Author Archives for Jack States
January 12, 2021 12:07 pm
Published by Jack States
Using State-Level Policy Levers to Promote Principal Quality: Lessons from Seven States Partnering with Principal Preparation Programs and District. States play a role in fostering an environment that develops and supports effective school principals. This report identifies key levers that states can pull to try to improve the principal performance: standards for the job; recruitment; oversight of principal preparation programs; principal licensure; evaluation of principals; professional development; and development of “leader tracking systems”.
Citation: Gates, S. M., Woo, A., Xenakis, L., Wang, E. L., Herman, R., Andrew, M., & Todd, I. Using State-Level Policy Levers to Promote Principal Quality. Santa Monica, CA: Wallace Foundation. https://www.wallacefoundation.org/knowledge-center/Documents/Using-State-level-Policy-Levers-to-Promote-Principal-Quality.pdf
Link: https://www.wallacefoundation.org/knowledge-center/Documents/Using-State-level-Policy-Levers-to-Promote-Principal-Quality.pdf
January 11, 2021 12:47 pm
Published by Jack States
Barriers to Strategic Leadership in Education. The concept of strategic leadership has been in the discourse of corporate governance and management but in recent days, strategic leadership has become a concept in education literature. Strategic leadership is also relevant in education more especially in a PK-12 educational setting. This chapter focuses on the barriers that hinder strategic leadership in education. Overcoming the challenges will not only help PK-12 school leaders to become very effective but also will make them more efficient in their work as school leaders.
Citation: Cobbinah, J. E. (2020). Barriers to Strategic Leadership in Education. In Strategic Leadership in PK-12 Settings (pp. 82-93). IGI Global.
Link: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/338300396_Barriers_to_Strategic_Leadership_in_Education
January 11, 2021 11:56 am
Published by Jack States
The effect of educational leadership on students’ achievement: a cross‐cultural meta‐analysis research on studies between 2008 and 2018. This meta-analysis examines different leadership approaches and student achievement. The results of the analyses reveal that educational leadership has a medium-level effect on students’ achievement. The study finds educational leadership has a greater effect on student achievement in vertical-collectivist cultures (e.g., in Asian) than horizontal-individualistic cultures (e.g., in USA).
Citation: Karadag, E. (2020). The effect of educational leadership on students’ achievement: a cross-cultural meta-analysis research on studies between 2008 and 2018. Asia Pacific Education Review, 21(1), 49-64.
Link: Effects of educational leadership
January 11, 2021 11:54 am
Published by Jack States
Implementation Science: Fidelity Predictions and Outcomes. This paper examines the importance of science in the effective implementation and sustainability of new practices and initiatives. The authors provide examples of significant attempts to remedy critical social issues over the past 50 years and how the failure of systematic implementation and, in particular, the lack of implementation fidelity has hindered progress in the use of practices found useful in research but have failed in the general application in the community.
Citation: Fixsen, D. L., Van Dyke, M., & Blase, K. A. (2019). Implementation Science: Fidelity Predictions and Outcomes. Retrieved from Chapel Hill, NC: Active Implementation Research Network: www.activeimplementation.org/resources.
Link: https://www.activeimplementation.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Implementation-Science-FidelityPredictionsOutcomes.pdf
December 14, 2020 9:04 am
Published by Jack States
School Teams. Distributed leadership and collaborative school cultures have a strong base of research support, and school teams represent these concepts “in action.” School teams today are ubiquitous; however, their effectiveness in enhancing school outcomes is not automatic and they must be intentionally and carefully designed, implemented, and supported. Collaborative school cultures are enabled when high trust levels and a culture of shared practice among staff are present, and leadership capacity building for teachers is provided. School leadership teams, which include the principal and teacher leaders, are tasked with addressing school improvement, and often analyze learning data and determine professional learning needed for staff. These teams need ample planning time and professional development (e.g., in methods of data analysis) to guide their work. Instructional teams, which may include grade-level or subject-area groups of teachers, often take the form of professional learning communities, which develop curriculum and instructional strategies, review student performance data, and adjust practice as necessary. Principals support these teams effectively when they establish a direction for their work, identify and/or develop teacher leaders to lead teams, and provide sufficient time for the collaborative work to take place. Multidisciplinary, or problem-solving teams, include specialists (e.g., special education teachers) and general educators working together to plan programming for students who need specialized supports to be successful. Research shows these teams can be effective when training and organizational supports are in place to foster collaboration. For successful implementation, all types of school teams will benefit from school leaders who can instill a collaborative school culture, and ensure that team members have the resources and support to work together effectively.
Citation: Donley, J., Detrich, R., States, J., & Keyworth, (2020). Teams. Oakland, CA: The Wing Institute. https://www.winginstitute.org/leadership-models-teams
Link: https://www.winginstitute.org/leadership-models-teams
December 8, 2020 10:10 am
Published by Jack States
The Big Test: The Future Of Statewide Standardized Assessments. Standardized testing has been a cornerstone of school reform for two decades. But a bipartisan backlash against testing in recent years and the suspension of statewide testing in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic have left the future of state assessments in question. Standardized testing has a vital role to play in building effective schools. Unfortunately, the purpose of testing is misunderstood to the detriment of schools, teachers, parents, and students. The report examines the evolution of the testing backlash, the current landscape, and how state testing systems must change to survive.
Citation. Olson, L. & Jerald, C. (2020). The Big Test: The Future Of Statewide Standardized Assessments. Future Ed. Georgetown University. https://www.future-ed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/TheBigTest_Final.pdf
Link: https://www.future-ed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/TheBigTest_Final.pdf
December 4, 2020 10:56 am
Published by Jack States
Learning as We Go: Principles for Effective Assessment During the COVID-19 Pandemic. This paper summarizes the findings from a panel of assessment experts on diagnostic assessments and their role in helping educators and parents support student learning due to covid-19. Schools struggle with finding solutions on how to meet the needs of students who encounter dramatically different models of instruction due to the 2020 pandemic. It is becoming clear that students will need various academic and nonacademic interventions and supports as schooling resumes. The panel’s task was to advise the field on the state of diagnostic testing: which types of assessment are best for what purposes, and which produce more noise than useful guidance.
Citation: Lake, R., & Olson, L. (2020). Learning as We Go: Principles for Effective Assessment during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Center on Reinventing Public Education.
Link: https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED606373.pdf
December 4, 2020 10:52 am
Published by Jack States
The Association between Teachers’ Use of Formative Assessment Practices and Students’ Use of Self-Regulated Learning Strategies. Three Arizona school districts surveyed teachers and students in grades 3–12 in spring 2019 to understand the teachers’ use of formative assessment practices and students’ use of self-regulated learning strategies. The study found only a small positive association between the frequency of teachers’ formative assessment practices and the average number of self-regulated learning strategies that their students use. The correlation was more robust in elementary school than in secondary school and stronger in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) classrooms than in non-STEM classrooms. The research identified the more frequently teachers reported using these practices, the more self-regulated learning strategies their students reported using.
Citation: Makkonen, R., and Jaquet, K. (2020). The Association between Teachers’ Use of Formative Assessment Practices and Students’ Use of Self-Regulated Learning Strategies. San Francisco, CA: Regional Educational Laboratory West. https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/edlabs/regions/west/pdf/REL_2021041.pdf
Link: https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/edlabs/regions/west/pdf/REL_2021041.pdf
December 4, 2020 10:50 am
Published by Jack States
Using smartphones for formative assessment in the flipped classrooms. This paper describes different strategies used to incorporate smartphones to enhance teaching and learning effectively. The authors offer ways to integrate formative assessment with the use of smartphones. The paper provides innovative teaching practices to improve student understanding and performance using a classroom response system app. Results suggest that using this technology enhances student understanding of course concepts.
Citation. Onodipe, G., & Ayadi, M. F. (2020). Using smartphones for formative assessment in the flipped classroom. Journal of Instructional Pedagogies, 23.
Link: https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1241944.pdf
December 2, 2020 9:57 am
Published by Jack States
Fidelity of implementation is a critical but often neglected component of any new system, practice, or intervention in educational research and practice. Fidelity is a multidimensional construct focused on providing evidence of adherence, quality, dosage, differentiation, and responsiveness following implementation. Unfortunately, fidelity has not always been prioritized, although evidence suggests that is changing, at least in published research. Further, although there are myriad methods for measuring fidelity, psychometric evaluations of fidelity tools have been limited, except in the SWPBIS literature. Calls for a science of fidelity have been made (Gresham, 2017) and are beginning to be answered. Overall, there appears to be more research focused exclusively on fidelity, including measurement approaches, psychometric evaluations, and relation to outcomes. As this research expands, we hope that the broad use and integration of fidelity in practice follows. We believe that the days of neglecting fidelity are behind us in education and see fidelity playing a central role in education moving forward. Through reliable and valid measurement of fidelity, scalable evidence-based practices can be developed and proliferated, positively impacting students’ academic and behavioral outcomes.
Citation: Gage, N., MacSuga-Gage, A., and Detrich, R. (2020). Fidelity of Implementation in Educational Research and Practice. Oakland, CA: The Wing Institute. https://www.winginstitute.org/systems-program-fidelity
Link: https://www.winginstitute.org/systems-program-fidelity
