Instructional Investment or Administrative Bloat: The Effects of Charter System Conversion on Resource Allocations and Staffing Patterns

Despite the growing call for local autonomy and flexibility, few scholars have examined the role of school district–level flexibility on resource allocation and staffing patterns. Leveraging the charter system law within the State of Georgia, we utilize a generalized difference-in-differences approach to estimate the impact of flexibility of system-level expenditures and staffing changes. We find evidence of increases in central office spending and staffing post-conversion to a charter system. In addition, we find evidence that local support is replaced by the state-funded supplemental funding.     

Examining reading comprehension text and question answering time differences in university students with and without a history of reading difficulties

The current study aimed to examine performance times during text reading and question answering of students with and without a history of reading difficulties. Forty-three university students with a history of reading difficulties (HRD) were compared to 124 university students without a history of reading difficulties on measures of word and nonword reading rate, text reading rate and comprehension, and question answering times. Results showed that students with HRD demonstrated slower word, nonword, and text reading rates than their peers, but had comparable reading comprehension scores. Results also showed that students with HRD took longer to answer specific types of questions even when reading rate was controlled. Specifically, when word reading rate was controlled, students with HRD took longer to answer vocabulary, literal, inferential, and background knowledge questions. When text reading rate was controlled, they still took longer to answer literal, inferential, and background knowledge questions. These results suggest that students with a history of reading difficulties require extra time to complete reading comprehension measures for reasons other than just slower word and text reading rate. Findings of this study have implications for supporting university students with a history of reading difficulties.     

Human Relations: The Cornerstone of a Roeper Education

This article traces the evolution of a moral philosophy curriculum originally taught by George A. Roeper in the earliest years of The Roeper School. The first author, a student at The Roeper School in the 1960s and 1970s, describes the impact of the class George Roeper called “Human Relations” on her life. Returning to the School as a parent and trustee, she had the opportunity to re-create for current students the experience of the Human Relations class in a workshop, liberally borrowing material from a philosophy class taught by Harvard political philosopher Michael Sandel. In the second part of the article, a current English teacher at The Roeper School and attendee at that workshop discusses how she was inspired to revise her literature courses to incorporate the moral philosophy approach of George Roeper and Michael Sandel.     

Methodik und Ergebnisse einer Experimentreihe über Entwurfsmuster

Zusammenfassung.   Software-Entwurfsmuster sind eine intuitiv einleuchtende Idee, die viele Befürworter hat. Als Forscher dürfen wir die behaupteten Wirkungen von Entwurfsmustern jedoch nicht einfach glauben, sondern müssen sie gründlich prüfen. Dieser Artikel beschreibt die wichtigsten Behauptungen und entwickelt daraus zugeh?rige Forschungsfragen. Wir diskutieren die Methodik für ein Forschungsprogramm, das die Fragen beantworten soll, und skizzieren praktische Beschr?nkungen, unter denen diese Forschung ablaufen mu?. Es folgt eine kurze Beschreibung von drei kontrollierten Experimenten und den Hauptfolgerungen aus ihren Ergebnissen. So sollte man zum Beispiel die Benutzung von Entwurfsmustern in einem Entwurf genau dokumentieren und Entwurfsmuster nicht einsetzen, ohne alternative Entwürfe zu prüfen. Abschlie?end diskutieren wir ein im Rahmen des Forschungsprogramms geplantes viertes Experiment. Der Beitrag dieses Artikels liegt vorrangig in einer Beschreibung und Diskussion wichtiger methodischer Aspekte kontrollierter Experimente in der Softwaretechnik. Eingegangen am 27. Oktober 1998 / Angenommen am 13. M?rz 1999     

High ability students with coexisting disabilities: Implications for school psychological practice

School psychologists are well-positioned to change the educational landscape for twice-exceptional students, or those who possess high ability in one or more talent domains along with one or more disabilities. Better understanding of the nuanced cognitive and psychosocial assessment patterns within this population may increase well-needed participation in gifted education opportunities and the likelihood of receiving accommodations, as well as decrease missed diagnoses. Based on our review of the empirical literature within domains of twice-exceptionality (e.g., attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism spectrum disorder, and specific learning disability), we provide recommendations for how school psychologists can interpret formative and summative assessments taken by twice-exceptional students and subsequently help design educational plans that will meet their unique needs.     

Student Motivation and Internet Technology: Are Students Empowered to Learn Science?

The Kids as Global Scientists (KGS) project engages students in the study of atmospheric science through the use of current imagery and on‐line communication in a reform‐minded, inquiry‐based curricular program. This article presents case study data on one sixth‐grade classroom of KGS participants during the 8‐week program. Six students representing three motivation levels were selected for intensive study to help illustrate how different students view learning science and the use of technology both before and after a technology‐rich program. Pre‐ and postassessment scores were analyzed for the entire class, and the six students' comments from individual interviews served as one example of voices for each motivation group. Results indicated that students made significant gains in weather content knowledge as measured by written assessments, and interviews revealed a high level of student motivation and satisfaction with the project. We conclude with a discussion of the program characteristics we believe are important for creating a learning environment that fosters the motivation and achievement we observed. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 37: 459–479, 2000.     

An evaluation of the special needs referral process for low-income preschool children with emotional and behavioral problems

The present study is an evaluation of the special needs referral system in a large urban Head Start program. To assess the validity of this system, two assessments were conducted. The first examined a representative sample of 105 children who were formally referred for special needs services. The Early Intervention Screening Profile (EISP) was used to indicate the distribution of problem behaviors of these special needs children. Two independent raters evaluated all cases. Reliable evaluations revealed that all of the referred children displayed speech and language problems, with 70% showing only speech problems and 30% showing speech plus emotional and behavioral problems. The second assessment examined reports of teachers’ concerns about children program-wide by obtaining a representative sample of 203 children nominated by teachers as most likely to be identified as having special needs. Teachers completed a modified EISP. Results indicated that over 70% of the children evidenced emotional and behavioral problems with no accompanying speech difficulties and 30% displayed emotional and behavioral problems plus speech problems. Implications of referral biases were discussed.