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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons™
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Articles 1 - 28 of 28
Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Adequate Yearly Progress In Arkansas 2009-10, Nathan C. Jensen, Gary W. Ritter
Adequate Yearly Progress In Arkansas 2009-10, Nathan C. Jensen, Gary W. Ritter
Policy Briefs
At the end of October, the Arkansas Department of Education released annual adequate yearly progress (AYP) figures for Arkansas schools. These results are based on benchmark and end-of-course test scores in math and literacy for both overall populations and subgroups within schools. They are used to determine whether a school meets state standards and, given their performance in the most recent two years, whether they are placed in the "school improvement" category
Milwaukee Independent Charter Schools Study: Report On One Year Of Student Growth, John F. Witte, Patrick J. Wolf, Alicia Dean, Deven Carlson
Milwaukee Independent Charter Schools Study: Report On One Year Of Student Growth, John F. Witte, Patrick J. Wolf, Alicia Dean, Deven Carlson
School Choice Demonstration Project
The general purpose of this evaluation is to assess the effectiveness of independent charter schools in promoting two desirable student outcomes: student achievement growth and educational attainment. Independent charter schools are authorized by non-district entities and are considered “independent” because they are not a part of the Milwaukee Public School District. We will estimate achievement growth of independent charter school students in grades 3-8 over four years in reading and math on the Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Examination (WKCE). Similarly, in later reports we will track student attainment, specifically whether uppergrade cohorts in our evaluation graduate from high school. Case …
The Fiscal Impact Of The Milwaukee Parental Choice Program: 2010 – 2011 Update And Policy Options, Robert M. Costrell
The Fiscal Impact Of The Milwaukee Parental Choice Program: 2010 – 2011 Update And Policy Options, Robert M. Costrell
School Choice Demonstration Project
In February 2008 and March 2009, the School Choice Demonstration Project (SCDP) issued its first report and subsequent update on the fiscal impact of the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP) on taxpayers in Milwaukee and the state of Wisconsin. These reports covered the period 1993-2009, and addressed two distinct questions: 1. What is the net impact of the MPCP on state and local public funds? That is, what is the difference between the public funds expended on Wisconsin students, including MPCP students, and the amount that would have been spent without the MPCP? 2. How is the fiscal impact distributed …
Outstanding Educational Performance Awards: Highlighting High Achieving Arkansas Schools, 2010, James L. Woodworth, Jeffery R. Dean, James V. Shuls, Caleb P. Rose, Nathan C. Jensen, Gary W. Ritter
Outstanding Educational Performance Awards: Highlighting High Achieving Arkansas Schools, 2010, James L. Woodworth, Jeffery R. Dean, James V. Shuls, Caleb P. Rose, Nathan C. Jensen, Gary W. Ritter
Arkansas Education Reports
So, in this Arkansas Education Report (AER) we aim to highlight excellent performance and give our congratulations. To that end, we are happy to highlight many high performing schools around the state in our now-annual AER entitled the Outstanding Educational Performance Awards.
High School End-Of-Course Exams Show Proficiency Gains For 2010, Nathan C. Jensen, Gary W. Ritter
High School End-Of-Course Exams Show Proficiency Gains For 2010, Nathan C. Jensen, Gary W. Ritter
Policy Briefs
In July, the ADE released results for the 2009-10 end-ofcourse (EOC) exams given in Algebra I, Geometry, and Biology administered in April 2010. These results followed the Grade 11 Literacy results released in June. First, we present statewide 2010 results compared to last year. Second, test scores are examined across the state by districts' region, poverty level, and size. Third, we consider the performance of Arkansas students on other assessments to see if these results are consistent with EOC results.
Act 60: The Past, Present, And Future Of School Consolidation In Arkansas, Nathan C. Jensen, Gary W. Ritter
Act 60: The Past, Present, And Future Of School Consolidation In Arkansas, Nathan C. Jensen, Gary W. Ritter
Policy Briefs
Since its passage in 2004, Arkansas’ Act 60 has had a major impact on the smallest school districts in Arkansas. The law requires school districts to be consolidated if their enrollment drops below 350 for two consecutive years. This policy brief will report on the numbers and types of schools and districts that have closed since the passage of Act 60. Moreover, the brief will evaluate the enrollment trends to predict which school districts are “at-risk” of being consolidated for dropping below the 350 student threshold established by Act 60. The data for this policy brief is excerpted from a …
Test Scores Show More Students Scoring Proficient Or Advanced In 2010, Nathan C. Jensen, Gary W. Ritter
Test Scores Show More Students Scoring Proficient Or Advanced In 2010, Nathan C. Jensen, Gary W. Ritter
Policy Briefs
In mid-June, the ADE released the results of the 2009-10 standardized achievement tests, including the Arkansas Benchmark and SAT-10 exams for students in grades 3- 8 and the End-of-Course (EOC) Literacy exam for students in grade 11. The following policy brief will highlight the current performance of all Arkansas students, the performance for particular subgroups of students, and finally the changes in achievement over time.
Comprehensive Analysis Of Arkansas Teacher Salaries: State, Region, And District, James V. Shuls, Nathan C. Jensen
Comprehensive Analysis Of Arkansas Teacher Salaries: State, Region, And District, James V. Shuls, Nathan C. Jensen
Arkansas Education Reports
School funding has been an area of contention in the courts of nearly every state. Many of these court cases have challenged the constitutionality of state funding formulas, arguing the funding system was inadequate or inequitable because poor urban or rural districts often faced a disadvantage in garnering tax dollars for education. Specific to Arkansas, in the 1983 decision Dupree v. Alma School District, the Arkansas Supreme Court declared the state’s funding system was not meeting its constitutional requirements.
Spotlights On Success: Traits And Strategies Of Five High-Growth Schools In Arkansas, Misty Newcomb, James L. Woodworth, Jeffery R. Dean, Caleb P. Rose, Gary W. Ritter
Spotlights On Success: Traits And Strategies Of Five High-Growth Schools In Arkansas, Misty Newcomb, James L. Woodworth, Jeffery R. Dean, Caleb P. Rose, Gary W. Ritter
Arkansas Education Reports
Successful schools are those which best educate the students, regardless of background. They are not those with students who come in well-educated but show only slight improvement, nor are they schools which use the disadvantage as an excuse for continued low levels of achievement. Instead, successful schools are those which advance the learning of all their children beyond what is expected.
Updated Analysis Of Racial Segregation In Pulaski County Charter And Traditional Public Schools, Nathan C. Jensen, Gary W. Ritter
Updated Analysis Of Racial Segregation In Pulaski County Charter And Traditional Public Schools, Nathan C. Jensen, Gary W. Ritter
Arkansas Education Reports
In September of 2009, the Office for Education Policy (OEP) released a report titled “An Analysis of Charter Schools on Desegregation Efforts in Little Rock, Arkansas.” In this report, we presented data from the 2005 to 2009 schools years for students who transferred to open-enrollment charter schools in Pulaski County from the Little Rock School District (LRSD). The aim of this report was to show what impacts – if any – these transfers were having on the desegregation efforts of the LRSD. The motivation for this report was an ongoing legal debate about how charter schools impact desegregation, in which …
2009 Northwest Arkansas Report Card, Gary Ritter
2009 Northwest Arkansas Report Card, Gary Ritter
Education Report Card
No abstract provided.
Charter School Funding: Inequity Persists, Meagan Batdorf, Daniela Doyle, W. Holmes Finch, Brayan Hassel, Brayan Hassel
Charter School Funding: Inequity Persists, Meagan Batdorf, Daniela Doyle, W. Holmes Finch, Brayan Hassel, Brayan Hassel
School Choice Demonstration Project
In 2005, the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, with the support of the Walton Family Foundation and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, published a report showing that charter schools were greatly underfunded compared to traditional district schools in the 2002-03 school year. This report uses FY 2006-07 data, the most recent available when this project began, to describe the state of charter funding, and to see if it has changed since the last report. It includes all of the original 17 states and Washington D.C., as well as seven new states. The new edition also improves our method of analyzing …
National Standards: Following The Pendulum Of Debate, Nathan C. Jensen, Gary W. Ritter
National Standards: Following The Pendulum Of Debate, Nathan C. Jensen, Gary W. Ritter
Policy Briefs
In March, the Common Core State Standards Initiative (CCSSI) released drafts of the proposed National Standards for K-12 education in English Language Arts and Literacy, History/Social Studies, Science, and Math. The draft standards were developed in collaboration with teachers, school administrators, and experts with the goal of providing a clear and consistent framework to develop “college or career ready” students. In this draft, the authors attempt to define knowledge and skills students that high school graduates need for entry-level, credit bearing academic college courses and workforce training programs.
How Did Arkansas Fare In The Race To The Top?, Nathan C. Jensen, Gary W. Ritter
How Did Arkansas Fare In The Race To The Top?, Nathan C. Jensen, Gary W. Ritter
Policy Briefs
In late March, the winners for Round 1 of the federal Race to the Top (RttT) were announced. The competitive grant funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment (ARRA) was described in more detail in an OEP policy brief posted here . In January, Arkansas joined 40 other states in submitting an application. When the finalists were announced, Arkansas was ranked 17th and just missed the cut! In this policy brief, we provide a brief overview of how the Arkansas application fared and what our state leaders could do to increase our chances for Round Two.
Reauthorizing No Child Left Behind: The Obama Blueprint, Nathan C. Jensen, Gary W. Ritter
Reauthorizing No Child Left Behind: The Obama Blueprint, Nathan C. Jensen, Gary W. Ritter
Policy Briefs
Almost 45 years ago to this day, the federal government enacted the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) on April 11, 1965. The Act, which provided funds for professional development, instructional materials, resources to support educational programs, and promoted parental involvement in primary and secondary education, has been reauthorized about every five years since its enactment. The current version, known more commonly as the No Child Left Behind Act, is now up for reauthorization. The following policy brief will describe the development of the Act into its current form, discuss the major components of No Child Left Behind, and highlight …
2009 Naep Reading Results, Nathan C. Jensen, Gary W. Ritter
2009 Naep Reading Results, Nathan C. Jensen, Gary W. Ritter
Policy Briefs
The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), also known as “the Nation’s Report Card,” is a national assessment of what students in each state know in various subjects. The grade 4 and 8 mathematics and reading portions of the NAEP were administered in 2009. We highlighted the math results, which were released last fall, in the 2009 Arkansas Report Card (http://www.uark.edu/ua/oep/report_cards/2009_Report Card.pdf). The 2009 reading scores were released at the end of March, 2010. This policy brief highlights the recent NAEP reading results and demonstrates, bluntly, that growth has stagnated both in the U.S. and Arkansas.
Family Voices On Parental School Choice In Milwaukee: What Can We Learn From Low-Income Families?, Thomas Stewart, Juanita Lucas-Mclean, Laura I. Jensen, Christina Fetzko, Bonnie Ho, Sylvia Segovia
Family Voices On Parental School Choice In Milwaukee: What Can We Learn From Low-Income Families?, Thomas Stewart, Juanita Lucas-Mclean, Laura I. Jensen, Christina Fetzko, Bonnie Ho, Sylvia Segovia
School Choice Demonstration Project
This report, designed as one component of the comprehensive evaluation of the Milwaukee school system being conducted by the School Choice Demonstration Project (SCDP), is based on focus group conversations with low-income families whose children attend Milwaukee public and private schools. The report seeks to elucidate the demand side of school choice from the perspective of the end users. More specifically, it describes the experiences of low-income families and uses their insights to better understand the strengths and limitations of their attempts to exercise parental school choice. Among its distinguishing characteristics, Milwaukee has the first publicly funded means-tested voucher program …
The Milwaukee Parental Choice Program’S Effect On School Integration, Jay P. Greene, Jonathan N. Mills, Stuart Buck
The Milwaukee Parental Choice Program’S Effect On School Integration, Jay P. Greene, Jonathan N. Mills, Stuart Buck
School Choice Demonstration Project
In this paper, we estimate the effect of the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP, or the Milwaukee voucher program) on integration in public and private schools.
The Milwaukee Parental Choice Program: Descriptive Report On Participating Schools 2008 – 2009, Brian Kisida, Laura I. Jensen, Patrick J. Wolf
The Milwaukee Parental Choice Program: Descriptive Report On Participating Schools 2008 – 2009, Brian Kisida, Laura I. Jensen, Patrick J. Wolf
School Choice Demonstration Project
This report is the third in a series of annual reports produced by the School Choice Demonstration Project (SCDP) that will provide descriptive information about the schools participating in the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP). This year’s report contains a new section that examines schools from both the public and private sectors that are no longer receiving public funds.
Milwaukee Longitudinal School Choice Evaluation: Annual School Testing Summary Report 2008-09, Jeffery R. Dean, Patrick J. Wolf
Milwaukee Longitudinal School Choice Evaluation: Annual School Testing Summary Report 2008-09, Jeffery R. Dean, Patrick J. Wolf
School Choice Demonstration Project
With the passage of the 2005 Wisconsin Act 125, private schools participating in the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP) have been required to administer annual standardized tests in reading, mathematics, and science to their MPCP students enrolled in the 4th, 8th, and 10th grades. The law further directs Choice schools to submit copies of the scores from those tests to the School Choice Demonstration Project for processing and reporting to the Legislative Audit Bureau. During the 2008-09 school year, MPCP schools administered either nationally normed tests, such as the Iowa Test of Basic Skills, or the state criterion-referenced Wisconsin Knowledge …
School And Sector Switching In Milwaukee, Joshua M. Cowen, David J. Fleming, John F. Witte, Patrick J. Wolf
School And Sector Switching In Milwaukee, Joshua M. Cowen, David J. Fleming, John F. Witte, Patrick J. Wolf
School Choice Demonstration Project
In this report we analyze the movement of students to and from the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP) and Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS). We also analyze student mobility between schools within each sector. The analysis rests on two separate sets of data: the administrative records we have collected as part of our separate analysis of academic achievement in MPCP (Witte , Wolf, Cowen, Fleming, & Lucas-McLean, 2010), and the results of an extensive set of surveys collected from parents of private and public school students.
The Comprehensive Longitudinal Evaluation Of The Milwaukee Parental Choice Program: Summary Of Third Year Reports, Patrick J. Wolf
The Comprehensive Longitudinal Evaluation Of The Milwaukee Parental Choice Program: Summary Of Third Year Reports, Patrick J. Wolf
School Choice Demonstration Project
The city of Milwaukee is often called a laboratory for experimentation with parental school choice. Milwaukee is home to the first urban school voucher program, the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP), which has grown over the past 19 years to enroll 19,803 students in 127 different private schools in 2008-09. A total of 59 public charter schools operate within the city’s boundaries, enrolling 17,158 students last year. Even students in the Milwaukee Public School (MPS) system have a variety of magnet, community, open enrollment, and inter-district school choice options available to them, so long as transportation funding holds out. When …
The Mpcp Longitudinal Educational Growth Study Third Year Report, John F. Witte, Joshua M. Cowen, David J. Fleming, Patrick J. Wolf, Meghan R. Condon, Juanita Lucas-Mclean
The Mpcp Longitudinal Educational Growth Study Third Year Report, John F. Witte, Joshua M. Cowen, David J. Fleming, Patrick J. Wolf, Meghan R. Condon, Juanita Lucas-Mclean
School Choice Demonstration Project
This is the third-year report in a five-year evaluation of the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP). The MPCP, which began in 1990, provides government-funded vouchers for low-income children to attend private schools in the City of Milwaukee. The maximum voucher amount in 2008-09 was $6,607, and approximately 20,000 children used a voucher to attend either secular or religious private schools. The MPCP is the oldest and largest urban school voucher program in the United States. This evaluation was authorized by Wisconsin Act 125 enacted in 2005.
Algebra For All?, Nathan C. Jensen, Gary W. Ritter
Algebra For All?, Nathan C. Jensen, Gary W. Ritter
Policy Briefs
In Arkansas, students graduate from high school at a relatively high rate – 72% versus the national rate of 69%. However, according to the ACT, only 35% of Arkansas graduates are ready for college-level work (based on Arkansas’ College Readiness Benchmark Scores). Our state's rate of completion from college also ranks below the national average (See Table 3.5 in OEP’s report card here). There is a strong correlation between the successful completion of an algebra course and readiness for college-level work. Because of this, there has been a great deal of interest recently in the question of whether educators in …
2009 Report Card On Arkansas Public Schools, Gary Ritter
2009 Report Card On Arkansas Public Schools, Gary Ritter
Education Report Card
No abstract provided.
Quality Counts 2010: Arkansas Holds Steady, Nathan C. Jensen, Gary W. Ritter
Quality Counts 2010: Arkansas Holds Steady, Nathan C. Jensen, Gary W. Ritter
Policy Briefs
In an attempt to gauge the educational progress of the nation and each state, Education Week has published state report cards since 1997 in its annual Quality Counts series. The 14th annual report - Quality Counts 2010 - was released in January. Four of the six categories (Chance for Success, School Finance, The Teaching Profession, and Standards, Assessment and Accountability) were updated to reflect the most current (2010) data. Arkansas received the highest possible grade (A) in the Standards, Assessments & Accountability category, receiving perfect scores in the subcategories for Standards and School Accountability. Similarly, Arkansas' grade for Transitions and …
Charter School Review In Arkansas And Across The Nation, Nathan C. Jensen, Gary W. Ritter
Charter School Review In Arkansas And Across The Nation, Nathan C. Jensen, Gary W. Ritter
Policy Briefs
At the most recent State Board of Education meeting, State Education Commissioner Tom Kimbrell addressed the need for more monitoring of charter schools to ensure that these schools meet their stated goals, including the types of students they intend to serve and the scope of the schools’ curricula. Additionally, he noted that the current process for reviewing applications for charter schools is inadequate, and acknowledged the need for a more systematic review process. As a result, Dr. Kimbrell reported that the state is planning to create a charter review council that will serve two important functions: reviewing charter applications prior …
Ralph Bunche Agape Neighborhood Vision Plan, Community Design Center
Ralph Bunche Agape Neighborhood Vision Plan, Community Design Center
Project Reports
The Ralphe Bunche Neighborhood Vision Plan provides a general design framework to spur reinvestment in this 100-year old historic African-American neighborhood in Benton, AR. The plan aggregates attainable housing (under $100,000/unit) around two neighborhood parks―one existing, and one proposed. Since the city cannot afford comprehensive street and drainage improvements to accommodate redevelopment, the proposal retrofits streets and open space with Low Impact Development (LID) landscapes to remediate urban stormwater runoff. Housing unit types between 1,000 and 1,750 square feet are amassed around these LID landscapes and amenitized with screened rooms, balconies, terraces, and multiple-height living spaces.