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.     

The Importance of Early Vocabulary for Literacy Achievement in High-Poverty Schools

Although research documents a key contribution of print skills to early literacy, vocabulary and other language skills also provide an important foundation. Focusing on a sample of several hundred low-income children in 16 urban schools that were implementing literacy interventions, 1st-grade predictors of literacy development were traced over time. Beginning-of-1st-grade letter–word identification and word attack skills were the strongest predictors of reading comprehension at the end of 1st grade. However, vocabulary was the best predictor of reading comprehension at the end of 2nd and 3rd grades. The predictive power of early print-related and phonemic-awareness skills diminished over time, yet vocabulary scores remained an important predictor. Results support an early emphasis on developing meaning skills to prepare low-income children for success in literacy.     

School Support Teams: Building State Capacity for Improving Schools

Universal public education may be a mirage if we consider the role that behavior policies play in providing mechanisms by which schools can disentitle nonconforming students. In traditional schools, students are legally suspended or expelled from school for disruptive behavior, habitual neglect of duty, or chronic absenteeism through policies that encourage the exit of difficult students rather than addressing their problems. This article includes an overview of behavior and attendance policies in Canadian schools and a discussion of a sample of schools in which policies have been revised to provide alternative programs designed to meet the needs of all students, especially those who are at risk. These schools work with other social agencies to address the problems associated with high dropout rates instead of expelling students who have problems.     

Moving on and Moving up: Confronting the Complexities of School Improvement in the Improving Schools Project

Despite recent advances, the research literature on school effectiveness, school improvement and educational change has relatively little to say about how schools become effective over time, and what strategies or combination of strategies work best to improve schools at different levels of effectiveness. A recent British research study – ‘The Improving Schools’ project funded by the Economic and Social Research Council – has been designed to explore these (and other) issues. This article describes the rationale for the fieldwork aspect of the project, which includes 13 secondary schools from 3 English local education authorities and presents 4 themes that have emerged from the first phase of the research that cast some light on the phenomena of the ‘improving school’. These themes – multiple starting points, the complex interactive and intuitive nature of school improvement strategies, the missing instructional level, and the importance of context – are described. The article concludes that given the non-linear and unpredictable nature of improvement seen in the case studies, schools need to become more skilled in ‘change agentry’ in order to continue to improve.     

学校学业乐观:提升学生学业成就的合力

学校学业乐观是教师群体对教与学的积极信念与态度及由此形成的良好学校氛围,由注重学业成就、教师集体效能感以及教师对家长和学生的信任这三个协同作用的成分构成。与社会经济地位、学生先前的学习成就等因素相比,学校学业乐观更能稳定而显著地预测学生的学业成就。学校学业乐观概念的提出及结构成分的确立源自积极心理学、学校组织行为学、教育心理学等多学科的理论与实证研究的支持。     

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.     

Revisiting the Importance of the Direct Effects of School Leadership on Student Achievement: The Implications for School Improvement Policy

Much is left to be known regarding the impact of school principals on student achievement. This is because much of the research on school leadership focuses not on actual student outcomes but rather on other peripheral results of principal practices. In the research that has been done in this area, significant relationships have been identified between selected school leadership practices and student learning, indicating that evidence existed for certain principal behaviors to produce a direct relationship with student achievement. Further, although these relationships typically account for a small proportion of the total student achievement variability, they are of sufficient magnitude to be of interest and additional investigation. Actions taken to better understand and improve the impact of principals on the achievement of students in their schools have the potential for widespread benefit, as individual improvements in principal practice can impact thousands of students. It is in this light that potential direct effects of principal practices should be revisited.     

Impacts of the Co-nect School Reform Design on Classroom Instruction,School Climate,and Student Achievement in Inner-City Schools

This study evaluated the Co-nect school reform design in 5 inner-city schools relative to a matched comparison sample of 4 schools in the same district. Schools in each group were categorized into a lower- or middle-socioeconomic status (SES) subgroup based on the percentage of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch, percent minority enrollment, and student mobility rate. Co-nect schools relative to comparison schools demonstrated more positive outcomes on (a) school climate on multiple dimensions; (b) teacher commitment, satisfaction, and buy-in; (c) teacher usage of learner-centered teaching strategies (e.g., projects, teacher coaching); and (d) student usage of technology as a learning tool. On most measures, these effects were more evident in the schools serving lower-SES. Results on the state-mandated standardized achievement test, using both percentile communities and value-added scores, showed a mixed pattern of success, with 3 Co-nect schools demonstrating more positive progress and 2 demonstrating less positive progress relative to comparison schools and state norms. Interpretations of the achievement results and of Co-nect impacts overall are made relative to implementation issues and school characteristics.     

Improvement Efforts in Rural Schools: Experiences of Nine Schools Receiving School Improvement Grants

Low-performing schools in rural settings can face challenges common to all struggling schools, such as low student motivation and maintaining a qualified teaching staff. However, aspects of rural schools’ settings, such as the distance from urban areas and the commute between the schools and the students’ and teachers’ homes, can exacerbate the challenges that rural schools face. This article focuses on the experiences of nine rural schools that were part of a study for the U.S. Department of Education on the school improvement process in a purposive sample of 35 schools receiving federal funds through the School Improvement Grants (SIG) program. In particular, it examines how respondents in the rural schools perceived that the schools’ rural setting influenced the schools’ challenges and improvement actions and presents findings on the recruitment and retention of teaching staff, an activity integral to school improvement efforts under SIG.     

未来教育家培养工程中的制度设计与课程安排

对免费师范生的培养要作为未来教育家奠基性系统工程,在人才培养模式、课程体系和培养实践等方面实施全新的设计。完整的人才培养模式由纵向学习时限模式和横向培养过程模式构成。纵向时限模式采取4+2本硕一体化的制度设计。其招生对象是推荐免试的优秀本科毕业生,学习方式是在职攻读。横向培养过程模式的实践表达是:厚基础、精专业、强能力、高素质。本科阶段的课程结构采取四大模块。教育硕士阶段的课程安排应是专业理论和教育能力的双提高设计。课程体系本硕连贯。     

基于B方法的学生行为百分考核系统的设计

高校学生人数的不断增加使得构建学生行为百分考核系统成为学生管理的必要举措,系统构建中引入了B方法的概念,将传统UML语言与B方法相结合,利用Java语言结构结合SQLServer数据库,设计了学生行为百分考核系统,同时阐述了部分代码在系统中的作用。结果表明,系统的正常运行能够不断提高学生管理的信息化水平和教师的工作效率。     

智者之教:高中新课程改革背景下教师教育者的教学改进

普通高中课程改革要求高中教师成为"学养教师",因此,教师教育者的教学即为智者之教。通过智者之教来达成学养教师的培养,教师教育者在教学中至少应做到以下几点:引导师范生从表层学习到深层理解,缩短理论和实践的差距;培养师范生的反思能力,达成"知识+反思=提高";重视师范生的行动研究,培养"教师研究者"。     

中小学学业评价奖励制度的去激励机制剖析

探讨现有中小学学业评价奖励制度的去激励机制，认为现有的中小学学业评价奖励制度违背了有关教育心理学原理和激励理论，损害了学生的学习动机和学习积极性，阻碍了学生学习潜力的激发和能力的培养，对大多教学生而言具有较强去激励作用。     

Comprehensive School Reform in Middle Schools: The Effects of Different Ways of Knowing on Student Achievement in a Large Urban District

Comprehensive school reform (CSR), a federally funded program, is designed to raise student achievement via the implementation of whole school reforms. Unfortunately, although close to 400 CSR models have been adopted by schools nationally, there is relatively limited empirical evidence from rigorous research studies regarding the effectiveness of CSR in general or of specific models in particular. Of additional importance is the extent to which CSR models can demonstrate positive effects over time. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects on student achievement and attendance, in an urban school district in Kentucky, of the Year 3 implementation of the Different Ways of Knowing (DWoK) for the Middle Grades model. Results indicated that achievement results on both the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills and Kentucky Core Content Test were significantly superior for the DWoK schools relative to matched control schools; no positive impacts on student attendance occurred for Year 3. The implications of the study lies in revealing that learner-centered CSR models that integrate the arts with the core curriculum can produce observable achievement gains in both normed- and criterion-referenced tests.     

高职院校大学生科技创新体系构建的思考

高职院校应培养出具有创新精神和创新能力的人才,以适应当前及未来社会发展的需要.本文在分析高职院校大学生科技创新能力的现状和存在问题的基础上,提出了相应的对策与建议,以此促进高职院校大学生科技创新能力的提高.     

Instructional and Distributed Self-leadership for School Improvement: Experiences of Schools in the Kavango Region

This article uses the lens of self-leadership to understand the leadership practice of school principals in the Kavango region of Namibia. Self-leadership emphasises the focus on leading the self to enhance one's leadership in the organisation. Self-leadership will always function with other leadership styles; hence, the article uses instructional and distributed leadership styles to understand the possibility of principals having an influence on the improvement of academic quality in schools. This article explores how six secondary school principals in the Kavango region have employed self-leadership styles to improve and sustain the performance of learners. The study adopted a qualitative method that examined the selfleadership of the six school principals in the Kavango region. The data were collected from the six principals and two teachers of each school by using semi-structured interviews. The findings showed that school principals unknowingly employ self-leadership in their schools and in the process use distributed leadership together with instructional leadership to collaborate and share their leadership with teachers.     

Teacher and Classroom Context Effects on Student Achievement: Implications for Teacher Evaluation

The Tennessee Value-Added Assessment System (TVAAS) has been designed to use statistical mixed-model methodologies to conduct multivariate, longitudinal analyses of student achievement to make estimates of school, class size, teacher, and other effects. This study examined the relative magnitude of teacher effects on student achievement while simultaneously considering the influences of intraclassroom heterogeneity, student achievement level, and class size on academic growth. The results show that teacher effects are dominant factors affecting student academic gain and that the classroom context variables of heterogeneity among students and class sizes have relatively little influence on academic gain. Thus, a major conclusion is that teachers make a difference. Implications of the findings for teacher evaluation and future research are discussed.     

Educator Engagement: Key to High Performance of School Operational teams in South African Secondary Schools

ABSTRACT

The school educational system in South Africa needs to improve the level of percentage pass rate in education. Therefore, the premise of the study reported on was to examine the key enabling factors that promote a high-performance school team in the operations of a co-educational secondary school in the South African context. The article further argues that by improving these school teams’ operations and team skills, the result would impact positively on increasing the pass rates in the classroom. Sampling from 30 schools in three regions of South Africa, spanning different socio-economic contexts, yielded data from 409 respondents of school staff members from all different operational levels, defined as the school operational teams (SOTs). Statistical analysis of data from the survey instrument utilised Structured Equation Modelling (SEM), Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). The model showed a positive and significant correlation of employee engagement with both the School High Performance Work Index (SHPWI) and Team Performance Index (TPI). The results showed that employee engagement was a key enabling factor in driving high performance of SOTs.     

Employment During High School and Student Achievement: Longitudinal Analysis of National Data

Abstract

The relationship between employment and academic performance in a nationally representative sample of U.S. students was examined in a longitudinal study as the students progressed from Grade 8 to 12. The participants (N = 15,552) took part in the base year (1988), first follow-up (1990), and second follow-up (1992) of the National Education Longitudinal Study (NELS). Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the NELS data set while controlling for the effects of family background, previous achievement, gender, and ethnicity. Employment had an overall negative and curvilinear effect on high school GPA. Students who worked fewer than 12 hr per week fared better academically than those students who were not employed. A significant decline in academic performance was observed when students worked more than 11–13 hr per week.     

Transforming High-Poverty Urban Middle Schools Into Strong Learning Institutions: Lessons From the First Five Years of the Talent Development Middle School

The Johns Hopkins Talent Development Middle School model aims to transform high-poverty, urban middle schools into strong learning institutions that reliably provide every student with a standards-based education and every teacher with the training, support, and materials she or he needs to deliver it. Two of the model's developers discuss 10 lessons learned from implementing, refining, and evaluating this model in 5 high-poverty middle schools in Philadelphia and discuss obstacles they have encountered and breakthroughs they made in developing the knowledge base, materials, and infrastructure needed. Taken together, the lessons suggest that "improvement now" in curriculum and instruction and in student achievement is a realistic goal even in high-poverty, urban middle schools. However, such improvement requires multiple layers of sustained technical assistance and implementation support and also requires local partners who can help the model to become integrated into the fabric of the school district.