advanced technological skills
Half of the world compete on the same level of economics=educational reform proposals
Reformed education needs to “bridge the gap between how students live and how they learn”
Methods:
Research Question
What engages a middle schooler to achieve in school?
Data
Surveys and focus groups
Sample: 4,000 middle grades students (from sixth, seventh, and eighth grades) who were members in a North Carolina statewide after-school program.
Findings:
Students used computers more at school than at home. More at after-school programs that at a public library.
Students are knowledge in word processing and spreadsheets (learned at school)
Students more likely to use the Internet rather than a book to find information
High-users of internet and video games
Use cell phones for communication more than non-e-mail Internet technologies (e.g. chat rooms, IM)
Students liked using the computers and doing research on the Internet. Least-worksheets and listening to the teacher
Majority of students use a variety of technologies outside of school in genuine, personal, and social ways. Students feel these are an integral part of their everyday lives and that teachers do not understand this.
Outside school- technologies for communication and entertainment
Inside school-very traditional (word process, test, find info on internet)
Social communication not used for academic purposes
Students want to do projects that use technology as a tool to learn information and have experiences that relate to possible career choices
Students expressed concerns on the constraints of computer use in schools
Discussion/Implications:
1. Students want aesthetically pleasing environments with the newest technology e.g. Wi-Fi, sitting areas, open areas.
2. They view school as a place that often confines their access to technology. High users of technology use computer at home more often.
3. There is a link between “the use of technologies in school and their academic engagement”
4. Students want curriculum and projects based upon possible future careers and be validated in their abilities to make new uses of technology
5. Need to have a 21st century curriculum, instruction and assessment. There must be current tools and connectivity to do this as well as maintenance and upgrades. Funding and lack of resources are huge problems.
Research Notes:
I need to write some grants to get more technology into my classroom and incorporate it more into my instruction and projects. With the librarians cut from elementary schools, I need to pick up the baton and teach students computer skills. I am interested in studies from elementary students’ point of view.
Spires, H. A., Lee, J. K., Turner, K. A., & Johnson, J. (2008). Having our say: middle grade student perspectives on school, technologies, and academic engagement. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 40(4), 497-515.
Citation: Martiniello, M. (2008)
Keywords: limited English-proficient students, academic achievement, word problems (Mathematics), educational tests and measurements
Introduction:
One of the most critical topics in high-stakes in education assessments is guaranteeing that the measurements used in content-area skills are valid for students not proficient in English
It is difficult to determine if an ELL student receives a low score due to lack of understanding the question or lack of mastery or both.
ELL subgroup is component used in determine AYP
ELLs are the lowest-scoring group in both national and state assessments. This provides a great trial to school systems.
Methods:
Research Question
What is the nature of linguistic complexity in math word problems that present comprehension difficulties for ELLs?
The test examined is the English version of the fourth-grade math exam given statewide in the spring of 2003. This is a standards-based state assessment aligned with the Massachusetts Math Standards.
39 publicly released test items were used-29 multiple choice, 5 short answer, and 5 open-ended
Data
Author gave test items to students and had them think aloud. Audio taped and transcribed
Used two DIF (differential item functioning) detection methods. (DIF means the inconsistencies in difficulty an item is for two groups that have equal proficient levels.)
Flagged items that proved DIF disfavoring and described the extent of DIF, strand, linguistic complexity, and children’s responses during think-alouds
Textual analyses of test items to examine the intricacy of their nonmathematical language
Sample: random twenty-four 4th grade ELL students in inner-city Massachusetts public schools (first- or second-generation Latin American immigrants)
Findings:
Author analyzed each test question and provided think-aloud scripts. She includes the math problem and possible answers, the strand, and standard. Also included is the linguistic complexity of problem and if the words were included on the 3,000-word list known of 4th graders.
e.g. test question # 2 multiclausal sentences, child did not understand terms like spin, spinner, identical
e.g. test question #30 Students did not know the words chores, vacuum, rake, weed, inside chore, outside chore (words learned at home)
ELLs showed a definite understanding of school-related words
There were common misinterpretations due to preposition clauses e.g. “Exactly 3/4 of the marbles in the bag are blue, to mean 3/4 of the marbles in the blue bag.”