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Pub Date: |
2013-00-00 |
Pub Type(s): |
Journal Articles; Reports - Research; Tests/Questionnaires |
Peer Reviewed: |
Yes |
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Descriptors:
Teaching Methods; Educational Change; Student Behavior; Phenomenology; Grade 8; Academic Achievement; Computer Uses in Education; Middle Schools; Interviews; Student Attitudes; Teacher Attitudes; Educational Technology; Classroom Environment; Interpersonal Communication; Professional Development; Urban Schools; Laptop Computers
Abstract:
The impact of a one-to-one computing initiative at a Midwestern urban middle school was examined through phenomenological research techniques focusing on the voices of eighth grade students and their teachers. Analysis of transcripts from pre and post-implementation interviews of 47 students and eight teachers yielded patterns of responses to illuminate how one-to-one computing changed students' learning experiences and teachers' instructional practices. Key themes that emerged were changes in teacher pedagogy, effect on student learning experiences, impact on classroom behavior and management, potential for improved communications, and suggestions to address professional development needs. The students demonstrated their learning in varied and creative ways through the use of computer-based lessons. However, the altered format presented new demands on teachers as a delivery model. Although some students were distracted by gaming and chatting opportunities, learning benefits were reported for students of varied ability levels. This study builds on the theoretical framework supporting the role and use of technology to foster learning and to prepare students for a global economy. The focus on student and teacher voices provided the opportunity to explore a new perspective and engage middle school students, teachers, and administrators in school change efforts.
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Author(s): |
Cox, Dana C. |
Source: |
Mathematical Thinking and Learning: An International Journal, v15 n1 p3-23 2013 |
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Pub Date: |
2013-00-00 |
Pub Type(s): |
Journal Articles; Reports - Research |
Peer Reviewed: |
Yes |
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Descriptors:
Geometric Concepts; Mathematics Instruction; Secondary School Mathematics; Middle Schools; Comprehension; Concept Formation; Interviews; Early Adolescents; Mathematical Logic; Numeracy; Visual Perception; Urban Schools
Abstract:
The mathematical idea of similarity is typically taught to students across the middle school years between ages 11 and 14. In this study, students' understanding of presimilarity is examined based on a set of clinical interviews of 21 students aged 12-13 years. Students were asked to scale a series of geometric figures and were found to use a variety of strategies including some that incorporated both geometric and numeric reasoning. Tasks were developed that manipulated the characteristics of figures that students were required to attend to in order to explore the boundaries of numeric reasoning and to maximize the degree to which visual reasoning could be brought to bear on the task. Contrary to the literature, student use of visual reasoning did not indicate less developed conceptions of similarity. In fact, visually-based strategies supported students as they reflected on and sought to improve wholly numeric strategies. Analysis of the interview data indicated that providing students with tasks that required them to scale more complex geometric figures improved their capability to attend to the quantifiable features of shape and to the numeric relationships between them. (Contains 7 figures, 5 tables, and 1 footnote.)
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Pub Date: |
2013-02-27 |
Pub Type(s): |
Numerical/Quantitative Data; Reports - Research |
Peer Reviewed: |
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Descriptors:
Middle Schools; Charter Schools; Middle School Students; Economically Disadvantaged; Low Income Groups; Outcomes of Education; Academic Achievement; Social Studies; Mathematics Achievement; Reading Achievement; Science Achievement; School Effectiveness; Student Characteristics; Institutional Characteristics; Scores; Thinking Skills; Student Behavior; Student Attitudes; Learner Engagement; Academic Aspiration; Well Being; Satisfaction; School Attitudes; Norm Referenced Tests; High Stakes Tests; Student Surveys; Parent Surveys
Abstract:
The Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP) is a rapidly expanding network of public charter schools whose mission is to improve the education of low-income children. As of the 2012-2013 school year, 125 KIPP schools are in operation in 20 different states and the District of Columbia (DC). Ultimately, KIPP's goal is to prepare students to enroll and succeed in college. Prior research has suggested that KIPP schools have positive impacts on student achievement, but most of the studies have included only a few KIPP schools or have had methodological limitations. This is the second report of a national evaluation of KIPP middle schools being conducted by Mathematica Policy Research. The evaluation uses experimental and quasi-experimental methods to produce rigorous and comprehensive evidence on the effects of KIPP middle schools across the country. The study's first report, released in 2010, described strong positive achievement impacts in math and reading for the 22 KIPP middle schools for which data were available at the time. For this phase of the study, the authors nearly doubled the size of the sample, to 43 KIPP middle schools, including all KIPP middle schools that were open at the start of the study in 2010 for which they were able to acquire relevant data from local districts or states. The average impact of KIPP on student achievement is positive, statistically significant, and educationally substantial. KIPP impact estimates are consistently positive across the four academic subjects examined, in each of the first four years after enrollment in a KIPP school, and for all measurable student subgroups. A large majority of the individual KIPP schools in the study show positive impacts on student achievement as measured by scores on state-mandated assessments. KIPP produces similar positive impacts on the norm-referenced test, which includes items assessing higher-order thinking. Estimated impacts on measures of student attitudes and behavior are less frequently positive, but the authors found evidence that KIPP leads students to spend significantly more time on homework, and that KIPP increases levels of student and parent satisfaction with school. On the negative side, the findings suggest that enrollment in a KIPP school leads to an increase in the likelihood that students report engaging in undesirable behavior such as lying to or arguing with parents. These findings are described in this report. The following appendixes are included: (1) Sample selection and baseline characteristics; (2) Constructing survey outcomes; (3) Schools attended by lottery winners and lottery non-winners; (4) Analytic methods for the matched comparison group analysis; (5) Analytic methods for lottery-based analysis; and (6) Validation of matching methods using lottery-based impact estimates. (Contains 46 tables, 78 footnotes, and 16 figures.) [For "What Works Clearinghouse Quick Review: 'KIPP Middle Schools: Impacts on Achievement and Other Outcomes, Final Report,'" see ED540896.]
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Author(s): |
N/A |
Source: |
What Works Clearinghouse |
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Pub Date: |
2013-03-00 |
Pub Type(s): |
Reports - Evaluative |
Peer Reviewed: |
Yes |
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Descriptors:
Middle Schools; Program Evaluation; Program Effectiveness; School Effectiveness; Middle School Students; Reading Achievement; Mathematics Achievement; Science Achievement; Social Studies; Effect Size; Quasiexperimental Design; Statistical Significance; Attendance; School Culture
Abstract:
This study examined whether attending a Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP) middle school improved students' reading, math, social studies, and science achievement for up to 4 years following enrollment. The study reported that students attending KIPP middle schools scored statistically significantly higher than matched students on all of the state assessments and follow-up periods examined, including reading and math 1-4 years following enrollment (effect sizes ranging from 0.05 to 0.36), and social studies and science 3-4 years following enrollment (effect sizes of 0.25 and 0.33, respectively). The portion of the study that used a quasi-experimental design meets What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) evidence standards with reservations. The study established that KIPP and non-KIPP students were similar on measured characteristics such as baseline test scores and demographics, and controlled for baseline characteristics of students in the analysis. [The following study is reviewed in this "Quick Review": Tuttle, C. C., Gill, B., Gleason, P., Knechtel, V., Nichols-Barrer, I., & Resch, A. (2013). "KIPP middle schools: Impacts on achievement and other outcomes, final report." Washington, DC: Mathematica Policy Research (ED540912).]
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