Education Commons^™

Liberating Children, Or Breaking The Backbone Of Our Democracy? A Book Review Of Hostages No More: The Fight For Education Freedom And The Future Of The American Child, Jeffrey Frenkiewich

Democracy and Education

In Hostages No More, former Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos provides a 10-chapter memoir in which she argues for school privatization, including the expansion of government funding of charter schools. DeVos argues that the modern public education system, supported by an “establishment” of government bureaucracies, the education industrial complex, and teacher unions, holds American children, especially poor Black and Hispanic children, “hostage” (DeVos, 2022, p. 261) and that her life’s work has been a civil rights struggle to help parents and their children obtain their “education freedom” (p. 216). However, many of her claims are supported with misleading information, and …

House Bill 3: An Iou Texas Public Schools And Communities Of Color Cannot Afford, Candace L. Castillo

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

A history of school finance litigation and legislation shows there are inherent and structural problems in Texas’s education finance system. Like many government and social structures, the Texas school finance system is built to benefit school districts that have greater access to wealth to begin with and creates inequalities between rich and poor populations as well as between people of color and Caucasians. House Bill 3 went into effect in 2019 and promises improvements to “recapture” calculations, increases in certain allotments, as well as salary increases for some Texas teachers. Some changes to education finance were sorely needed such as …

Academic Outcomes For English Language Learners In Arkansas Better Chance Public Pre-K, Emily M. Jordan, Sarah C. Mckenzie

Arkansas Education Reports

Analyses of large-scale public pre-Kindergarten programs in several U.S. states suggest that students with limited English proficiency differentially benefit from such pre-K programs, compared to their English-proficient peers. This analysis describes long-term outcomes of Arkansas public school students who participate in the Arkansas Better Chance (ABC) pre-K program. Specifically, we are interested in subgroup outcomes for students with limited English proficiency. We analyze three cohorts of students, those enrolling in Kindergarten in Arkansas public schools in the fall of 2011, 2012, and 2013. We identify whether students in each Kindergarten class attended ABC or not, and we follow their academic …

Early Access: Elementary School Outcomes For Arkansas Better Chance Public Pre-Kindergarten Participants, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Emily Jordan

Arkansas Education Reports

Public pre-Kindergarten programs are frequently promoted as promising early interventions for at-risk students, as they can equip 3- and 4-year-olds with the cognitive, behavioral, and social skills necessary for success in Kindergarten and beyond. The Arkansas Better Chance (ABC) program provides low-income and at-risk Arkansas students with tuition-free pre-K opportunities in school districts across the state. The current analysis describes the 3rd and 5th grade outcomes of students who enroll in ABC pre-K programs in Arkansas public schools. In an attempt to understand how well these programs are serving students, we follow four cohorts of program participants through elementary school, …

Early Access: Elementary School Outcomes For Arkansas Better Chance Pre-Kindergarten Participants, Sarah Mckenzie, Josh B. Mcgee, Emily Jordan, Charlene A. Reid

Policy Briefs

The Arkansas Better Chance (ABC) program has been providing low-income and at-risk Arkansas children with tuition-free pre-K since 1991. Enrollment in the state’s public pre-K programs has increased modestly over the last ten years. This brief reports the results of an analysis of the 3rd and 5th grade outcomes for students who attended ABC pre-K in the academic years of 2011-12 through 2014-15. We find that students who enroll in ABC programs in the year prior to starting Kindergarten outperform similar peers on math and reading state tests in 3rd grade, but these effects largely fadeout by 5th grade.

Investigating Outcomes For English Language Learners In Arkansas Better Chance (Abc) Pre-K, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Josh B. Mcgee, Emily Jordan, Charlene A. Reid

Policy Briefs

Students with limited English proficiency face a number of educational challenges, and there are dramatic achievement gaps between these students and their English proficient peers. This brief describes the 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade outcomes of English Language Learner (ELL) students who attend Arkansas Better Chance (ABC) pre-Kindergarten, a state-funded program that is free to income-eligible families. Results indicate that ABC has the potential to improve academic outcomes for ELL students in Arkansas.

Inclusion Of Muslim Students In Ontario Public Education: A Qualitative Inquiry Of Elementary School Principals, Farah Ghonaim

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

In order to include Muslim students in Ontario schools, inclusive principals are expected work to understand the inclusion of Muslim students in order to grant them with equal recognition and opportunities as other students in schools. In Ontario, school principals can influence students’ learning and achievement through their leadership role and through their routine duties for leading schools, enacting policies, and ensuing quality of instruction at schools. As leaders, principals can enhance the inclusion of Muslim students through working with staff and teachers, and creating working conditions that support Muslim students learning. Ontario policies call for inclusion of all students …

An Evaluation Of Mississippi Public School Websites, Lindon J. Ratliff 8911034

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

Websites are well-established forms of digital communication in use by both the public and private sector. An effective website is an educational tool public school districts can utilize in their efforts to communicate with stakeholders. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of website utilization and the components of websites used by public school districts in Mississippi. To determine the components in use by public schools in the State, a search of 143 school district websites occurred September 2017. To assess the quality of the websites, we used a checklist to evaluate content and design features that, …

Réflexions Sur L'Implémentation Des Tic Au Cours Du Stage Pédagogique, David Eduardo Avendaño Ubaque, Merilin Xiomara Acevedo

Licenciatura en Español y Lenguas Extranjeras

Este artículo da cuenta respecto a la investigación realizada para describir y reflexionar en cuanto a la implementación de las TIC para la enseñanza de FLE como practicantes, teniendo como objetivo detallar los progresos y las dificultades en cuanto a la implementación de la plataforma Edmodo y las herramientas tecnológicas (parlante, televisión/video -beam y computador) presentes en los salones de clase. Ésta es una investigación cualitativa descriptiva que se llevó a cabo en dos escuelas públicas de Bogotá, con adolescentes entre 13 y 18 años, en donde se recogió la información por medio de diarios de campo, observaciones y entrevistas. …

Public School Principals’ Perceptions Concerning The Hiring Of Social Studies Teachers, Lindon Joey Ratliff, Joshua Watson, Patricia Ratliff

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

The authors employed a qualitative research design to explore issues pertaining to the selection and interviewing of social studies applicants for teaching positions in public secondary schools. They specifically focused on the quality of the applicant pool, characteristics of desired candidates and the school principals’ perspectives of a desired interview. Analysis of the principals’ responses to the interview questions yielded two primary categories related to their perspectives regarding potential social studies teachers: (a) personal and professional educator attributes and (b) a candidate’s actions within the formal setting of an interview. Subcategories were developed that further delineated the expectations administrators have …

"Noise Level Zero" And Other Tales From The Bronx, John Wolfe

Occasional Paper Series

Wolfe reflects on his journey of teaching in various settings, teaching him what public education should and should not be. He compares his experiences at two public schools in the Bronx with very different approaches to public education.

Elementary Teachers' Views Of Environmental Education, Rose M. Hotchkiss

Teaching & Learning Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this research is to examine teachers' views of environmental education (EE) at the elementary level. The study addresses teachers' attitudes toward the EE at the elementary school level and their self-efficacy in teaching EE.

The study's sample consisted of 201 randomly selected kindergarten through fifth grade United States public school teachers. The participants completed an on-line survey with eight percent of the respondents participating in follow up interviews. The questionnaire measured two constructs; Teachers Attitudes Toward EE and Teacher Efficacy in EE. Teachers Attitudes Toward EE had 3 subscales; Advocacy for EE, Stewardship in EE, …