Education Commons^™

New Profile Of A Virginia High School Graduate: A Research Brief, David Naff

MERC Publications

Guided by recommendations from the Standards of Learning Innovation Committee - a group of educators, policymakers, and community members charged by the Virginia Secretary of Education with furthering PK-12 education in the Commonwealth - the Virginia General Assembly has recently passed legislation through House Bill 895 and Senate Bill 336 directing the Board of Education to redefine the “Profile of a Virginia Graduate.” The legislation indicates that beginning with the freshman class of 2018, students receiving a diploma in the state of Virginia must adhere to new graduation standards that include life skills that could potentially enhance the academic, civic, …

Can Student-Built Gsas Provide Positive Development For Lgbt Youth In High Schools? A Review Of Literature, Beau Coggsdale

Auctus: The Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Scholarship

Within school systems, there are sexual minority students that are not treated with the same amount of attention that the sexual majority gets. These minority students include individuals that identify as bisexual, gay, lesbian, transgender, or questioning. These students would fall under the category of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender/transsexual, queer, questioning, intersex, asexual, or pan/polysexual (LGBTQQIAP). Many LGBT students in high school report feelings of isolation, depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation (Hong, Espelage, and Kral 885- 886). Many of these students, especially in rural areas, require some form of support within the school system for healthy positive development. Gay Straight …

Cultural Diversity Professional Development For Teachers: A Research Brief, Samantha Hope, David Naff

MERC Publications

Many regions of the United States have experienced rapid shifts in the racial and ethnic makeup of the population over the past decade. As a result, many of the nation’s schools have undergone significant changes in student demographics. This includes growth in the numbers of Asian, Hispanic, and multi-racial students.1 Regionally, enrollment data reflect this demographic change (figure 1). It is also worth noting that these demographic changes are more dramatic in some schools and communities than others. Aggregate data for the region shows the largest growth in the population of Hispanic students, which increased from 2.98% of the population …

Reading And Math Interventions At The Secondary Level: A Research Brief, Ashlee Lester, David Naff

MERC Publications

Starting in the early 2000’s with the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) act, federal and state education authorities promoted the use of accountability policies that require schools to meet certain measures of academic progress overtime. Annual Yearly Progress (AYP) and Annual Measurable Objectives (AMOs) have become the new measure of school success. These policies rely heavily on students’ Math and Reading achievement at particular benchmark grades, leading local educational agencies (i.e. school divisions) to place increased emphasis on the reading and math results of state-mandated testing. In Virginia, pressures to meet AYP and AMOs by improving school performance on the …

Issues, Challenges, And Needs Of High School Esl And Content-Area Teachers In The Richmond Metropolitan Area, Seonhee Cho, Hana Kim

MERC Publications

n recent years, public schools in Central Virginia have experienced a fast growing ESL population. School districts throughout the state have reported increases in their ESL population that range from 300% to 700% in the past ten years. Unlike states with big cities that traditionally have a high immigrant population, the Virginia schools where the number of English language learners (ELLs) has increased recently, are less likely prepared to meet the needs of this particular group of students (Echevarria, Vogt & Short, 2004). With the passage of the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act (2002), academic success is increasingly …

Using High-Quality Data To Evaluate High School Antecedents Of On-Time College Graduation: A School/University Collaborative Study, Martin Reardon, Sandra Fritton

MERC Publications

In the face of international comparisons showing the lower level of academic skills of students in the United States, high schools have been criticized for not adequately preparing their graduates for the academic demands of college life. This is occurring at a time when the impact of global competition has heightened the importance of maintaining an educated workforce capable of sustaining the economy. Academic remediation at the college level is expensive, and its effectiveness is open to question. The ability to evaluate the antecedents of on-time college graduation using high-quality data offers school divisions the opportunity to initiate conversations about …

The Work Skills Mismatch: A Review Of Literature, Martin Reardon, Wendy E. Balliet

MERC Publications

For the purpose of this review, imagine the case of a firm which has job openings for recent high school graduates. In choosing new employees for these openings, the potential employer is trying to select the most suitable applicants from a pool of people about whom he or she has very little knowledge. It could be thought that an obvious predictor of future employee behavior is the performance of any particular applicant while he or she was in high school. However, “for the most part, employers never ask about high school achievement or performance on standards-based assessments. Moreover, states offer …

Facilitating The Transition Into Middle School And High School, Kathleen M. Cauley, Donna Jovanovich

MERC Publications

Making a transition to a new school causes anxiety for students and can challenge the coping skills of many adolescents, especially those at risk. Typically the move to a new school includes changes in school climate, school size, peer relationships, academic expectations, and degree of departmentalization. When adolescents move into middle school or high school, the anxiety is complicated further by other normative changes like puberty, social and emotional changes, the importance of peer relationships, and the development of higher order cognitive skills. Students who experience the stresses of numerous changes often have lower grades and decreased academic motivation, and …

Students' Perspectives On Their High School Experience, Kathleen M. Cauley, Carl Chafin, Janine Certo

MERC Publications

This study explored what it is like to be a high school student today. Our purpose was to describe the extent to which the schools in the metropolitan area are meeting the needs of their diverse body of students.

Knowing whether disengagement and alienation are widespread is important if we are to determine whether systemic change is needed or a more localized approach that targets particular students. We looked at those internal (school) factors related to instructional time; non-instructional time in school, extracurricular activities and school climate that help or hinder students’ perceived levels of engagement. Obtaining a snapshot of …

Testing, Accountability And Accrediation, Sanford D. Snider

MERC Publications

The primary purpose of this case study was to describe the implementation of the Virginia Standards of Learning in seven public school systems in the Richmond, Virginia metropolitan area. Implementation includes the application of the grade level and subject objectives to daily classroom instruction, organization of instruction, and preparation of students for administration of the tests.

The Metropolitan Educational Research Consortium (MERC) is made up of Virginia Commonwealth University and seven school systems in the vicinity of Richmond. A Policy and Planning Council, which governs the consortium, is made up of the school superintendent, a representative member of each school …

Teachers' Classroom Assessment And Grading Practices: Phase 2, James H. Mcmillan, Daryl Workman

MERC Publications

A significant amount of recent literature has focused on classroom assessment and grading as essential aspects of effective teaching. There is an increased scrutiny of assessment as indicated by the popularity of performance assessment and portfolios, newly established national assessment competencies for teachers (Standards, 1990), and the interplay between learning, motivation, as assessment (Brookhart, 1993, 1994; Tittle, 1994). In Virginia, the Standards of Learning and associated tests highlight the importance of assessment.

Previous research documents that teachers tend to award a "hodgepodge grade of attitude, effort, and achievement" (Brookhart, 1991, p. 36). It is also clear that teachers use a …

Recruiting And Retaining Teachers: A Review Of The Literature, Jill Englebright Fox, Janine Certo

MERC Publications

The National Center for Education Statistics (1998) predicts that by 2008 approximately 2.4 million teachers will be needed in this country, at a rate of over 200,000 per year. Several factors contribute to this prediction. First, due to increased birth rates and immigration (Darling-Hammond, 1999), student enrollment is expected to pass 54 million by that time -- its highest in the history of this country (NCES, 1998). Second, more than 33% of the current teaching force is age 50 or older (Recruiting New Teachers, 1998) and likely to retire within the next decade. Third, recommendations, if not regulations, reducing the …

Disruptive Students In The Classroom: A Review Of The Literature, Daisy Reed, Caroline Kirkpatrick

MERC Publications

Classroom discipline and school violence continue to be major issues in American education today. Rose and Gallup (1998) in the most recent Gallup Poll, respondents were asked to identify the biggest problems with which the public schools in their communities must deal. The results showed that concern about "fighting/violence/gangs" was at the top of the list, followed closely by "lack of discipline/more control." The metropolitan Life Survey of the American Teacher (1993) reports that while the majority of teachers (77%) feel safe in their schools, only 50% of students feel that way. A substantial proportion of students say they often …

High School Follow-Up Surveys: What Works?, James H. Mcmillan, Suzanne Trevvett

MERC Publications

Increasing demand for accountability have prompted a renewed interest in determining effective methods of obtaining data from high school graduates and former students. The purpose of this investigation was to examine the methods and objectives of high school graduate/former student follow-up activities to identify procedures that resulted in high response rates and helpful information.

Information was obtained from three sources: local school systems in the Richmond metropolitan area, selected school systems in other areas of Virginia, and school systems in other states as identified through a search of the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) database.

The purposes of the follow-up …

Early Reading Interventions: What Works?, Anne J. Atkinson, Jennifer L. Uram

MERC Publications

The purpose of this study was to: 1) examine differences in the programs and practices employed in area schools to teach successful and unsuccessful at-risk students, 2) determine relationships among identified problems, reading interventions, and outcomes, and 3) present implications of the study for schools.

The Efficacy Of The Collaborative Teaching Model For Academically-Able Special Education Students: A Research Report, Paul J. Gerber

MERC Publications

Collaborative teaching is a model of teaching students with disabilities who are academically-able in general classes. This service delivery model is unlike paradigms of the past that denoted least restrictive place (i.e. resource room instruction and mainstreaming). This model is predicated on direct services in general classrooms where both special education and general education teachers team teach in order to meet the needs of students with disabilities. The model is being used more and more across the country, and it is gaining favor in school divisions in the greater Richmond area. The purpose of this study was to investigate the …

Teaching As Reflective Practice: Papers By Teacher Researchers, Merc Research Teachers

MERC Publications

This is a research report on "Teaching as Reflective Practice" put together by the Metropolitan Educational Research Consortium. The research papers in this report include:

"Expectation and Innovations: A Nation At Risk; Shopping Mall High School; Horace's Compromise" by Angela Pickels and Brettina Sanchez of Monacan High School, Chesterfield County Public Schools.

"The Successful Interdisciplinary Class Must Secede From the Traditional" by Puck Snidow and Margaret Flanagan of Clover Hill High School, Chesterfield County Public Schools.

"What Has Been the Impact of Beaverdam Elementary Schools's Computer Network on Teachers?" by Katherine W. Benkert and Donna Kouri of Beaverdam Elementary School, …

The Efficacy Of The Collaborative Teaching Model For Serving Academically-Able Special Education Students: A Review Of Liturature, Paul J. Gerber

MERC Publications

Collaborative teaching is the latest attempt by the field of education to address the instructional needs of students with disabilities in at least restrictive environment. It is distinctive in design because of the focus of the collaborative teaching concept is keeping students with disabilities in regular classes to be educated alongside their non-disabled peers (a "keep in" program versus a "pull out" program. In a collaborative teaching arrangement both regular and special educators use their coincidental and complementary skills to teach students with disabilities. Because of the diversity of learning arrangement needed in classrooms with students with disabilities, collaborative teaching …

Parent Involvement In Public Education: A Review Of The Literature, Cifford Fox

MERC Publications

At the direction of the Policy and Planning Council, A MERC Study Group began meeting in September, 1994 for the purpose of planning and directing a study of parental involvement in public schools. This literature review represents the first product of that process. Research over the past several decades has shown that involving parents in the process of educating their children provides substantial advantages for their education (e.g., Stevenson and Baker, 1987; Henderson, 1987; Moles, 1982; et.al.). In a representative statement, Rebecca Crawford Burns summarizes the literature on the benefits of parent involvement to the education process as follows:

"Meaningful …

State-Of-The-Art Technology Applications, Amanda Parks, John Pisapia

MERC Publications

This document provides information on descriptions of state-of-the-art technology using schools across the country. It is a resource that can be used by teachers, school administrators, and researchers who are investigating the varying applications of technology in the classroom. It should be helpful in: 1) learning how other schools have implemented similar technology and integrated in within specific curricula, 2) planning, purchasing, adopting, or implementing technology in a classroom or entire school, and 3) it serves as a valuable resource to identify such schools already engaged in exceptional educational technology usage.

Learning Technologies In The Classroom: Case Studies, John Pisapia

MERC Publications

These case studies were commissioned by the Virginia Department of Education during the development of the State Master Plan for Technology. The case studies complement an exhaustive review of the literature also conducted during the development of the Master Plan for Technology. The information found in these case studies makes it possible to approach technology decisions at the school level with a healthy blend of informed instinct and analytical deliberation.

The case studies collected information under three broad categories; an organizational profile, technology profile, and resource profile. Each of these areas were further broken down into sub areas to organize …

Technology: Review Of Literature Executive Summary, John Pisapia

MERC Publications

This literature review focuses on the application of technology (primarily the computer) to education. It is organized to present background information to familiarize the reader with basic issues relevant to teaching with technology, the restructuring of American schools, and the performance one could expect from the infusion of technology into schools and classrooms. Furthermore, it summarizes findings regarding access and equity, in-service and pre-service education, and funding and facilities.

After the decade of enthusiasm, there still is no single compelling vision driving the infusion of technology into the schools; four have been projected.

1. The Social Rationale. Policy makers want …

Learning Technologies In The Classroom: Review Of Literature, John Pisapia, Jeanne Schlesinger, Amanda Parks

MERC Publications

This literature review focuses on the application of technology (primarily the computer) to education. It is organized to present background information to familiarize the reader with basic issues relevant to teaching with technology, the restructuring of American Schools, and the performance one could expect from the infusion of technology into schools and classrooms. Furthermore, it summarizes findings regarding access and equity, in-service and pre-service education, and funding and facilities.

After a decade of enthusiasm, there still is no single compelling vision driving the infusion of technology into the schools; four have been projected.

1. The Social Rationale. Policy makers want …

Learning Technologies In The Classroom: A Study Of Results, John Pisapia

MERC Publications

The Research reported in this paper focuses primarily on the shot term question, "Do learning technologies effect student learning?" It utilizes a meta analytic technique to review comparative studies of differing technologies under different conditions.

A study had to meet the following criteria to be included in this analysis: It 1) took place in a classroom; 2) had a control and treatment group structure; 3) was free of major methodological flaws, and 4) provided either an effect size or the data to calculate one. The 184 studies selected for this review represent a diverse array of district and vendor evaluations, …

National Assessment Of Educational Progress In Mathematics: Analysis And Interpretive Remarks Of Teh State Of Mathematics Achievement, John Pisapia, Ena Gross

MERC Publications

The National Assessment of Educational Progress's Mathematics assessment (hereafter the report) provides the national, educational policy makers, and practitioner the opportunity to stop pretending not to know. The report plainly confronts our own professional knowledge regarding mathematics education. In many instances it conforms much of what research has all ready described and what we have feared regarding mathematics education.

In some instances the report agrees with Carol Glickman's view that "professionals have gone about the business of teaching and operating schools in ways they privately admit are not in the best interests of students." From this view one of the …