Closing the Achievement Gap: Lessons From Illinois' Golden Spike High-Poverty High-Performing Schools

The achievement gap is the single most critical issue in American education. This study illustrates the difference in academic performance between low-income children and their peers, between minority children and their classmates, and between those schools that serve a majority of children from low-income families and those that serve a more advantaged population. Using a research framework, the author identifies and examines Golden Spike schools-Illinois schools that have a sustained record of closing the achievement gap. Quantitative and qualitative analyses reveal that the Golden Spike schools have distinct commonalities in leadership, literacy, teacher qualities, and community engagement, while characteristics such as school size, class size, and alignment with state standards make little, if any, difference in their ability to close the achievement gap. The study concludes with state and local policy recommendations that will enable high-poverty schools to make substantial progress in bridging the gap.     

Longitudinal Achievement and Chapter 1 Coordination in High-Poverty Schools: A Multilevel Analysis of the Prospects Data

Hierarchical linear modeling was employed to study the relations between the degree of Chapter 1 and regular-program coordination in high-poverty schools and students' longitudinal achievements while controlling for the compositional features of the schools. Variables derived from the national Prospects survey were developed to represent school-level coordination and composition. These variables were used to predict the learning rates of 1st- and 3rd-grade cohort students over 2 (Cohort 1) and 3 (Cohort 3) school years. The results were not consistent across cohorts or subjects; however, some school characteristics significantly predicted the students' learning rates in more than 1 of the 4 possible analyses. The main findings were (a) additional days of school were associated positively with 1st-grade cohort math and reading achievements, (b) students in rural 1st-grade cohort schools learned at significantly slower rates in reading and math relative to their urban peers, and (c) schools that coordinated their Chapter 1 programs with other school services had students who learned at faster rates. These and other findings revealed some situations in which high-poverty schools can influence, through schoolwide reform efforts, the academic achievements of their at-risk students.     

Experimental Effects of Word Generation on Vocabulary,Academic Language,Perspective Taking,and Reading Comprehension in High-Poverty Schools

Abstract

With a sample of 7,752 fourth- to seventh-grade students in 25 schools which were randomized at the school level to condition, this article reports experimental impacts of an enhanced version of Word Generation on student outcomes at the end of Year 1 and of Year 2. Word Generation employs analysis, synthesis, critique, and problem-solving activities to build students’ academic language, perspective taking, and ultimately their reading comprehension. Results indicate that the program improves the proximate outcome of academic vocabulary included in the curriculum after the first and second year of implementation for all students (Y1 effect size (ES)?=?.22, Y2?=?.28 for fourth and fifth graders; Y1 ES?=?.13, Y2?=?.16 for sixth and seventh graders). For those in the fourth and fifth grades, their perspective positioning skills also improved at the end of the first year (ES?=?.14), and their academic language skills (ES?=?.06), perspective articulation and positioning skills (ES?=?.12, .19), and reading comprehension (ES?=?.15) improved at the end of the second year. Among sixth and seventh graders, there were improvements in perspective positioning skills (ES?=?.19) and reading comprehension (ES?=?.10) at the end of Year 2. Effects after both Years 1 and 2 were stronger in high-exposure classrooms.     

School-Wide Educator Evaluation for Improving School Capacity and Student Achievement in High-Poverty Schools: Year 1 of the School System Improvement Project

The United States is in an era of high-stakes evaluation of educators (i.e., teachers and principals), the results of which are used to inform human capital decision making (i.e., recruitment, hiring, retention, and dismissal), which in turn impacts school capacity and student learning. The present article describes the School System Improvement (SSI) Project, a school-wide educator evaluation initiative that includes 22 high-poverty schools. The primary goal is to present the Year 1 planning for implementation of educator evaluation, highlighting the use of system consultation for planning. The SSI Project team includes researchers in school psychology and special education, school administrators, and teachers. The project aims to implement a multimethod educator evaluation system that generates scores for informing targeted, evidence-based professional development. Project goals are to increase educator competencies that lead to improved student achievement. Finally, directions for training and recommendations for future school reform are presented.     

Home Literacy Environments and Foundational Literacy Skills for Struggling and Nonstruggling Readers in Rural Early Elementary Schools

Factors such as weak early literacy skills and living in poverty may put young students at risk for reading disabilities. While home literacy activities and access to literacy materials have been associated with positive reading outcomes for urban and suburban students, little is known about home literacy environments of rural early elementary school students living in poverty and their relationship to foundational reading skills for struggling and nonstruggling readers. This study examined how home literacy environments might relate to rural kindergarten and first grade students’ reading performance. Parents of 1,108 kindergarten and first grade students in the rural Southeast completed questionnaires on the frequency of home literacy activities and access to literacy materials. Multilevel model analyses revealed that home literacy activities and access to literacy materials were positively related to basic word reading skills, passage comprehension, and spelling. Implications for families and educators are discussed.     

Early Literacy Measures for Improving Student Reading Achievement: Translating Research Into Practice

The importance of early literacy instruction and its role in later reading proficiency is well established; however, measures and procedures to screen and monitor proficiency in the area of early literacy are less well researched. The purpose of this study was to (a) examine the technical adequacy and validity of early curriculum-based literacy measures, Letter–Sound Correspondence, Onset Phoneme Identification, and Phoneme Segmentation, developed for use within the problem-solving model in the Minneapolis Public Schools and (b) describe the district-wide implementation of these measures. In general, these measures were found to have adequate reliability and validity, have moderate to moderately high correlations with criterion measures (oral reading, report cards), and be sensitive to growth across the school year. A case study of how these measures are used for screening and progress monitoring to improve reading achievement within 1 school is included. Limitations and future directions are also presented.     

An Early College Initiative in an Urban,High-Poverty High School: First-Year Effects on Student Achievement and Non-Academic Indicators

The Early College High School (ECHS) initiative developed in response to calls to significantly decrease the number of first-generation college and underserved students of color and from poverty who are high school dropouts or marginally graduates (i.e., ill prepared for college). The ECHS model is different from other educational reforms in that secondary and postsecondary faculty work collaboratively to align curriculum and supports that facilitate a successful high school-to-college transition. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of the initial implementation of ECHS on student achievement and nonacademic indicators in a high-poverty setting. Results indicated that, after an initial year of implementation, achievement results on criterion-referenced tests were significantly higher for all students relative to matched control students, but the statistically and practically significant impact on norm-referenced tests was limited to students enrolled in ECHS courses; school attendance remained the same, but suspensions were decreased. Implications for high school reform and research are discussed.     

英语专业二语限时写作中词汇策略的重要性

研究主要分两个阶段进行写作测试,对50名云南师范大学英语专业二年级学生在二语限时写作中的词汇使用情况进行分析对比。研究发现,在二语限时写作的条件下,英语专业学生使用了过多的低级词汇。对此,研究者提出在二语写作教学中应采取一定的词汇策略,以培养英语专业学生的词汇能力和提高写作质量。     

The Importance of Storytime in Primary Schools

Storytime is an aspect of the primary curriculum which is rather under threat, especially in junior classes, as the curriculum becomes squeezed by all the demands which are made upon it. Janet Evans puts forward a convincing case for the retention and use of regular story time sessions.     

Cognitive and Linguistic Precursors to Early Literacy Achievement in Children With Specific Language Impairment

This study investigated the role of cognitive and language skills as predictors of early literacy skills in children with Specific Language Impairment. A range of cognitive and linguistic skills were assessed in a sample of 137 eight-year-old children with SLI at the beginning of the school year, and 6 months later on word decoding and reading comprehension. The cognitive and linguistic measures revealed four factors that were called language, speech, short-term memory, and phonological awareness. Structural equation modeling showed word decoding to be predicted by speech, short-term memory, and phonological awareness, whereas reading comprehension was predicted by word decoding skills and short-term memory. It can be concluded that in children with SLI variations in early word decoding are mostly determined by speech abilities and short-term memory, and to a lesser extent by phonological awareness. Moreover, reading comprehension turns out to be highly dependent on word decoding and short-term memory.     

Welcoming Families: A Parent Literacy Project in a Linguistically Rich,High-Poverty School

This article focuses on a parent literacy project that included shared reading and how to support this strategy with families who have a home language other than English and live in poverty circumstances. Literature about the importance of shared reading to children’s literacy development is shared in tandem with the importance of building parent and school collaborations. Details are provided about the literacy project of working with families at Greenbrae Elementary with supporting photographs and parent comments. Strategies to bring such an approach to other schools are described with many pragmatic concerns addressed.     

The Web and Early Literacy

Abstract

The Web as an appropriate vehicle for educating young children in formal and informal school settings is the subject of widespread, international debate (Anderson, 2000; Attewell, Suazo-Gar-cia, & Battle, 2003; Davis & Shade, 1994; Dolowy, 2000; Filipenko & Rolfsen, 1999; Pendleton, 2001; Vail, 2001; Wardle, 1999). Regardless of these debates, however, the Web's use in early education continues to grow. This article describes current Web usage in early education, particularly literacy education, and suggests possibilities for the future.     

Teacher-Directed Learning Approaches and Science Achievement: Investigating the Importance of Instructional Explanations in Australian Schools

Research in Science Education - This study investigated the relationships of teacher-directed approaches with science achievement in Australian schools. The data for this study were drawn from the...     

Developing Literacy in Inner-city Schools

This article examines the impact of a two-year multimedia computer-based program of structured learning and assessment introduced into fifteen primary schools in three London boroughs. The project was evaluated and the results are reported here. The evaluation had two purposes: to explore the actual effects of the programs during the time span of the project, and to understand the contexts in which they operated.     

从PISA2015科学素养测评看数学素养的重要性

本文从PISA2015科学素养测评科学地解释现象、设计与评估科学探究实验、科学地解释数据和证据三个方面分析数学素养在科学领域的应用,并给出在学校教育中综合提升学生科学素养与数学素养的一些建议。     

中学英语的词汇教学

英语词汇教学要点，是通过音、形、义来解释要点，使学生能系统掌握英语词汇，变机械记忆为理解记忆。同时通过丰富多彩的教学方法，提高学生的词汇巩固程度和举一反三的能力。     

Improving Literacy Achievement for English Learners in Transitional Bilingual Programs

This article reports the results of an ongoing effort to design, implement, and evaluate an effective transitional bilingual program. The program developed spans grades 2–5, and employs a specific language arts model. Evaluation results, based on comparisons of randomly selected matched samples of project and nonproject students (n = 42, 42), indicate the program is demonstrably more effective than the transition program students typically receive, producing higher levels of Spanish literacy, significantly higher levels of English literacy, and important literacy-related practices and attitudes for significantly larger numbers of students. Results have direct implications for educators seeking to improve programs for English learners. Questions regarding large-scale program implementation, however, remain.     

An Evaluation of Schoolwide Early Language and Literacy (SWELL) in Six Disadvantaged Schools

A within‐school evaluation of Schoolwide Early Language and Literacy (SWELL) was undertaken in six disadvantaged schools in NSW in 1995 and 1996 using a sample of Kindergarten students in each school before (control group) and after (experimental group) the implementation of SWELL. As many control and experimental students as could be accessed were tested on four different early literacy measures when they were mid‐way through Year 1. Assessment at the end of the Kindergarten year and mid‐way through Year 1 indicated that experimental students significantly outperformed their control counterparts on tests measuring pseudoword decoding and reading connected text at the end of Kindergarten, and on tests measuring pseudoword decoding, reading connected text, invented spelling, and a standardised reading measure mid‐way through Year 1.