Education Commons^™

Using Systems Perspectives To Develop Underlying Principles For Educational Reform, John Daniel Kenny, Connie Cirkony

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

One of the enduring problems in the education system is the gap between theory and practice, where the research to improve teaching and learning is not fully realised in the classroom. This has impacted the effectiveness of education reform. We take a systems thinking approach to better understand the complexity of an education system, which involves multiple stakeholders, each with different levels of power, purposes, and perspectives about what is important. Drawing on an extensive body of research we propose a set of six foundational and five enabling principles that support systemic educational reform. These 11 principles are put forward …

Understanding The Educational Landscape: A Comparative Study Of Public, Alternative, And Montessori Models, Elizabeth Dykens

Selected Honors Theses

This thesis intends to demonstrate the relevance and significance of alternative education within today’s educational climate. First, the literature review traces the historical backdrop of the American public school system and the founding fathers’ original purposes for education. It explores the shifts in policy and pedagogy that have led to current models and methods of education. Then, the literature review focuses on alternative educational philosophies, with an emphasis on the Montessori Method, and why they not only address the critiques of the public system but also better align with a child’s nature and development. The study backing this thesis lays …

Policy Storms At The Central Office: Conflicting Narratives Of Racial Equity And Segregation At School Committee Meetings, Serena M. Wilcox

Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation Faculty Publications

This article reports findings from a multiyear critical ethnography that examined race talk dilemmas of school leaders at the central office at a small urban school district to understand why racialized educational policies and practices still persist against African American students. This study takes a structural approach to investigating the impact that race talk has on educational policymaking at the local district level. The guiding research question in this paper examines how we can understand educational reform and policy implementation and the unintended consequences of those interventions through the local from a historical context.

Challenging The Politics Of The Teacher Accountability Movement: Toward A More Hopeful Educational Future

Occasional Paper Series

No abstract provided.

System-Level Assessment And Educational Policy, John Cresswell

Dr John Cresswell (retired)

Education ministries throughout the world are integrating educational assessment into their education reform processes. Education reform is not a straight-line activity, and assessment can both inform the discussion on policy reform and give an indication of the effectiveness of policies that have been implemented. Three different types of assessment are used in the educational process: classroom assessment, examinations and system-level assessment. Each type has a different purpose. While the focus of both classroom assessments and examinations is to measure the learning outcomes of individuals, for system-level assessment the focus is to describe the characteristics of the population as a whole …

Creating The Schools We Need, Pedro Noguera

Occasional Paper Series

The struggle for education remains vital to the struggle for democracy, equality and justice. The only question is who will align themselves with those who must be integral to making this possibility a reality.

Silver Linings, Gil Schmerler

Occasional Paper Series

Looking for rays of sunshine amidst an educational landscape that has taken a particularly horrific beating in the last decade or two is a difficult – maybe quixotic – undertaking.

System-Level Assessment And Educational Policy, John Cresswell

Assessment GEMS

Education ministries throughout the world are integrating educational assessment into their education reform processes. Education reform is not a straight-line activity, and assessment can both inform the discussion on policy reform and give an indication of the effectiveness of policies that have been implemented. Three different types of assessment are used in the educational process: classroom assessment, examinations and system-level assessment. Each type has a different purpose. While the focus of both classroom assessments and examinations is to measure the learning outcomes of individuals, for system-level assessment the focus is to describe the characteristics of the population as a whole …

“There’S Still That Window That’S Open”: The Problem With “Grit”, Noah Asher Golden

Education Faculty Articles and Research

This narrative analysis case study challenges the education reform movement’s fascination with “grit,” the notion that a non-cognitive trait like persistence is at the core of disparate educational outcomes and the answer to our inequitable education system. Through analysis of the narratives and meaning-making processes of Elijah, a 20-year-old African American seeking his High School Equivalency diploma, this case study explores linkages among dominant discourses on meritocracy, opportunity, personal responsibility, and group blame. Specifically, exposition of the figured worlds present in Elijah’s narratives points to the attempted obfuscation of social inequities present in the current educational reform movement and our …

Special Education Professional Standards: How Important Are They In The Context Of Teacher Performance Evaluation?, Sara B. Woolf

Publications and Research

Teacher performance evaluation represents a high stakes issue as evidenced by its pivotal emphasis in national and local education reform initiatives and federal policy levers. National, state, and local education leaders continue to experience unprecedented pressure to adopt standardized benchmarks to reflect and link student achievement data to formal teacher performance evaluations. No teacher performance evaluation measures have been developed for use with special education teachers or the settings in which they teach. Dedicated focus is needed to ensure that adopted evaluation measures are sensitive to the specific expertise reflected in the practices of specialty teachers and valid for use. …

International Education Comparisons: How American Education Reform Is The New Status Quo, Randi Weingarten

New England Journal of Public Policy

The United States participates in international studies comparing school systems across the world. Reformers have largely ignored the lessons from these studies about what works best to educate children, and a strategy of test-based accountability has become the new status quo. This article analyzes the failed policy ideas reformers keep pushing on our schools that have been shown across the globe to be unsuccessful in the areas of school choice and competition, teacher quality and evaluation, an engaging curriculum, and equity. Research examines what top performing countries do to help students succeed, as well as what works in districts across …

Transforming Public Education: The Need For An Educational Justice Movement, Mark R. Warren

New England Journal of Public Policy

Nearly fifteen years after the passage of No Child Left Behind, the failures of our educational system with regard to low-income children of color remain profound. Traditional reform efforts have sought improvements solely within the confines of the school system, failing to realize how deeply educational failure is part of and linked to broader structures of poverty and racism. A social movement that creates political and cultural change is necessary to transform the racial inequities in public education itself and to connect this transformational effort to a larger movement to combat poverty and racism. The seeds of a new educational …

Regional Focus : India And Bangladesh

International Developments

ACER India increased the size of its workforce in 2011 and now boasts more than double the number of staff employed in 2010. The expansion increases the capacity of ACER India in terms of data analysis with a focus on international achievement studies, state monitoring programs and evaluation studies, as well as in terms of publication and marketing. The increased capacity means ACER India is well placed to independently undertake educational research and development work in India and beyond.

Can Health Insurance Reduce School Absenteeism?, Ryan Yeung

Ryan Yeung

Enacted in 1997, the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) represented the largest expansion of U.S. public health care coverage since the passage of Medicare and Medicaid 32 years earlier. Although the program has recently been reauthorized, there remains a considerable lack of thorough and well-designed evaluations of the program. In this study, we use school attendance as a measure of the program’s impact. Utilizing state-level data and the use of fixed-effects regression techniques, we conclude that SCHIP has had a positive and significant effect on state average daily attendance rates, as measured by both SCHIP participation and eligibility rates. …

Depaul University Mathematics And Science Partnership Evaluation Report, Steven R. Rogg

Steven R Rogg

The DePaul University IMSP was designed as a longitudinal cohort program. Two cohorts of up to 25 teachers each will be supported. The second cohort is offset by one calendar year. Each teacher will complete a sequence of 12 university graduate-level courses (48 quarter hours), over two and one-half years, leading to a Masters of Science in Science Education (MSSE) degree. Thus, all successful participants will meet or exceed requirements of the designation “highly qualified” as described in the MSSE proposal quoted here.

“The Masters of Science in Science Education program is designed to provide rich content-based professional development of …

Depaul University Mathematics And Science Partnership Internal Evaluator's Interim Report, Steven R. Rogg

Steven R Rogg

The DePaul University IMSP1 was designed as a longitudinal cohort program. Two cohorts of up to 25 teachers each will be supported. The second cohort is offset by one calendar year. Each teacher will complete a sequence of 12 university graduate-level courses (48 quarter hours), over two and one-half years, leading to a Masters of Science in Science Education (MSSE) degree. Thus, all successful participants will meet or exceed requirements of the designation “highly qualified” as described in the MSSE proposal quoted here.

“The Masters of Science in Science Education program is designed to provide rich content-based professional development of …

The Illinois Mathematics And Science Academy Research And Dissemination Network Academic Year 2002-03 Final Report To The Smithsonian Institution, Steven R. Rogg

Steven R Rogg

This document is a status report on the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy’s (IMSA) Research and Dissemination Network, which is funded as a contract with the Smithsonian Institution. In response to significant recent changes in project organization and activities, this report traces key developments of the project over its ten-year history. The report concludes with a summary of accomplishments during the current 2002-03 academic year.

Imsa 2061 Program Year 2001-2002 Summary Report, Steven R. Rogg

Steven R Rogg

In 2000 IMSA and the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s Project 2061 established a partnership, IMSA 2061, to offer unique and nationally recognized professional development programs for mathematics and science teachers and education leaders. Participants in the IMSA 2061 professional development programs learn to use the tools, research, and experiences of education reform to enable all students to achieve the learning expressed in state and national standards. Activities described in this report fall into two categories, Introductory Workshops and long-term programs with districts. IMSA 2061 Introductory Workshops help educators become aware of how to apply Project 2061 publications …

Report On The Elementary Teacher Survey Pilot Study On Behalf Of The Columbus Urban Systemic Initiative, Steven R. Rogg

Steven R Rogg

This report completes the pilot study conducted by the Columbus Public Schools’ (CPS) Urban Systemic Initiative (USI)1 and the Center for the Advancement of Learning and Teaching in Mathematics Science and Technology (The Center@IMSA) of the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy (IMSA). This initial pilot study was designed to test the Elementary Teacher Survey prepared by the USI Teacher Support Teams. A validation study, to follow in the spring, will seek evidence of program impact on teaching practices in science and mathematics classrooms. In other words, it will validate the findings of the Elementary Teacher Survey via direct classroom observation …