Can the performance effect be ignored in the attendance policy discussion?

Should universities require students to attend? Academics disagree. One side in the discussion of university attendance policies has tried to dismiss any association between attendance and student performance, insisting that students have a fundamental right to choose what and when to attend. By merging student record data and course attendance data for three cohorts of final year undergraduate students at a London‐based university, we are able to isolate attendance effects for 674 students, giving us a large sample, without the inherent weaknesses of more traditional survey methods. We provide fresh empirical evidence for the positive association between attendance and exam performance, and argue for a more balanced view in the attendance policy discussion. Politicians and Higher Education policies are increasingly focused on employability, student retention and completion indicators. Carefully crafted attendance policies can have positive effects on pass and completion rates, primary policy targets of Higher Education funders and policymakers. Attendance effects therefore cannot simply be ignored.     

Early to rise? The effect of daily start times on academic performance

Local school districts often stagger daily start times for their schools in order to reduce busing costs. This paper uses data on all middle school students in Wake County, NC from 1999 to 2006 to identify the causal effect of daily start times on academic performance. Using variation in start times within schools over time, the effect is a two percentile point gain in math test scores – roughly fourteen percent of the black–white test score gap. I find similar results for reading scores and using variation in start times across schools. The effect is stronger for students in the lower end of the distribution of test scores. I find evidence supporting increased sleep as a mechanism through which start times affect test scores. Later start times compare favorably on cost grounds to other education interventions which result in similar test score gains.     

Teaching in the age of accountability: restrained by school culture?

In this paper, we explore how ‘teaching communication’ in the classroom is connected to school culture. In the age of accountability, the outcome focus force to the forefront, a ‘blame game’ which either blames students’ achievements on the teachers and teacher education, or the students and their socio-economic background. We argue that to succeed with teaching and learning is dependent on the school culture more than the single teacher or the students’ backgrounds. School culture is understood as attitudes, communication, student focus and engagement. Teaching communication in this paper is studied as teachers’ and students’ talk about subject matter in whole-class teaching. We explore how different school cultures give students different opportunities to experience meaning from teaching communication. The perspective on meaning is derived from Bildung-centred didactics. By using qualitative comparative case method in Norwegian Lower Secondary schools, we find three different types of ‘teaching communication’ typical for different school cultures: ‘Dialogic teaching communication’, ‘storytelling teaching communication’ and ‘reproducing teaching communication’. The school culture with the ‘dialogic’ variant is characterized by trust and reciprocity, making students’ experiencing meaning a possibility.     

Book matters: The effect of Cocky’s Reading Express on student performance

The literature argues that children are more likely to succeed academically if they acquire strong reading skills and a love of reading at a young age. In this paper, I evaluate an early childhood literacy program, Cocky’s Reading Express (CRE), to understand how reading events at school and the gifts of books impact learning. Combining the CRE visit records with administrative student data, I find that CRE leads to 0.02–0.03 of a standard deviation increase in statewide English Language Arts test scores among low-income students one year after the visit and find suggestive evidence that CRE improves the math scores for subgroups of students in poverty. In particular, the CRE effect varies based on locality and access to reading materials, with a larger effect on students residing in metropolitan areas or close to public libraries. However, the positive effects on low-income students diminish over time; CRE does not show impacts on the scores of students from better-off families either.     

The effect of video-based approach on prospective teachers’ ability to analyze mathematics teaching

This is an intervention study that explored the effect of using video lesson analysis methodology (VLAM) on the ability of prospective middle/high school mathematics teachers to analyze mathematics teaching. The sample of the study consisted of 26 female prospective mathematics teachers enrolled in a methods course at the United Arab Emirates University. The participants were divided equally into two groups, experimental and control. The experimental group was involved in video lesson analysis where they analyzed ten video lessons throughout the semester. The group members interacted via discussion forums through Blackboard technology. Both groups wrote analyses of two video lessons, one before the intervention program and another at the end of it. It was found that the intervention remarkably improved the ability to analyze mathematics teaching of the experimental group while little improvement occurred to the control group. Implications for teacher education programs are discussed.     

Is the pen mightier than the keyboard? The effect of online testing on measured student achievement

Nearly two dozen states now administer online exams to deliver testing to K-12 students. These tests have real consequences: their results feed into accountability systems, which have been used for more than a decade to hold schools and districts accountable for their students’ learning. We examine the rollout of computer-based testing in Massachusetts over 2 years to investigate test mode effects. Crucial to the study design is the state administering the same exam (PARCC) in online and offline formats each year during the transitional period. We find an online test penalty of about 0.10 standard deviations in math and 0.25 standard deviations in English language arts (ELA), which partially but not fully fades out in the second year of online testing.     

Can educational engagement prevent Early School Leaving? Unpacking the school’s effect on educational success

There is growing evidence that school engagement, or more specifically disengagement, is a key indicator for predicting Early School Leaving. The aim of this article is to explore the impact of secondary schools in student (dis)engagement and subsequent opportunities to succeed in school. Drawing on data from a qualitative study in five secondary schools in Barcelona, the article discusses the role of school context in inhibiting or facilitating school engagement by exploring compositional effects, organisational and pedagogical practices, and teachers’ expectations. To do so a twofold perspective is adopted: firstly, we look at the main school features and their impact on students’ educational opportunities; and secondly, a systematic analysis of the dimensions of school engagement (behavioural, emotional and cognitive) is carried out. As a result, the article contributes to the identification of the most significant variables at school level that influence student engagement and their opportunities for school success.     

Too hot or too cold to study? The effect of temperature on student time allocation

This paper studies the causal effect of temperature on students’ time use for both college and high school students. Students substitute study time with leisure on days with extremely low and high temperatures. Extreme temperatures also have a noticeable heterogeneous effect on time allocation for both groups of students. College students respond to the unpleasant weather by substituting study time with weather-appropriate leisure. In comparison, high school students reduce both class and self-study time, which is more frequent during cold days. Lastly, students in cold and hot climates are observed to react more to the temperature to which they are not acclimatized. Our findings offer a different perspective by uncovering the black box behind the relationship between weather and test scores seen in recent literature.     

Can mission predict school performance? The case of basic education in Oman

This article reports on a study that examined the relationship between the mission statements and performance of Basic Education Schools in Oman. The process of mission statement framing was also investigated. A sample of 161 school mission statements was randomly collected from the Ministry of Education school mission portal database representing 19% of the total population. A sequential mixed method of analysis was chosen. The mission statements being classified with respect to 12 themes of which the most frequently of them appearing Academic Achievement (74.5%) and the least frequent Scientific Research Methods (26.1%).

Results show that Learning Outcomes Excellence significantly correlated with a theme around Reconstructing School Environment (r?=?0.243). Also, Islamic Values and Ethics significantly correlated with Scientific Research Methods (r?=?0.221). It was also appeared that school principals spent great efforts on designing school mission statements that directed schools towards achieving their purpose and improving their performance.     

Using embryology screencasts: A useful addition to the student learning experience?

Although podcasting has been a well used resource format in the last few years as a way of improving the student learning experience, the inclusion of enhanced audiovisual formats such as screencasts has been less used, despite the advantage that they work well for both visual and auditory learners. This study examines the use of and student reaction to a set of screencasts introduced to accompany embryology lectures within a second year module at Brighton and Sussex Medical School. Five mini-lecture screencasts and one review quiz screencast were produced as digital recordings of computer screen output with audio narration and released to students via the managed learning environment (MLE). Analysis of server log information from the MLE showed that the screencasts were accessed by many of the students in the cohort, although the exact numbers were variable depending on the screencast. Students accessed screencasts at different times of the day and over the whole of the access period, although maximum downloads were predictably recorded leading up to the written examination. Quantitative and qualitative feedback demonstrated that most students viewed the screencasts favorably in terms of usefulness to their learning, and end-of-module written examination scores suggest that the screencasts may have had a positive effect on student outcome when compared with previous student attainment. Overall, the development of a series of embryology screencasts to accompany embryology lecture sessions appears to be a useful addition to learning for most students and not simply an innovation that checks the box of "technology engagement."     

A response to Padeliadu: can student attitudes exist outside the school climate?

The present study explored typically developing children’s understanding of, and attitudes towards, the inclusion of children with physical disabilities (PD) in mainstream settings. The 60 children who participated in the study attended sixth grade in two mainstream primary schools (30 in contact with a child with PD and 30 without such contact). They filled in a questionnaire to measure understanding of disabilities and one to explore attitudes towards inclusion. Analyses revealed that children in contact with a child with PD had a better understanding of the emotional and social problems associated with the presence of PD than the comparison group. Moreover, children in contact with a child with PD expressed more positive attitudes towards the inclusion of children with PD in relation to children without such contact. Results are discussed in terms of the importance of contact in the formation of more positive attitudes towards the inclusion of children with PD.     

Free lunch for all? The impact of universal school lunch on student misbehavior

South Korean primary and secondary schools have been providing free lunches only to low-income students since the 1980s. In the early 2010s, the Free School Meal Program (FSMP) expanded the provision of free lunches to all students, without altering the nutritional content of the school meals or the school meal take-up rate, which has always been very high. We investigate the impact of this universal school lunch program on the incidence of misbehavior in schools. We find that FSMP reduces the number of behavioral incidents, particularly physical fights between students, by about 35%.     

The effect of school‐based practice on student teachers' attitudes towards inclusive education in Northern Ireland

This study seeks to discover the attitudes to inclusion of those about to embark on initial teacher education in Northern Ireland and the extent to which an extended teaching practice in a non‐selective placement school can influence attitude change. A cohort of 125 student teachers responded to a survey that explored their attitudes towards a range of issues relating to inclusive education in the context of Northern Ireland. The findings indicate that student teachers in Northern Ireland show positive attitudes towards the principles of inclusion, with teaching practice experience in a non‐selective school appearing to confirm and increase these positive attitudes. However, despite displaying increasingly positive attitudes towards inclusion post‐teaching practice, there are indications that student teachers continue to show strong attachment to current organisational practices strongly related to academic selection.     

Pennies from heaven? Using exogenous tax variation to identify effects of school resources on pupil achievement

Evidence on the effectiveness of school inputs remains inconclusive, partly due to the challenge of identification as families sort themselves into school districts and resources are potentially allocated to compensate (or reinforce) differences in pupil abilities. Using variation in school resources induced by the location of waterfalls in Norway, we examine the effect of school expenditures on pupil performance at age 16. Higher school expenditures, triggered by higher revenues from local taxes on hydropower plants, have a significantly positive effect on pupil performance. This positive IV estimate contrasts a zero effect based on least squares. A downward biased estimate using a standard cross section estimator is expected in a context of compensating resource allocation across educational units.     

Can a school change its spots? The first year of transforming to an innovative school

Transforming into an innovative school is one of the strategies schools apply when facing changes in a turbulent environment. In the first year of such a transformation these schools face an essential dilemma: how to facilitate changes without jeopardizing their environmental legitimacy. Examining an Israeli elementary school as an instrumental case study through two theoretical frameworks—institutional theory and resource dependence theory—we found two ways in which the school faces this dilemma. First it seals its technical core while demonstrating the innovation by symbolical practises, and second, it employs buffering and bridging tactics in its reciprocal relations with its various partners according to the nature of their expectations. We conclude that the question is not why innovation does not change a school, but why a school needs innovation in order to change and improve. Further research directions and implications for innovative schools are discussed.     

Is the remedy worse than the disease? The impact of teacher remediation on teacher and student performance in Chile

I study the impact of remedial training for low-performing teachers in Chile. Taking advantage of the fact that assignment to remediation is mainly based on teacher evaluation scores, I use a fuzzy regression discontinuity design and find that teachers barely assigned to remediation improve their pedagogical practices as measured by their next evaluation scores. While there is suggestive evidence that these teachers’ students obtain higher standardized test scores after the training is complete, this result is not robust, and the suggestive positive impact disappears after one year. I also find that during the year of their teacher’s reevaluation, the students of teachers assigned to remedial training obtain significantly lower test scores. Teachers assigned to remediation report lower prestige and job satisfaction, suggesting that the stigma of being labeled as a low performer leads teachers to put more effort into preparing their teaching evaluations, causing a temporary drop in student learning.     

Am I missing something? The effects of absence from class on student performance

We analyse a rich dataset of Economics students at a UK university to identify causal effects of class absence on student performance, exploiting the random assignment of students and information on students’ class timetables to avoid selection problems. We use panel properties of the data to control for unobserved student factors such as ability and effort. Quantile regression results suggest that absence has adverse effects on performance – but these effects are causal only for the upper part of the conditional performance distribution.     

What effect does flipping the classroom have on undergraduate student perceptions and grades?

There is a lack of consensus of the effects on student perceptions and performance in flipping the classroom and its possible value over the traditional face-to-face (FTF) classroom approach. This research examines the expectation that flipping an undergraduate, introductory level, information concepts and skills class would benefit student learning and evaluates the results of flipping this type of course. The study showed a significant difference in student perceptions about the course itself between web-enhanced, FTF and hybrid, flipped classrooms, but this may be dependent upon the level of technology integration rather than the approach. In addition, students who were required to work in groups on a weekly basis had more positive responses toward the flipped classroom improving their soft skills than those who did not. Finally, for written content exams it seems the flipped class approach is at least as effective as the traditional classroom in terms of grades. However, it appears teaching software skills may be better with at least some direct instruction over just the use of simulation software.