Your search found 2007 results.

Descriptors:
Academic Persistence; Time to Degree; Institutional Characteristics; School Demography; Disadvantaged Schools; Economically Disadvantaged; Advantaged; High Schools; Longitudinal Studies; High School Seniors; College Students; Multivariate Analysis; College Preparation; Difficulty Level; Family Characteristics; Transfer Rates (College)

Abstract:
Using a longitudinal sample of Texas high school seniors of 2002 who enrolled in college within the calendar year of high school graduation, we examine variation in college persistence according to the economic composition of their high schools, which serves as a proxy for unmeasured high school attributes that are conductive to postsecondary success. Students who graduated from affluent high schools have the highest persistence rates and those who attended poor high schools have the lowest rates. Multivariate analyses indicate that the advantages in persistence and on-time graduation from 4-year colleges enjoyed by graduates of affluent high schools cannot be fully explained by high school college orientation and academic rigor, family background, pre-college academic preparedness or the institutional characteristics. High school college orientation, family background and pre-college academic preparation largely explain why graduates from affluent high schools who first enroll in 2-year colleges have higher transfer rates to 4-year institutions; however, these factors and college characteristics do not explain the lower transfer rates for students from poor high schools. The conclusion discusses the implications of the empirical findings in light of several recent studies that call attention to the policy importance of high schools as a lever to improve persistence and completion rates via better institutional matches. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Educational Research; School Statistics; Politics of Education; Comparative Analysis; Elementary Schools; School Demography; Ethnicity; Race; American Indian Students; Asians; African American Students; Pacific Islanders; Hispanic American Students; Multiracial Persons; White Students; Figurative Language; Mathematical Concepts; Information Literacy; Information Skills

Abstract:
Current educational statistics have pitted subgroups against one another without consideration of the actual population sizes of each group. This paper is intended to provided a clearer understanding of the current usage of sub-group comparisons in American education. (Contains 4 figures.)

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Descriptors:
Immigrants; Scores; Academic Achievement; Secondary School Students; School Demography; Foreign Countries

Abstract:
We use aggregate PISA data for 19 countries over the period 2000-2009 to study whether a higher share of immigrant pupils affects the school performance of natives. We find evidence of a negative and statistically significant relationship. The size of the estimated effect is small: doubling the share of immigrant pupils in secondary schools from its current sample average of 4.2-8.4 percent would reduce the test score of natives by 1-3.4 percent, depending on the selected group of natives. There is also evidence that--conditional on the average share of immigrant pupils--reducing the dispersion of this share between schools has small positive effects on the test scores of natives. Whether these findings can be generalized to a larger sample of countries is an open question that we leave to future research. (Contains 5 tables and 2 figures.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Failure; Academic Achievement; Accountability; School Effectiveness; Probability; School Demography; Race; Student Characteristics; Educational Legislation; Federal Legislation

Abstract:
Many school accountability programs are built on the premise that the sanctions attached to failure will produce higher future student achievement. Furthermore, such programs often include subgroup achievement rules that attempt to hold schools accountable for the performance of all demographic classes of students. This paper looks at two issues: the degree to which such rules increase the likelihood of school failure, and the effect of failure to meet a performance standard on subsequent student achievement. Using data from California's state accountability program, I find that subgroup rules lead to otherwise similar schools having different probabilities of failure. I also find that subgroup induced failure leads to lower future student achievement under both the state's system and its' implementation of No Child Left Behind. This implies that small demographic differences play a large role in how schools are judged and how they perform under current accountability systems. (Contains 7 tables and 4 figures.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Immigration; School Demography; School Districts; Limited English Speaking; English Language Learners; Educational Needs; Best Practices; Translation; Educational Environment; Parent School Relationship; Social Attitudes; Social Support Groups; School Culture; Supplementary Education; Second Language Learning; Guidance

Abstract:
Fueled by two decades of historic immigration, American demographics are changing. Many school districts are often ill prepared to meet the needs of limited English proficient (LEP) students and families. This Teaching Tolerance booklet points administrators to best practices in the effort to create a supportive learning environment for all students. Here, the authors provide guidance for creating a comprehensive communication plan that puts LEP parents on equal footing with English-speaking parents. The tips will help steer clear of discrimination during student registration and create a leadership checklist to help staff make sure the school environment is welcoming to English language learners (ELLs) and their families. (Contains 6 resources.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Boards of Education; Leadership; Educational Policy; Policy Formation; Politics of Education; School Districts; Public Schools; School Segregation; Equal Education; Suburban Schools; Public Support; Cultural Pluralism; School Demography

Abstract:
As the demographic make-up of public schools (and neighborhoods) shift and schools become increasingly segregated, the role of school boards becomes critically important in maintaining policies designed to remedy segregation and promote equal opportunity, policies which may challenge the status quo. Specifically, in school districts and communities where politics are fluctuating, longstanding diversity policies that have assisted in creating integrated learning environments can be overturned by a single school board election. Further, as suburbanization within countywide school districts creates distinct enclaves--where student populations are significantly whiter and more affluent than the district as a whole and political fragmentation is perpetuated--school board members representing elite enclaves may be less supportive of policies that would lessen the privilege of these residents. This paper explores school board leadership and policymaking in two Southern school districts where politics are currently in flux: Jefferson County (Louisville), Kentucky and Wake County (Raleigh), North Carolina. Specifically, we seek to: (1) understand how demographic change--particularly the creation of suburban enclaves--influences public support for and implementation of integration policies; (2) examine the politics of diversity in a larger environment skeptical of race-conscious policies; and (3) analyze local policymaking and leadership. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Academic Achievement; Research Methodology; Educational Change; Scores; School Restructuring; Mathematics Achievement; Reading Achievement; Educational Trends; Trend Analysis; Low Achievement; School Turnaround; Outcomes of Education; Institutional Characteristics; School Demography; Labor Force; Intervention; Instructional Leadership; Governance; Teachers; Students; Elementary Secondary Education; Tables (Data); School Closing

Abstract:
Specific strategies for "turning around" chronically low-performing schools have become prominent, with the U.S. Department of Education enacting policies to promote four school improvement models that include "fundamental, comprehensive changes in leadership, staffing, and governance." Despite the attention and activity surrounding these types of school improvement models, there is a lack of research on whether or how they work. To date, most evidence has been anecdotal, as policymakers have highlighted specific schools that have made significant test score gains as exemplars of school turnaround, and researchers have focused on case studies of particular schools that have undergone one of these models. This has led to a tremendous amount of speculation over whether these isolated examples are, in fact, representative of turnaround efforts overall--in terms of the way they were implemented, the improvements they showed in student outcomes, and whether these schools actually served the same students before and after reform. To begin addressing this knowledge gap, the University of Chicago Consortium on Chicago School Research and American Institutes for Research (AIR) partnered to examine five different models initiated by the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) in 36 schools. The goals of the study were to make clear how school reform occurred in Chicago--showing the actual changes in the student population and teacher workforce at the schools--and to learn whether these efforts had a positive effect on student learning overall. Appended are: (1) Description of Low-Performing Schools that Underwent Intervention; (2) Data and Data Sources; and (3) Research Methods and Results. (Contains 19 figures, 24 tables, 62 endnotes.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Kindergarten; Elementary School Students; Primary Education; Grade 1; Grade 2; Grade 3; Educational Environment; Mathematics Achievement; Elementary School Mathematics; School Attitudes; Attendance; School Policy; Discipline Policy; Student Behavior; School Demography

Abstract:
Using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort (ECLS-K)--a large, nationally representative sample of US elementary school students, we employed multilevel analysis to answer the following research questions: (a) Does students' mathematics achievement growth in grades K-3 vary among schools? (b) To what extent does school academic and disciplinary climate explain variation in mathematics achievement growth among schools? (c) To what extent do students' and schools' demographic characteristics explain this variation? While previous studies have examined the effects of school climate on student achievement in middle school and high school, the present study is focused on the effect of school academic and disciplinary climate on students' mathematics learning in the first 4 years of schooling--from fall of kindergarten to spring of third grade. We found that students' mathematics achievement growth varies significantly among schools and that students' improvement in mathematics achievement over time was higher in schools characterized by a stronger climate, above and beyond students' and schools' demographic characteristics. (Contains 4 tables.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
School Choice; Educational Research; Racial Segregation; Race; Educational Policy; Social Stratification; Whites; Advantaged; Research Needs; Kindergarten; Elementary Schools; School Demography

Abstract:
A growing body of school choice research has shown that when school choice policies are not designed to racially or socioeconomically integrate schools, that is, are "colorblind" policies, they generally manage to do the opposite, leading to greater stratification and separation of students by race and ethnicity across schools and programs. Since white, advantaged parents are more likely to get their children into the highest-status schools regardless of the school choice policy in place, we believed that more research was needed on how those parents interact with school choice policies and whether they would support changes to those policies that would lead to less segregation across schools. Our interviews with advantaged New York City parents suggest that many are bothered by the segregation but that they are concerned that their children gain access to the "best" (mostly white) schools. The contradictions inherent in their choices are reconcilable, we argue, by offering more diverse and undivided school options. (Contains 3 tables and 1 note.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Teacher Effectiveness; Teacher Qualifications; Teacher Salaries; Educational Research; Meta Analysis; Funding Formulas; Educational Finance; Teacher Distribution; Disproportionate Representation; Experienced Teachers; Work Environment; Disadvantaged Environment; Disadvantaged Schools; Minority Groups; Performance Factors; Change Strategies; Educational Change; Salary Wage Differentials; Incentives; Educational Resources; Finance Reform; Educational Policy; Personnel Policy; Expenditures; School Demography; Disadvantaged; Policy Analysis; Personnel Management

Abstract:
The inequitable distribution of well-qualified teachers to students in the United States is a longstanding issue. Despite federal mandates under the No Child Left Behind Act and the use of a range of incentives to attract teachers to high-need schools, the problem remains acute in many states. This study examines how and why teacher quality is inequitably distributed, by reviewing research and examining data on school funding, salaries, and teacher qualifications from California and New York--two large states that face similar demographic diversity and educational challenges. Using wage adjustments to control for cost of living differentials, we find that both overall school funding and teacher salary levels are highly inequitable both across and within states--generally exhibiting a ratio of 3 to 1 between high- and low-spending jurisdictions. Furthermore, low-salary districts serve students with higher needs, offer poorer working conditions, and hire teachers with significantly lower qualifications, who typically exhibit higher turnover. We find that districts serving the highest proportions of minority and low-income students have about twice as many uncredentialed and inexperienced teachers as do those serving the fewest. In an elasticity analysis, we find that increases in teacher salaries are associated with noticeable decreases in the proportions of teachers who are newly hired, uncredentialed, or less well educated. These teacher qualifications, in turn, are associated with student achievement, holding student characteristics constant. We review research on strategies that have been largely unsuccessful at addressing this problem, such as "combat pay" intended to recruit teachers to high need schools, suggesting that small bonuses might be productive if added to an equitable salary structure where working conditions are comparable, but may be inadequate to compensate for large differentials in salaries and working conditions. We review studies illustrating successful policy strategies in states that have taken a more systemic approach to equalizing salaries, raising teaching standards, and providing supports for teacher learning and school development. We recommend federal initiatives that could provide stronger supports and incentives for equalizing students' access to well-qualified and effective teachers, including equalizing allocations of ESEA resources across states, enforcing existing ESEA comparability provisions for ensuring equitable funding and equally qualified teachers to schools serving different populations of students, evaluating progress on resource equity in state plans and evaluations under the law, and requiring states to meet standards of resource equity--including the availability of well-qualified teachers--for schools identified as in need of improvement. (Contains 11 tables, 11 figures, and 8 footnotes.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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