Author Archives for Jack States
December 5, 2018 10:02 am
Published by Jack States
A Review of Schoolwide Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports as a Framework for Reducing Disciplinary Exclusions. Schoolwide positive behavior interventions and supports (SWPBIS) is implemented in more than 23,000 schools. Several reviews have examined the impact of SWPBIS, including a meta-analysis of single-case design research. However, to date, there has not been a randomized controlled trials (RCTs) reviews on the effects of SWPBIS implementation to reduce disciplinary exclusion, including office discipline referrals and suspensions. The purpose of this study is to conduct a systematic meta-analysis of RCTs on SWPBIS. Ninety schools, including both elementary and high schools, met criteria to be included in this study. A statistically significant large treatment effect (g = −.86) was found for reducing school suspension. No treatment effect was found for office discipline referrals.
Citation: Gage, N.A., Whitford, D.K. and Katsiyannis, A., 2018. A review of schoolwide positive behavior interventions and supports as a framework for reducing disciplinary exclusions. The Journal of Special Education, p.0022466918767847.
Link: Schoolwide Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports as a Framework for Reducing Disciplinary Exclusions
December 4, 2018 2:55 pm
Published by Jack States
Improving Mathematical Problem Solving in Grades 4 Through 8. This practice guide provides five recommendations for improving students’ mathematical problem solving in grades 4 through 8. The manual is geared toward teachers, math coaches, other educators, and curriculum developers who want to improve the mathematical problem solving of students.
Strong evidence
- Assist students in monitoring and reflecting on the problem-solving process.
- Teach students how to use visual representations.
Moderate evidence
- Expose students to multiple problem-solving strategies.
- Help students recognize and articulate mathematical concepts and notation.
Minimal evidence
- Prepare problems and use them in whole-class instruction.
Citation: Clearinghouse, W. W. Improving Mathematical Problem Solving in Grades 4 Through 8. U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Science (IES) NCEE 2012-4055.
Link: What Works Clearinghouse Mathematics Practice Guide
November 28, 2018 1:18 pm
Published by Jack States
Seven Trends: The Transformation of the Teaching Force—Updated October 2018
Teachers play a crucial role in education, make up one of the largest workforces in the country, and require significant resources to support. As a result, tracking trends and changes in the demographic characteristics becomes critically important as education systems allocate existing resources and plan for the future. This study examines the most recent data from staffing surveys conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), as well as those going back to 1987. Its concludes that over the last three decades the teaching force has become: 1) larger, 2) grayer, 3) greener, 4) more female, 5) more diverse by race-ethnicity, 6) consistent in academic ability, and 7) unstable. It also calls for more research as to the reasons for these trends and their implications and consequences.
A few highlights include: The rate of increase for teachers has far outpaced the rate of increase for students. The student population has grown by 24% over this period of time while the teacher workforce has grown by 65%. The workforce is growing both grayer (retirements have steadily increased) and greener (the modal public school teacher was in their first three years of teaching. It is has an increasing percent of female teachers (76.6%) as well minority teachers (growth in the number of minority teachers was more than three times the growth rate of white teachers). The field still suffers from extremely high turnover, with 44.6 % of new teachers leaving their jobs in less than five years.
Citation: Ingersoll, Richard M.; Merrill, Elizabeth; Stuckey, Daniel; and Collins, Gregory. (2018). Seven Trends: e Transformation of the Teaching Force – Updated October 2018. CPRE Research Reports.
Link: https://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1109&context=cpre_researchreports
November 28, 2018 1:12 pm
Published by Jack States
Evaluating the Relationships Between Poverty and School Performance
One of the most critical issues facing K-12 education is the impact that poverty has on school performance. This study first examines school performance using traditional metrics for school poverty levels (percent of student body that qualify for free and reduced lunch: FRL) and school performance (school achievement based on the aggregate test scores of its student body). The results support prior research documenting the negative relationship between the level of poverty in a school and student achievement (the higher the poverty the lower the achievement). However, when replacing the student achievement metric with a student growth metric, the relationship is significantly different.
This NWEA study argues that, while it is important to measure and report a school’s student achievement, it is often a function of the demographics of a school’s population rather than a school’s effectiveness at teaching. Student growth tracks the learning of students regardless of their poverty level and is a more useful tool for comparing individual school performance. Sixty percent of schools with high poverty student populations had above average student growth. And a larger percentage of high poverty schools demonstrated substantial growth than schools from wealthy communities. The dramatic negative relationship between poverty and student achievement was much less evident when looking at student growth, and much more nuanced.
The implications of the study are profound. First, it highlights the need for school performance measures to include student growth in addition to school achievement. Both are critical measures. More importantly, it raises the question: If students make comparable progress during the school year regardless of their poverty level, what accounts for the significant differences in test scores. One study tracked the performance of students by poverty level and their performance on tests administered at the beginning and end of each school year. The data showed a clear pattern. Students of all socio economic groups made comparable progress during the school year. The biggest, and compounding gaps, occurred during the summer months suggesting that poverty’s largest impact occurs outside of school.
Citation:Alexander, K. L., Entwisle, D. R., & Olson, L. S. (2001). Schools, achievement, and inequality: A seasonal perspective. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 23, 171–191.
Link: https://www.nwea.org/content/uploads/2018/10/Evaluating-the-Relationships-Between-Poverty-and-School-Performance.pdf
November 14, 2018 12:11 pm
Published by Jack States
Research Review: The effects of mindfulness‐based interventions on cognition and mental health in children and adolescents – a meta‐analysis of randomized controlled trials
The purpose of this meta-analysis is to examine the impact of mindfulness training on students. Mindfulness based interventions (MBIs) are an increasingly popular way designed to improve the behavioral, cognitive and mental health outcomes of children. Given its popularity, it is important to examine randomized controlled trials (RCT) on mindfulness. The researchers found a positive 0.19 effect size. Outcome of Mindfulness for Executive Functioning, Attention, Depression, Anxiety/Stress and Negative Behaviors, identified effect sizes (Cohen’s d), ranging from .16 to .30.
Citation:Dunning, D. L., Griffiths, K., Kuyken, W., Crane, C., Foulkes, L., Parker, J., & Dalgleish, T. (2018). Research Review: The effects of mindfulness‐based interventions on cognition and mental health in children and adolescents–a meta‐analysis of randomized controlled trials. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry.
Link: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jcpp.12980
November 14, 2018 11:50 am
Published by Jack States
Tutor Trust: Affordable Primary Tuition: Evaluation report and executive summary November 2018
The purpose of this study is the examination of low-cost interventions to improve the performance of disadvantaged students. The intervention was designed to improve the performance of students by providing small-group tutoring sessions. The selected students who participated in tutoring received 12 hours of additional instruction for 12 weeks. The students were tutored in groups of three by trained university students and recent graduates. Students in the control schools continued with normal teaching. The research found that children who received tutoring progressed more in math compared to children in control schools (effect size = +0.19). Students eligible for free reduced school meals benefited even more with an 0.25 effect size.
Citation:Torgerson, C. J., Bell, K., Coleman, E., Elliott, L., Fairhurst, C., Gascoine, L., Hewitt, C. E., & Torgerson, D. J. (2018). Tutor Trust: Affordable Primary Tuition. The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF).
Link: https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/public/files/Projects/Evaluation_Reports/Tutor_Trust.pdf
November 14, 2018 11:22 am
Published by Jack States
Do Published Studies Yield larger Effect Sizes than Unpublished Studies in Education and Special Education? A Meta-Review
The purpose of this study is to estimate the extent to which publication bias is present in education and special education journals. Meta-analyses are increasingly used as the basis for making educational decisions. Research suggests that publication bias continues to exist in meta-analyses that are published. The data reveal that 58% of meta-analyses did not test for possible publication bias. This paper shows that published studies were associated with significantly larger effect sizes than unpublished studies (d=0.64). The authors suggest that meta-analyses report effect sizes of published and unpublished separately in order to address issues of publication bias.
Citation:Chow, J. C., & Ekholm, E. (2018). Do Published Studies Yield Larger Effect Sizes than Unpublished Studies in Education and Special Education? A Meta-review.
Link: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10648-018-9437-7
October 31, 2018 12:36 pm
Published by Jack States
Teacher Coaching Overview
Research provides convincing evidence that teachers wield great influence over student outcomes. Our knowledge base tells us that how teachers teach is instrumental to their success. To leverage this fact, pre-service and in-service programs must use pedagogical techniques offering the greatest likelihood that teachers will master and apply these critical competencies on the job. Research shows that coaching is the most efficacious way to accomplish this goal. By far, coaching outperforms didactic instruction, the most commonly used technique. Coaching is essential to mastering complex skill sets required of every teacher. It improves treatment integrity of practices taught and, unlike other methods, makes more likely that the practices will actually be used in the classroom. Coaches instruct trainees in standards, demonstrate skills, and observe the application of these skills in real-world classroom settings. Coaches provide feedback to trainees, and, based on observation, instruct the trainees in how to improve their performance. Given the disappointing track record of current in-service programs, coaching offer schools a viable alternative for improving services.
Citation:Cleaver, S., Detrich, R. & States, J. (2018). Overview of Teacher Evaluation. Oakland, CA: The Wing Institute. https://www.winginstitute.org/teacher-evaluation-teacher-coaching.
Link: https://www.winginstitute.org/teacher-evaluation-teacher-coaching
October 29, 2018 11:45 am
Published by Jack States
Grade Inflation in High Schools (2005–2016)
Student grades have been one of the longest standing tools for measuring student performance and there is an inherent assumption by educators and parents that they are accurate reflections of how well their children are doing. This study examines that assumption, asking the question: how well do student grades correlate with test scores, school demographics, student performance on college entrance exams, and the historical difficulty for getting A’s (is it easier or harder to get A’s). The study found that students who scored higher on end-of-course (EOC) examinations also had higher grades. However having high grades did not correlate with doing well on the examination. For example only 21% of “A” students and 3% of “B” students passed the highest standard on the EOC exam. Over one third of students receiving B’s failed to score proficient on the exam. The overall conclusions were: (1) having good grades is no guarantee that a student has learned the expected knowledge from a course, (2) in the case of math (the curriculum area studied), end of course scores are much more predictive of ACT scores than course grades, and (3) grade point averages (GPA’s) have grown steadily from 2005 to 2016, and that the most significant growth has been in more affluent schools.
Citation: Gershenson, S. (2018). Grade Inflation in High Schools (2005–2016).
Link: http://edex.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/publication/pdfs/(2018.09.19)%20Grade%20Inflation%20in%20High%20Schools%20(2005-2016).pdf
October 29, 2018 9:54 am
Published by Jack States
The teacher pay penalty has hit a new high: Trends in the teacher wage and compensation gaps through 2017
Given that evidence clearly shows teachers as having the single greatest school-based impact on student learning, it becomes crucial that schools recruit and retain high quality teachers. A key component to this involves teacher wage and benefit packages. This study concludes that teacher compensation is falling further and further behind that of comparable career opportunities each year. One metric that can be used to study this issue over time is “relative teacher pay”—teacher pay compared with that of other career opportunities for potential and current teachers. This is referred to as the “teacher wage penalty” which calculates wage gaps as a percentage of difference. The study concludes: The teacher pay penalty has been steadily worsening over the last two decades, increasing from a -1.8% wage gap in 1994 to a wage gap of -18.7% in 2017. While weekly wages for comparable jobs increased from $ 1,339 to $ 1,476 over this period of time, teacher weekly wages actually decreased $ 27 from $ 1,164 to $ 1,137. This gap varies significantly between the genders (-15.6% for women and -26.8% for men), across states (from a .3.1% for Wyoming to -36.4% Arizona). The study also downplays the impact of the recent recession on this trend, highlighting the impact of state government decisions on reducing education funding.
Citation: Allegretto, S.& Mishel, L. (2018). The teacher pay penalty has hit a new high: Trends in the teacher wage and compensation gaps through 2017. Washington DC: Economic Policy Institute.
Web Address: https://www.epi.org/files/pdf/153196.pdf
https://www.epi.org/publication/teacher-pay-gap-2018/
