Secondary Education Commons^™

Access To K-12 Educational Opportunity In The Mountain West, 2017-2018, Yashesvi Sharma, Isabelle G. Graham, Annie Vong, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

K-12 Education

This fact sheet examines K-12 education climate data in the Mountain West states of Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah. The original report from Research For Action explores a variety of educational opportunity indicators, such as the presence of STEM certified teachers, experienced teachers, offerings of AP/Dual Enrollment classes, and low student/teacher ratios.

Equity In Learning Opportunities For Middle School Students: Connecting Communities And Transportation Through Gis, Tom O’Brien, Ben Olson

Mineta Transportation Institute

Geographic information systems (GIS) is part of an in-demand career skillset that can lead to safer streets in California communities. This project included a three-session bootcamp that introduced middle school students to transportation via GIS and gathered assessments on their awareness of transportation as a career pathway. The project built upon CSUTC TRANSPORTS’ Year 4 project, “K–12 Special Investigation Project: Mapping E-Commerce Locally and Beyond.” The bootcamp for this project was coordinated in partnership with Rio Hondo College, which provided the instructor and connection to the students at the Mountain View Unified School District in El Monte, CA. The bootcamp …

La Ausencia/Presencia De La Asexualidad Y La Sexualnormatividad En La Educación Sexual Integral En Las Escuelas Secundarias En La Ciudad Autónoma De Buenos Aires / The Absence/Presence Of Asexuality And Sexualnormativity In Comprehensive Sexual Education In Secondary Schools In The Autonomous City Of Buenos Aires, Marin Hart

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Este proyecto investiga el lugar de la asexualidad en la Educación Sexual Integral en el nivel medio en la Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires. Desde una mirada basada en la teoría queer, este trabajo analiza los lineamientos curriculares del nivel medio y entrevistas a personas involucradas en la ESI, y concluye que la asexualidad, como todas las identidades queer, no aparece en los lineamientos y aparece muy poco en la ESI en general. Además, cuando aparecen las identidades queer en la ESI, se presentan dentro del marco de la tolerancia y no discriminación, y por el modo de hacerlo, terminan …

The Usage And Impact Of Act 1240 Teacher Licensure Waivers In Arkansas, Sarah C. Mckenzie

Policy Briefs

Act 1240 of 2015 allows Arkansas school districts to petition for waivers allowing for the employment of teachers who are not licensed under the standard procedures of the state. Since the program’s inception in the 2016-17 school year, the number of teachers employed under Act 1240 waivers has increased, with the Arkansas Department of Education reporting 836 teachers hired using Act 1240 waivers in 69 districts during the 2021-22 school year. This represents approximately one quarter of the districts within the state, but only approximately 2 percent of the nearly 40,000 teachers employed last year.

Using publicly available data from …

Exploration Of Motivations For Adopting A Four-Day School Week Or Year Round Calendars: Evidence From Arkansas, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Josh B. Mcgee, Kate Barnes

Policy Briefs

This brief provides an overview of the motivations for Arkansas school districts adopting a four-day school week or year-round calendar. In addition to examining these motivations, this brief provides an overview of the districts adopting non-traditional calendars and policy recommendations for districts and communities considering changing calendars.

Arkansas’S 9th Grade Course Failures And Building Configurations, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Josh B. Mcgee, Sarah R. Morris

Policy Briefs

In this brief, we examine the relationship between course failures among Arkansas’s 9th grade students and the grade levels served in their school. We find that in schools that terminate at 9th grade, 9th graders are less likely to fail one or more course during the year compared to failure rates in schools that terminate at 12th grade. We suggest an increase in awareness and examination of how we assess 9th graders in Arkansas.

Building Belonging Into The System, Kristin Herman, Michelle Gill

STEMPS Faculty Publications

This design case documents how a K-12 district took steps to systemically support virtual student wellness and belonging. Plans for course design to support social-emotional-academic learning (SEAL) competencies, increase perception of belonging, and create safe, predictable learning environments characteristic of a trauma-informed approach to teaching and learning are shared. The assumption virtual learners are not looking to experience belonging and cannot be successful unless they already have strong SEAL skills is challenged. Rather, the positioning of SEAL competencies as learning objectives rather than necessary prerequisites to access online learning proved to contribute to more equitable learning opportunities.

Forest Bathing Increases Adolescent Mental Well-Being And Connection To Nature: A Transformative Mixed Methods Study, Jennifer Keller

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Previous research has demonstrated that practicing forest bathing has significant positive effects on well-being. However, few studies have investigated whether forest bathing increases adolescent well-being despite the growing adolescent mental health crisis in the United States. Similarly, few studies have explored forest bathing’s impacts on connectedness to nature. Considering the ongoing environmental crisis, determining if forest bathing increases connectedness to nature is a critical expansion of forest bathing research, as connectedness to nature is linked to environmental care and concern. This study investigated the possibility that forest bathing, a nature-based mindfulness practice, could increase adolescent mental well-being and connectedness to …

The Central Valley Transportation Challenge, Christian Wandeler, Steve Hart

Mineta Transportation Institute

The Central Valley Transportation Challenge provides underserved minority students, who are primarily from rural areas, with high quality transportation-related educational experiences so that they learn about transportation-related topics and opportunities in transportation careers. The CVTC is a project-based learning program that brings university faculty and students to K–12 classrooms in rural areas. The project operated with three main objectives: (1) support K–12 teachers’ understanding and implementation of the CVTC programs; (2) connect K–12 students with university faculty and students, and transportation professionals through the CVTC program; and (3) develop an online hub with transportation-related lesson plans and sequences. The results …

Discusión Política En Los Liceos De Santiago, Chile: Explorando Las Escuelas Cómo Espacio De Ciudadanía Formación Y Reflexión Critica, Nicole Rodríguez

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Este proyecto aborda el tema de lo político y las políticas en las escuelas de Chile. Yo me enfoqué en liceos en Santiago. Durante mi papel, exploré los temas de ciudadanía, formación de la menta adolescente, la manera en que el espacio de la escuela está usado por los escolares y por la administración, y cómo la historia influye en las decisiones de los estudiantes. En el fin, muestro qué es muy difícil crear clasificaciones por los tipos de ciudadanía para donde se encuentran los adolescentes. Para cumplir esto, entrevisté dos escolares y una encargada de convivencia de dos liceos. …

Arkansas High School Freshmen Course Failures, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Josh B. Mcgee, Charlene A. Reid, Sarah R. Morris

Policy Briefs

In this brief, we examine course failures among Arkansas high school freshmen by different student demographic and programmatic characteristics. We find economically disadvantaged students most likely to fail a course their freshman year. We suggest policies to benefit all student demographic and programmatic characteristics

Examination Of School Value-Added Growth By Student Population, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Josh B. Mcgee, Charlene A. Reid

Policy Briefs

In this brief, we assess the relationship between Arkansas’ school-level value-added content growth scores for student racial and programmatic groups. We find that on average, African American students receive lower growth scores than other student groups, and that African American elementary students demonstrated large drops in growth since COVID

Examining Arkansas' Ninth-Grade Gpas And Long-Term Outcomes, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Josh B. Mcgee, Charlene A. Reid, Sarah R. Morris

Policy Briefs

In this brief, we examine Arkansas’ students’ ninth-grade GPAs and their relationship to high school graduation and college enrollment. We follow seven cohorts of Arkansas first-time freshmen who were still enrolled in twelfth grade four years later. We find ninth-grade GPAs strongly influence future academic successes. We suggest policies to help all freshmen succeed.

Erasing Student Debt: Slowly But Surely, Roberta Harris

English Department: Research for Change - Wicked Problems in Our World

Furthering your education intends to be the golden ticket when forming the basis of a successful life. Investing in college can have both positive and negative effects regarding where it leads a student in life. Positive aspects include increased job opportunities, higher salaries and wages, as well as a better quality of living. However, rising college costs bring debatable questions as to how students can become better equipped to face this path in life. In order to resolve the student debt crisis, there is need for educators to develop a better system in communicating financial literacy and life skills their …

Behavioral Public Finance And Budgeting: New Approaches To Old Questions?, Salvador Espnosa, Kenneth A. Kriz, Juita-Elena (Wie) Yusuf

School of Public Service Faculty Publications

(First paragraph) The growing interest in the use of behavioral insights in the study of public administration and policy is contributing to the emergence of behavioral public administration (James et al., 2017). This subfield focuses on the “analysis of public administration from the micro-level perspective of individual behavior” (Grimmelikhuijsen et al., 2017, p. 45). For some scholars, this approach offers interesting opportunities to further the study of perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors of citizens, public sector staff, or public managers (Tummers, et al., 2016). The combination of behavioral theory and experimental approaches can improve the standing of the field of public …

Advanced Placement Course-Taking And Act Test Outcomes In Arkansas, Sarah Mckenzie, Josh B. Mcgee, Charlene A. Reid, Jessica S. Goldstein

Policy Briefs

Since 2008, Arkansas has sought to dramatically increase the number of students participating in Advanced Placement (AP) classes. This program, which allows students to access college -level content while still enrolled in high school, has been linked to higher student achievement and attainment. This brief shares recent research from the Office for Education Policy investigating whether students who take AP courses demonstrate better college readiness and examines how these trends vary for different demographic and socioeconomic groups in the state.

Advanced Placement Course-Taking And Act Testing Outcomes In Arkansas, Jessica S. Goldstein, Sarah C. Mckenzie

Arkansas Education Reports

This report examines trends in Advanced Placement (AP) course-taking in Arkansas. The AP program allows students to access college-level content while still enrolled in high school. Using de-identified student-level data from 2015-16 to 2017-18 from the Arkansas Department of Education, this research investigates whether students who take AP courses demonstrate better college readiness and examines how these trends vary for different demographic and socioeconomic groups throughout the state. While we cannot estimate the causal effect of AP coursework on student outcomes, this study presents key findings related to the Advanced Placement program which are relevant to policymakers and educators in …

Wearing Policy: Uniform Foolishness In The Public School, Jeremy T. Murphy

Education Department Faculty Scholarship

In this personal account, the author recounts navigating a school uniform policy as a new teacher in a large public high school in Baltimore. He loosely situates this telling in the recent history of the public school uniform movement, of which Baltimore was central. Writing in an urgent present tense, the author details the many complexities posed by a rigid policy regulating students’ bodies. Unfolding over the course of a single school year, this article charts a system newcomer’s evolving understanding of the uniform policy, a school, and his students. The article additionally raises broader considerations about policy enforcement in …

The Importance Of Cognitive Domains And The Returns To Schooling In South Africa: Evidence From Two Labor Surveys, Plamen Nikolov, Nusrat Jimi

Economics Faculty Scholarship

Numerous studies have considered the important role of cognition in estimating the returns to schooling. How cognitive abilities affect schooling may have important policy implications, especially in developing countries during periods of increasing educational attainment. Using two longitudinal labor surveys that collect direct proxy measures of cognitive skills, we study the importance of specific cognitive domains for the returns to schooling in two samples. We instrument for schooling levels and we find that each additional year of schooling leads to an increase in earnings by approximately 18-20 percent. The estimated effect sizes—based on the two-stage least squares estimates—are above the …

Enrollment Trends In Northwest Arkansas Charter Schools, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Josh B. Mcgee

Policy Briefs

Northwest Arkansas is home to nine public charter schools, with plans to open a new charter school for the 2020-21 school year. These schools, which serve unique missions, are some of the most highly ranked schools in the State of Arkansas. While critics argue that public charter schools segregate based on race or academic ability, national evidence finds that these claims are highly context specific. What conclusions can we draw about northwest Arkansas charter schools based on enrollment trends in recent years?

Arkansas High School Graduation Rates: 2013/14-2017/18, Martha Bradley-Dorsey, Sarah C. Mckenzie

Arkansas Education Reports

This report examines trends in high school graduation rates for the state of Arkansas. Graduation rates are evaluated at the school level for students overall and for students who face economic disadvantages. Earlier research by the Office for Education Policy (2014) found that larger high schools and schools serving more economically-disadvantaged students have lower graduation rates. We update the report by examining graduation rate trends across the five-year period of 2013-14 through 2017-18. We consider the relationship between graduation rate and variables of interest including school-level indicators of geographic region, achievement in literacy and math, proportion of racial minority and …

Beating The Odds: High-Growth Schools Based On The Act Aspire Examinations, Serving Low-Income Communities, Charlene A. Reid, Sarah C. Mckenzie

Arkansas Education Reports

This edition of the OEP Awards highlights schools in Arkansas based on student growth on the ACT Aspire exams in Mathematics and English Language Arts (ELA). This is a departure from prior awards, which were based on student proficiency.

We choose to focus on student growth for these OEP awards because we think it is a better reflection than proficiency rates of how the school is impacting students. Growth is calculated at the student level, and essentially reflects how much a student improved his or her score from the prior year compared to what was predicted based on prior achievement …

High-Growth High Schools In Arkansas Based On Performance On The Act Aspire Examinations, Charlene A. Reid, Sarah C. Mckenzie

Arkansas Education Reports

The mission of the Office for Education Policy is to examine educational issues through the lens of academic research and disseminate our findings to educators, policymakers, and other stakeholders around Arkansas. Annually, we highlight excellent schools around the state in our Outstanding Educational Performance Awards, or the OEP awards.

This edition of the OEP Awards highlights schools in Arkansas based on student growth on the ACT Aspire exams in Mathematics and English Language Arts (ELA). This is a departure from prior awards, which were based on student proficiency.

Revision Or Re-Vision: Exploring Approaches To The Differentiation Of Qualification Types In The Australian Qualifications Framework, Kate Perkins, Justin Brown, Paul R. Weldon, Louise Wignall

Transition and Post-School Education and Training

In March 2019, the Department of Education commissioned the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) to conduct a conceptual analysis of the most appropriate way to develop and present a taxonomy of learning outcomes within a qualifications framework; and a technical analysis and revision of the Knowledge, Skills and Application of Knowledge and Skills descriptors used in the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF). Later this was extended to development of two alternative models that: (a) reflect the new conceptual base developed in Part I; (b) comprise a set of revised domain definitions (along with a new typology for each domain); and …

Los Proyectos Educativos Alternativos Para Terminar Con La Desigualdad, Samuel Christensen

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Esta investigación se centra en la presencia de pedagogía crítica y educación integral y popular en el sistema educativo en Chile y Argentina y los intentos de establecimientos escolares de usarlas para liberar a sus estudiantes de ciclos de segregación, discriminación y desigualdad. Hay una brecha larga en el sistema educativo actual donde un grupo de estudiantes en alta condición de vulnerabilidad social han sido etiquetado fracasos sin esperanza. Cuatro instituciones escolares fueron estudiadas a través de entrevistas, conversaciones y observaciones participantes. Mientras estos proyectos muestran un gran esfuerzo para crear espacios para cada tipo de estudiante, todavía falta mucho …

Luchando Por El Derecho A La Educación. Un Estudio Sobre Las Relaciones Existentes Entre La Educación Popular Y La Efectivización Del Derecho A La Educación Desde La Perspectiva De Docentes Y Trabajadores De Bachilleratos Populares., Madeline Samson

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Las políticas neoliberales basadas en el mercado aplicadas en Argentina y que concluyeron con las devastadora crisis económica de 2001, dejaron una cantidad significativa de jóvenes expulsados y excluidos del sistema educativo secundario. En la búsqueda de una alternativa para que el derecho a la educación se viera efectivizado, muchas organizaciones sociales abrieron escuelas secundarias populares en toda la Ciudad de Buenos Aires, conocidas como bachilleratos populares. Este escrito analiza la conceptualización del derecho a la educación en Argentina y, desde las perspectivas de docentes y trabajadores de dos de estos bachilleratos, se propone conocer la historia y las características …

Latinx Students In Boston Exam Schools: Growing But Consistently Underrepresented, Ava Marinelli, Fabián Torres-Ardila

Gastón Institute Publications

Boston Public Schools exam schools – Boston Latin School, Boston Latin Academy, and the John D. O’Bryant School of Mathematics and Sciences – are widely considered some of the most elite schools not only in Boston Public Schools, but also in the country at large. They have also been the subject of numerous lawsuits and investigations, alleging racially biased admission standards, racism among faculty and students, and disproportionate enrollment numbers. The Mauricio Gastón Institute for Latino Community Development and Public Policy finds that while the enrollment of Latinx students has trended steadily upwards in Boston Public Schools and exam schools …

Restraint And Seclusion In Schools: Understanding The Keeping All Students Safe Act (Kassa), 2018-2019 Cohort Of New Hampshire-Maine Leadership Education In Neurodevelopmental And Related Disabilities (Nh-Me Lend) Program Trainees

Policy Analysis

The use of restraint and seclusion for managing children’s behaviors in schools has led to physical and psychological harm, and, in the most extreme cases, even death. For more than a decade, the level of research and concern regarding restraint and seclusion in schools has grown. The experience of being restrained and secluded in school can be traumatizing and life-altering, particularly for children with developmental, mental health, or intellectual disabilities. While adults and children in mental health and correctional facilities are protected by law from the unnecessary use of restraints and seclusion, no federal law protects our children in schools. …

Why Domain-Specific Science Knowledge Matters In Teacher Certification: Focusing On Evidence For Effective Science Teaching, Elizabeth B. Lewis, Lyrica L. Lucas, Amy Tankersley, Elizabeth Hasseler

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

The landscape of teacher preparation is complex. From a research perspective, how to prepare teachers presents as a multilevel, multivariable puzzle. For decades, federal and state policymakers, educational researchers, and administrators, along with teacher education institutions, school districts, and other stakeholders have tried to determine and measure the key malleable factors that result in effective teaching (NRC, 2010).

Periodically, state departments of education review secondary science teaching endorsement policy guidelines. As revisions occur, teacher educators in higher education and district administrators need to engage in a multidisciplinary discussion about:

1. the ways in which strong domain-specific science content knowledge contributes …

Youth Empowerment Programs In Jordan: Access And Equality, Mingyang (Linda) Zhang

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The research question for this study is to investigate the role of youth empowerment programs in providing equitable access for students at public and private schools in Jordan. Given the differences in education cost, quality, and outcomes between public and private schools; students are exposed to different levels of engagement opportunities within school systems. At the same time, the youth population is the engine of Jordan’s future growth. Understanding the role of external youth empowerment program providers is important to further education quality and equity.

The research includes six interviews with program providers and survey results from University of Jordan. …