The Impact of Priority School Designation Under ESEA Flexibility in New York State

Abstract

Prior to the 2012–13 school year, New York and many other states underwent changes to their accountability systems as a result of applying for and being granted waivers from the requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. A key component of these new accountability systems, under what is known as ESEA Flexibility or NCLB Waivers, was the designation of the lowest performing 5% of Title I schools as priority schools with the goal of improved performance within three years of receiving their designation. The priority school policy included elements of both accountability and school turnaround to try to improve student outcomes in low performing schools. This study examines the extent to which elementary and middle priority schools in New York State improved in the three years since being designated priority schools. By the end of the 2014–15 school year—the third year of three to show improvement—I find elementary and middle priority schools did not show improvement and, in fact, performed worse than schools just above the cutoff for determining priority school eligibility.     

From early career researcher to research leader: survival of the fittest?

The higher education sector is a dynamic environment where universities compete on a global basis for resources, students, and high-quality staff. The impending retirement of the baby boomer generation will create increased competition for research leaders. One way to address this is to develop research leaders from existing researchers. However, little is known about what it takes to transition from a leading researcher to a research leader, so there is much to be learned from the experiences of those who have successfully navigated those transitions. To explore the transition from early career researcher to leading researcher to research leader, we undertook a mixed methods study involving 30 senior research leaders and administrators from a range of organisations across Australia. In this paper, we describe how the career paths of these research leaders developed in a highly competitive research environment and discuss how universities can attract, retain, develop, and promote their researchers.     

Non-Religion-Based State Constitutional Challenges to Educational Voucher and Tax Credit Programs

This article provides an overview of non-religion-based state constitutional challenges to educational voucher and tax credit/scholarship programs. The first section discusses litigation examining whether education voucher programs violate constitutional provisions requiring the legislature to provide an efficient system of public schools. The second section looks at litigation examining whether educational voucher programs violate constitutional provisions requiring states to provide a uniform system of public schools. The third section summarizes case law in which plaintiffs have claimed that educational voucher programs violate constitutional requirements that state spending serve a public purpose. The fourth section discusses litigation in which courts have addressed whether educational voucher programs violate local control mandates. The fifth section evaluates challenges to education voucher and scholarship tax credits on the grounds that such policies contravene constitutional mandates that prohibit public spending to private schools. The final section identifies key themes that these non-religion-based state constitutional challenges raise for educational vouchers and tax credit programs as well as emerging issues of litigation.     

Elementary School Teachers’ Use of Technology During Mathematics Teaching

Various educational technologies have been advanced as potential vehicles to transform teaching and learning. Still, research studies have documented that primary school teachers struggle to integrate technology in meaningful ways. This article presents the findings of a year-long study in which the author frequently observed three primary school teachers’ enactments of technology into their mathematics teaching. Each teacher was observed between 25 and 30 times during the school year. The types of technologies used as well as the types of mathematical tasks and problems that participants posed while teaching with technology were inductively analyzed. Inductive qualitative analyses indicated that participants’ technology use focused on presentation technologies such as the document camera or interactive whiteboard more than computer-based technologies or interactive activities. Further, teachers varied widely in their enacted pedagogies while integrating technology, and two participants demonstrated more frequent enactments of learner-centered pedagogies toward the end of the school year. Implications for researching teachers’ use of technology in the future are also shared.     

The State of Criminal Justice Educational Programs in the United States: Bachelors’ Degrees,Curriculum Standards,and the Ongoing Quest for Quality

While definitions for, and assessments of, the quality of degree programs in higher education are varied, in criminal justice the field has determined a quality program is one that meets certain standards involving such areas as program mission, curriculum, faculty credentials, and resources determined through “academic certification” by the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences (ACJS).The problem is few programs have pursued certification and almost no research has otherwise assessed degree program quality. Using data collected from the population of bachelor’s degree programs in criminal justice (BCJ) operating during 2015–2016 (N = 670), this study assessed program curriculum using ACJS standards, and examined institutional, departmental, and programmatic influences on the number of standards met. Results indicated BCJ programs met few curriculum standards, and that departmental factors were especially significant influences on the number of standards met. These results warrant revisiting accreditation as the mechanism for insuring the quality of criminal justice academic programs.     

Practical issues in field based testing of oral reading fluency at upper elementary grades

In this series of studies, we explore the ideal frequency, duration, and relative effectiveness of measuring oral reading fluency. In study one, a sample of 389 fifth graders read out loud for 1 min and then took a traditional state-level standardized reading test. Results suggest administering three passages and using the median yields the highest predictive validity. Study two compared oral reading fluency rates at 30 and 60 s for 815 elementary and middle school students on the same passage. Results indicate that the 30 s measures yield a comparable score. Study three found relatively similar predictive validity of oral reading fluency for 67 fourth- and 125 sixth-grade students on Aimsweb, EasyCBM, and DIBELS. Implications for practice are discussed.     

Teachers Attitudes About Teacher Bonuses Under School-Based Performance Award Programs

The present study examines several attitudes of teachers working under school-based performance award programs in which they received monetary bonuses if their school met or exceeded measurable student achievement goals. Teachers in Kentucky and Charlotte-Mecklenburg rated the desirability of receiving a bonus and sixteen other extrinsic and intrinsic outcomes. Factor analysis collapsed these into factors labeled Goal Attainment Rewards (includes the bonus outcome), Learning, Sanctions, and Stress. Outcomes in the first two factors received high desirability ratings while outcomes in the latter two factors were rated low in desirability. In separate analyses, Kentucky teachers reported a relatively low level of motivation by the bonus program and a low desire to see the program continue but were neither more, nor less, likely to want to withdraw from the program through turnover or job transfer. Regression analyses revealed these attitudes to be a function of degree of satisfaction with base salary, the likely value of the bonus, and several aspects of the fairness of the bonus itself and of the bonus program. It was concluded that while bonuses for goal achievement have high motivational potential, this could be offset by the occurrence of multiple undesirable outcomes from the program and by a lack of careful program planning, design, and administration.     

How Does Ongoing Task-Focused Mathematics Professional Development Influence Elementary School Teachers’ Knowledge, Beliefs and Enacted Pedagogies?

This study examined how a task-focused, year-long mathematics professional development program influenced elementary school teachers’ knowledge, beliefs, and practices. Participants completed 84 h of professional development over 13 months that were focused on exploring, modifying and implementing cognitively-demanding mathematical tasks. Using a multi-methods approach, teacher-participants completed pre- and post-measures of mathematical knowledge for teaching, teachers’ beliefs about teaching and learning mathematics, and teachers’ self-reports of enacted instructional practices. Further, three teacher-participants were randomly selected to be observed 3 times over the course of the school year. Data analyses indicated that the professional development had a statistically significant positive impact on participants’ mathematical knowledge for teaching, use of student-centered instructional practices, and beliefs towards mathematics as a subject area. Further, the observed teachers enacted some high-level mathematical tasks and questions, but these were more visible at the end of the study compared to the beginning of the study. Implications for future work are also shared.     

Active Learning of the Floor of Mouth Anatomy with Ultrasound

More emphasis is now being placed on active learning in medical education. Ultrasound is an active learning tool that can be used to supplement didactic instruction. This study describes a self-guided activity for learning floor of mouth ultrasound. Thirty-three first year medical students learned floor of mouth scan technique and ultrasound anatomy through a brief PowerPoint module. They subsequently performed the scan on a standardized patient. Each student was asked to label the floor of mouth muscles on the image he or she acquired. After the activity, the students were given a quiz on anatomic relationships of the floor of mouth. Perceptions about the activity were collected through a survey. All 33 students obtained a floor of mouth image within a three minute time limit. Twenty-four (73%) students were able to completely and accurately label the image in time. The mean score on the muscle relationships quiz was 93%. Overall perceptions were very positive with most students expressing a “high” or “very high” level of interest in incorporating similar self-guided activities within the curriculum. This study showed that it is feasible for students to learn scan technique and recognize relevant ultrasound anatomy in an independent fashion through a brief active learning module. Furthermore, the students found the activity enjoyable. The implication is that similar activities could be developed which would provide additional ways to incorporate active learning strategies.