Complexity and then some: Theories of action and theories of learning in data-informed decision making

This article presents a synthesis of the complexity of using data in education and highlights some of the promise and challenges of adequately understanding data use across the continuum of accountability to instructional influence in the classroom. Several common themes around the complexity of data use were identified: (1) The nature of the data used, (2) the importance and difficulty of educator data capacity building and sense-making, (3) the importance of characteristics of collaboration, (4) the influence of contextual factors of schools, districts and international settings, (5) the potential negative influence of data use in equity considerations, and (6) the difficulty of determining impact of data use and discerning explanations of why data use initiative work some of the times were examined across the articles. This synthesis concludes with a call for an approach to research in data use in education that concurrently engages multiple aspects of the educational system with a focus on multiple levels of theories of learning that address students, teachers, and organizations.     

Reclaiming the students – coping with social media in 1:1 schools

There is a debate about the advantages and disadvantages of using social media in education. Drawing on interviews and surveys with students and teachers in three Swedish schools, this study finds that students as well as teachers find much of the students' social media use distractive to learning. We investigate this by means of an interpretative study of students' and teachers' experiences. We find that concerns relate to how social media use makes students less social, how weaker students are more likely to get distracted, how teachers lack strategies for tackling the problem and how the responsibility of the use is delegated to the students. We discuss how the distractive use of social media is made possible as a result of education policies requiring a higher degree of individual work, individual responsibility, and educational choices for students. Teachers and school leaders need to jointly reclaim the students and coping strategies for the distractive use are urgently needed.     

After-school tutoring in the context of no Child Left Behind: Effectiveness of two programs in the Pittsburgh Public Schools

The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation has created pressure for districts to improve their students’ proficiency levels on state tests. Districts that fail to meet their academic targets for 3 years must use their Title I funds to pay for supplemental education services (SES) that provide tutoring or other academic instruction. Many districts, including the Pittsburgh Public Schools (PPS), have also adopted additional tutoring programs designed to help students reach proficiency goals. This paper examines student participation and achievement in two PPS tutoring programs—the NCLB-mandated SES program and a state-developed tutoring program. We examine the characteristics of students participating in each program, the effects of participation on student achievement, and the program features that are associated with improved achievement.     

The Effects of a Kit-Based Science Curriculum and Intensive Science Professional Development on Elementary Student Science Achievement

The science achievement of 226 5th graders from districts that have a kit-based inquiry science curriculum supported by intensive professional development (PD) is compared with data from a group of 173 5th graders from other districts that use nonkit science materials and do not have systematic science PD for teachers. Within the kit-based project, the sample of project teachers is stratified to select teachers with a high number of science PD hours versus those with few hours. While there were no significant differences in the mean total scores for kit-based students with low PD versus high PD teachers, the kit-based classrooms scored significantly higher than students in nonkit classrooms on both the pretest and posttest, though there were significantly more minutes of science instruction in the nonkit classrooms. Finally, nonkit teachers taught more units of shorter length and reported lower levels of preparedness to use reform pedagogical approaches.     

Schoolwide Impact and AVID: How Have Selected Texas High Schools Addressed the New Accountability Measures?

This is a study of high schools and their districts receiving Comprehensive School Reform (CSR) grants that have used those grants to support implementation of the Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) model. Over a 4-year period 10 such high schools in 5 districts have been examined to determine if schoolwide or district-wide accountability measures have improved over the period of study, compared to non-AVID high schools and districts. Selected sets of data are presented as the focus of this study, and include graduation or completion rates, advanced course enrollment, Advanced Placement (AP) results, and number of students graduating on advanced graduation plans. Researchers found that AVID had affected the performance profile of the school by leveraging success of disaggregated subgroups of students, particularly African American and Latino students, as well as students from lower income families.     

Discipline or Prejudice? Overrepresentation of Minority Students in Disciplinary Alternative Education Programs

The study seeks to determine the underlying factors contributing to the overrepresentation of minorities in school disciplinary programs. Data from 207 Disciplinary Alternative Education Programs (DAEPs) in Texas are analyzed. The data represent more than 62 % of the student population of Texas school districts. Results support the hypothesis that the ‘whiteness’ of school district undesirably affects the overrepresentation of Black students (but not Hispanic students) in DAEP. Overrepresentation of Black students in disciplinary programs is significantly higher in urban school districts than in rural districts. The findings, however, add a new layer of complexity to the debate on the overrepresentation of minorities in disciplinary programs. This is because not only White school districts are more likely than other districts to exercise their discretionary authority to punish minorities but they also more frequently subject their minority students to mandatory disciplines that are well defined by the state. Plausible explanations of such overrepresentation is offered for future research. Neither wealth nor the districts’ type (urban, suburban, rural and mid-size) have been found to have significant impact on discretionary or mandatory disciplinary actions against minority students.     

School Choice as a Civil Right: District Responses to Competition and Equal Educational Opportunity

Using geographic representations to examine choice policies and patterns in a major urban area, this analysis considers how districts in a metropolitan area are responding to competitive incentives in arranging options for African American students. The findings demonstrate that the distribution of districts' school choice policies exclude poorer students of color from the more preferred school options. The decision of districts to open or close their boundaries to non-residents is tied to both the physical proximity of districts to poorer communities, and to their relative status within the local market hierarchy. Thus, rather than seeing districts compete to attract students (and per-pupil funding) from failing schools, we are instead witnessing a process of districts targeting more preferred students—effectively ignoring the potentially lucrative pool of dissatisfied families (and per-pupil funding) in failing districts. This suggests that districts are responding to a set of incentives quite different from the ones envisioned by reformers, so that although choice is opening up school options, better choices are less available for poor students and students of color.     

Data use for equity?: How data practices incite deficit thinking in schools

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine how the organizational aspects of data use influence deficit thinking in schools. Participants included 52 educators (i.e., teachers, instructional facilitators, and leaders) from eight schools within seven Arkansas school districts. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews and focus groups. Analysis of data led to the identification of three themes: shifting the focus from instruction to accountability measures; viewing students as numbers, not people; and, creating an unsafe professional environment. These themes demonstrate how organizations framed data use and implemented specific data practices which prompted teachers to engage in deficit thinking. These themes contribute to our understanding of how deficit thinking is fueled by specific data practices established at the local level and can be used by school leaders to enact data practices which support the development of more equitable schools.     

福建省各设区市区域用地状况评价分析

选取福建省2010-2012年相关社会经济数据和土地利用数据,根据区域用地状况评价指标体系选取原则,建立全省各设区市区域用地状况评价指标体系,采用定性分析和定量分析结合的方法对各区域用地状况进行综合评价。研究结果表明：福建省各设区市区域用地节约集约水平普遍较粗放,但纵向相比则存在沿海较山区地市集约水平高的明显差异。文章针对福建省各设区市建设用地节约集约利用存在的问题,从土地管理的角度提出有利于提高建设用地节约集约利用水平的相关对策和建议。     

Going Charter? A Study of School District Competition in Wisconsin

The question that drives this article is why some school districts decide to open up charter schools and others do not. Several answers are plausible: (a) entrepreneurial initiative, (b) structural explanations, and (c) spatial competition. We use data for the state of Wisconsin derived from extensive case studies of 19 charter schools and quantitative data on Wisconsin school district from state files and the U.S. Department of Education common core databases. We find evidence to support all three explanations for why districts “go charter.” First, in almost every school and district we visited for case studies, at the heart of either the district or the charter school, and often both, there were entrepreneurial administrators, school board members, teachers, or parents. Our evidence was anecdotal but very consistent across 19 case studies. Second, there are two general sets of structural characteristics that were shown to be quantitatively correlated with becoming a charter district. The first set comprised resource characteristics (size, federal revenue, and available seats); the second set comprised indicators of unmet students needs (the percentage of students eligible for free lunch). Finally, we argue and believe we provide significant evidence that competition is also a motivation for going charter. We posit that open enrollment and charter schools are working together to enhance the flows of students from homeschooling, private schools, dropouts, and other public school districts into charter school districts. Thus using several different indicators and models, estimating both which districts become charter districts and the flow and net gain directly from open enrollment, there is no question that charter schools are increasing competition for students in Wisconsin.     

大学生微信使用强度与孤独感的关系研究

采用自编人口学问卷、孤独感量表(UCLA)、微信使用强度量表,对广东某医科院校400名在校生进行了调查,考察了大学生微信使用行为、孤独感情况,以及这两者之间的关系。结果表明:微信使用强度在不同性别、专业维度上差异显著;孤独感在情感状态、生源地维度上差异显著;微信使用强度与孤独感存在显著负相关,微信使用强度越高,孤独感越低。该研究为大学生微信使用强度和孤独感关联研究提供了实证依据。     

Strategic interaction among public school districts: Evidence on spatial interdependence in school inputs

This paper provides evidence on strategic interaction among public school districts in Massachusetts. The open enrollment program in Massachusetts is unique in testing the strategic competition thesis because it allows students to attend public schools located outside their home district. For each student who transfers out, funds are deducted from the sending district's local aid distribution and added to the receiving district's local aid. Thus, school districts no longer have the assurance of a ready supply of students and funding, instead they have to compete with neighboring districts, and enact strategies that will help retain as well as attract more students. A spatial econometric framework is applied to disentangle the correlation due to strategic interaction from the one that is simply due to spatially correlated error shocks. The results show that public school districts respond positively to the expenditure decisions of neighboring districts, thereby acting strategically when setting their own spending levels.     

State teacher union strength and student achievement

A new and very small literature has provided evidence that students have lower test scores in larger school districts and in districts in which the district's teachers union has negotiated a contract that is more favorable to the district's teachers. The teachers’ unions at the state and national levels contribute a great deal of money to candidates for state and federal offices. This gives the unions some influence in passing (defeating) bills that would help (harm) the state's teachers. We introduce two novel measures of the strength of the state-wide teachers union: union dues per teacher and union expenditures per student. These reflect the key role of political influence for state-wide unions. We provide remarkably strong evidence that students in states with strong teachers unions have lower proficiency rates than students in states with weak state-wide teacher unions.     

Strategic responses to school accountability measures: It's all in the timing

The adoption of state accountability testing in the 1990s coincided with the movement of some school start dates from September into August. Using data from Wisconsin, this paper connects these phenomena, showing that some low-scoring districts advanced their school start dates to allow their students more time to prepare for exams. I use a 2001 Wisconsin state law that restricted districts to start dates after September 1st to identify the effects of this extra time on student achievement. Extra classroom days are associated with small increases in Math scores for 4th graders, but not average reading or language scores. Extra classroom time may also have increased third grade reading scores for students in the upper portion of the ability distribution.     

Equal Access? Analyzing Charter Location Relative to Demographics in Ohio

We analyze the geographical distribution of, and access to, charter schools in the state of Ohio. Using poverty and race data from the U.S. Census, as well as publicly available student achievement scores, we analyze the locational preferences of charter schools. We use Geographic Information System (GIS) to visual display charter school locations relative to these community variables. Results suggest that policies limiting charters to locate in low performing school districts (labeled “challenged districts”) lead charters to cluster in urban cities; thus students living in poverty in large portions of the state lack easy access to school choice options. Further, we find that charters tend to avoid areas of the highest concentrations of poverty and Hispanic (though not Black) students.     

Accounting for the effects of increased high school graduation expectations on pupil performance and resource allocation: results from New York State

Increases in high school graduation requirements are prompting interest in the consequences for students, taxpayers, and educators. This study examines the experiences of New York State school districts that increased student participation between 1992 and 1996 in a statewide testing program that historically has been designed for college-bound students. The study includes statistical comparisons based on the universe of school districts in the State as well as the results of an intensive set of selective case studies. The results show that many different types of districts moved to increase participation levels during the study period and that increases in participation levels were associated with (a) modest declines in the percentage of students passing the exams; (b) unchanged drop-out rates; (c) increases in spending that were similar in magnitude to increases found in districts with little or no increase in participation; and (d) increases in professional staffing levels in core instructional areas. Implications for policy are explored.     

Alcohol Use Among Business Students: Demographic,Personality, and Social Correlates of Increased Consumption

This article aims to investigate drinking patterns among business students, and dispositional (e.g., demographics) and social factors (e.g., norms of alcohol use) that may explain differences in alcohol consumption between business and non-business students. Students in Bergen, Norway, were invited to participate in a survey. The sample consisted of 11,236 students. Binary logistic regressions were run to examine the relationship between institutional affiliation and alcohol use when controlling for covariates associated with alcohol use. Business students had higher alcohol consumption than other students, and shared several dispositional and social factors known to predict alcohol use. The heightened alcohol use among business students can partly be explained by dispositional factors, but seems mostly related to social norms and attitudes.     

College Readiness for English Language Learners (ELLs) in California: Assessing Equity for ELLs under the Local Control Funding Formula

English Learners (ELs) represent critical mass of K-12 students in public schools across the nation. However, states have failed to improve EL student academic outcomes, including college readiness. In 2013, California altered its school funding policy, providing additional support for English learners. Drawing on Vertical Equity and a Critical Community Strength Framework, this study examines the impact of local funding on college readiness among EL students by analyzing accountability plans and secondary data of 13 districts and assessing reforms using markers of college readiness. Document analysis shows: 1) school districts’ prioritization, 2) resource allocation based on those priorities, and 3) different approaches to operationalizing the construct of equity. Secondary data analysis reveals EL students lagged behind peers in performance on state assessments and enrollment in college preparatory and Advanced Placement varied across districts. These data confirm the critical need for intervention and targeted investment to raise overall college readiness rates among EL students in California and have national implications for states with growing Latino and EL student populations.     

All against all competition: the incorporation of the International Baccalaureate in public high schools in Canada

ABSTRACT

Since the 1980s, education in Canada has been through a process that led to school choice, targeting the improvement of students’ performance through school competition. These policies fostering an education quasi-market became an ideal framework for the expansion of IB schools. Since the Diploma Programme of the International Baccalaureate (IBDP) offers a differentiated international curriculum and is perceived as a program that contributes to students’ achievements, it has been increasingly adopted in school districts and schools. This paper explores the marketing strategies developed in schools and districts in response to school competition by tracing the incorporation of the IBDP in high schools in different districts in British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec. Based on interviews with school staff, district officials and IB local association representatives, this study analyzes schools’ marketing decisions from a consumer and producer orientation taking into account the macro environment (federal government) and micro-environment (provincial government and districts). Rather than fostering efficiency and improving students’ achievement as intended, marketization policies resulted in an increased focus on the recruitment of high achieving students, which led to a competition between schools, between districts and between other programs in the districts or in other words –an ‘all against all’ competition.