Sample records for improving school performance
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School Faculty as a High-Performing Learning Community: Normative Data from 132 Schools.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Meehan, Merrill L.; Wiersma, William; Cowley, Kimberly S.; Craig, James R.; Orletsky, Sandra R.; Childers, Robert D.
A faculty's commitment to continuous learning and improvement is a critical dimension in defining schools as high-performing learning communities. When planning an improvement effort, a school's staff needs a conceptual framework that outlines the dimensions of school improvement. The AEL Continuous School Improvement Questionnaire (CSIQ) is a…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Benbenishty, Rami; Astor, Ron Avi; Roziner, Ilan; Wrabel, Stephani L.
2016-01-01
The present study explores the causal link between school climate, school violence, and a school's general academic performance over time using a school-level, cross-lagged panel autoregressive modeling design. We hypothesized that reductions in school violence and climate improvement would lead to schools' overall improved academic performance.…
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Implementation of Turnaround Strategies in Chronically Low-Performing Schools
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Turnbull, Brenda J.; Arcaira, Erikson R.
2012-01-01
There is some evidence to indicate that chronically low-performing schools, whether improving student performance or not, often report pursuing substantially similar policies, programs, and practices. However, while chronically low-performing schools may pursue similar school improvement strategies, there is some evidence that the level and…
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State Strategies to Improve Low-Performing Schools: California's High Priority School Grants Program
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Timar, Thomas; Rodriguez, Gloria; Simon, Virginia Adams; Ferrario, Kim; Kim, Kris
2006-01-01
Central to California's school accountability system are programs to engage low-performing schools in improvement efforts. One of these is the High Priority Schools Program (HPSGP), created by Assembly Bill 961 (Chapter 747, "Statutes of 2001") to provide funds to the lowest performing schools in the state. To be eligible for funding,…
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Addition by Subtraction: The Relation Between Dropout Rates and School-Level Academic Achievement.
Glennie, Elizabeth; Bonneau, Kara; Vandellen, Michelle; Dodge, Kenneth A
2012-01-01
Efforts to improve student achievement should increase graduation rates. However, work investigating the effects of student-level accountability has consistently demonstrated that increases in the standards for high school graduation are correlated with increases in dropout rates. The most favored explanation for this finding is that high-stakes testing policies that mandate grade repetition and high school exit exams may be the tipping point for students who are already struggling academically. These extra demands may, in fact, push students out of school. This article examines two hypotheses regarding the relation between school-level accountability and dropout rates. The first posits that improvements in school performance lead to improved success for everyone. If school-level accountability systems improve a school for all students, then the proportion of students performing at grade level increases, and the dropout rate decreases. The second hypothesis posits that schools facing pressure to improve their overall accountability score may pursue this increase at the cost of other student outcomes, including dropout rate. Our approach focuses on the dynamic relation between school-level academic achievement and dropout rates over time-that is, between one year's achievement and the subsequent year's dropout rate, and vice versa. This article employs longitudinal data of records on all students in North Carolina public schools over an 8-year period. Analyses employ fixed-effects models clustering schools and districts within years and controls each year for school size, percentage of students who were free/reduced-price lunch eligible, percentage of students who are ethnic minorities, and locale. This study finds partial evidence that improvements in school-level academic performance will lead to improvements (i.e., decreases) in school-level dropout rates. Schools with improved performance saw decreased dropout rates following these successes. However, we find more evidence of a negative side of the quest for improved academic performance. When dropout rates increase, the performance composites in subsequent years increase. Accountability systems need to remove any indirect benefit a school may receive from increasing its dropout rate. Schools should be held accountable for those who drop out of school. Given the personal and social costs of dropping out, accountability systems need to place more emphasis on dropout prevention. Such an emphasis could encompass increasing the dropout age and having the school's performance composite include scores of zero on end-of-grade tests for those who leave school.
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Herrmann, Mariesa; Dragoset, Lisa; James-Burdumy, Susanne
2014-01-01
The federal School Improvement Grants (SIG) program aims to improve student achievement by promoting the implementation of four school intervention models: transformation, turnaround, restart, and closure. Previous research provides evidence that low-performing schools adopt some practices promoted by the four models, but little is known about how…
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Addition by Subtraction: The Relation Between Dropout Rates and School-Level Academic Achievement
GLENNIE, ELIZABETH; BONNEAU, KARA; VANDELLEN, MICHELLE; DODGE, KENNETH A.
2013-01-01
Background/Context Efforts to improve student achievement should increase graduation rates. However, work investigating the effects of student-level accountability has consistently demonstrated that increases in the standards for high school graduation are correlated with increases in dropout rates. The most favored explanation for this finding is that high-stakes testing policies that mandate grade repetition and high school exit exams may be the tipping point for students who are already struggling academically. These extra demands may, in fact, push students out of school. Purpose/Objective/Focus This article examines two hypotheses regarding the relation between school-level accountability and dropout rates. The first posits that improvements in school performance lead to improved success for everyone. If school-level accountability systems improve a school for all students, then the proportion of students performing at grade level increases, and the dropout rate decreases. The second hypothesis posits that schools facing pressure to improve their overall accountability score may pursue this increase at the cost of other student outcomes, including dropout rate. Research Design Our approach focuses on the dynamic relation between school-level academic achievement and dropout rates over time—that is, between one year’s achievement and the subsequent year’s dropout rate, and vice versa. This article employs longitudinal data of records on all students in North Carolina public schools over an 8-year period. Analyses employ fixed-effects models clustering schools and districts within years and controls each year for school size, percentage of students who were free/reduced-price lunch eligible, percentage of students who are ethnic minorities, and locale. Findings/Results This study finds partial evidence that improvements in school-level academic performance will lead to improvements (i.e., decreases) in school-level dropout rates. Schools with improved performance saw decreased dropout rates following these successes. However, we find more evidence of a negative side of the quest for improved academic performance. When dropout rates increase, the performance composites in subsequent years increase. Conclusions/recommendations Accountability systems need to remove any indirect benefit a school may receive from increasing its dropout rate. Schools should be held accountable for those who drop out of school. Given the personal and social costs of dropping out, accountability systems need to place more emphasis on dropout prevention. Such an emphasis could encompass increasing the dropout age and having the school’s performance composite include scores of zero on end-of-grade tests for those who leave school. PMID:24013958
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Cognitive skills, student achievement tests, and schools.
Finn, Amy S; Kraft, Matthew A; West, Martin R; Leonard, Julia A; Bish, Crystal E; Martin, Rebecca E; Sheridan, Margaret A; Gabrieli, Christopher F O; Gabrieli, John D E
2014-03-01
Cognitive skills predict academic performance, so schools that improve academic performance might also improve cognitive skills. To investigate the impact schools have on both academic performance and cognitive skills, we related standardized achievement-test scores to measures of cognitive skills in a large sample (N = 1,367) of eighth-grade students attending traditional, exam, and charter public schools. Test scores and gains in test scores over time correlated with measures of cognitive skills. Despite wide variation in test scores across schools, differences in cognitive skills across schools were negligible after we controlled for fourth-grade test scores. Random offers of enrollment to oversubscribed charter schools resulted in positive impacts of such school attendance on math achievement but had no impact on cognitive skills. These findings suggest that schools that improve standardized achievement-test scores do so primarily through channels other than improving cognitive skills.
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Hens, Luc; Wiedemann, Torsten; Raath, Schalk; Stone, Riana; Renders, Paul; Craenhals, Eric
2010-01-01
Quantitative results from Environmental Management Systems (EMS) at primary schools have rarely been examined in literature. This paper presents the monitoring results of environmental care in 39 primary schools in Northern South Africa. During 2 years, after the EMS was implemented in the curriculum and in the school's management, the progress of environmental performances of the participating schools has been measured, by means of detailed questionnaires, related to four environmental aspects: water, waste, energy and greening. At the beginning of the project, 50% of the schools performed well on water-related environmental actions. Two years later it was 76%. For waste-related activities the improvement was even stronger: from 50% to 100%. The environmental performances of the schools improved also for greening-related actions, from 50% at the start of the project to 64% two years later. Only energy-related activities did not improve significantly with only 24% of all schools performing well at the end of the survey period. In general, the introduction of an EMS succeeded in an improvement of the overall environmental performances of the schools, but cost-intensive activities were less successful than others. Copyright 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Prew, Martin; Quaigrain, Kenneth
2010-01-01
This article looks at a school management tool that allows school managers and education district offices to review the performance of their schools and use the broad-based data to undertake orchestrated planning with districts planning delivery based on the needs of schools and in support of school improvement plans. The review process also…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Felner, Robert D.; Favazza, Antoinette; Shim, Minsuk; Brand, Stephen; Gu, Kenneth; Noonan, Nancy
2001-01-01
Describes the School Transitional Environment Project and its successor, the Project on High Performance Learning Communities, that have contributed to building a model for school improvement called the High Performance Learning Communities. The model seeks to build the principles of prevention into whole school change. Presents findings from…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Appalachia Educational Laboratory at Edvantia (NJ1), 2005
2005-01-01
The School Improvement Specialist Project prepared seven modules. School improvement specialists, as defined by the Appalachia Educational Laboratory at Edvantia, are change agents who work with schools to help them improve in the following areas so as to increase student achievement. These modules are intended to provide training materials for…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Kober, Nancy; Rentner, Diane Stark
2011-01-01
As Congress considers legislation to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965, one topic of debate is the program of school improvement grants (SIGs) authorized by section 1003(g) of Title I. SIGs are intended to help to turn around low-performing schools and are part of the larger ESEA Title I program to improve…
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The Superintendent's Fourteenth Annual Report on School Performance and Improvement in Hawaii, 2003.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
State of Hawaii Department of Education, 2004
2004-01-01
The Superintendent's Annual Report on School Performance and Improvement in Hawaii is one of three reports in the state's system of school accountability. This report contains collective data on Hawaii schools for school year 2002-03, showing trends over time and, where appropriate, comparisons with data from other states. The Superintendent's…
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A Performance Appraisal System for School Principals.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Knoop, Robert; Common, Ronald W.
The Performance Review, Analysis, and Improvement System for Educators (PRAISE) is a formative evaluation instrument designed to improve the performance of school principals. The system appears to be reliable and valid and is flexible enough to accommodate the needs of a variety of schools. Sample items and categories of the instrument include…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Appalachia Educational Laboratory at Edvantia (NJ1), 2005
2005-01-01
The School Improvement Specialist Project prepared seven modules. School improvement specialists, as defined by the Appalachia Educational Laboratory at Edvantia, are change agents who work with schools to help them improve in the following areas so as to increase student achievement. These modules are intended to provide training materials for…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Appalachia Educational Laboratory at Edvantia (NJ1), 2005
2005-01-01
The School Improvement Specialist Project prepared seven modules. School improvement specialists, as defined by the Appalachia Educational Laboratory at Edvantia, are change agents who work with schools to help them improve in the following areas so as to increase student achievement. These modules are intended to provide training materials for…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Appalachia Educational Laboratory at Edvantia (NJ1), 2005
2005-01-01
The School Improvement Specialist Project prepared seven modules. School improvement specialists, as defined by the Appalachia Educational Laboratory at Edvantia, are change agents who work with schools to help them improve in the following areas so as to increase student achievement. These modules are intended to provide training materials for…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Herlihy, Corinne M.; Kemple, James J.
2004-01-01
The Talent Development Middle School model was created to make a difference in struggling urban middle schools. The model is part of a trend in school improvement strategies whereby whole-school reform projects aim to improve performance and attendance outcomes for students through the use of major changes in both the organizational structure and…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Cosner, Shelby; Jones, Mary F.
2016-01-01
Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to advance a framework that identifies three key domains of work and a set of more nuanced considerations and actions within each domain for school leaders seeking to improve school-wide student learning in low-performing schools facing conditions of accountability. Design/methodology/approach: Review of…
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Improving Schools: Investing in Our Future
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
McEwen, Nelly
2006-01-01
Improving Schools--Investing in Our Future provides a foundation for improving student learning and performance, and improving aspects of schooling. Chapter (1) provides information about Alberta's well--established K-12 education system. Alberta's school-aged population is becoming more diverse with growing numbers of Aboriginal and immigrant…
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Coaching as a Performance Improvement Tool at School
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Yirci, Ramazan; Karakose, Turgut; Kocabas, Ibrahim
2016-01-01
The purpose of this study is to examine the current literature and have an insight about coaching as a performance improvement tool at school. In today's world, schools have to survive and keep their organizational success in the highest level because of the high expectations from school stakeholders. Taking place in such a fierce competitive…
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Improving Achievement in Low-Performing Schools: Key Results for School Leaders
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Ward, Randolph E.; Burke, Mary Ann
2004-01-01
As accountability in schools becomes more crucial, educators are looking for comprehensive and innovative management practices that respond to challenges and realities of student academic achievement. In order to improve academic performance and the quality of instruction, the entire school community needs to be involved. This book provides six…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Rothstein, Richard
2014-01-01
School reform alone cannot substantially improve the performance of the poorest African American students. This performance problem must be addressed primarily by improving the social and economic conditions that bring too many children to school unprepared to take advantage of what schools have to offer. Integrating disadvantaged black students…
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Cognitive Skills, Student Achievement Tests, and Schools
Finn, Amy S.; Kraft, Matthew A.; West, Martin R.; Leonard, Julia A.; Bish, Crystal E.; Martin, Rebecca E.; Sheridan, Margaret A.; Gabrieli, Christopher F. O.; Gabrieli, John D. E.
2014-01-01
Cognitive skills predict academic performance, so schools that improve academic performance might also improve cognitive skills. To investigate the impact schools have on both academic performance and cognitive skills, we related standardized achievement test scores to measures of cognitive skills in a large sample (N=1,367) of 8th-grade students attending traditional, exam, and charter public schools. Test scores and gains in test scores over time correlated with measures of cognitive skills. Despite wide variation in test scores across schools, differences in cognitive skills across schools were negligible after controlling for 4th-grade test scores. Random offers of enrollment to over-subscribed charter schools resulted in positive impacts of such school attendance on math achievement, but had no impact on cognitive skills. These findings suggest that schools that improve standardized achievement tests do so primarily through channels other than cognitive skills. PMID:24434238
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Hook, Christine L.; DuPaul, George J.
1999-01-01
Examines the effects of a parent tutoring intervention on the reading performance of students with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), at home and at school. Results indicate that reading performance in the home setting improved for all students and reading performance in the school setting showed improvements, but data should be…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Muijs, Daniel
2015-01-01
The principle of schools collaborating to improve is one that has seen growing interest in recent years, and there is emerging evidence that in particular collaboration between high and lower performing schools can be an effective school improvement method. However, this evidence relates primarily to secondary schools, and little research has been…
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Mendell, M J; Heath, G A
2005-02-01
To assess whether school environments can adversely affect academic performance, we review scientific evidence relating indoor pollutants and thermal conditions, in schools or other indoor environments, to human performance or attendance. We critically review evidence for direct associations between these aspects of indoor environmental quality (IEQ) and performance or attendance. Secondarily, we summarize, without critique, evidence on indirect connections potentially linking IEQ to performance or attendance. Regarding direct associations, little strongly designed research was available. Persuasive evidence links higher indoor concentrations of NO(2) to reduced school attendance, and suggestive evidence links low ventilation rates to reduced performance. Regarding indirect associations, many studies link indoor dampness and microbiologic pollutants (primarily in homes) to asthma exacerbations and respiratory infections, which in turn have been related to reduced performance and attendance. Also, much evidence links poor IEQ (e.g. low ventilation rate, excess moisture, or formaldehyde) with adverse health effects in children and adults and documents dampness problems and inadequate ventilation as common in schools. Overall, evidence suggests that poor IEQ in schools is common and adversely influences the performance and attendance of students, primarily through health effects from indoor pollutants. Evidence is available to justify (i) immediate actions to assess and improve IEQ in schools and (ii) focused research to guide IEQ improvements in schools. There is more justification now for improving IEQ in schools to reduce health risks to students than to reduce performance or attendance risks. However, as IEQ-performance links are likely to operate largely through effects of IEQ on health, IEQ improvements that benefit the health of students are likely to have performance and attendance benefits as well. Immediate actions are warranted in schools to prevent dampness problems, inadequate ventilation, and excess indoor exposures to substances such as NO(2) and formaldehyde. Also, siting of new schools in areas with lower outdoor pollutant levels is preferable.
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School Improvement Plans and Student Learning in Jamaica
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Lockheed, Marlaine; Harris, Abigail; Jayasundera, Tamara
2010-01-01
A school improvement program that provided support to poor-performing schools on the basis of needs identified in a school improvement plan was implemented in 72 government schools in Jamaica, from 1998 to 2005. In this independent evaluation of the program, we use propensity score matching to create, post hoc, a control group of schools that were…
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School-based sleep education program improves sleep and academic performance of school-age children.
Gruber, Reut; Somerville, Gail; Bergmame, Lana; Fontil, Laura; Paquin, Soukaina
2016-05-01
The objective of this study was to develop and evaluate the effectiveness of a school-based sleep education program aimed at improving the sleep and academic performance of school-age children. Using a community-based participatory research approach, we created a school-based sleep education program, "Sleep for Success"™ (SFS), composed of four distinct modules that addressed the children, their family and community, the school staff, and decision makers within the school setting. Implementation was carried out in three elementary schools. Seventy-one students participated in the evaluation of the program. The effectiveness of the SFS program was evaluated using non-randomized controlled before-and-after study groups (intervention and control) assessed over two time points (pre- and post-program implementation). Before (baseline) and after implementation, sleep and academic performance were measured using actigraphy and report card marks, respectively. In the intervention group, true sleep was extended by 18.2 min per night, sleep efficiency improved by 2.3%, and sleep latency was shortened by 2.3 min, and report card grades in mathematics and English improved significantly. No changes were noted in the control group. Participation in the sleep education program was associated with significant improvements in children's sleep and academic performance. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Roi, Christine S.
A pilot program was developed and implemented to improve the music performance of middle school choral students. A target group of 27 low performing students in grade seven and eight participated in the program. The program utilized four strategies for improving performance skills. Lectures were given by inspirational leaders. Small groups were…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Wrobbel, Paul H.
2009-01-01
In the United States there is considerable focus on the need for continuous improvement in the quality of schools, including student achievement and teacher performance. Performance-based pay has been repeatedly suggested as a way to improve teaching in school systems. Therefore, a more thorough understanding of the differences in the perceptions…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Balfanz, Robert; Legters, Nettie; West, Thomas C.; Weber, Lisa M.
2007-01-01
This article examines the extent to which adequate yearly progress (AYP) is a valid and reliable indicator of improvement in low-performing high schools. For a random subsample of 202 high schools, the authors investigate the school characteristics and the federal and state policy contexts that influence their AYP status. Logistic regression…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Herman, Rebecca; Huberman, Mette
2012-01-01
The TALPS study aims to build on the existing research base to develop promising methodologies to identify chronically low-performing and turnaround schools, as well as to identify promising strategies for turning around chronically low-performing schools. By looking specifically at schools identified as turnaround, in comparison to nonturnaround…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Green, Curt R.
2013-01-01
Urban school districts throughout the United States are creating single gender classrooms or schools to improve student achievements for their lowest performing subgroups (Noguera, 2009). It is hoped that separating the sexes will improve domains such as discipline, attendance and academic performance, while decreasing the dropout rate. If single…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Birr, David
2000-01-01
Energy performance contracting allows schools to pay for needed new energy equipment and modernization improvements with savings from reduced utility and maintenance costs. Improved energy efficiency reduces demand for burning fossil fuels, which reduces air pollution, leading to improved learning environments and budgets (through improved average…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Atkinson Duina, Angela
2013-01-01
New regulations attached to ARRA funding of federal School Improvement Fund grants aimed at producing rapid turnaround of low performing schools were highly criticized as unsuitable for rural schools. This mixed-methods study looked at the implementation of the School Improvement Fund Transformation Model in two rural Maine high schools during the…
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2012-03-21
... and Improvement; School Leadership Program (SLP) Annual Performance Report SUMMARY: Information in the School Leadership Program (SLP) Annual Performance Report (APR) is collected in compliance with the... Leadership Program. DATES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before May 21, 2012...
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An Intervention to Improve School and Student Performance
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Shaver, Becky
2008-01-01
Georgia Leadership Institute for School Improvement (GLISI) used ISPI's 10 Standards of Performance Technology to share the design, development, and implementation of an intervention striving to help Georgia districts and schools share their success stories in a clear and concise format. This intervention took the form of a PowerPoint…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
American Federation of Teachers (NJ), 2012
2012-01-01
School districts close schools for many appropriate reasons. School closure has now evolved into a school improvement strategy. Sometimes the strategy is to close the lowest-performing schools rather than low-enrollment schools and move the students into higher-achieving neighborhood schools. School closure also has become a common strategy to…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Alaska State Legislature, Juneau.
In its enabling legislation, the Alaska Joint Committee on School Performance was instructed to identify and recommend those subjects for priority legislative attention that might lead to improved school performance. The Committee's study found that inadequate school performance can be attributed to the following needs: (1) stricter school…
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The Use of Performance Feedback in School Improvement in Louisiana
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Schildkamp, Kim; Visscher, Adrie
2010-01-01
Although school performance feedback is available in schools all over the world, there is a dearth of information about the use made of feedback and about the effects of its use. This paper presents case study research into the use of school performance feedback and its perceived effects. All schools used the feedback in writing school improvement…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Siegel, Dorothy; Fruchter, Norm
This report reviews implementation of Phase 1 of the New York City Board of Education's Performance Driven Budgeting (PDB) initiative from 1997-00. This initiative generated a new element in school-based planning for instructional improvement, explicitly linking school-level budgeting and efforts to improve student and school performance. The…
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Indoor Air Quality in High Performance Schools
High performance schools are facilities that improve the learning environment while saving energy, resources, and money. The key is understanding the lifetime value of high performance schools and effectively managing priorities, time, and budget.
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Indoor Air Quality in High Performance Schools
2017-02-14
High performance schools are facilities that improve the learning environment while saving energy, resources, and money. The key is understanding the lifetime value of high performance schools and effectively managing priorities, time, and budget.
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Covington, Char-Shenda D.
2016-01-01
There are a myriad of factors that contribute to the lowest performing schools in Georgia that School Improvement Grants (SIGs) are designed to ameliorate. Declining graduation rates, dwindling student achievement, high teacher turnover rates, and students leaving high school at an alarming rate ill-prepared for college and/or the workforce…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Mintrop, Heinrich; Trujillo, Tina
2007-01-01
Based on in-depth data from nine demographically similar schools, the study asks five questions in regard to key aspects of the improvement process and that speak to the consequential validity of accountability indicators: Do schools that differ widely according to system performance criteria also differ on the quality of the educational…
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A Strategy for Improving US Middle School Student Mathematics Word Problem Solving Performance
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Thomas, Valerie L.
2004-01-01
U.S. middle school students have difficulty understanding and solving mathematics word problems. Their mathematics performance on the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMMS) is far below their international peers, and minority students are less likely than high socioeconomic status (SES) White/Asian students to be exposed to higher-level mathematics concepts. Research literature also indicates that when students use both In-School and Out-of-School knowledge and experiences to create authentic mathematics word problems, student achievement improves. This researcher developed a Strategy for improving mathematics problem solving performance and a Professional Development Model (PDM) to effectively implement the Strategy.
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Kelly, Christopher
2016-01-01
The purpose of this study was to examine the efforts of school districts in developing and sustaining their capacity to improve student achievement in response to increased accountability. The study sought to confirm what the research says regarding the role of the school district in influencing school improvement. While there is a significant…
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Who's Next? Let's Stop Gambling on School Performance and Plan for Principal Succession
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Schmidt-Davis, Jon; Bottoms, Gene
2011-01-01
The future of public school performance demands that states and districts actively develop and seek strong principals. Instructional leadership is the critical element that is missing in efforts to improve America's lowest-performing schools and in moving good schools to great schools. Turnover among principals currently is at an unsustainable…
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Evidence from Scientific Literature about Improved Academic Performance
Studies that measure school conditions using an index of several variables consistently show improved scores on standardized tests as school conditions improve. On the other hand, schools with major unmet repair needs and fewer custodial workers per square
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What You Can Do to Improve Academic Performance
Studies that measure school conditions using an index of several variables consistently show improved scores on standardized tests as school conditions improve. On the other hand, schools with major unmet repair needs and fewer custodial workers per square
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Alaska State Legislature, Juneau.
Alaskans are increasingly dissatisfied with the performance of their schools. Many students are poorly educated, have low self-esteem, and suffer other social problems. The Alaskan Joint House-Senate Committee on School Performance was created to set priorities for ways to improve school performance. The committee was guided by three basic…
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Why Continuous Improvement Is a Poor Substitute for School Choice
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Rose, David C.; Rochester, J. Martin
2008-01-01
Efforts to introduce school choice have produced pressures on public schools to improve their performance. As a result, many public schools have embraced the total quality management principle of continuous improvement. In this article we explain that while this may be well intentioned, it may have perverse unintended consequences. A likely…
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AEL Continuous School Improvement Questionnaire. User Manual and Technical Report.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Meehan, Merrill L.; Cowley, Kimberly S.; Craig, James R.; Balow, Nancy; Childers, Robert D.
The Continuous School Improvement Questionnaire (CSIQ) developed by the AEL helps a school staff gauge its performance on six dimensions related to continuous school improvement. Each member of the staff responds to the CSIQ individually. Although results might be used at the district or regional level, the most widely intended unit for applying…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Rosenberg, Linda; Christianson, Megan Davis; Hague Angus, Megan
2015-01-01
Low-performing schools in rural settings can face challenges common to all struggling schools, such as low student motivation and maintaining a qualified teaching staff. However, aspects of rural schools' settings, such as the distance from urban areas and the commute between the schools and the students' and teachers' homes, can exacerbate the…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Tung, Rosann; Diez, Virginia; Gagnon, Laurie; Uriarte, Miren; Stazesky, Pamela
2011-01-01
This study is part of a collaborative project entitled "Identifying Success in Schools and Programs for English Language Learners in Boston Public Schools". The companion to this report, entitled "Improving Educational Outcomes of English Language Learners in Schools and Programs in Boston Public Schools", provides a…
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2012-06-05
...; School Leadership Program (SLP) Annual Performance Report SUMMARY: The School Leadership Program (SLP... to this notice will be considered public records. Title of Collection: School Leadership Program (SLP... Leadership Program. There are two GPRA performance objectives and six performance measures for SLP grantees...
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Overlooking the Descent: Operational Definition, Identification, and Description of School Decline
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Hochbein, Craig
2011-01-01
Educators, researchers, politicians, and the media have committed considerable time, attention, and effort to chronically low-performing schools. Although many have chided the schools for their unacceptable performance or designed strategies to improve them, few have sought to understand how these schools became chronically low-performing in the…
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Improving Low-Performing High Schools: Searching for Evidence of Promise
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Fleischman, Steve; Heppen, Jessica
2009-01-01
Noting that many of the nation's high schools are beset with major problems, such as low student reading and math achievement, high dropout rates, and an inadequate supply of effective teachers, Steve Fleischman and Jessica Heppen survey a range of strategies that educators have used to improve low-performing high schools. The authors begin by…
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State Policies for Intervening in Chronically Low-Performing Schools: A 50-State Scan. REL 2016-131
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Klute, Mary M.; Welp, Laura C.; Yanoski, David C.; Mason, Katie M.; Reale, Marianne L.
2016-01-01
Recent federal initiatives such as School Improvement Grants and Elementary and Secondary Education Act flexibility emphasize the role of state education agencies in improving chronically low-performing schools. But state policies limit what actions state education agencies can take. As state education leaders and policymakers consider how best to…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Center for Comprehensive School Reform and Improvement, 2009
2009-01-01
Leadership is crucial for effective, lasting school improvement. Although research has established that strong, competent principals are vital for high-performing schools (Hallinger, 2003; Leithwood, 1994), attention is turning increasingly to the importance of effective district leadership, including school boards and their contributions to…
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Measuring Systematic Long-Term Trajectories of School Effectiveness Improvement
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Valenzuela, Juan Pablo; Bellei, Cristián; Allende, Claudio
2016-01-01
The objective of this study was to identify trajectories of school improvement experienced by Chilean elementary schools over the last decade. Using econometric analysis and controlling for potential confounding factors, we created an index of school performance combining outcome indicators focused on different school dimensions, and estimated the…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Brown-Anfelouss, Marjorie
2012-01-01
Giftedness has often been equated with being academically talented or being a high achiever in school. However, there is often concern about the gifted students who could be described as unmotivated and underachieving in one or many academic areas. At the Jones Street School, a school for gifted elementary students, the location of this study,…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Lin, Mind-Dih
2012-01-01
Improving principal leadership is a vital component to the success of educational reform initiatives that seek to improve whole-school performance, as principal leadership often exercises positive but indirect effects on student learning. Because of the importance of principals within the field of school improvement, this article focuses on…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Council of Chief State School Officers, Washington, DC.
This paper presents proceedings from a 2001 working conference of the State and District Support to Low-Performing Schools initiative, which presented research-based strategies and exemplary practice to improve low-performing schools. The presentations focused on state and district systems of support to low-performing schools; use of data to…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
LaFee, Scott
1999-01-01
Top school administrators and school boards across the country are increasingly employing a private-sector incentive: bonus pay for improved (school) performance. Connecticut, Texas, and North Carolina have merit-pay clauses in superintendents' contracts. This article discusses pay-for-performance criteria, increased job expectations, and ethical…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Wang, Ye; Gushta, Matthew
2013-01-01
The No Child Left Behind Act resulted in increased school-level implementation of assessment-based school interventions that aim to improve student performance. Diagnostic assessments are included among these interventions, designed to help teachers use evidence about student performance to modify and differentiate instruction and improve student…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Lyons, Robert
2004-01-01
Under the Commonwealth Accountability Testing System (CATS), Kentucky's public schools have been assigned individualized "baseline" and "improvement goal" indices based upon past school performance in relation to the 2014 statewide index goal of 100. Each school's CATS Accountability Index, a measure of school performance based…
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School Improvement Grants: Progress Report from America's Great City Schools
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Council of the Great City Schools, 2015
2015-01-01
This report measures trends in performance among urban schools receiving federal School Improvement Grant (SIG) awards as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). The Council of the Great City Schools aims to document how member districts of the Council of the Great City Schools implemented SIG and specifically what…
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Comprehensive School Reform: A Longitudinal Study of School Improvement in One State
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Good, Thomas L.; Burross, Heidi Legg; McCaslin, Mary M.
2005-01-01
We report on comprehensive school reform (CSR) reform in 48 schools over 6 consecutive years. In 1998, a total of 24 schools received CSR awards to improve student achievement. Control schools were carefully matched on 26 demographic variables to form a comparison group. Students' average performance, as represented in publicly available school…
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Littlecott, Hannah J; Long, Sara; Hawkins, Jemma; Murphy, Simon; Hewitt, Gillian; Eccles, Gemma; Fletcher, Adam; Moore, Graham F
2018-01-01
Implementing health improvement is often perceived as diverting resource away from schools' core business, reflecting an assumption of a "zero-sum game" between health and education. There is some evidence that health behaviors may affect young people's educational outcomes. However, associations between implementation of school health improvement and educational outcomes remains underinvestigated. The study linked school-level data on free school meal (FSM) entitlement, educational outcomes, and school attendance, obtained from government websites, with data from the School Environment Questionnaire (SEQ) on health improvement activity collected in Wales (2015/2016). Spearman's rank correlation coefficients and linear regression models tested the extent of association between health improvement activity and attendance and educational outcomes. SEQ data were provided by 100/115 network schools (87%), of whom data on educational performance were obtained from 97. The percentage of pupils entitled to FSM predicted most of the between-school variance in achievement and attendance. Linear regression models demonstrated significant positive associations of all measures of health improvement activity with attainment at Key Stage (KS) 3, apart from mental health education in the curriculum and organizational commitment to health. Student and parent involvement in planning health activities were associated with improved school attendance. There were no significant associations between health improvement and KS4 attainment. Implementing health improvement activity does not have a detrimental effect on schools' educational performance. There is tentative evidence of the reverse, with better educational outcomes in schools with more extensive health improvement policies and practices. Further research should investigate processes by which this occurs and variations by socioeconomic status.
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Spaniol, Mayra Muller; Shalev, Lilach; Kossyvaki, Lila; Mevorach, Carmel
2018-02-01
This study assessed the effectiveness of an attention intervention program (Computerized Progressive Attentional Training; CPAT) in improving academic performance of children with ASD. Fifteen 6-10 year olds with ASD attending a mainstream and a special school were assigned to an experimental (CPAT; n = 8) and active control (computer games; n = 7) group. Children were assessed pre- and post-intervention on measures of behavioural symptoms, cognitive skills and academic performance. The intervention was conducted in school twice a week for 8 weeks. Children in the CPAT group showed cognitive and academic improvements over and above the active control group, while children in both groups showed improvements in behaviour. Results suggest that attention training is a feasible approach to improving academic performance in this population.
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Making Sense of School Turnarounds
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Hess, Frederick M.
2012-01-01
Today, in a sector flooded with $3.5 billion in School Improvement Grant funds and the resulting improvement plans, there's great faith that "turnaround" strategies are a promising way to tackle stubborn problems with persistently low-performing schools. Unlike traditional reform efforts, with their emphasis on incremental improvement, turnarounds…
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Football to Improve Math and Reading Performance
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Van Klaveren, Chris; De Witte, Kristof
2015-01-01
Schools frequently increase the instructional time to improve primary school children's math and reading skills. There is, however, little evidence that math and reading skills are effectively improved by these instruction-time increases. This study evaluates "Playing for Success" (PfS), an extended school day program for underachieving…
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The Business of Art Education: A Fairytale Adventure
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Buda, Sharon; Fedorenko, Jan; Sheridan, Mary A.
2012-01-01
School reform initiatives designed to improve school quality require strong leadership, strategic planning, data analysis, and systemized performance accountability. Utilizing school reforms includes rethinking curriculum and instruction to improve quality and promote equality, restructuring school operations with a focus on both the students and…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Steinberg, Matthew P.
2014-01-01
School districts throughout the United States are increasingly providing greater autonomy to local public (non-charter) school principals. In 2005-06, Chicago Public Schools initiated the Autonomous Management and Performance Schools program, granting academic, programmatic, and operational freedoms to select principals. This paper provides…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Berry, Michael A.
This report presents a case study of the renovation of Charles Young Elementary School in Washington, DC, focusing on how an improved school environment contributed to higher levels of educational performance. The school was chosen as a school revitalization demonstration project for the Urban Schools Initiative. The objective of the project was…
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Do Accountability and Voucher Threats Improve Low-Performing Schools? NBER Working Paper No. 11597
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Figlio, David N.; Rouse, Cecilia
2005-01-01
In this paper we study the effects of the threat of school vouchers and school stigma in Florida on the performance of "low-performing" schools using student-level data from a subset of districts. Estimates of the change in school-level high-stakes test scores from the first year of the reform are consistent with the early results used…
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Sørensen, Louise B; Dyssegaard, Camilla B; Damsgaard, Camilla T; Petersen, Rikke A; Dalskov, Stine-Mathilde; Hjorth, Mads F; Andersen, Rikke; Tetens, Inge; Ritz, Christian; Astrup, Arne; Lauritzen, Lotte; Michaelsen, Kim F; Egelund, Niels
2015-04-28
It is widely assumed that nutrition can improve school performance in children; however, evidence remains limited and inconclusive. In the present study, we investigated whether serving healthy school meals influenced concentration and school performance of 8- to 11-year-old Danish children. The OPUS (Optimal well-being, development and health for Danish children through a healthy New Nordic Diet) School Meal Study was a cluster-randomised, controlled, cross-over trial comparing a healthy school meal programme with the usual packed lunch from home (control) each for 3 months (NCT 01457794). The d2 test of attention, the Learning Rating Scale (LRS) and standard tests on reading and mathematics proficiency were administered at baseline and at the end of each study period. Intervention effects were evaluated using hierarchical mixed models. The school meal intervention did not influence concentration performance (CP; primary outcome, n 693) or processing speed; however, the decrease in error percentage was 0·18 points smaller (P<0·001) in the intervention period than in the control period (medians: baseline 2·03%; intervention 1·46%; control 1·37%). In contrast, the intervention increased reading speed (0·7 sentence, P=0·009) and the number of correct sentences (1·8 sentences, P<0·001), which corresponded to 11 and 25%, respectively, of the effect of one school year. The percentage of correct sentences also improved (P<0·001), indicating that the number correct improved relatively more than reading speed. There was no effect on overall math performance or outcomes from the LRS. In conclusion, school meals did not affect CP, but improved reading performance, which is a complex cognitive activity that involves inference, and increased errors related to impulsivity and inattention. These findings are worth examining in future trials.
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
McMahon, Kelly A.
2017-01-01
Federal school accountability policies like No Child Left Behind were based on a logic that measuring school performance and making the results public through tools like school report cards would incentivize educators to create strategies for improving school quality. Yet, most schools needed more than incentives to be able to design improvement…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Bole, Paul Thomas; Farizo, Kenneth Paul
2013-01-01
Many universities exist apart from their community's public schools. A New Orleans area public university took measures to facilitate collaborative partnerships with four public schools. Those schools were taken over and converted to charter schools by state officials for poor performance. The partnerships created simultaneous opportunities and…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Whitesell, Emilyn Ruble
2015-01-01
School accountability systems are a popular approach to improving education outcomes in the United States. These systems intend to "hold schools accountable" by assessing school performance on specific metrics, publishing accountability reports, and some combination of rewarding and sanctioning schools based on performance. Additionally,…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Baker, Constance M.
1994-01-01
Despite data suggesting a relationship between investment in children's health and improved academic performance, school health financing is inadequate, inequitable, and fragmented. Strategies for improving school health programs include leadership from the nursing profession; collaboration among health professionals; consolidation of funding…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Kakumbi, Zonic; Samuel, Elizabeth B.; Mulendema, Peter J.
2016-01-01
The purpose of this research was to investigate pupil background characteristics and academic performance in senior secondary schools in Kitwe district with a view of recommending on how to improve pupils' performance. The study was conducted in Kitwe district because in the past years pupils' performance in senior secondary schools has been…
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Baweja, Raman; Mattison, Richard E; Waxmonsky, James G
2015-12-01
Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) affects an estimated 5-7 % of schoolchildren worldwide. School functioning and academic achievement are frequently impaired by ADHD and represent one of the main reasons children start ADHD medication. Multiple potential causal pathways exist between ADHD and impaired school performance. In this review, we decompose school performance into three components and assess the impact of ADHD and its treatments on academic performance (assessed by grade point average [GPA], time on-task, percentage of work completed as well as percent completed correctly), academic skills (as measured by achievement tests and cognitive measures), and academic enablers (such as study skills, motivation, engagement, classroom behavior and interpersonal skills). Most studies examined only the short-term effects of medication on school performance. In these, ADHD medications have been observed to improve some aspects of school performance, with the largest impact on measures of academic performance such as seatwork productivity and on-task performance. In a subset of children, these benefits may translate into detectable improvements in GPA and achievement testing. However, limited data exists to support whether these changes are sustained over years. Optimizing medication effects requires periodic reassessment of school performance, necessitating a collaborative effort involving patients, parents, school staff and prescribers. Even with systematic reassessment, behavioral-based treatments and additional school-based services may be needed to maximize academic performance for the many youth with ADHD and prominent impairments in school performance.
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The Influence of Closing Poor Performing Primary Schools on the Educational Attainment of Students
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
De Witte, Kristof; Van Klaveren, Chris
2014-01-01
This paper examines whether the closure of poor performing primary schools improved students' educational attainment. It is believed that school closure affects children's educational outcomes positively because children switch to better primary schools. At the same time, school closure creates a social disturbance such that educational outcomes…
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School Choice Participation Rates: Which Districts Are Pressured?
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Ni, Yongmei; Arsen, David
2011-01-01
School choice policies are intended to provide students in poorly performing schools the option of transferring to a better school. The associated loss of funding to new competitors is expected, in turn, to benefit students who remain in their assigned schools by spurring improved performance among the educators in them. The prospects for such…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Jensen, Ben; Farmer, Joanna
2013-01-01
Public-school students in the world's largest city, Shanghai, China, are academically outperforming their counterparts across the globe and becoming the talk and envy of education experts worldwide. Using an innovative partnering approach that matches successful schools with low-performing schools, Shanghai has valuable lessons to teach on turning…
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The School Success Program: Improving Maltreated Children's Academic and School-Related Outcomes
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Mallett, Christopher A.
2012-01-01
Many victims of childhood maltreatment experience difficulties in school and with academic performance. This article reviews the evidence on the connection between childhood maltreatment and school performance and presents an evaluation of a unique program established by Children's Services in Lorain County, Ohio. Since 2001, the School Success…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Gipson, Frances Marie
2012-01-01
Federal, state, and local agencies face challenges organizing resources that create the conditions necessary to create, sustain, and replicate effective high performing schools. Knowing that leadership does impact achievement outcomes and that school districts tackle growing numbers of sanctioned Program Improvement schools, a distributed…
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Increasing Medicaid Revenue Generation for Services by School Psychologists
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Hybza, Megan M.; Stokes, Trevor F.; Hayman, Marilee; Schatzberg, Tracy
2013-01-01
We examined a performance improvement package with components of feedback, goal setting, and prompting to generate additional revenue by improving the consistency of Medicaid billing submitted by 74 school psychologists serving 102 schools. A multiple baseline design across three service areas of a county school system demonstrated the…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Nunnery, John A.; Ross, Steven M.; Chappell, Shanan; Pribesh, Shana; Hoag-Carhart, Elizabeth
2011-01-01
School leaders are increasingly being asked, whether by rhetoric or policy, to measurably improve student achievement. The resultant need to assist school leaders in their ability to improve teaching and learning for all students in their schools led to the establishment of the National Institute of School Leadership's (NISL's) Executive…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
McMurrer, Jennifer
2012-01-01
School Improvement Grants (SIGs) financed through the economic stimulus package are intended to spur dramatic change in persistently low-performing schools. Many state and local officials charged with implementing SIGs view the creation of a safe, orderly, collegial, and productive school climate as an essential step in raising student…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Ramirez, Heidi A.; Schofield, Lynne Steuerle; Black, Melissa
2009-01-01
The School District of Philadelphia (SDP), like many other urban school districts, struggles to increase its hiring and retention of experienced and highly qualified teachers in its low-performing/high-need schools. Toward the goal of improving teacher quality and the experience balance, particularly in hard-to-staff schools, the Philadelphia…
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Want to Improve Teaching? Create Collaborative, Supportive Schools
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Allensworth, Elaine
2012-01-01
Teachers tend to leave schools where they feel ineffective. At the same time, it's harder to be effective in schools with the lowest levels of student performance, schools that are most in need of effective teaching. There is a pressing need to improve the quality of instruction in urban schools to reduce long-standing inequities in educational…
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Integration of Social, Behavioral, and Academic Initiatives--Part 1
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Bohanon, Hank; Wu, Meng-Jia
2012-01-01
Many schools are working toward improving their overall social and behavioral climate. This endeavor is undertaken for its own sake, and in the anticipation that it will improve academic performance for students. There appear to be at least three predominant school-wide approaches to frame improving school climate: (1) positive behavior…
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The Special Commission on the Conditions of Teaching Report. Leading the Way.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Massachusetts State Legislature, Boston. Special Commission on REACH and School Improvement Councils.
To improve learning and the work lives of teachers, in 1985 Massachusetts enacted Chapter 188, the Public School Improvement Act, which establishes and implements a system for testing and evaluating school and student performance. Since Chapter 188 was implemented, Massachusetts schools have improved faster than the national rate. Proposals for…
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Making the Case for Sustainable K-12 School Environmental Health Programs
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Belle, Kara; Utebay, Kudret; McArthur, Ashley
2012-01-01
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) offers resources to help a school or school district improve the environmental health and energy performance of its facilities, and in many cases, apply the savings generated through improved energy efficiency toward facility improvements, for the betterment of students, faculty, and staff. As an…
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Middle School Concept Helps High-Poverty Schools Become High-Performing Schools
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Picucci, Ali Callicoatte; Brownson, Amanda; Kahlert, Rahel; Sobel, Andrew
2004-01-01
The results of a study conducted by the Charles A. Dana Center at the University of Texas at Austin for the U.S. Department of Education during the 2001-02 school year showed that elements of the middle school concept can lead to improved student performance, even in high-poverty schools. This article describes common elements of the middle school…
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Does Private School Competition Improve Public School Performance? The Case of Nepal
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Thapa, Amrit
2013-01-01
Using data from the survey of the Ministry of Education, Nepal-2005 for school leaving certificate (SLC) exam, this paper attempts to estimate the impact of private school competition on public school performance for the case of Nepal. The study uses the number of private schools in the neighborhood as a measure of competition. The identification…
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Promoting principals' managerial involvement in instructional improvement
Gillat, Alex; Sulzer-Azaroff, Beth
1994-01-01
Studies of school leadership suggest that visiting classrooms, emphasizing achievement and training, and supporting teachers are important indicators of the effectiveness of school principals. The utility of a behavior-analytic program to support the enhancement of these behaviors in 2 school principals and the impact of their involvement upon teachers' and students' performances in three classes were examined in two experiments, one at an elementary school and another at a secondary school. Treatment conditions consisted of helping the principal or teacher to schedule his or her time and to use goal setting, feedback, and praise. A withdrawal design (Experiment 1) and a multiple baseline across classrooms (Experiment 2) showed that the principal's and teacher's rates of praise, feedback, and goal setting increased during the intervention, and were associated with improvements in the academic performance of the students. In the future, school psychologists might analyze the impact of involving themselves in supporting the principal's involvement in improving students' and teachers' performances or in playing a similar leadership role themselves. PMID:16795819
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Promoting principals' managerial involvement in instructional improvement.
Gillat, A
1994-01-01
Studies of school leadership suggest that visiting classrooms, emphasizing achievement and training, and supporting teachers are important indicators of the effectiveness of school principals. The utility of a behavior-analytic program to support the enhancement of these behaviors in 2 school principals and the impact of their involvement upon teachers' and students' performances in three classes were examined in two experiments, one at an elementary school and another at a secondary school. Treatment conditions consisted of helping the principal or teacher to schedule his or her time and to use goal setting, feedback, and praise. A withdrawal design (Experiment 1) and a multiple baseline across classrooms (Experiment 2) showed that the principal's and teacher's rates of praise, feedback, and goal setting increased during the intervention, and were associated with improvements in the academic performance of the students. In the future, school psychologists might analyze the impact of involving themselves in supporting the principal's involvement in improving students' and teachers' performances or in playing a similar leadership role themselves.
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Lind, Rune Rasmussen; Geertsen, Svend Sparre; Ørntoft, Christina; Madsen, Mads; Larsen, Malte Nejst; Dvorak, Jiri; Ritz, Christian; Krustrup, Peter
2018-02-01
Recent studies have shown promising effects of physical activity on cognitive function, but there is a need to investigate this link in real-life settings such as schools. Hence, the objective of the present pilot study was to investigate whether the school-based physical activity programme "FIFA 11 for Health" for Europe could improve cognitive performance in preadolescent Danish children. The pilot study used an 11-week cluster-randomised intervention study design. School classes were randomly assigned to either a control group (CG) (n = 93 children, age = 11.8, s = 0.2 years), which performed the obligatory daily school-based physical activity (5 × 45 minutes per week); or an intervention group (IG) (n = 838 children, age = 11.9, s = 0.4 years), which substituted 2 × 45 minutes per week of the daily school physical activity with the "FIFA 11 for Health" for Europe programme. The programme combines small-sided football games, drills and health education. Cognitive performance was evaluated at baseline and follow-up. The IG improved their cognitive performance compared to the CG for psychomotor function (56, s x - = 22 ms, p < .001), attention (39, s x - = 17 ms, p = .012) and working memory (79, s x - = 35 ms, p = .020). This pilot study provides evidence that the school-based physical activity programme "FIFA 11 for Health" for Europe can improve cognitive performance in preadolescent Danish schoolchildren. Future studies should attempt to disentangle the effects of "FIFA 11 for Health" for Europe on cognitive performance by investigating the characteristics of the programme's physical activity.
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Tennessee State Board of Education, Nashville.
This report establishes the performance goals for Tennessee school systems, established in accordance with the Education Improvement Act (EIA) of 1992, and describes the initiatives undertaken to assist school systems in achieving the goals. It also summarizes the results from various measures of student, teacher, and school performance.…
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Dudovitz, Rebecca N; Izadpanah, Nilufar; Chung, Paul J.; Slusser, Wendelin
2015-01-01
Objectives Up to 20% of school-age children have a vision problem identifiable by screening, over 80% of which can be corrected with glasses. While vision problems are associated with poor school performance, few studies describe whether and how corrective lenses affect academic achievement and health. Further, there are virtually no studies exploring how children with correctable visual deficits, their parents, and teachers perceive the connection between vision care and school function. Methods We conducted a qualitative evaluation of Vision to Learn (VTL), a school-based program providing free corrective lenses to low-income students in Los Angeles. Nine focus groups with students, parents, and teachers from three schools served by VTL explored the relationships between poor vision, receipt of corrective lenses, and school performance and health. Results Twenty parents, 25 teachers, and 21 students from three elementary schools participated. Participants described how uncorrected visual deficits reduced students’ focus, perseverance, and class participation, affecting academic functioning and psychosocial stress; how receiving corrective lenses improved classroom attention, task persistence, and willingness to practice academic skills; and how serving students in school rather than in clinics increased both access to and use of corrective lenses. Conclusions for Practice Corrective lenses may positively impact families, teachers, and students coping with visual deficits by improving school function and psychosocial wellbeing. Practices that increase ownership and use of glasses, such as serving students in school, may significantly improve both child health and academic performance. PMID:26649878
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Dudovitz, Rebecca N; Izadpanah, Nilufar; Chung, Paul J; Slusser, Wendelin
2016-05-01
Up to 20 % of school-age children have a vision problem identifiable by screening, over 80 % of which can be corrected with glasses. While vision problems are associated with poor school performance, few studies describe whether and how corrective lenses affect academic achievement and health. Further, there are virtually no studies exploring how children with correctable visual deficits, their parents, and teachers perceive the connection between vision care and school function. We conducted a qualitative evaluation of Vision to Learn (VTL), a school-based program providing free corrective lenses to low-income students in Los Angeles. Nine focus groups with students, parents, and teachers from three schools served by VTL explored the relationships between poor vision, receipt of corrective lenses, and school performance and health. Twenty parents, 25 teachers, and 21 students from three elementary schools participated. Participants described how uncorrected visual deficits reduced students' focus, perseverance, and class participation, affecting academic functioning and psychosocial stress; how receiving corrective lenses improved classroom attention, task persistence, and willingness to practice academic skills; and how serving students in school rather than in clinics increased both access to and use of corrective lenses. for Practice Corrective lenses may positively impact families, teachers, and students coping with visual deficits by improving school function and psychosocial wellbeing. Practices that increase ownership and use of glasses, such as serving students in school, may significantly improve both child health and academic performance.
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Children's school performance: impact of general and oral health.
Blumenshine, Stephanie L; Vann, William F; Gizlice, Ziya; Lee, Jessica Y
2008-01-01
The purpose of this study was to examine: a) the sociodemographic and health factors associated with poor school performance among North Carolina children; and b) the impact of poor oral health status on school performance while controlling for other health and sociodemographic factors. We used data from the 2005 Child Health Assessment and Monitoring Program, a follow-back telephone survey to the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System involving parents/guardians of children 0 to 17. This project includes sections on oral health and school performance. Our principal outcome variable was school performance and our major explanatory variable was children's oral health status, based upon parental report. Our sample consisted of 2,871 school children, weighted to reflect the North Carolina census. Bivariate analysis revealed that sex, race, parental education, low socioeconomic status, poor general health, poor oral health, and the interaction of poor oral health and general health were significantly related to school performance (P < 0.05). Logistic regression analysis demonstrates the effects of poor oral health and general health on school performance. Children with both poor oral health and general health were 2.3 times more likely to report poor school performance. Children with either poor oral health or general health were only 1.4 times more likely to report poor school performance. Our results show that children who have both poor oral health and general health are more likely to have poor school performance. Our findings suggest that the improvement of children's oral health may be a vehicle to improve their educational experience.
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Strategic Involuntary Teacher Transfers and Teacher Performance: Examining Equity and Efficiency
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Grissom, Jason A.; Loeb, Susanna; Nakashima, Nathaniel A.
2014-01-01
Despite claims that school districts need flexibility in teacher assignment to allocate teachers more equitably across schools and improve district performance, the power to involuntarily transfer teachers across schools remains hotly contested. Little research has examined involuntary teacher transfer policies or their effects on schools,…
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Performance-Driven Budgeting: The Example of New York City's Schools. ERIC Digest.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Siegel, Dorothy
This digest examines a completed pilot program in performance-driven budgeting (PDB) in the New York City public-school system. PDB links school-level budgeting and school planning; that is, decisions about resources must be aligned with school-developed instructional-improvement plans. The digest highlights how PDB came about; its primary goal;…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Hurlburt, Steven; Therriault, Susan Bowles; Le Floch, Kerstin Carlson
2012-01-01
The School Improvement Grants (SIG) program was first authorized in 2001 under Title I section 1003(g) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) and provides formula-based federal funds to states that then competitively award these funds to districts applying for SIG on behalf of their low-performing schools. These schools use the funds…
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A Case Study of Essential Components of School Success in a Turnaround School
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Cronin, Jodi Lynn
2016-01-01
School reform and turnaround efforts have been in the public eye since the signing of the Elementary and Secondary Act (ESEA) into law by President Lyndon Baines Johnson in 1965. Research has been focused on the School Improvement Grant, as well as the essential components that improve performance of schools. This qualitative case examines one…
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Making Good Choices: Districts Take the Lead. Comprehensive School Reform.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
North Central Regional Educational Lab., Oak Brook, IL.
Public schools across the country are aiming to improve student performance by engaging in comprehensive school reform (CSR). This guide was created to help school districts make CSR an integral part of their strategies for improving student achievement. Five components for CSR are described: (1) Strategizing, whereby the district supports CSR by…
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Schools with Federal Improvement Grants Face Challenges in Replacing Principals and Teachers
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
McMurrer, Jennifer
2012-01-01
Several hundred of the nation's lowest-performing schools have recently undergone major changes in leadership and teaching staff to comply with federal requirements for using school improvement grants (SIGs) financed by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). In particular, schools that receive stimulus-funded SIG awards must…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Sun, Min; Penner, Emily K.; Loeb, Susanna
2017-01-01
Hoping to spur dramatic school turnaround, the federal government channeled resources to the country's lowest-performing schools through School Improvement Grants (SIG). However, prior research on SIG effectiveness is limited and focuses primarily on student achievement. This study uses a difference-in-differences strategy to estimate program…
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Interdistrict Magnet High School Students' Perceived Social Support: An Exploratory Investigation
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
LaRocco, Diana J.; Fitzgerald, Jessica
2010-01-01
Magnet high school attendance seems to lead to improved academic performance (Cobb, Bifulco, & Bell, 2009; U.S. Department of Education, 2008; Yu & Taylor, 1997). Likewise, perceived social support has been linked with positive outcomes for adolescents, including improved academic performance (Rosenfeld, Richman, & Bowen, 2000; Demaray & Malecki,…
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Improving low-performing high schools: searching for evidence of promise.
Fleischman, Steve; Heppen, Jessica
2009-01-01
Noting that many of the nation's high schools are beset with major problems, such as low student reading and math achievement, high dropout rates, and an inadequate supply of effective teachers, Steve Fleischman and Jessica Heppen survey a range of strategies that educators have used to improve low-performing high schools. The authors begin by showing how the standards-based school reform movement, together with the No Child Left Behind Act requirement that underperforming schools adopt reforms supported by scientifically based research, spurred policy makers, educators, and researchers to create and implement a variety of approaches to attain improvement. Fleischman and Heppen then review a number of widely adopted reform models that aim to change "business as usual" in low-performing high schools. The models include comprehensive school reform programs, dual enrollment and early college high schools, smaller learning communities, specialty (for example, career) academies, charter high schools, and education management organizations. In practice, say the authors, many of these improvement efforts overlap, defying neat distinctions. Often, reforms are combined to reinforce one another. The authors explain the theories that drive the reforms, review evidence of their reforms' effectiveness to date, and suggest what it will take to make them work well. Although the reforms are promising, the authors say, few as yet have solid evidence of systematic or sustained success. In concluding, Fleischman and Heppen emphasize that the reasons for a high school's poor performance are so complex that no one reform model or approach, no matter how powerful, can turn around low-performing schools. They also stress the need for educators to implement each reform program with fidelity to its requirements and to support it for the time required for success. Looking to the future, the authors suggest steps that decision makers, researchers, and sponsors of research can take to promote evidence-based progress in education.
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A Case Study of High School Teachers' Technology Use through Social Studies Data Teams
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Wilson-Cortez, Lauretta
2013-01-01
Many schools placed under Program Improvement because they have not met the AYP requirements of the NCLB mandate are required to build in time during the school day for teachers' professional collaboration to improve their performance in the classrooms. A lack of research exists to explore how professional collaboration improves teaching and…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Anca, Monica-Iuliana; Bocos, Musata
2017-01-01
The experimental research performed by us with the purpose of exploring the possibilities of development of strategic learning competences and improvement of school performance of 11th grade students, pedagogical profile, specialisation in primary school-kindergarten teacher, falls in the category of researches aiming to make efficient certain…
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López, Verónica; Oyanedel, Juan C.; Bilbao, Marian; Torres, Javier; Oyarzún, Denise; Morales, Macarena; Ascorra, Paula; Carrasco, Claudia
2017-01-01
School achievement gaps and school failure are problematic issues in Latin America, and are mainly explained by the socio-economic status (SES) of the students. What schools can do to improve school achievement and reduce school failure is a critical issue, both for school management and teacher training. In this study, we present the association of individual and school-related socio-emotional variables with school achievement and performance, controlling for the effects of SES. A probabilistic sample of 4,964 students, drawn from 191 schools enrolled in year 10 in urban areas of Chile, answered questionnaires assessing subjective wellbeing, social wellbeing in school, school climate, school social wellbeing and students’ perceptions of teachers’ wellbeing. Using structural equation modeling, and controlling for SES, we modeled subjective wellbeing as a mediator of the relationship between school-related variables, such as school climate and perception of teacher’s wellbeing, and (a) school achievement, and (b) school performance. School achievement was computed as a product of (a) the probability of passing the school year, and (b) the percentage of yearly attendance at school. Data on school achievement was drawn from administrative registries from the Chilean Ministry of Education. School performance was computed as the estimated grade point average (GPA) at the end of the school year, based on the students’ previous 5-year GPAs, and was also obtained through administrative data of the last 5 years. Findings reveal the mediating role of subjective wellbeing in the relationship between school-related evaluations (students’ social wellbeing at school, their perception of teachers’ wellbeing and school climate) and school achievement. For school achievement, two variables were mediated (students’ social wellbeing at school and school climate). However, for school performance, no significant mediations were found. We conclude that, on the one hand, after controlling for SES, students’ individual subjective wellbeing is associated with their achievement and performance in school. We discuss the importance of improving school experiences that may protect and promote students’ subjective experience and school achievement and performance, and reduce the probability of school failure and dropout. PMID:28769838
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López, Verónica; Oyanedel, Juan C; Bilbao, Marian; Torres, Javier; Oyarzún, Denise; Morales, Macarena; Ascorra, Paula; Carrasco, Claudia
2017-01-01
School achievement gaps and school failure are problematic issues in Latin America, and are mainly explained by the socio-economic status (SES) of the students. What schools can do to improve school achievement and reduce school failure is a critical issue, both for school management and teacher training. In this study, we present the association of individual and school-related socio-emotional variables with school achievement and performance, controlling for the effects of SES. A probabilistic sample of 4,964 students, drawn from 191 schools enrolled in year 10 in urban areas of Chile, answered questionnaires assessing subjective wellbeing, social wellbeing in school, school climate, school social wellbeing and students' perceptions of teachers' wellbeing. Using structural equation modeling, and controlling for SES, we modeled subjective wellbeing as a mediator of the relationship between school-related variables, such as school climate and perception of teacher's wellbeing, and (a) school achievement, and (b) school performance. School achievement was computed as a product of (a) the probability of passing the school year, and (b) the percentage of yearly attendance at school. Data on school achievement was drawn from administrative registries from the Chilean Ministry of Education. School performance was computed as the estimated grade point average (GPA) at the end of the school year, based on the students' previous 5-year GPAs, and was also obtained through administrative data of the last 5 years. Findings reveal the mediating role of subjective wellbeing in the relationship between school-related evaluations (students' social wellbeing at school, their perception of teachers' wellbeing and school climate) and school achievement. For school achievement, two variables were mediated (students' social wellbeing at school and school climate). However, for school performance, no significant mediations were found. We conclude that, on the one hand, after controlling for SES, students' individual subjective wellbeing is associated with their achievement and performance in school. We discuss the importance of improving school experiences that may protect and promote students' subjective experience and school achievement and performance, and reduce the probability of school failure and dropout.
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Self-Reflection and Math Performance in an Online Learning Environment
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Choi, Jinnie; Walters, Alyssa; Hoge, Pat
2017-01-01
According to recent reports, K-12 full-time virtual school students have shown lower performance in math than their counterparts in brick-and-mortar schools. However, research is lacking in what kind of programmatic interventions virtual schools might be particularly well-suited to provide to improve math performance. Engaging students in…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Magzamen, Sheryl; Mayer, Adam P.; Barr, Stephanie; Bohren, Lenora; Dunbar, Brian; Manning, Dale; Reynolds, Stephen J.; Schaeffer, Joshua W.; Suter, Jordan; Cross, Jennifer E.
2017-01-01
Background: Sustainable school buildings hold much promise to reducing operating costs, improve occupant well-being and, ultimately, teacher and student performance. However, there is a scarcity of evidence on the effects of sustainable school buildings on health and performance indicators. We sought to create a framework for a multidisciplinary…
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Organize Your School for Improvement
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Truby, William F.
2017-01-01
W. Edwards Deming has suggested 96% of organization performance is a function of the organization's structure. He contends only about 4% of an organization's performance is attributable to the people. This is a fundamental difference as most school leaders work with the basic assumption that 80% of a school's performance is related to staff and…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Weinstein, José; Azar, Ariel; Flessa, Joseph
2018-01-01
Latin American educational policy has relied on the assumption that better preparation can help school leaders improve their professional performance, thus improving quality of schools. Training programs for present or future school leaders have proliferated in the region, often publicly financed, but without enough evidence of their impact. Using…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Voight, Adam; Hanson, Thomas
2017-01-01
A growing number of educators concur that, in order to improve student academic performance, schools need to focus not only on students' academic needs but also on their social, emotional, and material needs (Piscatelli & Lee, 2011). As a result, school climate--the social, emotional, and physical characteristics of a school community (Cohen,…
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Evaluating the Performance of Philadelphia's Charter Schools. Working Paper WR-550-WPF
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Zimmer, Ron; Blanc, Suzanne; Gill, Brian; Christman, Jolley
2008-01-01
Plagued by long-term poor student outcomes, a number of reforms have been implemented within the Philadelphia School District to improve performance, including the use of charter schools. The number of charter schools in Philadelphia has risen from four to more than 60 over the past decade, and these schools now serve over 30,000 students. Debate…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Karsten, Sjoerd; Visscher, Adrie; De Jong, Tim
2001-01-01
Publication of school rankings based on raw data for various performance indicators was found to influence school choice and mobility strategies for elite and middle-class parents in England and France. Rather than promoting school improvement, publication led to unintended school coping strategies, such as marketing activities, student exclusion…
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Case Study: Wallace-Rose Hill High School, Teachey, N.C.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Southern Regional Education Board, Atlanta, GA.
In 1992, school leaders and teachers at Wallace-Rose High School in Teachey, North Carolina, began a multi-year whole-school improvement initiative that included the following actions: (1) identify low-performing students; (2) develop a team of faculty and administrators to work with low-performing students; (3) reduce class size for…
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Accountability for What Matters
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Rothman, Robert
2016-01-01
For more than a decade, states have evaluated school performance largely through a single measure--test scores--and rated schools on whether they improved students' performance in reading or math. The idea was to focus schools' attention on the outcomes that mattered most and to focus states' attention on the schools that needed the most help in…
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Putting the Pieces Together: Leadership for Change in Low-Performing Urban Schools
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Orr, Margaret Terry; Berg, Barbara; Shore, Rima; Meier, Ellen
2008-01-01
This article presents a collaborative inquiry analysis of the school improvement experiences of four persistently low-performing schools. It draws on the experiences of three members of the Laboratory for the Design and Redesign of Schools (LDRS) consortium who helped during their planning for restructuring or restructuring phases and one regional…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Kern, Ben D.; Graber, Kim C.; Shen, Sa; Hillman, Charles H.; McLoughlin, Gabriella
2018-01-01
Background: Socioeconomic status (SES) is the most accurate predictor of academic performance in US schools. Third-grade reading is highly predictive of high school graduation. Chronic physical activity (PA) is shown to improve cognition and academic performance. We hypothesized that school-based PA opportunities (recess and physical education)…
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What Are Achievement Gains Worth--to Teachers?
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Marsh, Julie A.; McCaffrey, Daniel F.
2011-01-01
In 2007, New York City schools commenced a school-level pay-for-performance program for teachers and staff in about 200 schools. The authors found that the program didn't improve schools or student outcomes. Why? Because the program failed to create conditions that theory suggests are necessary for performance-based incentive programs to change…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Mintrop, Heinrich; Trujillo, Tina
2007-01-01
In search for the practical relevance of accountability systems for school improvement, we ask whether practitioners traveling between the worlds of system-designated high and low-performing schools would detect tangible differences by observing concrete behaviors, looking at student work, or inquiring about teacher, administrator, or student…
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Snapshot of SIG: A Look at Four States' Approaches to School Turnaround
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Quillin, Jessica
2012-01-01
Thousands of schools across the country are chronically low performing, and they operate within districts and states that are struggling to help them improve. The School Improvement Grants (SIG) program is designed to channel federal funds to states and districts facing the task of turning around struggling schools. SIG, a part of the Elementary…
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Improvement of Oncology Education at the University of Washington School of Medicine, 1984-1988.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Bleyer, W. Archie; And Others
1990-01-01
After development and implementation of a revised oncology curriculum at the University of Washington School of Medicine student performance on oncology related questions on the National Board of Medical Examiners examination indicated substantial improvement relative to student performance in non-oncology areas and to the national average. (DB)
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Does Repeating a Year Improve Performance? The Case of Teaching English
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Morrison, Keith; No, Anna Ieong On
2007-01-01
This paper examines whether having school students repeat a year improves their performance, focusing on learning English as a foreign language. It takes students' English examination results from five years from a Chinese-medium school, together with data on their learning styles and learning strategies. Drawing on local cultural and pedagogic…
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Faculty Groups: From Frustration to Collaboration
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Wheelan, Susan A.
2004-01-01
To develop high-performance teams and improve student learning and achievement educators are making changes in the way they interact with colleagues. Educators are participating in various school teams-grade level teams, vertical teams, school leadership teams, study groups, and school improvement teams. This book translates what social scientists…
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Gifford, Elizabeth J; Sloan, Frank A; Eldred, Lindsey M; Evans, Kelly E
2015-09-01
This study examined the intergenerational effects of parental conviction of a substance-related charge on children's academic performance and, conditional on a conviction, whether completion of an adult drug treatment court (DTC) program was associated with improved school performance. State administrative data from North Carolina courts, birth records, and school records were linked for 2005-2012. Math and reading end-of-grade test scores and absenteeism were examined for 5 groups of children, those with parents who: were not convicted on any criminal charge, were convicted on a substance-related charge and not referred by a court to a DTC, were referred to a DTC but did not enroll, enrolled in a DTC but did not complete, and completed a DTC program. Accounting for demographic and socioeconomic factors, the school performance of children whose parents were convicted of a substance-related offense was worse than that of children whose parents were not convicted on any charge. These differences were statistically significant but substantially reduced after controlling for socioeconomic characteristics; for example, mother's educational attainment. We found no evidence that parent participation in an adult DTC program led to improved school performance of their children. While the children of convicted parents fared worse on average, much--but not all--of this difference was attributed to socioeconomic factors, with the result that parental conviction remained a risk factor for poorer school performance. Even though adult DTCs have been shown to have other benefits, we could detect no intergenerational benefit in improved school performance of their children. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).
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Transforming and Turning around Low-Performing Schools: The Role of Online Learning
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Corry, Michael; Carlson-Bancroft, Angela
2014-01-01
This review of the literature examines online learning as a core strategy for bold, dramatic curricular reform within transformational or turnaround models in improving low-performing K-12 schools. The analysis of the literature in this area found benefits of online learning in transforming and turning around low-performing schools to include: (a)…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Connors-Tadros, Lori; Dunn, Lenay; Martella, Jana; McCauley, Carlas
2015-01-01
A significant body of research shows that achievement gaps evident in persistently low-performing schools, in many instances, manifest prior to children entering kindergarten. High-quality early learning programs have proven to demonstrate positive effects on closing academic gaps both for individual children and in the aggregate for the school.…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Scott, George A.
2012-01-01
The School Improvement Grant (SIG) program funds reforms in low performing schools. Congress provided $3.5 billion for SIG in fiscal year 2009, and a total of about $1.6 billion was appropriated in fiscal years 2010-2012. SIG requirements changed significantly in 2010. Many schools receiving SIG funds must now use the funding for specific…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Daniel, Vivian Summerour
2011-01-01
The purpose of this within-group experimental study was to find out to what extent ninth-grade students improved their science performance beyond their middle school science performance at one Georgia high school utilizing a freshman academy model. Freshman academies have been recognized as a useful tool for increasing academic performance among…
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Investigating the Role of Human Resources in School Turnaround: Evidence from Two States
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Hansen, Michael
2012-01-01
Teachers are generally recognized as the schooling factor accounting for the highest proportion of student learning outcomes (Aaronson et al., 2007; Hanushek, 1986). This implies the quick and dramatic improvement in school performance observed in turnaround (TA) schools was associated with a major change in the performance of its teachers. This…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
MGT of America, Inc., Tallahassee, FL.
This report presents results of a performance review undertaken to develop recommendations for improving the effectiveness of the Windham School System (WSS) and educational programs in the four privately operated prison units in Texas. (WSS provides educational programs for inmates who do not possess a high school diploma.) Chapter 1 is an…
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Factors that Facilitated an Alabama School Assistance Team's Success in a Low-Performing School
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Roy, Virginia; Kochan, Frances
2012-01-01
This study investigated the perceived factors that enabled an Alabama School Assistance Team (ASAT) to be effective in helping improve a low performing school. A case study was conducted with the ASATs and the Local Education Agency (LEA) site they served. Data were collected from interviews, documents and observations. The perceptions explored in…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Ooms, Alexander
2012-01-01
In conjunction with the Denver Plan instituted in 2005, Denver Public Schools (DPS) has embarked upon a consistent strategy of opening new schools in an effort to improve overall academic performance. DPS has pursued this strategy under several different paths: an annual request for proposals from charter school applicants; allowing current…
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Measuring School Performance To Improve Student Achievement and To Reward Effective Programs.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Heistad, Dave; Spicuzza, Rick
This paper describes the method that the Minneapolis Public School system (MPS), Minnesota, uses to measure school and student performance. MPS uses a multifaceted system that both captures and accounts for the complexity of a large urban school district. The system incorporates: (1) a hybrid model of critical indicators that report on level of…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Allen, Rebecca
2013-01-01
Apparently sophisticated school performance measures have been used to claim that giving schools autonomy from local government control improves pupil exam performance. This paper explores the extent to which inferring causality between autonomy and pupil achievement is reasonable given that pupils are not randomly assigned to schools and schools…
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Graduation Coaching in High-Need Urban, High Schools
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Lacefield, Warren E.; Zeller, Pamela J.; Van Kannel-Ray, Nancy
2010-01-01
This study documents the impact of placing graduation coaches as a GEAR UP intervention in urban high schools. The overall goal was improvement of students' academic performance, particularly for students not passing core courses. This longitudinal study began with data collection in feeder middle schools where results indicated improved student…
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The Progress of Education Reform. Volume 11, Number 1
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Education Commission of the States (NJ3), 2010
2010-01-01
States, districts and schools are now being offered unprecedented opportunities to develop programs that will improve student performance and turn around underperforming schools. An understanding of how reducing chronic early absence helps those efforts will go a long way to assure that innovative school improvement policies and practices will be…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Deke, John; Dragoset, Lisa
2015-01-01
Does receipt of School Improvement Grants (SIG) funding to implement a school intervention model have an impact on outcomes for low-performing schools? This study answers this question using a regression discontinuity design (RDD) that exploits cutoff values on the continuous variables used to define SIG eligibility tiers, comparing outcomes in…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Boström, Lena; Dalin, Rolf
2016-01-01
This research examined teachers' attitudes in a school development project, The best regional educational system in the world which focuses on regional development and school improvement. The project was performed in counties in Mid Sweden, which have a lower educational level and school achievements and a competence escape compare with other…
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Going Tactical Rather than Strategic: An Intervention That Helped Schools Pass the Grade
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Ramesh, G.; Sucharita, V.
2016-01-01
This article analyses a tactical intervention aimed at improving the academic performance of students that brought about more than the intended positive changes in the target schools through contiguous effect. The intervention was primarily focused on student performance in examinations and was externally driven but led to many improvements in the…
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Going Green: Eco-Friendly Schools
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Whelan, Debra Lau
2007-01-01
A growing number of studies show that a school's physical condition--especially its lighting and indoor air quality--directly affect student performance. A 2005 Turner Construction survey of green buildings found that 70 percent of districts with sustainable schools reported improved student performance. It also makes perfect sense that…
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Energy Supplement. Supplement to School Planning and Management.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Schoff, Larry
2001-01-01
Presents the following articles on energy efficiency and American public schools: "High Performance Schools Reduce Costs and Improve Student and Staff Environment" (Larry Schoff); "ASHRAE's Standard 90.1: Educating the Engineer" (Mack and Melanie Wallace"; and "Performance Contracting: Meeting the Challenge of Deferred Maintenance in America's…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Scott, George A.
2011-01-01
The School Improvement Grants (SIG) program, which was created in 2002, funds reforms in the country's lowest-performing schools with the goal of improving student outcomes, such as standardized test scores and graduation rates. Congress greatly increased SIG program funding from $125 million available in fiscal year 2007--the first year the…
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Thompson, Brennan J; Stock, Matt S; Mota, Jacob A; Drusch, Alexander S; DeFranco, Ryan N; Cook, Tyler R; Hamm, Matthew A
2017-10-01
High-intensity strength and conditioning programs aimed at improving youth performance are becoming increasingly prevalent. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of a 16-week after-school strength and conditioning program on performance and body composition in middle-school-aged boys. Subjects in the training group (n = 16, mean age = 11.8 years) performed 90 minutes of supervised plyometric and resistance training twice weekly for 16 weeks. A group of control subjects (n = 9, age = 12.1 years) maintained their current activity levels. Sprint speed, 5-10-5 proagility, jump height, isometric peak torque of the leg extensors and flexors, and dual energy x-ray absorptiometry-derived body composition were examined during pretesting and posttesting. Data were analyzed by performing independent samples t-tests on the absolute change scores between groups. The primary findings were that the training intervention elicited significant improvements in 20-m sprint times (p = 0.03; mean change for training group = -0.17 seconds) and body-fat percentage (p = 0.03; 2.5% absolute improvement), the latter of which was a function of reduced fat mass (p = 0.06; -0.84 kg). Between-group differences were not noted for agility, jump height, lean mass, or strength measures; however, effect sizes generally showed greater improvements for the training group. In contrast to findings in longitudinal studies performed in collegiate athletes, sprint speed may be particularly adaptable during adolescence. In addition to potentially improving sport performance, high-intensity plyometric and resistance training programs offer the added benefit of improved body composition. These programs appear less effective for agility and jump performance and do not elicit substantial improvements in muscle mass above maturation.
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Channell, Brian T; Barfield, J P
2008-09-01
The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of a ballistic resistance training program of Olympic lifts with those of a traditional resistance training program of power lifts on vertical jump improvement in male high school athletes. Twenty-seven male student athletes were recruited from a high school football program at a small, rural school in the Southeast. The subjects were divided into an Olympic training group (OT, n = 11), a power training group (PT, n = 10), and a control group (n = 6). Analysis of variance was used to determine whether a significant mean difference existed among groups on vertical jump improvement after 8 weeks of group-specific training. Effect size of vertical jump improvement between groups, and correlations between strength and vertical jump performance, were also examined. There was no significant mean difference (p >or= 0.05) among OT, PT, and control groups, but large effect sizes between OT and control (d = 1.06) and PT and control (d = 0.94) demonstrate that both OT and PT are effective in improving vertical jump performance in male high school athletes. Moderate to high correlations were noted between squat score and vertical jump after adjusting for body weight (r = 0.42) and between power clean and vertical jump after adjusting for body weight (r = 0.75). Findings from the current study indicate that Olympic lifts as well as power lifts provide improvement in vertical jump performance and that Olympic lifts may provide a modest advantage over power lifts for vertical jump improvement in high school athletes.
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Substance Use and Academic Performance among African American High School Students
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Williams, James Herbert; Davis, Larry E.; Johnson, Sharon D.; Williams, Trina R.; Saunders, Jeanne A.; Nebbitt, Von E.
2007-01-01
Academic performance among African American students continues to be a concern. Adolescent developmental research has identified numerous factors that affect academic performance. School-based intervention programs have focused on substance use prevention to improve academic performance. This study investigated to what extent family financial…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Acker-Hocevar, Michele A.; Cruz-Janzen, Marta I.; Wilson, Cynthia L.
2012-01-01
This book chronicles the journey of seven schools serving students of poverty, English Language Learners (ELLs), and students of color, which were able to sustain school improvement for a decade on either state and/or national criteria that measure student performance outcomes. The book shares stories of these seven schools and demonstrates that…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
de la Torre, Marisa; Allensworth, Elaine; Jagesic, Sanja; Sebastian, James; Salmonowicz, Michael; Meyers, Coby; Gerdeman, R. Dean
2012-01-01
"Turning around" chronically low-performing schools is of increasing interest to educators and policymakers, as highlighted by the U.S. Department of Education's (2010) recent call to rapidly improve the nation's 5,000 lowest performing schools. Yet there is little rigorous research on changes in student populations and teacher workforce…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Marsh, Julie A.; Springer, Matthew G.; McCaffrey, Daniel F.; Yuan, Kun; Epstein, Scott; Koppich, Julia; Kalra, Nidhi; DiMartino, Catherine; Peng, Art
2011-01-01
In the 2007-2008 school year, the New York City Department of Education and the United Federation of Teachers jointly implemented the Schoolwide Performance Bonus Program in a random sample of the city's high-needs public schools. The program lasted for three school years, and its broad objective was to improve student performance through…
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Finding Root Causes Effectively a Powerful Way to Improve Schools
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Hegedus, Andrew S.
2010-01-01
Most School Improvement Plans (SIPs) in education do not guide staff efforts to tackle the root causes that prevent significant performance improvement. It is unlikely student achievement will improve should these root causes remain. As a result, NCLB mandated consequences will eventually be imposed. These consequences increase pressure to address…
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Marketing Education and the Promise of Charter Schools
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Abdalla, Mohamed
2017-01-01
The debate on charter schools is attributed to doubts that such schools are improving the performance of their students. While proponents of charter schools praise their flexibility and creativity, opponents of charter schools posited that charter schools increased segregation, and skimmed the cream of the crop from traditional schools (Miron,…
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Daylighting in Schools: Improving Student Performance and Health at a Price Schools Can Afford.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Plympton, Patricia; Conway, Susan; Epstein, Kyra
This document discusses evidence regarding daylighting and student performance and development, and presents four case studies of schools that have cost effectively implemented daylighting into their buildings. Case studies reveal that design and construction strategies that incorporate daylighting do not significantly increase costs over…
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Evidence Based Education Request Desk. EBE #555
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Regional Educational Laboratory Southeast, 2009
2009-01-01
This Evidence Based Education (EBE) Request seeks to provide an overview of recent research regarding school improvement and reform with special concentration on turning around chronically low-performing schools. The response is divided into four main sections: Research on Effective Methods for Turning Around Low-Performing Schools, Frameworks for…
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Managing School Districts for High Performance: Cases in Public Education Leadership
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Childress, Stacey, Ed.; Elmore, Richard F., Ed.; Grossman, Allen, Ed.; Johnson, Susan Moore, Ed.
2007-01-01
"Managing School Districts for High Performance" brings together more than twenty case studies and other readings that offer a powerful and transformative approach to advancing and sustaining the work of school improvement. At the center of this work is the concept of organizational coherence: aligning organizational design, human…
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School Gardens Enhance Academic Performance and Dietary Outcomes in Children
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Berezowitz, Claire K.; Bontrager Yoder, Andrea B.; Schoeller, Dale A.
2015-01-01
Background: Schools face increasing demands to provide education on healthy living and improve core academic performance. Although these appear to be competing concerns, they may interact beneficially. This article focuses on school garden programs and their effects on students' academic and dietary outcomes. Methods: Database searches in CABI,…
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Contracting out Public Schools and Academic Performance: Evidence from Colombia
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Bonilla-Angel, Juan D.
2011-01-01
Contracting out public schools to private institutions is an instrument for reforming public education as it may facilitate academic innovation and improve student academic performance through higher school accountability and autonomy. The degree of autonomy that different providers have may vary substantially depending on the contractual and…
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Quality in Education in the Calcasieu Parish School System: Experiences of Administrators
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Quebodeaux, Pamela Stacey
2010-01-01
The Malcolm Baldrige Education Criteria for Performance Excellence outline effective practices and core values that have assisted businesses, health agencies, government institutions, and several school systems in the United States to improve performance within their organizations. Recent studies of school districts from across the nation have…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Calkins, Andrew; Guenther, William; Belfiore, Grace; Lash, Dave
2007-01-01
The goal of this study was to produce recommendations for states and school districts seeking a flexible, systematic approach to swift and significant transformation in schools (particularly high schools) deemed chronically under-performing under No Child Left Behind or state accountability systems. This research leads the authors to believe that…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Candal, Cara Stillings
2016-01-01
Recent studies continue to shine light on high-performing charter schools. While Boston-area charter schools--a concentrated group of high-performers--garner more attention than others, many excellent schools outside of Boston have been quietly chipping away at the achievement gap between advantaged and disadvantaged students. One of these schools…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Ornstein, Sheila Walbe; Moreira, Nanci Saraiva; Ono, Rosaria; Limongi Franca, Ana J. G.; Nogueira, Roselene A. M. F.
2009-01-01
Purpose: The paper describes the purpose of and strategies for conducting post-occupancy evaluations (POEs) as a method for assessing school building performance. Set within the larger context of global efforts to develop and apply common indicators of school building quality, the authors describe research conducted within the newest generation of…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Hilliard, Ann T.; Newsome, Sandra S.
2013-01-01
There are many demands on schools today to perform at a high level with competence that improves teaching and learning and promotes higher student achievement. When students perform below national standards, schools may be given a "no vote of confidence" from the public. Therefore, principals in schools need to find ways to groom and…
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Mehta, Sagar; Shah, Devesh; Shah, Kushal; Mehta, Sanjiv; Mehta, Neelam; Mehta, Vivek; Mehta, Vijay; Mehta, Vaishali; Motiwala, Smita; Mehta, Naina; Mehta, Devendra
2012-01-01
The objective was to assess the efficacy of a one-year, peer-mediated interventional program consisting of yoga, meditation and play therapy maintained by student volunteers in a school in India. The population consisted of 69 students between the ages of 6 and 11 years, previously identified as having attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). A program, known as Climb-Up, was initially embedded in the school twice weekly. Local high school student volunteers were then trained to continue to implement the program weekly over the period of one year. Improvements in ADHD symptoms and academic performance were assessed using Vanderbilt questionnaires completed by both parents and teachers. The performance impairment scores for ADHD students assessed by teachers improved by 6 weeks and were sustained through 12 months in 46 (85%) of the enrolled students. The improvements in their Vanderbilt scores assessed by parents were also seen in 92% (P < 0.0001, Wilcoxon). The Climb-Up program resulted in remarkable improvements in the students' school performances that were sustained throughout the year. These results show promise for a cost-effective program that could easily be implemented in any school. PMID:23316384
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Hollar, Danielle; Lombardo, Michelle; Lopez-Mitnik, Gabriella; Hollar, Theodore L; Almon, Marie; Agatston, Arthur S; Messiah, Sarah E
2010-05-01
Successfully addressing childhood onset obesity requires multilevel (individual, community, and governmental), multi-agency collaboration. The Healthier Options for Public Schoolchildren (HOPS)/OrganWise Guys (OWG) quasi-experimental controlled pilot study (four intervention schools, one control school, total N=3,769; 50.2% Hispanic) was an elementary school-based obesity prevention intervention designed to keep children at a normal, healthy weight, and improve health status and academic achievement. The HOPS/OWG included the following replicable, holistic components: (1) modified dietary offerings, (2) nutrition/lifestyle educational curricula; (3) physical activity component; and (4) wellness projects. Demographic, anthropometric (body mass index [BMI]), blood pressure, and academic data were collected during the two-year study period (2004-6). Statistically significant improvements in BMI, blood pressure, and academic scores, among low-income Hispanic and White children in particular, were seen in the intervention versus controls. Holistic school-based obesity prevention interventions can improve health outcomes and academic performance, in particular among high-risk populations.
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The Primary Program: Report from the Task Force on Improving Kentucky Schools.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence, Lexington, KY.
Because the primary years are the point where specific changes are required in teaching practice and school organization, a task force examined Kentucky's primary program through school visits, interviews, expert testimony, and research. The last three years have shown marked improvement in student performance in the basics (reading, writing, and…
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Making the Grade: Texas Early College High Schools Prepare Students for College. Executive Summary
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Jobs for the Future, 2011
2011-01-01
Early college high schools are improving student outcomes in Texas. This performance is being achieved by youth who are underrepresented in college, including Hispanic youth, economically disadvantaged students, and first-generation college goers. In improving readiness for college and careers, early college schools have become an essential part…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Steinberg, Matthew P.; Sartain, Lauren
2015-01-01
Chicago Public Schools initiated the Excellence in Teaching Project, a teacher evaluation program designed to increase student learning by improving classroom instruction through structured principal-teacher dialogue. The pilot began in forty-four elementary schools in 2008-09 (cohort 1) and scaled up to include an additional forty-eight…
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Improving High School Success: Searching for Evidence of Promise
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Mazzeo, Christopher; Fleischman, Steve; Heppen, Jessica; Jahangir, Theresa
2016-01-01
Improving the nation's high schools--particularly those that are low-performing--involves challenges that are far easier to catalog than to surmount. In this chapter, the authors identify a handful of promising approaches that can help to achieve the goal that all students will graduate from high school well-prepared for further learning,…
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Measuring the Performance of School Superintendent
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Ansar
2015-01-01
School superintendent has a strategic role in the effort to improve the quality of education, referred to the responsibility to give service and assistance for the teachers and headmasters which will affect the improvement of learning quality in school. Yet, the strategic role and function of superintendent, in fact, is still reflecting its ideal…
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Evaluating School Improvement Plans and Their Affect on Academic Performance
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Fernandez, Kenneth E.
2011-01-01
The development of a school improvement plan (SIP) has become an integral part of many school reform efforts. However, there are almost no studies that empirically examine the effectiveness of SIPs. The few studies examining the planning activities of organizations have generally focused on the private sector and have not provided clear or…
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2014-01-01
Background Over the past 30 years, obesity in the United States has increased twofold in children and threefold in adolescents. In Georgia, nearly 17% of children aged 10 – 17 are obese. In response to the high prevalence of child obesity in Georgia and the potential deleterious consequences that this can have, HealthMPowers was founded in 1999 with the goal of preventing childhood obesity by improving health-enhancing behaviors in elementary schools, utilizing a holistic three-year program. This study measures the effectiveness of the HealthMPowers program in improving the school environment, student knowledge, behavior, cardiovascular fitness levels, and Body Mass Index (BMI). Methods The present analysis utilizes data from 40 schools that worked with HealthMPowers over the course of the 2012 – 2013 school year (including schools at each of the three years of the intervention period) and provided information on demographics, student knowledge and behaviors, BMI, performance on the PACER test of aerobic capacity, and school practices and policies (measured via school self-assessment with the HealthMPowers-developed instrument “Continuous Improvement Tracking Tool” or CITT), measured at the beginning and end of each school year. Paired two-sample T tests were used to compare continuous variables (e.g., student knowledge scores, BMI-for-age Z scores), while chi-squared tests were used to assess categorical variables (e.g., trichotomized PACER performance). Results Students across all grades and cohorts demonstrated improvements in knowledge and self-reported behaviors, with particularly significant improvements for third-graders in schools in the second year of the HealthMPowers program (p < 0.0001). Similarly, decreases were observed in BMI-for-Age Z scores for this cohort (and others) across grades and gender, with the most significant decreases for students overweight or obese at baseline (p < 0.0005). Students also showed significant increases in performance on the PACER test across grades and cohorts (p < 0.0001). Lastly, schools tended to improve their practices over time, as measured via the CITT instrument. Conclusions The present report demonstrates the effectiveness of the HealthMPowers program in producing positive change in school policies and practices, student knowledge and behaviors, and student fitness and BMI, supporting the use of holistic interventions to address childhood obesity. PMID:24969618
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Campus Schools: The Search for Safe and Orderly Environment in Large School Settings
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Ortiz, Monica
2012-01-01
Establishing "new small schools" is a major focus of school improvement, especially at the high school level, with the hopes of increasing academic success and reducing violence. Key arguments for small schools are the personalization of schooling and increased academic performance. The structures and process of small schools are…
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Has the UK Clinical Aptitude Test improved medical student selection?
Wright, Sarah R; Bradley, Philip M
2010-11-01
In 2006, the United Kingdom Clinical Aptitude Test (UKCAT) was introduced as a new medical school admissions tool. The aim of this cohort study was to determine whether the UKCAT has made any improvements to the way medical students are selected. Regression analysis was performed in order to study the ability of previous school type and gender to predict UKCAT, personal statement or interview scores in two cohorts of accepted students. The ability of admissions scores and demographic data to predict performance on knowledge and skills examinations was also studied. Previous school type was not a significant predictor of either interview or UKCAT scores amongst students who had been accepted onto the programme (n = 307). However, it was a significant predictor of personal statement score, with students from independent and grammar schools performing better than students from state-maintained schools. Previous school type, personal statements and interviews were not significant predictors of knowledge examination performance. UKCAT scores were significant predictors of knowledge examination performance for all but one examination administered in the first 2 years of medical school. Admissions data explained very little about performance on skills (objective structured clinical examinations [OSCEs]) assessments. The use of personal statements as a basis for selection results in a bias towards students from independent and grammar schools. However, no evidence was found to suggest that students accepted from these schools perform any better than students from maintained schools on Year 1 and 2 medical school examinations. Previous school type did not predict interview or UKCAT scores of accepted students. UKCAT scores are predictive of Year 1 and 2 examination performance at this medical school, whereas interview scores are not. The results of this study challenge claims made by other authors that aptitude tests do not have a place in medical school selection in the UK. © Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2010.
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Gifford, Elizabeth J.; Sloan, Frank A.; Evans, Kelly E.
2015-01-01
Objective This study examined the intergenerational effects of parental conviction of a substance-related charge on children’s academic performance and, conditional on a conviction, whether completion of an adult drug treatment court (DTC) program was associated with improved school performance. Method State administrative data from North Carolina courts, birth records, and school records were linked for 2005–12. Math and reading end-of-grade test scores and absenteeism were examined for 5 groups of children, those with parents who: were not convicted on any criminal charge, were convicted on a substance-related charge and not referred by a court to a DTC, were referred to a DTC but did not enroll, enrolled in a DTC but did not complete, and completed a DTC program. Results Accounting for demographic and socioeconomic factors, the school performance of children whose parents were convicted of a substance-related offense was worse than that of children whose parents were not convicted on any charge. These differences were statistically significant but substantially reduced after controlling for socioeconomic characteristics, e.g., mother’s educational attainment. We found no evidence that parent participation in an adult DTC program led to improved school performance of their children. Conclusion While the children of convicted parents fared worse on average, much—but not all—of this difference was attributed to socioeconomic factors, with the result that parental conviction remained a risk factor for poorer school performance. Even though adult DTCs have been shown to have other benefits, we could detect no intergenerational benefit in improved school performance of their children. PMID:26460705
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75 FR 32163 - Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request
Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2010-06-07
... compare them to strategies employed by not improving, chronically low-performing schools. The ultimate... collection, violate State or Federal law, or substantially interfere with any agency's ability to perform its... Around Chronically Low Performing Schools. Frequency: Once. Affected Public: Individuals or household...
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Philadelphia's Renaissance Schools Initiative after Four Years
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Stratos, Kati; Wolford, Tonya; Reitano, Adrienne
2015-01-01
In 2010-2011, the School District of Philadelphia (the District) launched its Renaissance Schools Initiative, a program designed to dramatically improve student achievement in the District's lowest performing schools. Some schools became Promise Academies, based on the federal turnaround model, and remained District-operated neighborhood schools.…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Eliason, Norma Lynn
2014-01-01
The effects of incorporating an online social networking platform, hosted through Wikispace, as a method to potential improve the performance of middle school students on standardized math assessments was investigated in this study. A principal strategy for any educational setting may provide an instructional approach that improves the delivery of…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Spaniol, Mayra Muller; Shalev, Lilach; Kossyvaki, Lila; Mevorach, Carmel
2018-01-01
This study assessed the effectiveness of an attention intervention program (Computerized Progressive Attentional Training; CPAT) in improving academic performance of children with ASD. Fifteen 6-10 year olds with ASD attending a mainstream and a special school were assigned to an experimental (CPAT; n = 8) and active control (computer games; n =…
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Association of sleep and academic performance.
Eliasson, Arne; Eliasson, Anders; King, Joseph; Gould, Ben; Eliasson, Arn
2002-03-01
Poor school performance by adolescent students has been attributed in part to insufficient sleep. It is recognized that a number of factors lead to diminished total sleep time and chief among these are early school start times and sleep phase delay in adolescence. Political initiatives are gaining momentum across the United States to require later school start times with the intent of increasing total sleep time and consequently improving school performance. Later school start times come with significant costs and impact other activities of families and communities. The decision to implement later school start times cannot be made lightly and deserves support of well-performed research on the impact of these changes. A study evaluating the association of academic performance and total sleep time was performed in middle school and high school students in a suburban Maryland school system. Preliminary results of this study show no correlation of total sleep time with academic performance. Before mandating costly changes in school schedules, it would be useful to perform further research to determine the effects of increasing sleep time on the behaviors of adolescent students.
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Colloquium on Large Scale Improvement: Implications for AISI
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
McEwen, Nelly, Ed.
2008-01-01
The Alberta Initiative for School Improvement (AISI) is a province-wide partnership program whose goal is to improve student learning and performance by fostering initiatives that reflect the unique needs and circumstances of each school authority. It is currently ending its third cycle and ninth year of implementation. "The Colloquium on…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
de la Torre, Marisa; Allensworth, Elaine; Jagesic, Sanja; Sebastian, James; Salmonowicz, Michael; Meyers, Coby; Gerdeman, R. Dean
2012-01-01
"Turning around" chronically low-performing schools is of increasing interest to educators and policymakers, as highlighted by the U.S. Department of Education's (2010) recent call to rapidly improve the nation's 5,000 lowest performing schools. Yet there is little rigorous research on changes in student populations and teacher workforce…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Ahearn, Charles, Ed.; Nalley, Donna, Ed.
This document contains proceedings of a conference that fostered discussion on how low-performing schools become successful. Principal speakers were Michael Cohen, Assistant Secretary, Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, U.S. Department of Education, who spoke about the demand for increased performance and high standards; Dennis Parker,…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Council of the Great City Schools, 2012
2012-01-01
"Managing for Results in America's Great City Schools, 2012" is presented by the Council of the Great City Schools to its members and the public. The purpose of the project was and is to develop performance measures that can improve the business operations of urban public school districts nationwide. This year's report includes data from 61 of the…
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Successful School Turnarounds: Seven Steps for District Leaders. Issue Brief
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Kowal, Julie; Hassel, Emily Ayscue; Hassel, Bryan C.
2009-01-01
President Obama and Secretary Duncan have called upon states, districts, and education leaders to change the lives of millions of children by dramatically improving the nation's 5,000 lowest performing schools. These chronically failing schools will require intensive intervention to turn around performance that has fallen short of expectations for…
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How to Improve a School that Is Already High Performing: Innovation in the Field of Education
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Caridas, Evangeline; Hammer, Mark
2006-01-01
(Purpose) The case study's purpose was to examine Participative Management Style, high performance strategies, intangible and tangible indicators, trust and its creation of superior achievement in a school district for elementary and middle school children (Illinois). (Methodology) A collaboration effort by Superintendent, administrative staff,…
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Leading or Managing? Assistant Regional Directors, School Performance, in Queensland
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Bloxham, Ray; Ehrich, Lisa C.; Iyer, Radha
2015-01-01
Purpose: Education reform aimed at achieving improved student learning is a demanding challenge for leaders and managers at all levels of education across the globe. In 2010, the position of Assistant Regional Directors, School Performance (ARD-SP), was established to positively impact upon student learning across public schools in Queensland,…
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School Turnaround through Scaffolded Craftsmanship
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Thompson, Charles L.; Henry, Gary; Preston, Courtney
2016-01-01
Between 2006 and 2010, the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction intervened in 128 low-performing schools, combining approaches consistent with school restructuring and transformation. In improved schools, local educators reconstructed key school functions, a distinctly nonlinear process more like the work of skilled craftsmen than that…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Ruffini, Stephen J.; Miskell, Ryan; Lindsay, Jim; McInerney, Maurice; Waite, Winsome
2016-01-01
Many schools identified by states as needing improvement through their Elementary and Secondary Education Act waivers have selected Response to Intervention (RTI), a three-tiered instruction program sometimes referred to as tiered levels of instruction, as one of their main strategies for improving school performance and closing achievement gaps.…
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Federal School Improvement Grants (SIGs): How Capacity and Local Conditions Matter
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Yatsko, Sarah; Lake, Robin; Bowen, Melissa; Cooley Nelson, Elizabeth
2015-01-01
In 2009, the federal government committed over $3 billion nationwide to help states and districts turn around their worst-performing schools. The U.S. Department of Education intended for the School Improvement Grants (SIGs) to spur dramatic change.This report looks at the results of a field study of the first-year implementation of those grants…
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Tinkering toward Transformation: A Look at Federal School Improvement Grant Implementation
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Yatsko, Sarah; Lake, Robin; Nelson, Elizabeth Cooley; Bowen, Melissa
2012-01-01
In 2009, the federal government committed over $3 billion nationwide to help states and districts turn around their worst-performing schools. The U.S. Department of Education intended for the School Improvement Grants (SIGs) to spur dramatic change. This report looks at the results of a field study of the first-year implementation of those grants…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Bigham, Gary D.; Riney, Mark R.
2017-01-01
To meet the constantly changing needs of schools and diverse learners, educators must frequently monitor student learning, revise curricula, and improve instruction. Consequently, it is critical that careful analyses of student performance data are ongoing components of curriculum decision-making processes. The primary purpose of this study is to…
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Social Problems and America's Youth: Why School Reform Won't Work.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Rittenmeyer, Dennis C.
1987-01-01
Using the schools to achieve racial balance, eliminate poverty, fight drug abuse, prevent pregnancy, and reduce youth suicide is too large a task. Teachers and principals should address educational issues, not unmet social needs. To improve the educational performance of the schools, the quality of life for youth must first be improved. (MSE)
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Cooper, Melissa A.
2012-01-01
School districts are charged with the task of improving standardized test scores and closing the gaps between specific groups of students. Numerous programs, school improvement strategies, changes in instruction and leadership have been implemented to close the gap. Data are becoming more abundant at the state, district, and school levels. Many…
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Competing for School Improvement Dollars: State Grant-Making Strategies
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Lazarin, Melissa
2012-01-01
In 2009 the Obama administration announced a focused commitment to turn around 5,000 of the United States' chronically lowest-performing public schools as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). This commitment came with $3 billion in funding for the School Improvement Grant program, or SIG, along with new guidelines to ensure…
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Strøm, Ida Frugård; Schultz, Jon-Håkon; Wentzel-Larsen, Tore; Dyb, Grete
2016-01-01
Background The psychological impact on survivors of terrorism has been well documented. However, studies on adolescent survivors and the academic performance of high school students following a terrorist attack are lacking. Objective This study investigated academic performance, absenteeism, and school support amongst survivors of a terrorist attack in Norway. Method Data from a longitudinal interview study were linked to officially registered grades of students (N=64) who successfully completed their 3-year senior high school program. Statistical tests of mean differences and linear regression were used to compare the survivors’ registered grades with the national grade point average, before and after the event, as well as to assess absenteeism, self-reported grades and to test the association with school support. Results The students’ grades were lower the year after the event than they had been the year before, and they were also lower than the national grade point average (p<0.001). However, their grades improved in the last year of high school, indicating possible recovery. Absence from school increased after the event, compared to the previous year. However, students reported high satisfaction with school support. Conclusion The results indicate that academic functioning was reduced in the year after the traumatic event, but for students who successfully completed high school, the school situation improved 2 years after the event. The findings underscore the importance of keeping trauma-exposed students in school and providing support over time. A more defined educational approach to maintaining school attendance and educational measures which compensate for learning loss are needed in trauma-sensitive teaching. Highlights of the article School functioning among high school students following a terrorist attack. The findings showed a decline in school performance and increased absence after the event. For students who successfully completed high school, high satisfaction with school support was reported and an improvement in grades could be observed over time, indicating possible recovery. The findings underscore the importance of keeping trauma-exposed students in schools and providing support over time. PMID:27171613
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Business School's Performance Management System Standards Design
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Azis, Anton Mulyono; Simatupang, Togar M.; Wibisono, Dermawan; Basri, Mursyid Hasan
2014-01-01
This paper aims to compare various Performance Management Systems (PMS) for business school in order to find the strengths of each standard as inputs to design new model of PMS. There are many critical aspects and gaps notified for new model to improve performance and even recognized that self evaluation performance management is not well…
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Motivation, Compensation, and Performance for Science and Technological Teachers
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Abast, R. M.; Sangi, N. M.; Tumanduk, M. S. S. S.; Roring, R.
2018-02-01
This research is operationally aimed to obtain the result of analysis and interpretation about: relationship of achievement motive, compensation with performance at a junior high school in Manado, Indonesia. This research applies a quantitative approach with correlation analysis method. The research was conducted at one junior high school in Manado, Indonesia. The results showed achievement motive at the school teachers is quite high. This result means that, generally, the teachers of the school have a desire to improve achievement; the performance at the school is good enough. This result means that in general, the performance of teachers at the school is increasing, there is a linkage degree and determinative power between the achievement motive with the performance of teachers at the school amounted 0.773% or 77.3%, compensation for the school teachers in Manado is good enough. This result means that the compensation received is satisfactory, there is a linkage degree and determinative power between compensation and performance of the school teachers in Manado amounted to 0.582 or 58.2%.
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Council of the Great City Schools, 2014
2014-01-01
In 2002 the "Council of the Great City Schools" and its members set out to develop performance measures that could be used to improve business operations in urban public school districts. The Council launched the "Performance Measurement and Benchmarking Project" to achieve these objectives. The purposes of the project was to:…
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Driving Improvement with a Balanced Scorecard
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Cowart, Scott K.
2010-01-01
This article describes how a school district's use of a transparent tool coalesced support for systemic improvement. The author was looking for a way to push improvement in his 4,000-student school system when he discovered the balanced scorecard, a strategic tool for performance management. The author details how the balanced scorecard helped him…
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The Effects of Verbal Instruction and Shaping to Improve Tackling by High School Football Players
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Harrison, Antonio M.; Pyles, David A.
2013-01-01
We evaluated verbal instruction and shaping using TAG (teaching with acoustical guidance) to improve tackling by 3 high school football players. Verbal instruction and shaping improved tackling for all 3 participants. In addition, performance was maintained as participants moved more quickly through the tackling procedure.
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Effective Charter Schools and Charter School Systems
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Lawton, Stephen B.
2009-01-01
The purpose of this synthesis of the literature on charter school effectiveness is to develop a research agenda on the topic and to propose action that will lead to improved performance of charter schools. To accomplish these goals, background information is first provided including: a definition of charter schools; statistics on charter schools;…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
O'Brien, Liam M.; Polacsek, Michele; MacDonald, Pamela B.; Ellis, Jacqueline; Berry, Susan; Martin, Maurice
2010-01-01
Background: Health-related, school-based interventions may serve to prevent disease and improve academic performance. The Healthy Maine Partnerships (HMP) initiative funded local school health coordinators (SHCs) as a part of Maine's Coordinated School Health Program (CSHP) beginning in January 2001. SHCs established school health leadership teams…
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Strong Agents and Weak Systems: University Support for School Level Improvement
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Nehring, James H.; O'Brien, Ellen J.
2012-01-01
This study examined individual and school level factors that advance and suppress the traits of high performing schools. Based on action plans and reflective journals of 28 school level practitioners in 14 schools across 10 school districts, researchers tracked the progress of each practitioner from participation in a university-based school…
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Principal Leadership in Low-Performing Schools: A Closer Look through the Eyes of Teachers
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Finnigan, Kara S.
2012-01-01
This qualitative study of teachers in three low-performing elementary schools in Chicago reveals that transformational leadership behaviors were important to teacher motivation, affecting whether they believed that they could improve student performance as the accountability policy required. The findings suggest that principal leadership is…
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School Gardens Enhance Academic Performance and Dietary Outcomes in Children.
Berezowitz, Claire K; Bontrager Yoder, Andrea B; Schoeller, Dale A
2015-08-01
Schools face increasing demands to provide education on healthy living and improve core academic performance. Although these appear to be competing concerns, they may interact beneficially. This article focuses on school garden programs and their effects on students' academic and dietary outcomes. Database searches in CABI, Web of Science, Web of Knowledge, PubMed, Education Full Text, Education Resources Information Center (ERIC), and PsychINFO were conducted through May 2013 for peer-reviewed literature related to school-day garden interventions with measures of dietary and/or academic outcomes. Among 12 identified garden studies with dietary measures, all showed increases/improvements in predictors of fruit and vegetable (FV) consumption. Seven of these also included self-reported FV intake with 5 showing an increase and 2 showing no change. Four additional interventions that included a garden component measured academic outcomes; of these, 2 showed improvements in science achievement and 1 measured and showed improvements in math scores. This small set of studies offers evidence that garden-based learning does not negatively impact academic performance or FV consumption and may favorably impact both. Additional studies with more robust experimental designs and outcome measures are necessary to understand the effects of experiential garden-based learning on children's academic and dietary outcomes. © 2015, American School Health Association.
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Tinkering and Turnarounds: Understanding the Contemporary Campaign to Improve Low-Performing Schools
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Duke, Daniel L.
2012-01-01
An unprecedented amount of attention in recent years has been focused on turning around low-performing schools. Drawing on insights from Tyack and Cuban's (1995) "Tinkering Toward Utopia," the article analyzes the forces behind the school turnaround phenomenon and how they have evolved since passage of the No Child Left Behind Act. The…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Wong, Kenneth K.; Shen, Francis X.
2013-01-01
Mayoral control and accountability is one of very few major education reforms that aim at governance coherence in this nation's highly fragmented urban school systems. A primary feature of mayoral governance is that it holds the office of the mayor accountable for school performance. As an institutional redesign, mayoral governance integrates…
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Does Musical Training Improve School Performance?
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Wetter, Olive Emil; Koerner, Fritz; Schwaninger, Adrian
2009-01-01
In a retrospective study, we compared school performance of 53 children practicing music (group 1) with 67 controls not practicing music (group 2). Overall average marks as well as average marks of all school subjects except sports were significantly higher in children who do (group 1) than in those who do not practice music (group 2). In a…
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The Relationship of Compensation to Job Attraction and Performance in Public Schools
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Rose, Richard
2012-01-01
The need for more effective schools and the centrality of the teacher's role in any substantive school improvement plans are well known. Educators, political factions, and policymakers are engaged in a lively debate as to whether performance pay schemes or more substantial increments across the salary schedule are more likely to motivate teachers…
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Community Schools: It Takes a Village
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Garrett, Kristi
2012-01-01
Lately educators are hearing more about full-service community schools, which pair schools with other community resources in pursuit of the long-term goal of improving academic performance. (These full-service schools are differentiated from the community day schools that serve expelled students.) The focus on academics is what makes today's…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Public Impact, 2008
2008-01-01
Evidence collected over the last 30 years suggests that effective school leaders significantly influence student learning and other aspects of school performance. Documented experience also indicates that individual leaders in failing organizations in various sectors, including education, can effect rapid, dramatic improvements. School turnaround…
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Educational Charter Schools: A Civil Rights Mirage?
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Frankenberg, Erica
2011-01-01
The idea of charter schools arose as a means to allow for innovation by creating schools that were free from traditional regulations, but were held accountable for their performance. More recently, however, charter school advocates have suggested that increasing school choice options will create competition that improves the quality of education…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Lynch, David; Smith, Richard; Provost, Steven; Madden, Jake
2016-01-01
Purpose: This paper argues that in a well-organised school with strong leadership and vision coupled with a concerted effort to improve the teaching performance of each teacher, student achievement can be enhanced. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that while macro-effect sizes such as "whole of school" metrics are useful for…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Wenglinsky, Harold
Little agreement exists on which school expenditures and resources are most likely to improve student resources or whether resources really matter at all. This study compiles a national database of school finance information and analyzes the data to address the importance of school expenditures. Data were collected from the National Assessment of…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Price, Alan
2015-01-01
The link between good attendance in school and academic performance has been acknowledged for some time now. However, improving school attendance for young people with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties (SEBD) or pupils at risk of exclusion can be a challenging task for educational leaders. This paper begins with a discussion of…
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Changing Tires En Route: Michigan Rolls out Millions in School Improvement Grants
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Scott, Caitlin
2011-01-01
A recent massive infusion of federal funding marked a dramatic shift in the federal approach to helping low-performing schools. As part of the broad array of economic stimulus efforts included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), the U.S. Congress appropriated an extra $3 billion for school improvement grants (SIGs) to…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Shifrer, Dara; Turley, Ruth López; Heard, Holly
2017-01-01
Teacher performance pay programs are theorized to improve student achievement by incentivizing teachers, but opponents counter that teachers are not motivated by money. We used regression discontinuity techniques and data on a census of the students, teachers, and schools in a large urban minority-majority school district to show receipt of a…
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Why the McKinsey Reports Will Not Improve School Systems
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Coffield, Frank
2012-01-01
In the last four years McKinsey and Company have produced two highly influential reports on how to improve school systems. The first McKinsey report "How the world's best-performing school systems come out on top" has since its publication in 2007 been used to justify change in educational policy and practice in England and many other…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
McMurrer, Jennifer; McIntosh, Shelby
2012-01-01
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), also known as the stimulus package, appropriated $100 billion for education and included $3 billion for school improvement grants (SIGs) to help reform low-performing schools. This amount was in addition to the $546 million provided by the regular fiscal year 2009 appropriations bill for…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Archer, Elizabeth; Scherman, Vanessa; Coe, Robert; Howie, Sarah J.
2010-01-01
Reform and improvement are imperative in the current South African education system. Monitoring of school and learner achievement is an essential for establishing praxis for school improvement. Diversity of culture and South Africa's 11 official languages make it difficult to develop valid monitoring systems. Limited resources, time constraints…
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Waling, Maria; Olafsdottir, Anna S; Lagström, Hanna; Wergedahl, Hege; Jonsson, Bert; Olsson, Cecilia; Fossgard, Eldbjørg; Holthe, Asle; Talvia, Sanna; Gunnarsdottir, Ingibjorg; Hörnell, Agneta
2016-01-01
School meals, if both nutritious and attractive, provide a unique opportunity to improve health equality and public health. To describe the study rationale, data collection, and background of participants in the study 'Prospects for promoting health and performance by school meals in Nordic countries' (ProMeal). The general aim was to determine whether overall healthiness of the diet and learning conditions in children can be improved by school lunches, and to capture the main concerns regarding school lunches among children in a Nordic context. A cross-sectional, multidisciplinary study was performed in Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden on pupils (n=837) born in 2003. In total 3,928 pictures of school lunches were taken to capture pupils' school lunch intake. A mean of 85% of all parents responded to a questionnaire about socioeconomic background, dietary intake, and habitual physical activity at home. Cognitive function was measured on one occasion on 93% of the pupils during optimal conditions with a Stroop and a Child Operation Span test. A mean of 169 pupils also did an Integrated Visual and Auditory Continuous Performance Test after lunch over 3 days. In total, 37,413 10-sec observations of classroom learning behavior were performed. In addition, 753 empathy-based stories were written and 78 focus groups were conducted. The pupils had high socioeconomic status. This study will give new insights into which future interventions are needed to improve pupils' school lunch intake and learning. The study will provide valuable information for policy making, not least in countries where the history of school meals is shorter than in some of the Nordic countries.
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Teenage smoking, attempts to quit, and school performance.
Hu, T W; Lin, Z; Keeler, T E
1998-01-01
OBJECTIVES: This study examined the relationship between school performance, smoking, and quitting attempts among teenagers. METHODS: A logistic regression model was used to predict the probability of being a current smoker or a former smoker. Data were derived from the 1990 California Youth Tobacco Survey. RESULTS: Students' school performance was a key factor in predicting smoking and quitting attempts when other sociodemographic and family income factors were controlled. CONCLUSIONS: Developing academic or remedial classes designed to improve students' school performance may lead to a reduction in smoking rates among teenagers while simultaneously providing a human capital investment in their futures. PMID:9618625
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Barkmann, Claus; Kuhlmann, Ester; Rosenboom, Lea; Wessolowski, Nino; Schulte-Markwort, Michael
2012-05-01
Children with severe dyslexia are substantially impaired because reading and writing are key competencies necessary for a successful academic and occupational career. In this evaluation study, a cohort of 2nd- and 3rd-grade students from a variety of Hamburg primary schools was trained with the Marburger Rechtschreibtraining (MRT) by supervised university graduates. The research questions focused on the feasibility of the MRT as a within-school training, the improvement of spelling and reading skills of the participants, subjective assessments of success, as well as potential predictors. Besides established performance tests, we also considered the subjective appraisals of parents, teachers, and coaches. The results demonstrate that standardized spelling training methods like the MRT can be consistently used during morning hours at schools. Within a year of starting MRT exercises, mean effect sizes in writing and reading were observed in performance tests using test norms. However, parent, teacher, and coach reports failed to replicate these improvements. Changes in writing performance were mainly associated with school class level; improvements in reading ability were dependent on initial writing performance. The results provide starting points for optimizing current training practices in elementary schools and for posing questions regarding the effectiveness of the MRT, as well as for training programs in general.
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Tayebi Arasteh, Mehdi; Pouragha, Behrooz; Bagheri Kahkesh, Masume
2018-01-01
Background: Every educational institution requires an evaluation system in order to find out about the quality and desirability of its activities, especially if it is a complex and dynamic environment. The present study was conducted to evaluate the educational performance of schools affiliated to Alborz University of Medical Sciences to help improve their performance. Methods: This descriptive analytical study was conducted in six schools affiliated to Alborz University of Medical Sciences in April 2016-October 2016 and October 2016-April 2017. The evaluation was carried out in two stages: self-assessment by service executives across schools, and external assessment in person by the university’s expert staff. The study tools included the components, criteria and desirable standards of educational performance in ten categories. Data were analyzed in SPSS. Results: The results obtained showed that, in April-October 2016, the highest performance evaluation scores pertained to the "secure testing" and "rules and regulations" components and the lowest to the "packages for reform and innovation in education" and "the school action plan" components. In October 2016-April 2017, the highest scores pertained to "workforce empowerment" and "secure testing" and the lowest to "faculty affairs" and "electronic education management system". Conclusions: Offering a balanced portrayal of the actual performance of schools using the right performance indicators in two consecutive periods can help further motivate the superior schools and encourage the weaker schools to strive harder. Competition among schools to get a higher score in the components affecting medical education helps mobilize them to move toward reform and improvement. PMID:29770211
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Davey, Calum; Aiken, Alexander M; Hayes, Richard J; Hargreaves, James R
2015-01-01
Introduction: Helminth (worm) infections cause morbidity among poor communities worldwide. An influential study conducted in Kenya in 1998–99 reported that a school-based drug-and-educational intervention had benefits for worm infections and school attendance. Methods: In this statistical replication, we re-analysed data from this cluster quasi-randomized stepped-wedge trial, specifying two co-primary outcomes: school attendance and examination performance. We estimated intention-to-treat effects using year-stratified cluster-summary analysis and observation-level random-effects regression, and combined both years with a random-effects model accounting for year. The participants were not blinded to allocation status, and other interventions were concurrently conducted in a sub-set of schools. A protocol guiding outcome data collection was not available. Results: Quasi-randomization resulted in three similar groups of 25 schools. There was a substantial amount of missing data. In year-stratified cluster-summary analysis, there was no clear evidence for improvement in either school attendance or examination performance. In year-stratified regression models, there was some evidence of improvement in school attendance [adjusted odds ratios (aOR): year 1: 1.48, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.88–2.52, P = 0.147; year 2: 1.23, 95% CI 1.01–1.51, P = 0.044], but not examination performance (adjusted differences: year 1: −0.135, 95% CI −0.323–0.054, P = 0.161; year 2: −0.017, 95% CI −0.201–0.166, P = 0.854). When both years were combined, there was strong evidence of an effect on attendance (aOR 1.82, 95% CI 1.74–1.91, P < 0.001), but not examination performance (adjusted difference −0.121, 95% CI −0.293–0.052, P = 0.169). Conclusions: The evidence supporting an improvement in school attendance differed by analysis method. This, and various other important limitations of the data, caution against over-interpretation of the results. We find that the study provides some evidence, but with high risk of bias, that a school-based drug-treatment and health-education intervention improved school attendance and no evidence of effect on examination performance. PMID:26203171
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Bottoms, Gene; Creech, Betty
Good news about reading achievement of career-bound students at High Schools That Work (HSTW) sites includes the following: (1) 60% of the 260 sites that tested students in 1993/94 and again in 1996 saw improvement in reading scores; (2) the performance of all students majority and minority improved significantly; (3) HSTW sites widened the gap…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Oberman, Ida
2005-01-01
In the year 1998, California began a massive experiment that focused on testing students and holding teachers and administrators accountable for results. The goal: dramatic, system-wide improvement. Schools' performance began to be measured using California's Academic Performance Index (API). In 2001, with passage of No Child Left Behind (NCLB),…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Lackney, Jeffery A.
Congressional testimony is presented concerning school buildings and their connection to student health, behavior, and learning, including a review of selected empirical studies conducted over the past 30 years showing an explicit relationship between physical characteristics of school buildings and educational outcomes. The factors responsible…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Cieslar, Whitney; McLaughlin, T. F.; Derby, K. Mark
2008-01-01
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of the copy, cover, and compare (CCC) procedure on improving the mathematics and spelling performance of a freshman attending a high school special education class. The participant was a 16-year-old high school student enrolled in special education classes for 3 periods of the school day. Math…
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Entrepreneurial Leadership Practices and School Innovativeness
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Akmaliah, Zaidatol; Pihie, Lope; Asimiran, Soaib; Bagheri, Afsaneh
2014-01-01
Entrepreneurial leadership, as a distinctive type of leadership required for dealing with challenges and crises of current organizational settings, has increasingly been applied to improve school performance. However, there is limited research on the impact of school leaders' entrepreneurial leadership practices on school innovativeness. The main…
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Flay, B R; Allred, C G; Ordway, N
2001-06-01
This paper reports on the effectiveness of an integrated comprehensive school model for character development, problem behavior prevention, and academic achievement enhancement. The Positive Action program consists of a school curriculum, together with schoolwide climate, family, and community components. As evaluated here, the yearly K-6 curriculum consists of over 140 fifteen-to-twenty-minute lessons per year delivered in school classrooms on an almost daily basis. The program is based on theories of self-concept, learning, behavior, and school ecology. We use a matched control design and school-level achievement and disciplinary data to evaluate program effects on student performance and behavior in two separate school districts. The program improved achievement by 16% in one district and 52% in another, and reduced disciplinary referrals by 78% in one district and 85% in the other. We discuss implications of these replicated findings for the prevention of substance abuse and violence, the improvement of school performance, and the reform of American schools.
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A Model of Planning for School Improvement and Obstacles to Implementation.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Taylor, Dianne L.; Tashakkori, Abbas; Crone-Koshel, Linda
2001-01-01
Reports results of two separate but related studies: The first involves the use of a rubric to evaluate improvement plans from low-performing schools; the second involves a sample of teacher and administrator perceptions of their involvement in improvement planning. Finds poor-quality plans in evaluation study to be related to teacher-involvement…
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School Solutions. Special Report: IAQ and Energy.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Birr, Dave
1999-01-01
Discusses how energy service companies (ESCO) can help schools upgrade their indoor air quality and make them environmentally sound. How ESCO's help in arranging funding for indoor environmental improvements through energy performance contracts is discussed. Tips on energy-efficiency measures for improving indoor environmental quality are…
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The Effect of a State Department of Education Teacher Mentor Initiative on Science Achievement
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Pruitt, Stephen L.
This study analyzed a state department of education's ability to have actual influence over the improvement of science achievement and proficiency by having direct relationships with science teachers in Georgia's lowest performing schools. The study employed a mixed ANOVA analysis of the mean scale scores and proficiency rates of the science portion of the Georgia High School Graduation Test (GHSGT) for the years 2004 through 2007 to determine if the intervention by the Science Mentor Program (SMP) had significant effect on the science achievement and proficiency within the cohort of schools, as compared to a set of schools receiving no intervention, on various subgroups within the schools, and on various levels of intervention within the SMP. All data used in this study are available to the public through the Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE). SMP schools were selected based on their level of intervention for three consecutive years. Non-SMP schools were selected based on demographic similarities in economically disadvantaged, white, African-American, and students with disabilities to ensure a match of pairings for analyses. The results of this study showed significant improvement of scale scores and proficiency rates between 2004 and 2007. The study showed significant increases in all schools regardless of treatment. The study also showed significant differences in performance within the subgroups. Males, white, non-Economically Disadvantaged, and regular education students were all found to have significantly better performance in both achievement and proficiency rate. Economically Disadvantaged students were found to have a significant difference with regard to treatment groups. There was a significant difference between the mean scale score and proficiency rates of Economically Disadvantaged students in schools receiving high-intervention and schools receiving no-intervention. Further analysis showed that the only significant difference was in 2004, the year prior to implementation. Results indicate while the high-intervention schools did perform lower over all four years, they were not significantly different during the time of treatment indicating high-intervention schools performed at levels equivalent to schools receiving no-intervention. This study provided evidence of the success of a specific intervention by a state education agency to improve science education for the practicing teacher and its role in improving student science achievement. It will be used by policymakers to determine future activities and potential funding of other such programs. This also has a potential for national use as it is the only program of this nature operated by a department of education in the country.
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Moving Matters: The Causal Effect of Moving Schools on Student Performance
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Schwartz, Amy Ellen; Stiefel, Leanna; Cordes, Sarah A.
2017-01-01
Policy makers and analysts often view the reduction of student mobility across schools as a way to improve academic performance. Prior work indicates that children do worse in the year of a school move, but has been largely unsuccessful in isolating the causal effects of mobility. We use longitudinal data on students in New York City public…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Seobi, Boitshepo Audrey; Wood, Lesley
2016-01-01
An unacceptable number of learners in under-resourced schools in South Africa are failing to perform adequately in national and international benchmark tests. Poor learner performance has been linked to poor-quality teaching, which, in turn, can be attributed in part to a lack of instructional leadership at schools. According to policy, heads of…
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The Impact of Literacy Intervention on Academic Performance of Third Grade At-Risk Students
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Williams, Vernita
2015-01-01
Third grade at-risk students in Wilson County Schools, Wilson, NC continuously perform below the state average on the North Carolina Third Grade Reading End-of-Grade test. Leaders in the Wilson County Schools school district implemented a literacy pull-out intervention program for third grade at-risk students as a strategy to improve reading…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Carpenter, Bradley Wayne
2011-01-01
Of the numerous public policy debates currently taking place throughout the United States, perhaps no issue receives more attention than the persistence of "chronically" low-performing public schools. As of 2009, approximately 5,000 schools--5% of the nation's total--qualified as chronically low performing (Duncan, 2009d). Certainly,…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Pan, Diane; Rudo, Zena H.; Schneider, Cynthia L.; Smith-Hansen, Lotte
This document reports on a study on the relationship between resources and student performance. The study examined district-level patterns of resource allocation, district and school resource practices implemented to improve student performance, and barriers and challenges to efficient resource allocation faced by districts and schools. The study…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Stroebele, Nanette; McNally, Janise; Plog, Amy; Siegfried, Scott; Hill, James O.
2013-01-01
Background: To improve support and justi?cation for health promotion efforts in schools, it is helpful to understand how students' health behaviors affect academic performance. Methods: Fifth-grade students completed an online school-administered health survey with questions regarding their eating behavior, physical activity, academic performance,…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Marion, Scott F.; Vander Els, Jonathan; Leather, Paul
2017-01-01
In New Hampshire, a new performance assessment system focuses on reciprocal accountability and shared leadership among teachers and leaders at the school, district, and state levels. This concept of reciprocal accountability, developed by school improvement expert Richard Elmore, is at the core of New Hampshire's Performance Assessment of…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Pietsch, Stefanie; Böttcher, Caroline; Jansen, Petra
2017-01-01
The long-term physical activity in specific sport activities can change the quality of mental rotation performance. This study investigates the influence of "Life Kinetik"--a motion program with tasks of cognition and motor coordination--on mental rotation performance of 44 primary school-aged children. While the experimental group…
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Can Public Transportation Improve Students' Access to Denver's Best Schools of Choice?
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Gross, Bethany; Denice, Patrick
2017-01-01
Transportation remains a vexing concern in cities that offer students school choice. Time and again, research has shown that families typically want high-performing schools or schools with unique academic programs. But those schools tend to be concentrated in a city's affluent neighborhoods, often long distances from low-income households and…
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No One Way: Differentiating School District Leadership and Support for School Improvement
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Anderson, Stephen E.; Mascall, Blair; Stiegelbauer, Suzanne; Park, Jaddon
2012-01-01
This article examines findings from a qualitative investigation of how school district administrators in four mid to large sized urban school districts (10,000-50,000) identify and address differences in school performance. The analysis explores the interaction between district policies and actions that centralize and standardize expectations for…
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Using School Change States to Analyze Comprehensive School Reform Projects
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Wetherill, Karen S.; Applefield, James M.
2005-01-01
Comprehensive school reform (CSR) projects are being funded throughout the United States in a determined effort to improve the performance of public education. The multidimensional nature of comprehensive school reform presents unique challenges for explaining widely discrepant outcomes among schools. These challenges are addressed in a study of 8…
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Learning to Count: School Finance Formula Count Methods and Attendance-Related Student Outcomes
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Ely, Todd L.; Fermanich, Mark L.
2013-01-01
School systems are under increasing pressure to improve student performance. Several states have recently explored adopting student count methods for school funding purposes that incentivize school attendance and continuous enrollment by adjusting funding for changes in enrollment or attendance over the course of the school year. However, no…
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Improving the Physical and Social Environment of School: A Question of Equity
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Uline, Cynthia L.; Wolsey, Thomas DeVere; Tschannen-Moran, Megan; Lin, Chii-Dean
2010-01-01
This study explored the interplay between quality facilities and school climate, charting the effects of facility conditions on student and teacher attitudes, behaviors, and performance within schools slated for renovations in a large metropolitan school district. The research applied a school leadership-building design model to explore how six…
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Beyond Averages: School Quality in Denver Public Schools
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Ooms, Alexander
2014-01-01
Since 2009, academic outcomes for students in Denver Public Schools (DPS) have slowly improved. The primary mechanism for increasing academic performance lies within the district's schools, and on an aggregate level Denver has seen a substantial rise in both the number of quality schools and the percentage of students they serve. Every child…
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Democratic School Turnarounds: Pursuing Equity and Learning from Evidence
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Trujillo, Tina; Renee, Michelle
2012-01-01
In 2009, the Obama Administration announced its intention to rapidly "turn around" 5,000 of the nation's lowest-performing schools. To do so, it relied on the School Improvement Grant program (SIG) to provide targeted funding for states and schools, and to mandate drastic, school-level reforms. While the program channels grants to…
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The New Century High Schools Initiative. What Works Clearinghouse Intervention Report
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
What Works Clearinghouse, 2008
2008-01-01
The "New Century High Schools Initiative" is a program designed to improve large, under-performing high schools by transforming them into small schools with links to community organizations. "New Century High Schools" each have about 400 students; the small size is intended to foster strong relationships between students and…
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Liao, Pei-An; Chang, Hung-Hao; Wang, Jiun-Hao; Wu, Min-Chen
2013-06-01
This study examined the relationship between the changes of physical fitness across the 3-year spectrum of senior high school study and academic performance measured by standardized tests in Taiwan. A unique dataset of 149 240 university-bound senior high school students from 2009 to 2011 was constructed by merging two nationwide administrative datasets of physical fitness test performance and the university entrance exam scores. Hierarchical linear regression models were used. All regressions included controls for students' baseline physical fitness status, changes of physical fitness performance over time, age and family economic status. Some notable findings were revealed. An increase of 1 SD on students' overall physical fitness from the first to third school year is associated with an increase in the university entrance exam scores by 0.007 and 0.010 SD for male and female students, respectively. An increase of 1 SD on anaerobic power (flexibility) from the first to third school year is positively associated with an increase in the university entrance exam scores by 0.018 (0.010) SD among female students. We suggest that education and school health policymakers should consider and design policies to improve physical fitness as part of their overall strategy of improving academic performance.
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Marinell, William H.
2008-01-01
In this Voices Inside Schools essay, William Marinell describes the efforts of a public school teacher to improve her students' writing by attempting to increase their connectivity to their community. By designing photojournalism projects that prompt students to capture their authentic experiences, the teacher hopes to challenge the students'…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Thompson, Terry J.; Gould, Karen J.
2005-01-01
In recent years the Metropolitan School District of Wayne Township in Indianapolis has been awash in data. In attempts to improve levels of student achievement, the authors collected all manner of statistical details about students and schools and attempted to perform data analysis as part of the school improvement process. The authors were never…
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School Accountability and Assessment: Should We Put the Roof up First?
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Klinger, Don A.; Maggi, Stefania; D'Angiulli, Amedeo
2011-01-01
School accountability and student assessment are closely associated in educational jurisdictions' attempts to monitor student achievement, focus instruction, and improve subsequent student and school performance. The research reported in this article examines the School Effectiveness Framework in Ontario, Canada, exploring the foundations upon…
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Designing Rural School Improvement Networks: Aspirations and Actualities
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Hargreaves, Andy; Parsley, Danette; Cox, Elizabeth K.
2015-01-01
Rural school educators are often isolated and have few opportunities to learn from neighboring schools or colleagues. This is an especially daunting challenge for low-performing rural schools faced with implementing significant reform efforts (e.g., turnaround approaches, educator effectiveness systems, college- and career-ready standards and…
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Project Ranger Curriculum Guide.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Fox, Carla; And Others
The objective of Project Ranger is to improve school behavior and academic performance of selected, primarily "disruptive," students who are failing in the traditional school program. The Ranger curriculum uses the outdoor environment as the medium for improving student self-concept and relations with peers and adults and for providing…
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Chounchaisithi, Napa; Santiwong, Busayarat; Sutthavong, Sirikarn; Asvanit, Pompun
2014-02-01
Disclosing agents have a long history of use as an aid in children's tooth brushing instruction. However, their benefit when used to improve self-performed tooth brushing ability without any tooth brushing instruction has not been investigated. To evaluate the effect of disclosed plaque visualization on improving the self-performed, tooth brushing ability of primary school children. A cluster-randomized, crossover study was conducted in Nakhon Nayok province, Thailand. A total of 122 second-grade schoolchildren, aged 8-10 years old, from 12 schools were randomly divided into 2 groups. The first group was assigned to brush with disclosed plaque visualization, while the other group brushed without disclosed plaque visualization. One month later the groups switched procedures. Tooth brushing ability was evaluated by the subjects' reduction in patient hygiene performance (PHP) scores. The data were analyzed using repeated-measures analysis of variance, with significance set at p<0.05. Disclosed plaque visualization had a significant effect on improving the children's self-performed, tooth brushing ability in all areas of the mouth (p<0.001), particularly for anterior teeth, mandibular teeth, buccal surfaces, and areas adjacent to the gingival margin (p<0.001). Disclosed plaque visualization is a viable technique to improve children's self-performed tooth brushing ability, and could be used in school-based oral health promotion programs.
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
LiCalsi, Christina; Citkowicz, Martyna; Friedman, Lawrence B.; Brown, Megan
2015-01-01
The Massachusetts Office of District and School Turnaround (ODST) assists the Commissioner's Districts (the 10 largest districts in the state) and schools within those districts. The assistance focuses on turning around the lowest performing schools in the district while building district capacity to support improvement in other district schools.…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Cordes, Sarah
2014-01-01
Charter schools and school choice are popular reforms believed to improve student performance largely through market competition, increased innovation, or some combination of the two mechanisms. Opponents of school choice argue that such reforms sap needed funds and resources from the traditional public school system. Despite this claim, there has…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Schwartz, Amy Ellen; Stiefel, Leanna; Wiswall, Matthew
2012-01-01
We evaluate the effectiveness of small high school reform in the country's largest school district, New York City. Using a rich administrative dataset for multiple cohorts of students and distance between student residence and school to instrument for endogenous school selection, we find substantial heterogeneity in school effects: newly created…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Witten, Allistair Mark
2010-01-01
A strong body of research in South Africa focuses on the in-school aspects of school improvement and the role that school principals play in establishing organizational structures to support teaching and learning, develop teacher capacity, and build a school culture conducive to academic performance. However, researchers have paid little attention…
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ResourceCheck: Assess Your District's Resource Use
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Education Resource Strategies, 2013
2013-01-01
For over a decade, Education Resource Strategies, Inc. (ERS) has helped leaders of urban school districts strategically reallocate their resources to improve student performance. This work identifies seven Core Transformational Strategies that support high-performing schools; in high-functioning districts, resources (people, time, and money) are…
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School and District Intervention: A Decision-Making Framework for Policymakers.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Bowles, Susan A.; Churchill, Andrew M.; Effrat, Andrew; McDermott, Kathryn A.
This paper seeks to help state policymakers understand their relatively new role in improving the academic performance of local schools and districts. The first section, "Intervention Decision-Making Framework," focuses on the intervention decision making framework model, performance criteria, strategic criteria, diagnostic…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Johnson, Robert L.
2005-01-01
High-performance schools are facilities that improve the learning environment while saving energy, resources and money. Creating a high-performance school requires an integrated design approach. Key systems--including lighting, HVAC, electrical and plumbing--must be considered from the beginning of the design process. According to William H.…
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Grauwe, Anton De
2005-07-01
School-based management is being increasingly advocated as a shortcut to more efficient management and quality improvement in education. Research, however, has been unable to prove conclusively such a linkage. Especially in developing countries, concerns remain about the possible detrimental impact of school-based management on school quality; equity among different schools in the same system; the motivation of and relationships between principals and teachers; and financial as well as administrative transparency. The present study defines school-based management and, in view of its implementation in different world regions, examines some of its advantages and disadvantages. In particular, the author explores the strategies which must accompany school-based management in order to ensure a positive impact on quality. These are found to include (1) guaranteeing that all schools have certain basic resources; (2) developing an effective school-support system; (3) providing schools with regular information on their performance and advice on how they might improve; and (4) emphasizing the motivational element in the management work of the school principal.
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Research performance of AACSB accredited institutions in Taiwan: before versus after accreditation.
Ke, Shih-Wen; Lin, Wei-Chao; Tsai, Chih-Fong
2016-01-01
More and more universities are receiving accreditation from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), which is an international association for promoting quality teaching and learning at business schools. To be accredited, the schools are required to meet a number of standards ensuring that certain levels of teaching quality and students' learning are met. However, there are a variety of points of view espoused in the literature regarding the relationship between research and teaching, some studies have demonstrated that research and teaching these are complementary elements of learning, but others disagree with these findings. Unlike past such studies, we focus on analyzing the research performance of accredited schools during the period prior to and after receiving accreditation. The objective is to answer the question as to whether performance has been improved by comparing the same school's performance before and after accreditation. In this study, four AACSB accredited universities in Taiwan are analyzed, including one teaching oriented and three research oriented universities. Research performance is evaluated by comparing seven citation statistics, the number of papers published, number of citations, average number of citations per paper, average citations per year, h-index (annual), h-index, and g-index. The analysis results show that business schools demonstrated enhanced research performance after AACSB accreditation, but in most accredited schools the proportion of faculty members not actively doing research is larger than active ones. This study shows that the AACSB accreditation has a positive impact on research performance. The findings can be used as a reference for current non-accredited schools whose research goals are to improve their research productivity and quality.
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Relegation and Reversion: Longitudinal Analysis of School Turnaround and Decline
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Hochbein, Craig
2012-01-01
School turnaround has become a popular strategy for improvement of chronically low-performing schools. Research related to school turnaround has relied substantially upon case studies. These case studies often focus on successful turnarounds and report immediate outcomes, failing to provide information about the sustainability of the results. In…
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Linking Assessment and School Success.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Raham, Helen
1999-01-01
School systems have recently experienced a dramatic shift toward the use of large-scale assessment to improve school performance. Discusses the ways in which external assessment may benefit education, the need for multiple measures of various dimensions of school success, and guidelines for using assessment to create a dynamic cycle of continuous…
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School Leadership Skill Development
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Weigel, Richard A.
2013-01-01
The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between what is currently understood about skills for school leadership and the need for a greater understanding of those skills. The importance of developing leadership skills to improve school performance and effectiveness is great. In the field of school leadership, most leaders…
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The Rise of Networks: How Decentralized Management Is Improving Schools
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Kelleher, Maureen
2014-01-01
School districts across the country are shifting away from their traditional management paradigm--a central office that directs its schools through uniform mandates and policies--toward a new vision where district leaders support autonomous schools while holding them accountable for student performance. The advent of new governance mechanisms…
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School Uniforms in Urban Public High Schools
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Draa, Virginia Ann Bendel
2005-01-01
The purpose of this study was to determine whether or not the implementation of a mandatory uniform policy in urban public high schools improved school performance measures at the building level for rates of attendance, graduation, academic proficiency, and student conduct as measured by rates of suspensions and expulsions. Sixty-four secondary…
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ESCOs: Helping Schools Save Money and Energy.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
School Planning & Management, 2000
2000-01-01
Discusses the use of energy savings performance contracts to help reduce costs and improve school infrastructure and the educational environment. Further discussed are how indoor air quality reduces health, productivity, and costs; and examples are provided of how other schools have achieved better school environments and reduced energy costs. (GR)
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Talking about the Facts of Education Data with School Board Members
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Data Quality Campaign, 2014
2014-01-01
The Data Quality Campaign and the National School Boards Association's Center for Public Education prepared this document to help school board members respond to questions about education data, explain its importance to improving school and student performance, and understand how boards can help ensure student privacy.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Bolden, Marsha Gail
Some schools fall short of the high demand to increase science scores on state exams because low-performing students enter high school unprepared for high school science. Low-performing students are not successful in high school for many reasons. However, using inquiry methods have improved students' understanding of science concepts. The purpose of this qualitative research study was to investigate the teachers' lived experiences with using inquiry methods to motivate low-performing high school science students in an inquiry-based program called Xtreem Science. Fifteen teachers were selected from the Xtreem Science program, a program designed to assist teachers in motivating struggling science students. The research questions involved understanding (a) teachers' experiences in using inquiry methods, (b) challenges teachers face in using inquiry methods, and (c) how teachers describe student's response to inquiry methods. Strategy of data collection and analysis included capturing and understanding the teachers' feelings, perceptions, and attitudes in their lived experience of teaching using inquiry method and their experience in motivating struggling students. Analysis of interview responses revealed teachers had some good experiences with inquiry and expressed that inquiry impacted their teaching style and approach to topics, and students felt that using inquiry methods impacted student learning for the better. Inquiry gave low-performing students opportunities to catch up and learn information that moved them to the next level of science courses. Implications for positive social change include providing teachers and school district leaders with information to help improve performance of the low performing science students.
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Mizuno, Kei; Tanaka, Masaaki; Fukuda, Sanae; Sasabe, Tetsuya; Imai-Matsumura, Kyoko; Watanabe, Yasuyoshi
2011-05-01
When students proceed to junior high school from elementary school, rapid changes in the environment occur, which may cause various behavioral and emotional problems. However, the changes in cognitive functions during this transitional period have rarely been studied. In 158 elementary school students from 4th- to 6th-grades and 159 junior high school students from 7th- to 9th-grades, we assessed various cognitive functions, including motor processing, spatial construction ability, semantic fluency, immediate memory, delayed memory, spatial and non-spatial working memory, and selective, alternative, and divided attention. Our findings showed that performance on spatial and non-spatial working memory, alternative attention, divided attention, and semantic fluency tasks improved from elementary to junior high school. In particular, performance on alternative and divided attention tasks improved during the transitional period from elementary to junior high school. Our finding suggests that development of alternative and divided attention is of crucial importance in the transitional period from elementary to junior high school. Copyright © 2010 The Japanese Society of Child Neurology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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The Effect of a State Department of Education Teacher Mentor Initiative on Science Achievement
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Pruitt, Stephen L.; Wallace, Carolyn S.
2012-06-01
This study investigated the effectiveness of a southern state's department of education program to improve science achievement through embedded professional development of science teachers in the lowest performing schools. The Science Mentor Program provided content and inquiry-based coaching by teacher leaders to science teachers in their own classrooms. The study analyzed the mean scale scores for the science portion of the state's high school graduation test for the years 2004 through 2007 to determine whether schools receiving the intervention scored significantly higher than comparison schools receiving no intervention. The results showed that all schools achieved significant improvement of scale scores between 2004 and 2007, but there were no significant performance differences between intervention and comparison schools, nor were there any significant differences between various subgroups in intervention and comparison schools. However, one subgroup, economically disadvantaged (ED) students, from high-level intervention schools closed the achievement gap with ED students from no-intervention schools across the period of the study. The study provides important information to guide future research on and design of large-scale professional development programs to foster inquiry-based science.
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Tennessee State Board of Education, Nashville.
This report describes the performance goals established for Tennessee school systems in accordance with the Education Improvement Act (EIA) adopted in 1992. The report also describes the initiatives undertaken to assist school systems in achieving those goals. Prepared by the State Board of Education and the Commissioner of Education, this report…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Bulach, Cletus R.; Lunenburg, Fred C.; Potter, Les
2008-01-01
A high performing school is described as one where student achievement is high and student and teacher absenteeism is low. Student behavior is such that teachers seldom have to control them or tell them what to do. This results in greater time on task, higher teacher morale, low teacher absenteeism, and improved parental support. One other…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Bulach, Cletus R.; Lunenberg, Fred C.; Potter, Les
2011-01-01
A high-performing school is described as one where student achievement is high and student and teacher absenteeism is low. Student behavior is such that teachers seldom have to control them or tell them what to do. This results in greater time on task, higher teacher morale, low teacher absenteeism, and improved parental support. One other…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Fry-Ahearn, Betty; Collins, David
2016-01-01
A grant from the School Leadership Program sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education during 2008-14 provided the opportunities and resources for SREB to bring together its cutting-edge knowledge base, field experience, and substantial bank of publications and training materials in the closely related fields of school improvement and school…
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Systemic Efforts in Georgia to Improve Education Leadership
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Page, Deb
2010-01-01
Research points to links between school and school district leadership and student achievement. Local and national education reform has created rising expectations for student performance. Education leadership is both complex and high stakes. Key stakeholders in Georgia have developed a solution to improve factors in the work, workplace, and…
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Cost-Effectiveness Analysis in Practice: Interventions to Improve High School Completion
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Hollands, Fiona; Bowden, A. Brooks; Belfield, Clive; Levin, Henry M.; Cheng, Henan; Shand, Robert; Pan, Yilin; Hanisch-Cerda, Barbara
2014-01-01
In this article, we perform cost-effectiveness analysis on interventions that improve the rate of high school completion. Using the What Works Clearinghouse to select effective interventions, we calculate cost-effectiveness ratios for five youth interventions. We document wide variation in cost-effectiveness ratios between programs and between…
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Data for Improvement, Data for Accountability
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Weiss, Janet A.
2012-01-01
This commentary on the special issue on data use highlights the distinctions between data systems intended to improve the performance of school staff and those intended to hold schools and districts accountable for outcomes. It advises researchers to be alert to the differences in the policy logics connected with each approach.
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Heck, Ronald H.; Hallinger, Philip
2010-01-01
Researchers have persisted in framing leadership as the driver for change and performance improvement in schools despite convincing theoretical commentary that proposes leadership as a process of reciprocal interaction. Although conceptualizing leadership as a reciprocal process offers leverage for understanding leadership effects on learning,…
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An Examination of the Impact of Mentoring on New Administrators
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Pittman, Audra
2014-01-01
Despite the vast research on mentoring, little is known about the effect mentoring has on the leadership capacity of first year administrators. Improving student achievement is imperative to public education, and improving school leadership at individual sites will increase student performance. Schools that are raising student achievement in spite…
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Leading System-Wide Improvement
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Harris, Alma
2012-01-01
Around the world there is a preoccupation with improving the performance of schools and school systems. Comparisons made between countries through PISA and PERLs have led to a preoccupation, and in some cases, an obsession, with securing a high position in the international league tables. The minds of policy-makers and politicians alike are…
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Self-regulation workshop and Occupational Performance Coaching with teachers: A pilot study.
Hui, Caroline; Snider, Laurie; Couture, Mélanie
2016-04-01
Teachers' occupational role and performance can be undermined when working with students with disruptive classroom behaviours. This pilot study aimed to explore the impact of school-based occupational therapy intervention on teachers' classroom management self-efficacy and perceived performance/satisfaction in their management of students with disruptive behaviours. This pilot study used a multiple-case replication study design. A cohort of regular classroom elementary school teachers (n = 11) participated in a 1-day workshop on sensorimotor strategies for supporting student self-regulation followed by eight individual sessions of Occupational Performance Coaching (OPC). Measurement tools were the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure, Goal Attainment Scaling (GAS), and Teachers' Self-Efficacy Scale-Classroom Management. Improvement in teachers' perception of performance, satisfaction, and classroom management was seen. GAS showed clinically significant improvement. Improvements were sustained at 7 weeks follow-up. Preliminary results support the use of sensorimotor education combined with OPC to enable teachers' occupational performance. © CAOT 2016.
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Trujillo, Tina; Renée, Michelle
2015-01-01
Background: In 2009, the Obama Administration announced its intention to rapidly "turn around" 5,000 of the nation's lowest-performing schools. To do so, it relied on the School Improvement Grant (SIG) program to provide temporary funding for states and schools, and to mandate drastic, school-level reforms. Most of these reforms require…
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Turnaround Schools as a U-Turn for Student Achievement: The Rotary of School Reform Efforts
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Mette, Ian M.
2012-01-01
This case study presents data to support the notion that turnaround school policy can improve the efficiency of how traditionally low-performing schools function. The schools that were successful in implementing the UVA Turnaround Program training developed a clear understanding of the expectations for participating in the UVA Turnaround Program…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Molina, Brooke S. G.; Smith, Bradley H.; Pelham, William E., Jr.
2005-01-01
School-wide behavior management systems can improve academic performance and behavior in middle schools, and they should have positive effects on students with ADHD. Unfortunately, evidence-based, school-wide behavior management systems have not been widely adopted because of problems with feasibility, acceptability, and sustainability. The…
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Turnaround High School Principals: Recruit, Prepare and Empower Leaders of Change.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Schmidt-Davis, Jon; Bottoms, Gene
2012-01-01
Recent studies make one reality clear: While multiple factors can cause a low-performing high school to be in a turnaround situation, every high school that makes dramatic academic improvement has strong, effective school leadership. Turning a school around is no work for novices. It takes a skilled, visionary and proactive principal to pull apart…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Holme, Jennifer Jellison
2013-01-01
Background: Over the past several decades, a significant number of states have either adopted or increased high school exit examination requirements. Although these policies are intended to generate improvement in schools, little is known about how high schools are responding to exit testing pressures. Purpose: This study examined how five…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
National Alliance of Business, Inc., Washington, DC.
This booklet provides business leaders and coalitions with information and resources they can use to support charter schools in their own communities. Section 1 provides a brief overview of the charter school movement and discusses the key features of charter schools, which are self-managed public schools that operate through performance contracts…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Akoma, Ahunna Margaux
2012-01-01
This case study of one school district examined how school leaders use student performance data and technology-based data analysis tools to engage in data-informed decision-making for continuous improvement. School leaders in this context included leaders at the district, school, and classroom levels. An extensive literature review provided the…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Faginski-Stark, Erica; Casavant, Christopher; Collins, William; McCandless, Jason; Tencza, Marilyn
2012-01-01
Recent federal and state mandates have tasked school systems to move beyond principal evaluation as a bureaucratic function and to re-imagine it as a critical component to improve principal performance and compel school renewal. This qualitative study investigated the district leaders' and principals' perceptions of the performance evaluation…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Jones-Mason, Keely S.
2012-01-01
In an effort to improve academic performance for students receiving special education services, a large urban school district in Tennessee has implemented Integrated Service Delivery Model. The purpose of this study was to compare the performance of students receiving instruction in self-contained classrooms to the performance of students…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Wilcox, Kristen Campbell; Gregory, Karen; Yu, Lisa
2017-01-01
This article reports on findings from a multiple case study investigating the nature of educators' approaches toward monitoring English language learners' (ELLs) performance and using data to improve instruction and apply appropriate interventions. Six New York elementary schools where ELLs' performance was better than predicted (i.e.…
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Does Performance Related Pay for Teachers Improve Student Performance? Some Evidence from India.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Kingdon, Geeta; Teal, Francis
This study examined whether teacher pay was responsive to measures of student performance, noting whether higher pay actually raised student learning outcomes. Data came from a survey of students and schools in India, where public and private school sectors have developed in parallel. The survey collected data on 902 students, 172 teachers, and…
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Educators Use Student Performance Data to Plan, Implement, and Evaluate
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Lujan, James
2010-01-01
Having data about student academic performance motivates school leaders to perform better as educators, and tells them where they need to concentrate their efforts to improve. As principal of Ernie Pyle Middle School in Albuquerque, New Mexico, this author finds that the constant use of relevant data helps him stay focused on his instructional…
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Impact of poor oral health on children's school attendance and performance.
Jackson, Stephanie L; Vann, William F; Kotch, Jonathan B; Pahel, Bhavna T; Lee, Jessica Y
2011-10-01
We examined school days missed for routine dental care versus dental pain or infection to determine the relationship between children's oral health status and school attendance and performance. We used 2008 data from the North Carolina Child Health Assessment and Monitoring Program. The study sample, weighted to reflect the state's population, included 2183 schoolchildren. Variables assessed included school absences and performance, oral health status, parental education, health insurance coverage, race, and gender. Children with poor oral health status were nearly 3 times more likely (odds ratio = 3.89; 95% confidence interval = 1.96, 7.75) than were their counterparts to miss school as a result of dental pain. Absences caused by pain were associated with poorer school performance (P < .05), but absences for routine care were not. Mediation analyses revealed that oral health status was associated with performance independent of absence for pain. Children with poorer oral health status were more likely to experience dental pain, miss school, and perform poorly in school. These findings suggest that improving children's oral health status may be a vehicle to enhancing their educational experience.
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Impact of Poor Oral Health on Children's School Attendance and Performance
Vann, William F.; Kotch, Jonathan B.; Pahel, Bhavna T.; Lee, Jessica Y.
2011-01-01
Objectives. We examined school days missed for routine dental care versus dental pain or infection to determine the relationship between children's oral health status and school attendance and performance. Methods. We used 2008 data from the North Carolina Child Health Assessment and Monitoring Program. The study sample, weighted to reflect the state's population, included 2183 schoolchildren. Variables assessed included school absences and performance, oral health status, parental education, health insurance coverage, race, and gender. Results. Children with poor oral health status were nearly 3 times more likely (odds ratio = 3.89; 95% confidence interval = 1.96, 7.75) than were their counterparts to miss school as a result of dental pain. Absences caused by pain were associated with poorer school performance (P < .05), but absences for routine care were not. Mediation analyses revealed that oral health status was associated with performance independent of absence for pain. Conclusions. Children with poorer oral health status were more likely to experience dental pain, miss school, and perform poorly in school. These findings suggest that improving children's oral health status may be a vehicle to enhancing their educational experience. PMID:21330579
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Your Audit and Financial Controls.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Hatch, Mary B.; And Others
Audits should be performed on school accounting systems because they are required by law and they provide independent reviews of school financial procedures and suggestions for improvement. A licensed certified public accountant, public accountant, or an accountant who has met the Continuation of Education requirement should perform the audit.…
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Focus on Health Education and Nutrition: Development of a Guide for High School Teachers.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Kirk, Robert H.; And Others
1980-01-01
Summaries are presented of evaluation research on a National Dairy Council guide for integrating nutrition education into high school health education courses. The program was found to be effective in improving both general health test performance and nutrition test performance. (JMF)
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Performance Contracting: A Forgotten Experiment in School Privatization.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Ascher, Carol
1996-01-01
During the early 1970s, over 150 school districts and several states contracted with private companies to deliver instruction, and the Nixon Administration initiated a vast privatization field experiment in Texarkana. None of these performance contracting experiments significantly improved instruction. Instead, they raised issues of staffing,…
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Trends in Schooling: Demography, Performance and Organization.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Mare, Robert D.
1981-01-01
Utilizing "Social Indicators" (1979), discusses growth and distribution of schooling in the U.S., trends in student test performance, and major organizational changes in elementary/secondary education. Comments on quality of available data and suggests improvements for future reporting of educational indicators. (Reprint of article is available…
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Paquette, Max R; Peel, Shelby A; Smith, Ross E; Temme, Mark; Dwyer, Jeffrey N
2017-11-29
There are many different types of aerobic cross-training modalities currently available. It is important to consider the effects that these different modalities have on running performance and injury risks. The purpose of this study was to compare movement quality, running economy and performance, injury-related biomechanical variables and, hip muscle strength before and after training with different cross-training modalities in high school runners. Thirty-one high school male runners trained for four weeks in one of three cross-training modalities, in addition to a running-only (RUN, n=9) group, for which training sessions replaced two easy runs per week: cycling (CYCLE; n=6), indoor elliptical (ELLIP; n=7) and, outdoor elliptical bike (EBIKE; n=9). Functional movement screen (FMS), running economy (RE), 3,000m performance, hip kinematics, hip muscle strength were assessed. Paired t-tests and Cohen's d effect sizes were used to assess mean differences for each variable before and after training within each group. EBIKE training was the only modality that improved FMS scores (d = 1.36) and RE before and after training (d = 0.48). All groups showed improvements in 3,000m performance but large effects were only found for the CYCLE (d = 1.50) and EBIKE (d = 1.41) groups. RUN (d = 1.25), CYCLE (d = 1.17) and, EBIKE (d = 0.82) groups showed improvements in maximal hip extensor strength. Outdoor cycling and elliptical bike cross-training may be the most effective cross-training modalities to incorporate in early season training to improve running performance in high school runners.
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Continuing education for performance improvement: a creative approach.
Collins, Patti-Ann; Hardesty, Ilana; White, Julie L; Zisblatt, Lara
2012-10-01
In an effort to improve patient safety and health care outcomes, continuing medical education has begun to focus on performance improvement initiatives for physician practices. Boston University School of Medicine's (BUSM) Continuing Nursing Education Accredited Provider Unit has begun a creative project to award nursing contact hours for nurses' participation in performance improvement activities. This column highlights its initial efforts. Copyright 2012, SLACK Incorporated.
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Holley, Marc Jacob
2009-01-01
Improving principal quality in Arkansas may be a partial solution to the public policy problem of low performing public schools. Just as policymakers in other states are beginning to explore incentive-based compensation policies to improve principal quality, education policymakers in Arkansas should look to these policies as a way to align goals…
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Entrepreneurship Projects and Pupils' Academic Performance: A Study of Norwegian Secondary Schools
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Johansen, Vegard; Schanke, Tuva
2014-01-01
Many European countries have launched policy strategies for entrepreneurship education in the past decade. The result is a significant increase of entrepreneurship education in schools and higher education institutions in Europe. Entrepreneurship education is supposed to promote entrepreneurial abilities and improve academic performance. This…
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Improving Student Academic Performance through Antibias Education
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Harte-Weiner, Philene
2013-01-01
The quantitative study contained herein was conducted to determine if there is a relationship between antibias education (ABE) and student performance on state standardized tests in a South Florida school district. In many districts, raising test scores has become priority with some schools even changing their curriculum so that teachers teach…
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Intervention Strategies for Students with ADHD
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
DuPaul, George J.; White, George P.
2005-01-01
The authors describe three types of ADHD behavior that affect from 3 percent to 7 percent of elementary school children, mostly boys. They recommend supplementing stimulant medication with behavior modification strategies, at home and school, to improve ADHD students' social skills and school performance.
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Bush, George W.
This blueprint describes President Bush's education plan. Federal block grants are provided to states for schools that establish annual assessments, demand progress, improve poorly-performing schools, create consequences for failure, and protect home and private schools. The "Reading First" initiative gives funds and tools to promote…
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A Descriptive Case Study of the Implementation of the Departmentalized Looping Team Model
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Miller, Cody R.
2011-01-01
The conceptual framework guiding this study focuses on local, state, and federal standards as well as demands on schools to improve performance of underserved student populations as impetuses for school structure changes. As related to the aforementioned framework, many schools have developed innovative school restructuring methods such as the…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Hamlin, Daniel
2018-01-01
Providing improved educational options for low-income African American families has been one of the primary objectives of the charter school movement. However, among demographically similar families, school choosers may possess subtle advantages compared to nonchoosers, leading to biased estimates of charter school performance in nonexperimental…
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Improving the Implementation and Effectiveness of Out-of-School-Time Tutoring
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Heinrich, Carolyn J.; Burch, Patricia; Good, Annalee; Acosta, Rudy; Cheng, Huiping; Dillender, Marcus; Kirshbaum, Christi; Nisar, Hiren; Stewart, Mary
2014-01-01
School districts are spending millions on tutoring outside regular school day hours for economically and academically disadvantaged students in need of extra academic assistance. Under No Child Left Behind (NCLB), parents of children in persistently low-performing schools were allowed to choose their child's tutoring provider, and together with…
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ALL Kids Can Be Readers: The Marriage of Reading First and Inclusive Education
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Ashby, Christine; Burns, Janice; Royle, Joan
2014-01-01
As schools attempt to address the needs of an ever more diverse student population, many have turned to intensive interventions to improve reading performance. Reading First grants from the United States Department of Education encouraged schools to implement evidence-based instructional practices in elementary schools. However, for many schools,…
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Florida's Class Size Amendment and Co-Teaching: An Uneasy Partnership
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Sutton, Lenford C.; Jones, Phyllis; White, Julia
2008-01-01
For nearly four decades, school finance has become progressively more central in school reform efforts aimed at improving student performance. At the same time, the focus of many school business officials and policymakers has turned to efficient uses of current resources in lieu of uniform increases in school funding. With regard to improving…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Thomas, David E.
2013-01-01
This executive position paper proposes recommendations for designing reform models between public and private sectors dedicated to improving school reform work in low performing urban high schools. It reviews scholarly research about for-profit educational management organizations, high reliability organizations, American high school reform, and…
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Childhood Obesity in the Testing Era: What Teachers and Schools Can Do!
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Winter, Suzanne M.
2009-01-01
In this era of increasing accountability and high-stakes testing in schools, a serious paradox has surfaced. Children are becoming overweight at an alarming rate, and mounting evidence points to a relationship between obesity and poor school performance. Ironically, pressure to improve children's academic achievement has led many schools to adopt…
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Turning around Maple Shade Middle School: A Principal's Initial Reform Efforts
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Salmonowicz, Michael J.; Levy, Melissa K.
2009-01-01
This case was written for use in courses dealing with school administration, specifically those related to organizational change, school improvement/turnaround, and the principalship. It explores a veteran principal's first year as a "turnaround specialist" in a low-performing middle school, where she works with a sense of urgency to achieve an…
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Teacher Working Conditions in Charter Schools and Traditional Public Schools: A Comparative Study
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Ni, Yongmei
2012-01-01
Background/Context: Teachers affect student performance through their interaction with students in the context of the classrooms and schools where teaching and learning take place. Although it is widely assumed that supportive working conditions improve the quality of instruction and teachers' willingness to remain in a school, little is known…
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Respecting High-Schoolers as Partners, Not Inferiors
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Cushman, Kathleen
2006-01-01
In the current climate of school improvement, no one feels more pressure than a high school principal. A principal bears responsibility not just for the organization's daily functioning but for the performance of its students in high school and beyond. However, high school students perceive principals as individuals who held the lion's share of…
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Identifying Low Cost Energy Improvements for School Buildings: An Energy Audit Manual.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Minnesota State Dept. of Energy and Economic Development, St. Paul.
This manual is a guide for performing energy audits in school buildings using low- and no-cost measures found effective in Minnesota. The manual helps school maintenance and administrative personnel conduct walk-through inspections of school buildings, focusing on the energy efficiency of their equipment and operations. The measures recommended…
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Better Data, Better Decisions: Informing School Choosers to Improve Education Markets
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Valant, Jon
2014-01-01
School choice sits at the center of the education reform agenda. The most recent national study from Stanford University's Center for Research on Education Outcomes found that charter school students perform comparably in math and better in reading than their peers in traditional district schools. Often lost in the growing national enthusiasm…
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Unrigging the Schools. One Approach to Improving Discipline.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Howard, Eugene R.
Many factors that contribute to a negative school climate also cause discipline problems. Our schools are "rigged," like gambling casinos, in that they must produce a certain percentage of losers. The present school system, in performing its screening role for society, demands that some fail. Students today are aware of this rigging and the…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
McMurrer, Jennifer
2012-01-01
Research has long suggested that significantly increasing quality time in school for teaching and learning can have a positive impact on student achievement. Recognizing this connection, federal guidance requires low-performing schools to increase student learning time if they are implementing two popular reform models using school improvement…
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State Test Data and School Improvement Efforts
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Beaver, Jessica K.; Weinbaum, Elliot H.
2015-01-01
Although much has been written about the potential benefits of effective data use in schools, considerably less attention has been paid to how schools make sense of the data generated from performance-based accountability measures. This article explores schools' usage of state test data, the intensity of data use, and the perceived utility of…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Public Impact, 2008
2008-01-01
Individual teachers have the largest single school effect on student performance. Documented experience also indicates that individual teachers in high-poverty schools can effect rapid, dramatic student learning improvements within their own classrooms. Organization-wide change of a similar magnitude takes a broader effort with daring leadership…
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An Integrated Theatre Production for School Nutrition Promotion Program
Bush, Robert; Box, Selina; McCallum, David; Khalil, Stephanie
2018-01-01
In the context of stubbornly high childhood obesity rates, health promotion activities in schools provide a potential avenue to improve children’s nutritional behaviours. Theatre production has a rich history as a health behaviour promotion strategy but lacks sound, outcome-based evaluation. This study evaluated the effect of an integrated, two-part, place-based theatre performance program with 212 students in five schools in a regional urban and semi-rural area. The program included a theatre performance and a healthy eating competition. A brief survey assessed student healthy eating knowledge and attitudes at three time points. Nutrition behaviour was measured by scoring the contents of children’s lunch boxes before, during and up to six weeks after the intervention. Statistical analysis tested change over time on five variables (Knowledge, Attitude, Sometimes foods, Everyday foods, Overall lunch box score). Results showed that both components of the integrated program improved nutrition knowledge and that the theatre performance improved children’s healthy eating attitudes. All three lunch box scores peaked after the integrated program and remained significantly higher than baseline at 4–6 weeks follow-up. Interaction effects were identified for school catchment area on four of the five dependent variables. Evaluation of this integrated theatre production program indicates the potential benefit of taking a “super-setting” approach. It demonstrates an effect from students taking home information they had learned and incorporating it into lunch box preparation. It also showed consistent effects for school geographical catchment. This study suggests that, with careful, theory-based design, theatre productions in schools can improve student nutritional activities. PMID:29498690
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An Integrated Theatre Production for School Nutrition Promotion Program.
Bush, Robert; Capra, Sandra; Box, Selina; McCallum, David; Khalil, Stephanie; Ostini, Remo
2018-03-02
In the context of stubbornly high childhood obesity rates, health promotion activities in schools provide a potential avenue to improve children's nutritional behaviours. Theatre production has a rich history as a health behaviour promotion strategy but lacks sound, outcome-based evaluation. This study evaluated the effect of an integrated, two-part, place-based theatre performance program with 212 students in five schools in a regional urban and semi-rural area. The program included a theatre performance and a healthy eating competition. A brief survey assessed student healthy eating knowledge and attitudes at three time points. Nutrition behaviour was measured by scoring the contents of children's lunch boxes before, during and up to six weeks after the intervention. Statistical analysis tested change over time on five variables (Knowledge, Attitude, Sometimes foods, Everyday foods, Overall lunch box score). Results showed that both components of the integrated program improved nutrition knowledge and that the theatre performance improved children's healthy eating attitudes. All three lunch box scores peaked after the integrated program and remained significantly higher than baseline at 4-6 weeks follow-up. Interaction effects were identified for school catchment area on four of the five dependent variables. Evaluation of this integrated theatre production program indicates the potential benefit of taking a "super-setting" approach. It demonstrates an effect from students taking home information they had learned and incorporating it into lunch box preparation. It also showed consistent effects for school geographical catchment. This study suggests that, with careful, theory-based design, theatre productions in schools can improve student nutritional activities.
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2000-10-01
most enlightening sources found on how to approach the problem were as follows: 1. Eric A. Hanushek and Others, Making Schools Work, Improving... Hanushek traces the history of educational inputs and outputs in the United States. Since the 1950s, test scores have not increased, while...important inputs see Eric A. Hanushek and Others, Making Schools Work: Improving Performance and Controlling Costs, The Brookings Institution, 1994 and
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Improving the Teaching of Science and Technology in Primary Schools--A Cluster Approach
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Chambers, Paul
2017-01-01
The position of science and technology in Scottish primary schools is broadly similar to most other primary schools throughout Great Britain. There are certain schools and individuals that perform at a very high level but many schools are hampered by a lack of resources, a lack of confidence in teaching the topics and some significant gaps in the…
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Investing for Sustainable Turnaround. Sustaining School Turnaround at Scale. Brief 2
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Education Resource Strategies, 2012
2012-01-01
The Federal government has brought the issue of low-performing schools to the forefront of public conversation by committing $3.5 billion over three years to turn around these schools. As of March 2011, over 1200 schools across the country had been awarded School Improvement Grants (SIG). Given the magnitude of this short-term investment and the…
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The Superintendent's Eighth Annual Report on School Performance and Improvement in Hawaii, 1997.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Gans, Thomas
This report contains collective data on Hawaii's schools, showing trends over time and, where appropriate, comparisons with data from other states. It includes data from 246 public schools and 7 school districts for the 1996-97 school year. In 1996-97, enrollment growth, which had exceeded 1.5% for 5 years, declined sharply to 1%. Dropout rates…
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Does Investing in After-School Classes Pay Off? PISA in Focus. No. 3
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
OECD Publishing (NJ1), 2011
2011-01-01
With all the competition to get into the right universities to secure the best jobs, secondary school students are often encouraged to take after-school classes in subjects already taught in school to help them improve their performance--even if that means forsaking other fun and interesting ways of spending after-school hours, such as playing…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
What Works Clearinghouse, 2008
2008-01-01
This review examined a study designed to evaluate whether the Achievement Challenge Pilot Project, a performance-pay program for teachers, improved the academic achievement of elementary school students. Study authors reported higher student test score gains for students in schools that implemented the performance- pay program than for students in…
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Effective Practices for Mentoring Beginning Middle School Teachers: Mentor's Perspectives
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Sowell, Marsha
2017-01-01
In order to improve student achievement, school systems must provide new teachers with support to become effective teachers more quickly. Educators frequently use mentoring to support new teachers and reach the goals of improved classroom performance as well as teacher retention. The intention in this study was to provide insights into the…
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A Study of Leadership and Continuous Improvement at Leadership Preparatory Academy
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Medina Araujo, Jacqueline
2013-01-01
This capstone project examines how an elementary school principal and her leadership team transformed Leadership Prep Academy in Capital City into a collaborative, high performing community school. This five-year process of continuous improvement involved engaging students, staff, parents, and members of the community in developing a culture of…
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Horizontal schools-based health programme in rural Kenya.
Bogie, James; Eder, Ben; Magnus, Dan; Amonje, Onguko David; Gant, Martina
2017-09-01
Primary school children in low-income countries are at risk of many diseases and poor health affects attendance, cognition and ability to learn. Developing school health and nutrition strategies has been extensively highlighted as a global priority, with a particular focus on complex programme design. However, such programmes are relatively untested in low-income settings. We implemented a complex school health and nutrition programme in two schools in Western Kenya over 3 years. There were numerous elements covering health policy, skills-based health education, infrastructure and disease prevention. A local non-governmental organisation, with involvement from local government and the community, performed programme implementation. Height-for-age, weight-for-age,height-for-weight, anaemia prevalence, academic performance and school attendance were the primary outcome measures. The programme improved nutrition, academic performance and anaemia prevalence. The number of underweight children fell from 20% to 11% (OR 0.51 95% CI 0.39 to 0.68 p=<0.01) and stunting prevalence fell from 29.9% to 20% (OR 0.59 95% CI 0.50 to 0.68 p=<0.01). Academic performance improved with a 74% reduction in odds of failing assessments (OR 0.26 95% CI 0.22 to 0.29 p=<0.01). Anaemia prevalence fell from 17.2% to 11%. The programme showed an increase in low body mass index prevalence and no effect on school attendance, the reasons for which are unclear. These results are encouraging and demonstrate that complex schools health programmes can lead to positive gains in health, nutrition and importantly academic performance. There is a need for further evaluation of comprehensive school health interventions in poor communities. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Hsia, Lu-Ho; Huang, Iwen; Hwang, Gwo-Jen
2016-01-01
In this paper, a web-based peer-assessment approach is proposed for conducting performing arts activities. A peer-assessment system was implemented and applied to a junior high school performing arts course to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed approach. A total of 163 junior high students were assigned to an experimental group and a…
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Improving Examination Performance through the Clenched Fist Technique.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Stanton, Harry E.
1988-01-01
The literature on the use of hypnosis in an educational setting is briefly reviewed, and a hypnotic approach involving the use of the clenched fist as a conditioned trigger to improve examination performance is described. A study of 60 high school students indicates that the approach can improve test outcomes. (TJH)
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Educational provisions and learning disability.
Kulkarni, Madhuri; Karande, Sunil; Thadhani, Anjana; Maru, Hetal; Sholapurwala, Rukhshana
2006-09-01
To assess the impact of the provisions of the Maharashtra government on the academic performance of children with specific learning disability (SpLD) at the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) board examination. The academic performance of 60 children (45 boys, 15 girls) at the SSC board examination with benefit of chosen provisions was compared with their performance at their last annual school examination before diagnosis of SpLD. There was a significant improvement in their mean percentage (%) total marks scored at the SSC board examination as compared with the mean % total marks scored by them at their last annual school examination before the diagnosis (63.48 +/- 7.86 vs. 40.95 +/- 7.23) [mean +/- SD, mean % difference = 22.53, 95% CI = 19.8 - 25.26, P. Children with SpLD who availed the benefit of provisions showed a significant improvement in their academic performance at the SSC board examination.
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Strøm, Ida Frugård; Schultz, Jon-Håkon; Wentzel-Larsen, Tore; Dyb, Grete
2016-01-01
The psychological impact on survivors of terrorism has been well documented. However, studies on adolescent survivors and the academic performance of high school students following a terrorist attack are lacking. This study investigated academic performance, absenteeism, and school support amongst survivors of a terrorist attack in Norway. Data from a longitudinal interview study were linked to officially registered grades of students (N=64) who successfully completed their 3-year senior high school program. Statistical tests of mean differences and linear regression were used to compare the survivors' registered grades with the national grade point average, before and after the event, as well as to assess absenteeism, self-reported grades and to test the association with school support. The students' grades were lower the year after the event than they had been the year before, and they were also lower than the national grade point average (p<0.001). However, their grades improved in the last year of high school, indicating possible recovery. Absence from school increased after the event, compared to the previous year. However, students reported high satisfaction with school support. The results indicate that academic functioning was reduced in the year after the traumatic event, but for students who successfully completed high school, the school situation improved 2 years after the event. The findings underscore the importance of keeping trauma-exposed students in school and providing support over time. A more defined educational approach to maintaining school attendance and educational measures which compensate for learning loss are needed in trauma-sensitive teaching.
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Reicher, Dan
2000-01-01
Discusses school design considerations for energy-efficient schools that provide learning environments that lead to improved student performance. Design myths are addressed as are use of daylighting and designing schools that can teach students and adults about the importance of conserving energy and money. Two online resources are included. (GR)
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Improving School Bus Driver Performance.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Farmer, Ernest
This reference source is intended to assist the school bus driver training instructor in course preparation. Instructional units for program planning each contain pertinent course questions, a summary, and evaluation questions. Unit 1, "Introduction to the School Bus Driver Training Program," focuses on basic course objectives and…
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Case Studies of Two High-Poverty High-Performing Schools
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Gehrke, Lori R.
2010-01-01
The existing literature on learning organizations emphasize that leadership and strong organizational culture are central to their successful development. Whereas schools continue to face government control, accountability, and financial restraints, they are also working diligently to engage in ongoing school improvement practices to provide…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Houston Independent School District, 2013
2013-01-01
The Apollo 20 project was launched during the 2010-2011 school year to accelerate Houston Independent School District's (HISD's) efforts to improve student performance in every school and close the achievement gap districtwide. This partnership with EdLabs at Harvard University incorporates best practices from successful public and charter schools…
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Using Data to Realign Resources
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Barbour, Catherine
2012-01-01
Schools and districts across the country are being subjected to some of the fiercest budget cuts in recent history, even as principals are held increasingly accountable for significantly improving student achievement, particularly in schools labeled "persistently low-achieving." For the 5,000 lowest-performing schools, there is the…
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Temporal geospatial analysis of secondary school students’ examination performance
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Nik Abd Kadir, ND; Adnan, NA
2016-06-01
Malaysia's Ministry of Education has improved the organization of the data to have the geographical information system (GIS) school database. However, no further analysis is done using geospatial analysis tool. Mapping has emerged as a communication tool and becomes effective way to publish the digital and statistical data such as school performance results. The objective of this study is to analyse secondary school student performance of science and mathematics scores of the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia Examination result in the year 2010 to 2014 for the Kelantan's state schools with the aid of GIS software and geospatial analysis. The school performance according to school grade point average (GPA) from Grade A to Grade G were interpolated and mapped and query analysis using geospatial tools able to be done. This study will be beneficial to the education sector to analyse student performance not only in Kelantan but to the whole Malaysia and this will be a good method to publish in map towards better planning and decision making to prepare young Malaysians for the challenges of education system and performance.
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Grantee Submission, 2015
2015-01-01
The Schools to Watch: School Transformation Network Project is a whole school reform model designed to improve the educational practices, experiences, and outcomes of low-performing middle-grades schools. Developed by the National Forum to Accelerate Middle-Grades Reform, the four-year project was funded in 2010 by a U.S. Department of Education…
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Das, Madhusudan; Deepeshwar, Singh; Subramanya, Pailoor; Manjunath, Nandi Krishnamurthy
2016-01-01
Selective attention and efficacy are important components of scholastic performance in school children. While attempts are being made to introduce new methods to improve academic performance either as part of curricular or extracurricular activities in schools, the success rates are minimal. Hence, this study assessed the effect of yoga-based intervention on psychomotor performance and self-efficacy in school children. Two hundred ten school children with ages ranging from 11 to 16 years (mean age ± SD; 13.7 ± 0.8 years) satisfying the inclusion and exclusion criteria were recruited for the 10-day yogä program. An equal number of age-matched participants (n = 210; mean ± SD; 13.1 ± 0.8 years) were selected for the control group. Participants were assessed for attention and performance at the beginning and end of 10 days using trail making task (TMT) A and B, and self-efficacy questionnaire. The yoga group showed higher self-efficacy and improved performance after 10 days of yoga intervention. The performance in TMT-A and -B of the yoga group showed a significantly higher number of attempts with a reduction in time taken to complete the task and a number of wrong attempts compared with control group. Results suggest that yoga practice enhances self-efficacy and processing speed with fine motor coordination, visual-motor integration, visual perception, planning ability, and cognitive performance.
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Advanced Energy Retrofit Guide: Practical Ways to Improve Energy Performance, K-12 Schools (Book)
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Not Available
The U.S. Department of Energy developed the Advanced Energy Retrofit Guides (AERGs) to provide specific methodologies, information, and guidance to help energy managers and other stakeholders plan and execute energy efficiency improvements. Detailed technical discussion is fairly limited. Instead, we emphasize actionable information, practical methodologies, diverse case studies, and unbiased evaluations of the most promising retrofit energy efficiency measures for each building type. A series of AERGs is under development, addressing key segments of the commercial building stock. K-12 schools were selected as one of the highest priority building sectors, because schools affect the lives of most Americans. They alsomore » represent approximately 8% of the energy use and 10% of the floor area in commercial buildings nationwide. U.S. K-12 school districts spend more than $8 billion each year on energy - more than they spend on computers and textbooks combined. Most occupy older buildings that often have poor operational performance - more than 30% of schools were built before 1960. The average age of a school is about 42 years - which is nearly the expected serviceable lifespan of the building. K-12 schools offer unique opportunities for deep, cost-effective energy efficiency improvements, and this guide provides convenient and practical guidance for exploiting these opportunities in the context of public, private, and parochial schools.« less
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Alexander, Kelly T; Dreibelbis, Robert; Freeman, Matthew C; Ojeny, Betty; Rheingans, Richard
2013-09-01
Water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) programs in schools have been shown to improve health and reduce absence. In resource-poor settings, barriers such as inadequate budgets, lack of oversight, and competing priorities limit effective and sustained WASH service delivery in schools. We employed a cluster-randomized trial to examine if schools could improve WASH conditions within existing administrative structures. Seventy schools were divided into a control group and three intervention groups. All intervention schools received a budget for purchasing WASH-related items. One group received no further intervention. A second group received additional funding for hiring a WASH attendant and making repairs to WASH infrastructure, and a third group was given guides for student and community monitoring of conditions. Intervention schools made significant improvements in provision of soap and handwashing water, treated drinking water, and clean latrines compared with controls. Teachers reported benefits of monitoring, repairs, and a WASH attendant, but quantitative data of WASH conditions did not determine whether expanded interventions out-performed our budget-only intervention. Providing schools with budgets for WASH operational costs improved access to necessary supplies, but did not ensure consistent service delivery to students. Further work is needed to clarify how schools can provide WASH services daily.
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How Charter Schools Do, and Don't, Inspire Change in Traditional Public School Districts
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Linick, Matthew; Lubienski, Christopher
2013-01-01
For some, charter schools represent the hope of improved student learning and performance. It is hoped to understand the theory of change underlying charter schools relative to the actual evidence on their impact. In order to address this issue, the authors examine the logic of organizational change and competitive options, drawing on evidence…
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Bringing School Reform to Scale: Five Award-Winning Urban Districts. Educational Innovations
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Zavadsky, Heather
2009-01-01
"Bringing School Reform to Scale" looks in detail at five school districts that have been honored in recent years by The Broad Foundation, whose annual award is granted "each year to the urban school districts that demonstrate the greatest overall performance and improvement in student achievement while reducing achievement gaps among poor and…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Jacobsen, Rebecca; Snyder, Jeffrey W.; Saultz, Andrew
2014-01-01
The 2001 No Child Left Behind Act requires local education agencies to publicly disseminate school performance data. In response, districts and state departments of education have created "school report cards" that vary widely. While data dissemination policies can improve institutional legitimacy and ensure ongoing support, we suggest…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Koon, Sharon; Petscher, Yaacov; Foorman, Barbara R.
2014-01-01
State education leaders are often interested in identifying schools that have demonstrated success with improving the literacy of students who are at the highest level of risk for reading difficulties. The identification of these schools that are "beating the odds" is typically accomplished by comparing a school's observed performance on…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Koon, Sharon; Petscher, Yaacov; Foorman, Barbara R.
2014-01-01
State education leaders are often interested in identifying schools that have demonstrated success with improving the literacy of students who are at the highest level of risk for reading difficulties. The identification of these schools that are "beating the odds" is typically accomplished by comparing a school's observed performance on…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Heystek, Jan
2015-01-01
A formidable challenge most school leaders in South Africa face is to improve the academic results in state schools. In terms of their contracts, principals are accountable for the academic results as reflected in examination and test results for their schools. The National Department of Education (currently the Department of Basic Education) has…
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A Sense of Balance: District Aligns Personalized Learning with School and System Goals
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Donsky, Debbie; Witherow, Kathy
2015-01-01
This article addresses the challenge of personalizing learning while also ensuring alignment with system and school improvement plans. Leaders of the York Region District School Board in Ontario knew that what took their high-performing school district from good to great would not take it from great to excellent. The district's early model of…
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Exploring Instructional Differences and School Performance in High-Poverty Elementary Schools
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Hirn, Regina G.; Hollo, Alexandra; Scott, Terrance M.
2018-01-01
In the United States, federal funding under Title 1 is provided to schools to improve academic achievement for disadvantaged students. Many students attending schools eligible for Title 1 funding are from families in poverty and at risk for negative outcomes. Identifying instructional factors that mitigate this risk must be a priority for teachers…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Figlio, David; Hart, Cassandra M. D.
2011-01-01
Programs that enable students to attend private schools, including both vouchers and scholarships funded with tax credits, have become increasingly common in recent years. This study examines the impact of the nation's largest private school scholarship program on the performance of students who remain in the public schools. The Florida Tax Credit…
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How to Know when Dramatic Change Is on Track: Leading Indicators of School Turnarounds
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Kowal, Julie; Ableidinger, Joe
2011-01-01
In recent years, national policymakers have placed new emphasis on "school turnarounds" as a strategy for rapid, dramatic improvement in chronically failing schools, calling on education leaders to turn around performance in the 5,000 lowest-achieving schools nationwide. This goal may seem daunting, given the dismal success rates of…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
What Works Clearinghouse, 2008
2008-01-01
This study examined whether attending a "Knowledge is Power Program" (KIPP) middle school improved students' academic achievement. KIPP schools in the study included fifth through eighth grades and served primarily low-income, minority students. The study found that fifth-grade students in KIPP middle schools generally performed better…
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Collecting and Using Staff Performance Information for School Improvement.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Tucker, Null A.
Use of multiple data sources for evaluation of faculty performance by the DeKalb County (Georgia) School System is described. Focus is on two evaluations, the administrator evaluation and the counselor evaluation; the former has been employed longer than any other component of the evaluation system, while the latter is scheduled for its second…
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A Spatial Analysis of Contextual Effects on Educational Accountability in Kentucky.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Pitts, Timothy C.; Reeves, Edward B.
A cornerstone of the Kentucky Education Reform Act of 1990 was the creation of a high-stakes performance assessment program called the Kentucky Instructional Results Information System (KIRIS). KIRIS test results were the basis for granting monetary rewards to schools and school districts where student test performance improved significantly and…
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Improving Low-Performing Schools through External Assistance: Lessons from Chicago and California
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Finnigan, Kara S.; Bitter, Catherine; O'Day, Jennifer
2009-01-01
This article describes the design and implementation of external support to low-performing schools using data from Chicago and California. Using the literature on external support, instructional capacity, and policy strength, the study gathered data from interviews, observations, document review, and surveys. The findings suggest that the model of…
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Schools: The Evidence on Academies, Resources and Pupil Performance. Paper No. EA023
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
McNally, Sandra
2015-01-01
England's performance in international tests of student achievement continues to be disappointing. Further improvement is essential not only for students' themselves but also for economic growth. This briefing considers the impact of Academies, school spending and teacher quality. Research evidence suggests that it is right to protect school…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Suryadarma, Daniel; Suryahadi, Asep; Sumarto, Sudarno; Rogers, F. Halsey
2006-01-01
This paper investigates the correlates of student performance in mathematics and dictation tests among schoolchildren in Indonesia. This is the first such study to use a new nationally representative sample of Indonesian primary-school students. Our dataset includes unique data on teacher absenteeism collected through direct observation, the first…
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A national evaluation of Safe Schools/Healthy Students: outcomes and influences.
Derzon, James H; Yu, Ping; Ellis, Bruce; Xiong, Sharon; Arroyo, Carmen; Mannix, Danyelle; Wells, Michael E; Hill, Gary; Rollison, Julia
2012-05-01
The Safe Schools/Healthy Students (SS/HS) Initiative has awarded over $2 billion in grants to more than 350 school districts in partnership with local mental health, law enforcement, and juvenile justice agencies. To estimate the impact of grantee characteristics, grant operations, and near-term outcomes in reducing violence and substance use, promoting mental health, and enhancing school safety, logged odds ratios (LORs) were calculated contrasting Year 3 with Baseline performance from grantee-provided data on seven outcome measures. After comparing grantee performance across outcomes and outcomes across grantees, the LORs were entered as dependent variables in a series of meta-regressions in which grantee characteristics, grant operations, and near-term outcomes were tested after controlling for pre-grant characteristics. Findings indicate that the SS/HS Initiative significantly improved most outcomes, that within-grantee performance varied greatly by outcome, and that random-effects meta-regression appreciably decreased the variance available for modeling. The approach demonstrates that the SS/HS Initiative is effective and that locally collected performance data can be used to estimate grantee success in improving youth outcomes. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Kelley, Paul; Lockley, Steven W; Kelley, Jonathan; Evans, Mariah D R
2017-01-01
While many studies have shown the benefits of later school starts, including better student attendance, higher test scores, and improved sleep duration, few have used starting times later than 9:00 a.m. Here we report on the implementation and impact of a 10 a.m. school start time for 13 to 16-year-old students. A 4-year observational study using a before-after-before (A-B-A) design was carried out in an English state-funded high school. School start times were changed from 8:50 a.m. in study year 0, to 10 a.m. in years 1-2, and then back to 8:50 a.m. in year 3. Measures of student health (absence due to illness) and academic performance (national examination results) were used for all students. Implementing a 10 a.m. start saw a decrease in student illness after 2 years of over 50% ( p < 0.0005 and effect size: Cohen's d = 1.07), and reverting to an 8:50 a.m. start reversed this improvement, leading to an increase of 30% in student illness ( p < 0.0005 and Cohen's d = 0.47). The 10:00 a.m. start was associated with a 12% increase in the value-added number of students making good academic progress (in standard national examinations) that was significant (<0.0005) and equivalent to 20% of the national benchmark. These results show that changing to a 10:00 a.m. high school start time can greatly reduce illness and improve academic performance. Implementing school start times later than 8:30 a.m., which may address the circadian delay in adolescents' sleep rhythms more effectively for evening chronotypes, appears to have few costs and substantial benefits.
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Hutchinson, Paul L; Ferrell, Natalie; Broussard, Marsha; Brown, Lisanne; Chrestman, Sarah K
2014-04-01
Recent evaluations of school choice school reforms have focused on improving academic achievement but have ignored associations with adolescent health and the risk of interpersonal violence. The innovative school choice model implemented in post-Katrina New Orleans provides a unique opportunity to examine these effects. Using a sample of approximately 1700 students from the 2009 School Health Connection Survey, the relationships between the type of school attended and depression, suicide planning, absences attributable to fears for personal safety, and threats of violence at school are examined. Multivariate regression analysis adjusting for self-selection into the type of school attended-a city-run high-performing school, a state-run failing school, or an independent charter school-estimates the effects of school type on student health. Relative to students at state-run schools, students who choose to attend city-run schools are less likely to plan for suicide or to miss school because they are afraid of becoming victims of violence. These beneficial effects tend to be larger for students traveling from higher violence neighborhoods. The effects for charter schools are similar but less robust. Local school jurisdictions that implement reforms allowing adolescents and their families greater freedom in school choice may also improve adolescent health. © 2014, American School Health Association.
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School Reentry Following Traumatic Brain Injury
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Deidrick, Kathleen K. M.; Farmer, Janet E.
2005-01-01
Successful school reentry following traumatic brain injury (TBI) is critical to recovery. Physical, cognitive, behavioral, academic, and social problems can affect a child's school performance after a TBI. However, early intervention has the potential to improve child academic outcomes and promote effective coping with any persistent changes in…
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Theodore High School: Positive Attitudes
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Rourke, James; Boone, Elizabeth
2009-01-01
"You have a choice every day regarding the attitude you will embrace for that day," observes Theodore (Alabama) High School's Web site, effecting the faculty and staff members' belief that raised expectations lead to improved student performance. "Your attitude will make or break our school...," the site continues. "The…
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Texas Sustainable School Design Guideline.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Nicklas, Michael; Bailey, Gary; Padia, Harshad D.; Malin, Nadav
This guide offers a detailed listing of the key practices and technologies that can help create a sustainable school. The document includes hundreds of cost-effective recommendations that can improve the energy performance and environmental quality of school designs. Each design and construction phase is addressed, from site selection through…
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Participation and Family Education in School: Successful Educational Actions
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Garcia, Lars Bonell; Ríos, Oriol
2014-01-01
The research "INCLUD-ED, Strategies for Inclusion and Social Cohesion in Europe from Education" (2006-11) identified several forms of family participation that contribute to the improvement of school performance and living together in schools: participation in decision-making processes, participation in the evaluation of educational…
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Competition with Charters Motivates Districts
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Holley, Marc J.; Lueken, Martin F.; Egalite, Anna J.
2013-01-01
Proponents of market-based education reform often argue that introducing charter schools and other school choice policies creates a competitive dynamic that will prompt low-performing districts to improve their practice. Rather than simply providing an alternative to neighborhood public schools for a handful of students, the theory says, school…
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Health programmes for school employees: improving quality of life, health and productivity.
Kolbe, Lloyd J; Tirozzi, Gerald N; Marx, Eva; Bobbitt-Cooke, Mary; Riedel, Sara; Jones, Jack; Schmoyer, Michael
2005-01-01
School health programmes in the 21st century could include eight components: 1) health services; 2) health education; 3) healthy physical and psychosocial environments; 4) psychological, counselling, and social services; 5) physical education and other physical activities; 6) healthy food services; and 7) integrated efforts of schools, families, and communities to improve the health of school students and employees. The eighth component of modern school health programmes, health programmes for school employees, is the focus of this article. Health programmes for school employees could be designed to increase the recruitment, retention, and productivity of school employees by partially focusing each of the preceding seven components of the school health programme on improving the health and quality of life of school employees as well as students. Thus, efforts to improve the quality of life, health, and productivity of school employees may be distinct from, but integrated with, efforts to improve the quality of life, health, and education of students. School employee health programmes can improve employee: 1) recruitment; 2) morale; 3) retention; and 4) productivity. They can reduce employee: 5) risk behaviours (e.g., physical inactivity); 6) risk factors (e.g., stress, obesity, high blood pressure); (7) illnesses; 8) work-related injuries; 9) absentee days; 10) worker compensation and disability claims; and 11) health care and health insurance costs. Further, if we hope to improve our schools' performance and raise student achievement levels, developing effective school employee health programmes can increase the likelihood that employees will: 12) serve as healthy role models for students; 13) implement effective school health programmes for students; and 14) present a positive image of the school to the community. If we are to improve the quality of life, health, and productivity of school employees in the 21st century: school administrators, employees, and policymakers must be informed about the need and the means to do so; school employee health programmes must become part of the culture of education and the expectation of educators; and colleges that prepare school administrators and other school employees must provide the pre-service and in-service training, research, development, and leadership to make it happen. This article outlines ten actions that can be taken by school districts to build or improve school employee health programmes, and a list of websites that provides more detailed information about such programmes.
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State Education Agencies' Acquisition and Use of Research Knowledge for School Improvement
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Massell, Diane; Goertz, Margaret E.; Barnes, Carol A.
2012-01-01
Over the last two decades, state education agencies (SEAs) have been given considerable responsibilities for improving low-performing schools and for adopting research-based practices in doing so. Yet we know little about how and where these organizations search for, select, and use research and other kinds of evidence. We examined these questions…
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First Steps: What School Systems Can Do Right Now to Improve Teacher Compensation and Career Path
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Frank, Stephen; Baroody, Karen; Gordon, Jeff
2013-01-01
Across the country, school districts are struggling to improve student performance on flat or declining budgets. Many districts are understandably cautious about implementing large changes, such as redesigning the step-and-lane system that has existed for decades. New evaluation systems must be implemented and vetted before they are linked to…
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Moving from I to Us: The Power of Action Research To Improve Students' Writing Performance.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Miller, A. Christine; Cross, Lorraine
Project WATCH! (Writing Across the Curriculum Hawks!) was the 1999-2000 schoolwide action research project at the A.D. Henderson University School grades K-8. The study question, "How can teachers build schoolwide capacity to support improved student writing across the curriculum?", examined whole-school collaboration where all teachers understand…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Schlechty, Phillip C.
This book, which is a companion to the books, "Shaking up the Schoolhouse" and "Inventing Better Schools," presents the Working on the Work (WOW) framework for improving student performance by improving the quality of schoolwork. Field-tested in schools nationwide, the framework describes the 12 essential components of a WOW…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Bayer, Amanda; Grossman, Jean Baldwin; DuBois, David L.
2013-01-01
Previous research suggests that school-based mentoring programs like those offered by Big Brothers Big Sisters of America (BBBSA) yield small but statistically significant improvements in the academic performance of mentored students and in their beliefs in their own scholastic efficacy. The present study uses data from a randomized control trial…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Jochim, Ashley
2016-01-01
The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) puts responsibility for improving student outcomes back where some say it has always belonged--under states' purview. No longer will prescriptive federal requirements dictate how states should identify, support, and turn around the lowest-performing schools and districts. Instead, states are empowered to craft…
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A Systematic Approach to Improving E-Learning Implementations in High Schools
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Pardamean, Bens; Suparyanto, Teddy
2014-01-01
This study was based on the current growing trend of implementing e-learning in high schools. Most endeavors have been inefficient, rendering an objective of determining the initial steps that could be taken to improve these efforts by assessing a student population's computer skill levels and performances in an IT course. Demographic factors were…
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Food for Thought: Expanding School Breakfast to NJ Students. [Updated
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Advocates for Children of New Jersey, 2014
2014-01-01
Often, school districts are reluctant to adopt innovative approaches to serving children breakfast in school because of logistical concerns that are easily overcome. Districts that adopt these more innovative approaches report significant increases in participation rates and improvement in student behavior and performance. This report provides…
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School-Based Peer Mentoring in High School: A Program Evaluation Study
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Cooper, Felicia Cecile
2017-01-01
The dissertation is an initial investigation of a peer mentoring program in a suburban high school in the southeastern United States. Additionally, the Peer Mentoring Program (PMP) study examined whether the Program improves academic performance and attendance, and decreases referrals. Utilizing an experimental design, a Participant and a…
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Incentives Alone Not Enough to Prod Teacher Effectiveness
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Sawchuk, Stephen
2009-01-01
Policy experts are renewing questions about the role of school culture and leadership in the drive to improve teaching effectiveness in the most-challenging school environments. As states and districts increasingly explore tactics like performance-based pay, incentive programs, and bonuses to attract the best teachers to troubled schools, experts…
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School Effects on Performance of Minority Pupils.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Hofman, W. H. Adriaan
1994-01-01
Presents results of a study examining the comparative effects of school (system) determinants on the educational careers of minority students in the Netherlands, drawing on rational choice and empowerment theories. Results indicate the importance of a school policy aimed at improving minority student achievement. Pull-out programs are detrimental,…
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School Board Ethics and Effectiveness
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Feuerstein, Abe
2009-01-01
Since the early 1980s, educational policy has increasingly been focused on improving student performance (Conley, 2003, Murphy, 1990). School governance in general, and school boards in particular, have often been viewed as either the means of implementing needed reforms or as roadblocks in their way (Boyd, 2003; Delagardelle, M.; 2008; Howell,…
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EnergySmart Schools Tips: Retrofitting, Operating, and Maintaining Existing Buildings
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
US Department of Energy, 2010
2010-01-01
Combining preventative operations and maintenance (O&M) with strategic retrofitting of building systems improves a school's energy performance. For schools with limited resources and experience, "quick wins" in O&M and retrofitting provide a valuable starting point to energy management. As a next step, strategically prioritizing long- and…
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Modern Efficiencies for Healthy Schools
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
VanOort, Adam
2012-01-01
Facility managers everywhere are tasked with improving energy efficiency to control costs. Those strides cannot be achieved at the expense of system performance and reliability, or the comfort of the people within those properties. There are few places where this is truer than in schools and universities. K-12 schools and university lecture spaces…
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School Site Strategic Planning To Improve District Performance.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Lytle, James H.
This paper describes the evolution of a school-based planning model that accommodates independent approaches to School District of Philadelphia goals. The description centers on key strategic planning decisions made during a 6-year period and three components of the planning model: the organizational monitoring and feedback system; organizational…
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The Coach's Learning Community: Standards-Based Program Develops School Wide Capacity
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Reitz, Diane; Hall, Gene E.
2017-01-01
Challenges inherent to increasing student literacy are well-documented particularly in under performing schools. Those challenges increase in schools experiencing high staff turnover, high populations of English language learners, and greater poverty. In order to improve student learning in these communities there needs to be a comprehensive…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Lytle, James H.
2012-01-01
A consensus is emerging about how school leaders affect school performance, and how important principals are to improved student learning. Yet the national reform policies--No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top (RTT)--incorporate assumptions about school and district leadership that are very much at odds with this research. NCLB and RTT call…
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Assisting Learners with Special Needs in a Regular Classroom at a Parochial School.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Ehens, Cynthia; Gates, Jill
This action research study was designed to improve the academic performance of students with special needs in two elementary school classrooms in a parochial school setting. Cooperative learning and curriculum modifications were selected as interventions. Cooperative groups were formed which emphasized teamwork and communication with assigned…
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The CEIC Review, 2001. A Catalyst for Merging Research, Policy, and Practice.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Hartman, Bonnie, Ed.; Rohland, Mark, Ed.
2001-01-01
These three volumes contain articles related to (1) improving educational productivity (lessons from economics); (2) school-to-work (STW); and (3) reduced class size, offering recommendations from national invitational conferences. Topics include making schools work; tax revolts and school performance; market pressure and the impact on…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
US House of Representatives, 2005
2005-01-01
In this hearing on the District of Columbia's public school system (DCPS), the Honorable Tom Davis, chairman of the Committee on Government Reform, says in his opening statement that the District's improved health cannot be sustained without a better public school system, and that the lack of performance improvement threatens future growth and…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Kim, Jeongil; Kwon, Miyoung
2018-01-01
Background: Task performance is a critical factor for learning in individuals with intellectual disabilities. This study aimed to examine mindfulness-based intervention (MBI) to improve task performance for children with intellectual disability (ID). Methods: Three elementary school children with ID participated in the study. A multiple baseline…
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The SEA of the Future: Leveraging Performance Management to Support School Improvement. Volume 1
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Gross, Betheny, Ed.; Jochim, Ashley, Ed.
2013-01-01
"The SEA of the Future" is an education publication series examining how state education agencies can shift from a compliance to a performance-oriented organization through strategic planning and performance management tools to meet growing demands to support education reform while improving productivity. This inaugural edition of…
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Voegel, Phillip D.; Quashnock, Kathryn A.; Heil, Katrina M.
2004-05-01
The Student-to-Student Chemistry Initiative is an outreach program started in the fall of 2001 at Midwestern State University (MSU). The oncampus program trains high school science students to perform a series of chemistry demonstrations and subsequently provides kits containing necessary supplies and reagents for the high school students to perform demonstration programs at elementary schools. The program focuses on improving student perception of science. The program's impact on high school student perception is evaluated through statistical analysis of paired preparticipation and postparticipation surveys. The surveys focus on four areas of student perception: general attitude toward science, interest in careers in science, science awareness, and interest in attending MSU for postsecondary education. Increased scores were observed in all evaluation areas including a statistically significant increase in science awareness following participation.
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Bold, Tessa; Kimenyi, Mwangi; Mwabu, Germano; Sandefur, Justin
2013-01-01
Existing studies from the United States, Latin America and Asia provide scant evidence that private schools dramatically improve academic performance relative to public schools. Using data from Kenya--a poor country with weak public institutions--we find a large effect of private schooling on test scores, equivalent to one full standard deviation.…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Crane, Eric W.; Barrat, Vanessa X.; Huang, Min
2011-01-01
This technical brief responds to an Arizona Department of Education request to study academic performance in schools receiving funding through the federal Title I compensatory education program, the section of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 governing resources for schools and districts serving disadvantaged populations. The brief describes…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Taylor, Rosemarye T.; Pelletier, Kelly; Trimble, Todd; Ruiz, Eddie
2014-01-01
The purpose of these three parallel mixed method studies was to measure the effectiveness of an urban school district's 2011 Preparing New Principals Program (PNPP). Results supported the premise that preparing principals for school leadership in 2013 must develop them as instructional leaders who can improve teacher performance and student…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Hobbs, Alysia Jocelyn
2010-01-01
This study selected a purposeful sample of eight high performing southern California elementary schools which achieved API scores above 900 over a three year period. A review of instructional strategies for each study school during the improvement process and resource allocation patterns was determined. Case studies of each school include…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Hagins, Marshall; Rundle, Andrew
2016-01-01
Yoga programs within schools have become more widespread but research regarding the potential effect on academic achievement remains limited. This study cluster-randomized 112 students within a single New York City public high school to participate in either school-based yoga or physical education (PE) for an entire academic year. The primary…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Center for Comprehensive School Reform and Improvement, 2005
2005-01-01
Several years after the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), there are persistently low-performing schools in every state that face increasingly strong consequences for failing to improve student achievement sufficiently. In particular, schools that fail to make adequate yearly progress (AYP) for five consecutive years must…
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Introducing the USAYPT--Do Research in Your High School then Debate Your Results with Other Schools
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Oldaker, Bruce G.; Jacobs, Greg; Bibilashvili, Tengiz
2010-01-01
We introduce the USAYPT--the United States Association for Young Physicists Tournaments, Inc. Our motto is "Better teaching and learning by doing research in your high school." We believe that all high school teachers can improve their knowledge of physics by forming small groups that perform non-trivial--but not cutting edge--research. In order…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Snyder, Lori; Klos, Patricial; Grey-Hawkins, Lauren
2014-01-01
In four years, Anne Arundel County Public Schools (AACPS) increased sixth and seventh grade student achievement on the Maryland State Assessment (MSA) by 20% at Bates Middle School, a low performing school that had been targeted for restructuring by the state. This improvement positively correlates with the implementation of the arts integration…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Herman, Rebecca; Graczewski, Cheryl; James-Burdumy, Susanne; Murray, Matthew; Perez-Johnson, Irma; Tanenbaum, Courtney
2013-01-01
The federal School Improvement Grants (SIG) program, to which $3 billion were allocated under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), supports schools attempting to turn around a history of low performance. School turnaround also is a focus of Race to the Top (RTT), another ARRA-supported initiative, which involved a roughly $4…
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The Superintendent's Tenth Annual Report on School Performance and Improvement in Hawai'i, 1999.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Gans, Thomas
This report contains collective data on Hawaii's schools for the school year 1998-1999, showing trends over time and, where appropriate, comparisons with data from other states. The report covers public education from kindergarten through grade 12, with data from all 251 schools in Hawaii. Enrollment growth has declined sharply in the past 3…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Okilwa, Nathern; Barnett, Bruce
2017-01-01
Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine how Robbins ES has sustained high academic performance over almost 20 years despite several changes in principals. Design/methodology/approach: The paper analyzed longitudinal data based on: state-level academic and demographic data; two earlier studies of the school; and recent interviews with…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
LaPoint, Velma; Jackson, Henry L.
2004-01-01
There have been resounding national calls in the past several years to improve the academic achievement and social competence of students in public schools, especially students in low-performing K-12 schools that include low-income students of color in the nation's urban communities. Many educational stakeholders--students, teachers,…
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Promoting gender parity in basic education: Lessons from a technical cooperation project in Yemen
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Yuki, Takako; Mizuno, Keiko; Ogawa, Keiichi; Mihoko, Sakai
2013-06-01
Many girls are not sent to school in Yemen, despite basic education being free as well as compulsory for all children aged 6-15. Aiming to improve girls' enrolment by increasing parental and community involvement, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) offered a technical cooperation project in June 2005 called Broadening Regional Initiative for Developing Girls' Education (BRIDGE). Phase 1 of this project ran for three and a half years, piloting a participatory school management model supported by school grants in six districts of the Taiz Governorate in the Southwest of Yemen. To find out how successful this approach has been in a traditional society, the authors of this paper analysed the gender parity index (GPI) of the project's pilot schools. Based on data collected at three points in time (in the initial and final years of the project, and two years after the project's end), their findings suggest that interventions in school management which strongly emphasise girls' education can be effective in improving gender parity rather quickly, regardless of the schools' initial conditions. However, the authors also observe that the pilot schools' post-project performance in terms of gender parity is mixed. While the local government allocated budgets for school grants to all pilot schools even after the project's end, training and monitoring activities were cut back. The authors further observe that the variation in performance appears to be significantly correlated with school leaders' initial perceptions of gender equality and with the number of female teachers employed. These findings point to the importance of providing schools with continuous long-term guidance and of monitoring those which implement school improvement programmes.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Marpaung, M. G.; Sareharto, T. P.; Purwanti, A.; Hermawati, D.
2017-02-01
Academic performance becomes an important determinant of individual quality. it is determined by the function of affective, cognitive, psychomotor, and intelligence. Brain gym can improve learning processes and integrate all areas that related to the learning process. To prove the effect of brain gym towards academic performance of children aged 10-12 years. This study was a quasy experiment study with one group pre and post test design. Samples (n=18 male=7 and female=11) were taken from five and six grader and conducted in Tembalang and Pedalangan Elementary School, Semarang. Pretest were administered, followed by brain gym, and post test administered in the end of study. The measurement of Intelligence Quotient pre and post test using Culture Fair Intelligence Test Scale 2. Among the 18 subjects (male=7 and female=11) the average of academic performance and IQ score after brain gym showed improvement. The Improvement of IQ score with Culture Fair Test Scale 2 was analyzed by Dependent T test showed significant results (p=0,000). The improvement of Bahasa score was analyzed by Wilcoxon test showed significant results (p=0,001), an unsignificant result were shown in Mathematics p=0,079 and natural sciences p=0,306. Brain gym can increase academic performance of children aged 10-12 years old.
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Alliance Helps States Map New Terrain in Educator Evaluation. REL West Research Digest
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Regional Educational Laboratory West, 2014
2014-01-01
About five years ago, states across the country took on the huge, complex task of developing and implementing new systems to evaluate teacher and principal performance in public schools. In response to a federal mandate aimed at improving student achievement, especially in the lowest performing schools, state boards of education drafted high-level…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Weinbaum, Elliot H.; Weiss, Michael J.; Beaver, Jessica K.
2012-01-01
Prior to the mandatory testing and reporting required by the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), school improvement efforts were shown to lack coherence (Newman, Smith, Allensworth, & Bryk, 2001) and often included conflicting programs (Hatch, 2002). Part of the theory of performance-based accountability in general, and NCLB in particular, was…
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The Best Laid Plans: Designing Incentive Programs for School Leaders. WCER Working Paper No. 2014-7
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Goff, Peter; Goldring, Ellen; Canney, Melissa
2014-01-01
Notable attention and effort has been directed toward improving educator productivity through the use of performance incentives. Little of this work has focused on incentive systems for school leaders (principals) and less yet examines performance pay systems used in practice. This research uses 34 funded grants from the federal Teacher Incentive…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Glazerman, Steven; Protik, Ali; Teh, Bing-ru; Bruch, Julie; Max, Jeffrey
2013-01-01
One way to improve struggling schools' access to effective teachers is to use selective transfer incentives. Such incentives offer bonuses for the highest-performing teachers to move into schools serving the most disadvantaged students. In this report, we provide evidence from a randomized experiment that tested whether such a policy intervention…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Oyelekan, Oloyede Solomon; Igbokwe, Emoyoke Faith; Olorundare, Adekunle Solomon
2017-01-01
Efforts have been made to improve science teaching in secondary schools in Nigeria, yet, students continue to perform poorly in science subjects. Many innovative teaching strategies have been developed by educators and found to impact significantly on students' academic performance when utilised. Hence, this study was aimed at examining science…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Goldhaber, Dan
2010-01-01
The details of school reform in Washington State continue to evolve, but the unprecedented performance demands that it and NCLB place on schools are unlikely to disappear any time soon. The same is true of the large gap that exists between today's performance and tomorrow's aspirations. By any measure, significant improvements in performance now…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Wellington, Alison; Chiang, Hanley; Hallgren, Kristin; Speroni, Cecilia; Herrmann, Mariesa; Burkander, Paul
2016-01-01
The Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF) provides grants to support performance-based compensation systems for teachers and principals in high-need schools. The goal of the grants is to increase the number of high-performing teachers in high-need schools by rewarding educators for improving students' achievement. The report on which this snapshot is based…
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Stroebele, Nanette; McNally, Janise; Plog, Amy; Siegfried, Scott; Hill, James O
2013-02-01
To improve support and justification for health promotion efforts in schools, it is helpful to understand how students' health behaviors affect academic performance. Fifth-grade students completed an online school-administered health survey with questions regarding their eating behavior, physical activity, academic performance, and sleep patterns. Differences in health behaviors were examined by sex, self-reported weight status, and sufficient (≥9 hours) versus insufficient sleep. Logistic regression was used to determine the relationship between academic performance and the health behaviors. One third of the sample did not get the recommended amount of physical activity and more than half of the students watched television ≥ 2 hours/day. Self-reported overweight status was related to lower self-reported academic performance, fewer lunch and breakfast occasions, less physical activity, not meeting the recommendations for vegetable and soda consumption as well as hours of television watching. Sufficient sleep (≥9 hours/night) was associated with better grades, meeting the recommended hours of daily television watching and video game playing, being more physically active and increased breakfast and lunch frequency. Percentage of serving free/reduced lunch, soda consumption, breakfast frequency, amount of physical activity, and television watching were associated with academic performance. More positive health behaviors generally were associated with better academic performance. Promoting healthy behaviors in schools might improve not only students' health academic performance as well. © 2013, American School Health Association.
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Adherence to pharmacotherapy improves school performance in children with rhinitis and asthma.
Sánchez, J; Sánchez, A; Cardona, R
2018-03-17
Adherence to pharmacotherapy reduces symptoms of asthma and rhinitis, however, little is known of its impact on school performance. To evaluate the impact of pharmacotherapy in absenteeism and school performance in a child population. A cross-sectional study, carried out in eight schools. All participants and their parents were given a questionnaire assessing parameters related to respiratory diseases and pharmacotherapy. Data on school performance was obtained from the academic history of each child who participated in the study. Adherence to pharmacotherapy was classified as a correct use of therapy for more than five days per week. 1109 children agreed to participate. Students were divided into two groups: symptomatic (36%) and asymptomatic (63%). The symptomatic group had a higher frequency of school absenteeism (1 vs. 3.1days/year/patient p<0.01) and lower academic performance (failed: 20% vs. 33% p<0.01). After dividing the symptomatic group between adherents and non-adherents to the pharmacotherapy, the group of adherents had a similar school performance to the asymptomatic group and it was significantly different from the no-adherent group. Respiratory symptoms are associated with poor school performance and with an increase in school absenteeism, but adherence to pharmacotherapy can reduce these negative impacts in children. Copyright © 2018 SEICAP. Published by Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.
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Improving Students’ Evaluation of Informal Arguments
LARSON, AARON A.; BRITT, M. ANNE; KURBY, CHRISTOPHER A.
2010-01-01
Evaluating the structural quality of arguments is a skill important to students’ ability to comprehend the arguments of others and produce their own. The authors examined college and high school students’ ability to evaluate the quality of 2-clause (claim-reason) arguments and tested a tutorial to improve this ability. These experiments indicated that college and high school students had difficulty evaluating arguments on the basis of their quality. Experiments 1 and 2 showed that a tutorial explaining skills important to overall argument evaluation increased performance but that immediate feedback during training was necessary for teaching students to evaluate the claim-reason connection. Using a Web-based version of the tutorial, Experiment 3 extended this finding to the performance of high-school students. The study suggests that teaching the structure of an argument and teaching students to pay attention to the precise message of the claim can improve argument evaluation. PMID:20174611
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Hitt, Dallas Hambrick; Meyers, Coby V.
2018-01-01
We understand very little about what is special that leaders do to facilitate improvement that is both transformational and lasting in previously persistently failing schools in the United States. Relatively little is understood about change not just during the initial turnaround stage, but that "endures" on the larger journey as the…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Omotoso, Christianah B.
2012-01-01
The No Child Left Behind federal mandate to improve student achievement in reading and math resulted in several initiatives related to educational leadership. However, these initiatives have yet to improve student achievement. Therefore, the research question focused on how school leaders used Senge's five disciplines of a learning…
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The 1996 High Schools That Work Assessment: Good News, Bad News and Hope. Research Brief.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Bottoms, Gene
Implementation of the High Schools That Work (HSTW) key practices improved achievement for career-bound students in these four ways: (1) HSTW sites showed significant improvement in average reading and math scores; (2) the percentage of career- bound students meeting HSTW performance goals in 1994 and 1996 increased from 33% to 43% in reading and…
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High-Performance Schools: Affordable Green Design for K-12 Schools; Preprint
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Plympton, P.; Brown, J.; Stevens, K.
2004-08-01
Schools in the United States spend $7.8 billion on energy each year-more than the cost of computers and textbooks combined, according to a 2003 report from the National Center for Education Statistics. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) estimates that these high utility bills could be reduced as much as 25% if schools adopt readily available high performance design principles and technologies. Accordingly, hundreds of K-12 schools across the country have made a commitment to improve the learning and teaching environment of schools while saving money and energy and protecting the environment. DOE and its public- and private-sector partners havemore » developed Energy Design Guidelines for High Performance Schools, customized for nine climate zones in U.S. states and territories. These design guidelines provide information for school decision makers and design professionals on the advantages of energy efficiency and renewable energy designs and technologies. With such features as natural day lighting, efficient electric lights, water conservation, and renewable energy, schools in all types of climates are proving that school buildings, and the students and teachers who occupy them, are indeed high performers. This paper describes high performance schools from each of the nine climate zones associated with the Energy Design Guidelines. The nine case studies focus on the high performance design strategies implemented in each school, as well as the cost savings and benefits realized by students, faculty, the community, and the environment.« less
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Weinstein, Meryle; Whitesell, Emilyn Ruble; Schwartz, Amy Ellen
2014-12-01
Informal science education institutions (ISEIs) are critical partners in public science education, as they support the science efforts of school systems by providing authentic opportunities for scientific inquiry. This study reports findings from an evaluation of urban advantage (UA), a collaboration between the New York City Department of Education and eight ISEIs designed to improve science education in New York City (NYC) middle schools. Now in its 10th year, the program harnesses the resources and expertise of NYC's ISEIs to (a) enhance the science content knowledge of middle school science teachers, (b) develop teachers' skills at using inquiry-based approaches in their classrooms, and (c) improve the science achievement of middle school students. We examine whether the UA program has led to increased student achievement on the eighth-grade New York State standardized science exam for students in participating schools; in supplemental analyses, we examine the effects on longer term (ninth-grade) outcomes. We use a difference-in-differences framework with school fixed effects to estimate the impact of attending a UA school in eighth grade on science achievement. Our key outcome is performance on New York State's eighth-grade intermediate-level science assessment; longer term outcomes include enrollment at specialized science, technology, engineering, and math high schools as well as taking and passing the high school (Regents) science exams. We find that attending a UA school increases student performance on the eighth-grade science exam by approximately 0.05 SD, and there is some evidence of small effects on Regents taking and passing rates. © The Author(s) 2014.
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Repositioning Ghana Schools as English Language Learner Schools
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Taylor, Mark
2016-01-01
Although English has traditionally been the only language of instruction in Ghana, most young children do not speak English at home. This paper argues that students' academic performance might be improved if their native languages were also used in school. Such an approach offers benefits in areas such as classroom participation, engagement in…
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Taiwan's Ban on Corporal Punishment--Teachers' Perceptions of Impact and Meanings
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Chiang, Yi-Ching
2009-01-01
Corporal punishment was long used in Taiwanese schools as an informal disciplinary tool for improving students' academic performance as well as for disciplinary violations. Based on thirty-five interviews and three school activity observations across a nationwide sample of junior high teachers and schools, this study examines the impact of…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Crisp, Matthew Scott
2009-01-01
The emerging use of portable digital devices by students, parents and teachers, is forcing schools to develop real-time communication systems that integrate technology into the general operations of schools, and contemplate governing policies and procedures to sustain and guide the challenges of these new technologies. This study contributes to…
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Parental Monitoring and Child Performance in Ghana
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Gyamfi, Kwadwo; Pobbi, Michael Asamani
2016-01-01
The role of parents in the guiding and monitoring of child activities is critical towards the development of the child. In Ghana reforms taken, especially at the basic school level, have focused on improving school infrastructure and enrollment ignoring parents awareness to actively involve themselves both at home and in school activities which…
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Strategies for Improving School Performance
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Johnson, William L.; Johnson, Annabel M.; Johnson, Jared W.
2014-01-01
The document is from a presentation at the Texas Region VII 2014 Curriculum Conference. The study examined the effects of a three-tiered high school program designed to increase student achievement and Texas end-of-course (EOC) TAKS and STAAR chemistry scores. The student sample (n = 625) consisted 75% high school sophomores and 25% high school…
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Help Wanted: Flexibility for Innovative State Education Agencies
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Murphy, Patrick
2014-01-01
State education agencies, or SEAs, are being asked-and in some cases, forced-to make operational changes in the name of school improvement. New laws and expectations are pushing them to play a greater role in managing school performance, displacing to a significant degree their decades-old responsibility for monitoring local school districts for…
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School Climate of Educational Institutions: Design and Validation of a Diagnostic Scale
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Becerra, Sandra
2016-01-01
School climate is recognized as a relevant factor for the improvement of educative processes, favoring the administrative processes and optimum school performance. The present article is the result of a quantitative research model which had the objective of psychometrically designing and validating a scale to diagnose the organizational climate of…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Freiberg, Elizabeth J.
2014-01-01
In response to the continued pressure placed on American public schools to increase academic achievement, some schools have begun to reorganize instructional environments in an effort to improve student outcomes. The current study examined one such elementary school that implemented a departmentalized model of instruction in fourth and fifth-grade…
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Assessing the Value of High School Accounting for the College Bound.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Friedlob, George T.; Cosenza, Robert M.
1981-01-01
Reports results of a survey of first-quarter college accounting principles students. It was found that a typically difficult college course may be made easier and student performance improved by giving high school accounting instruction its proper importance in the curriculum of the business-oriented, college-bound high school student. (CT)
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The Abbott Districts in 2005-06: Progress and Challenges, Spring 2006
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Hirsch, Lesley
2006-01-01
New Jersey's urban--or "Abbott"--schools have improved at the preschool and elementary school level, but lag when it comes to middle and high school performance. These are the key findings of an Abbott Indicators Project report entitled, "The Abbott Districts in 2005-06: Progress and Challenges." The report was prepared by…
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Decentralized Decisionmaking for Schools: New Promise for an Old Idea?
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Hansen, Janet S.; Roza, Marguerite
2005-01-01
Interest in decentralized decisionmaking for schools (DDS) is on the rise. With state and federal accountability systems placing pressure on school-level leaders to improve student performance, increasing attention is being paid to the question of how to help principals do their job more effectively. "Business as usual" in American…
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Standards and Rubrics for School Improvement. 2005 Revised Edition
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Arizona State Department of Education, 2005
2005-01-01
This instrument is intended to help schools at all levels of performance assess the strengths and limitations of their instructional practices and organizational conditions. It serves three primary functions: (1) as a blueprint to communicate the high expectations of the Superintendent of Public Instruction for all Arizona schools; (2) as an…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Hess, Frederick M.; Maranto, Robert; Milliman, Scott
Consideration of choice-based reform in educational governance rests heavily on the assumption that markets will improve school performance. Nonetheless, little empirical research has examined how educational organizations respond to competition. This paper hypothesizes that administrators are likely to respond by adopting governance…
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Tools for Schools: Filtration for Improved Air Quality. Technical Services Bulletin.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
2001
This product bulletin addresses air pollution control in educational facilities to enhance educational performance, provides air quality recommendations for schools, and examines the filtration needs of various school areas. The types of air particles typically present are highlighted, and the use of proper filtration to control gases and vapors…
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In Health-Related Tasks, Where Does the School Nurse Function?
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Berg, Beryl; And Others
1973-01-01
The study provided a composite picture of health-related tasks performed in one school district. Nurses were able to evaluate their current practices and recommend specific improvements in nursing actions. Other school districts seeking a profile of their involvement in health-related tasks may request copies of the questionnaire or the entire…
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Reaching for Rigor: Identifying Practices of Effective High Schools. Research Report
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Cannata, Marisa; Haynes, Katherine Taylor; Smith, Thomas M.
2013-01-01
What distinguishes high schools that "beat the odds" for students from traditionally lower-performing groups from schools that struggle to improve the achievement and graduation rates of these student populations? What types of programs, practices, and processes support better than expected outcomes for students at risk of failure? How…
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Median Middle School: Striving to Rise above Average
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Moon, Jodi Saxton
2016-01-01
This case was developed for use with future school leaders in an educational setting. There are several topics of discussion that can be developed, including but not limited to policy implementation, the efficacy of professional learning communities, and improving student learning outcomes. The setting is a solidly performing middle school in the…
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Fine Arts Instruction as a Predictor of School Performance in South Carolina
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Doyle, Sharon T.
2013-01-01
Budget constraints, political will, narrowed curricula, and a continued emphasis on high-stakes testing in public schools have resulted in a continued loss of instruction in fine arts. Fine arts instruction is known to improve student achievement, but the contribution to achievement in the elementary schools after accounting for demographic…
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Fulcrum of Change: Leveraging 50 States to Turn around 5000 Schools
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Rhim, Lauren Morando; Redding, Sam
2011-01-01
In 2010, unprecedented levels of resources began to flow through state education agencies (SEAs) to support dramatic change in persistently low-performing schools under the expanded federal School Improvement Grant (SIG) program. The challenge for states is to leverage the federal investment to drive dramatic and sustainable change efforts in…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Ngoma, Sylvester
2010-01-01
There is growing recognition that an electronic Student Information System (SIS) affects student learning. Given the strategic importance of SIS in supporting school administration and enhancing student performance, school districts are increasingly interested in acquiring the most effective and efficient Student Information Systems for their…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Jerald, Craig
2005-01-01
Earlier this year, the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence released a report highlighting practices in Kentucky's high-performing, high-poverty schools. Researchers collected information using the same audit tool that the Kentucky Department of Education uses to diagnose problems in schools identified for improvement, then compared those…
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Best Practices for Teaming and Collaboration in the Interconnected Systems Framework
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Splett, Joni W.; Perales, Kelly; Halliday-Boykins, Colleen A.; Gilchrest, Callie E.; Gibson, Nicole; Weist, Mark D.
2017-01-01
The Interconnected Systems Framework (ISF) blends school mental health practices, systems, and resources into all levels of a multitiered system of supports (e.g., positive behavior interventions and supports). The ISF aims to improve mental health and school performance for all students by emphasizing effective school-wide promotion and…
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Daniel, Vivian Summerour
The purpose of this within-group experimental study was to find out to what extent ninth-grade students improved their science performance beyond their middle school science performance at one Georgia high school utilizing a freshman academy model. Freshman academies have been recognized as a useful tool for increasing academic performance among ninth-grade students because they address a range of academic support initiatives tailored to improve academic performance among ninth-grade students. The talent development model developed by Legters, Balfanz, Jordan, and McPartland (2002) has served as a foundational standard for many ninth grade academy programs. A cornerstone feature of this model is the creation of small learning communities used to increase ninth-grade student performance. Another recommendation was to offer credit recovery opportunities for ninth graders along with creating parent and community involvement activities to increase academic success among ninth-grade students. While the site's program included some of the initiatives outlined by the talent development model, it did not utilize all of them. The study concluded that the academy did not show a definitive increase in academic performance among ninth-grade students since most students stayed within their original performance category.
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Benner, Aprile D; Graham, Sandra; Mistry, Rashmita S
2008-05-01
This short-term longitudinal study examined the relations among family and school characteristics, family-level processes (youth perceptions of parent-adolescent interactions), school-level processes (youth perceptions of school belonging, school climate), adolescents' school engagement, and later academic performance. Participants were an ethnically diverse, urban sample of 1,120 9th-grade students (M age = 14.6 years). The structural characteristics of families and schools influenced the proximal processes that occurred therein, and these proximal processes, in turn, influenced students' proximal (i.e., engagement) and distal educational outcomes (i.e., grades in school). Moreover, the structural characteristics of families and schools influenced proximal and distal outcomes indirectly through their influence on the proximal processes. The multimediated ecological model suggested that intervening at the process level may be a successful means of improving both adolescents' engagement in school and their subsequent school performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2008 APA, all rights reserved).
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Hitchcock, Caitlin; Westwell, Martin S
2017-02-01
We explored whether school-based Cogmed Working Memory Training (CWMT) may optimise both academic and psychological outcomes at school. Training of executive control skills may form a novel approach to enhancing processes that predict academic achievement, such as task-related attention, and thereby academic performance, but also has the potential to improve the regulation of emotion, social problems and behavioural difficulties. Primary school children (Mean age = 12 years, N = 148) were cluster-randomised to complete active CWMT, a nonadaptive/placebo version of CWMT, or no training. No evidence was found for training effects on task-related attention when performing academic tasks, or performance on reading comprehension and mathematics tasks, or teacher-reported social, emotional and behavioural difficulties. CWMT did not improve control of attention in the classroom, or regulation of social, emotional and behavioural difficulties. © 2016 Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Jacobson, Stephen L.; Szczesek, Jill
2013-01-01
This study investigates the economic impact of a "turnaround" school on real property values in its surrounding community as related to the argument introduced by Tiebout in 1956 correlating local public goods, in this case school success, to housing-location decision making. Using single-family home sales found on the Multiple Listing System and…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Mercer, Stephen D.
2016-01-01
This work is an analysis of the alignment between schools associated with an Indiana Assistant Principal of the Year, as selected by the Indiana Association of School Principals, and increases in academic performance of those schools on state mandated "high stakes" academic tests. The focus was on school improvement using annual school…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Fry, Betty; Bottoms, Gene; O'Neill, Kathy; Walker, Susan
2007-01-01
This report shows that Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) states are making progress in developing school leadership systems to ensure that every public school has a principal who can improve student performance, but states need to accelerate their efforts in order to meet their own achievement goals. The report calls for a new generation of…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Leuthold, Frank O.
The 1992 Tennessee Education Improvement Act resulted from a successful law suit by smaller and poorer school systems in Tennessee concerning equity of funding. The Act established the Basic Education Program (BEP), which increased the state sales tax rate, shifted state funds from better funded to poorer school systems, and required systematic…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Lesnick, Joy; Hart, Bonnie; Spielberger, Julie
2011-01-01
The purpose of this study was to examine the participation of students in extended day programming at Donoghue Elementary School, a University of Chicago Charter School, during the 2009-2010 school year and explore whether participation was related to academic performance and improvement. Using the available written records, the authors found that…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
2001
This study examined New York City public high school students' views and experiences on issues ranging from academics to safety to social services. Two-thirds believed their schools had either stayed the same or worsened over time, while one-third believed they had improved. Two-thirds were confident they would graduate. Students were fairly…
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An Examination of School Choice and Fifth Grade Science Achievement in Florida
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
McLarnon, Tara Lynn
Over the past 20 years, a movement to offer greater access and choice in public education has begun to challenge the traditional attendance boundary school system. Public school choice provides an opportunity for parents who do not have the resources to change attendance boundaries but who want additional public school options. Proponents argue that increased competition incentivizes all schools to improve performance. The purpose of this study was to determine whether there were any potential relationships among school choice options and other inputs such as student characteristics when looking at student science achievement. Based on an education production function model, the study focused on the specific output of performance. A conceptual model looking at common inputs related to the outcome of student performance, identified five groups of inputs: school type, student characteristics, learning needs, school characteristics, and teacher quality. Rather than look across states, where policies affecting student performance differ, this study looked exclusively at one large state population. Subjects of the study were fifth grade students in the state of Florida. Utilizing three years of state science assessment data, the roles of school type, selected student demographics, and ELL status were examined using logistic regression and ordinary least squares analysis. Results indicated that, while some subpopulations of students performed better in different school types, school type alone was not a strong predictor of student science achievement.
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Improve Relationships to Improve Student Performance
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Arum, Richard
2011-01-01
Attempts to raise student performance have focused primarily on either relationships between adults in the system or formal curriculum. Relatively ignored has been a focus on what sociologists believe is the primary relationship of consequence for student outcomes--authority relationships between students and educators. Successful school reform is…
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School performance and school behavior of children affected by AIDS in China
Tu, Xiaoming; Lv, Yunfei; Li, Xiaoming; Fang, Xiaoyi; Zhao, Guoxiang; Lin, Xiuyun; Hong, Yan; Zhang, Liying; Stanton, Bonita
2009-01-01
It is generally recognized that the AIDS epidemic will have a negative effect on the orphans’ school education. However, few studies have been carried out to examine the school performance and school behavior of AIDS orphans and vulnerable children (children living with HIV-infected parents). Using both self-report and teacher evaluation data of 1625 children from rural central China, we examined the impact of parental HIV/AIDS on children's school performances (academic marks, educational expectation, and student leadership) and school behaviors (e.g., aggression, shy/anxious and assertive social skills). Results indicate that AIDS orphans and vulnerable children had disadvantages in school performances in comparison to their peers from the same community who did not experience AIDS-related death and illness in their family (comparison children). AIDS orphans had the lowest academic marks based on the reports of both children and teachers. Educational expectation was significantly lower among AIDS orphans and vulnerable children than comparison children from teacher's perspective. AIDS orphans were significantly more likely to demonstrate aggressive, impulsive and anxious behaviors than non-orphans. Moreover, orphans have more learning difficulties. Vulnerable children were also at a disadvantage on most measures. The data suggest that a greater attention is needed to the school performance and behavior of children affected by AIDS. The findings also indicate that AIDS relief and assistance program for children should go beyond the school attendance and make efforts to improve their school performance and education aspiration. PMID:20107622
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Zwinkels, Maremka; Verschuren, Olaf; Balemans, Astrid; Lankhorst, Kristel; Te Velde, Saskia; van Gaalen, Leendert; de Groot, Janke; Visser-Meily, Anne; Takken, Tim
2018-01-01
To investigate the effects of a school-based once-a-week sports program on physical fitness, physical activity, and cardiometabolic health in children and adolescents with a physical disability. This controlled clinical trial included 71 children and adolescents from four schools for special education [mean age 13.7 (2.9) years, range 8-19, 55% boys]. Participants had various chronic health conditions including cerebral palsy (37%), other neuromuscular (44%), metabolic (8%), musculoskeletal (7%), and cardiovascular (4%) disorders. Before recruitment and based on the presence of school-based sports, schools were assigned as sport or control group. School-based sports were initiated and provided by motivated experienced physical educators. The sport group ( n = 31) participated in a once-a-week school-based sports program for 6 months, which included team sports. The control group ( n = 40) followed the regular curriculum. Anaerobic performance was assessed by the Muscle Power Sprint Test. Secondary outcome measures included aerobic performance, VO 2 peak, strength, physical activity, blood pressure, arterial stiffness, body composition, and the metabolic profile. A significant improvement of 16% in favor of the sport group was found for anaerobic performance ( p = 0.003). In addition, the sport group lost 2.8% more fat mass compared to the control group ( p = 0.007). No changes were found for aerobic performance, VO 2 peak, physical activity, blood pressure, arterial stiffness, and the metabolic profile. Anaerobic performance and fat mass improved following a school-based sports program. These effects are promising for long-term fitness and health promotion, because sports sessions at school eliminate certain barriers for sports participation and adding a once-a-week sports session showed already positive effects for 6 months. This trial was registered with the Dutch Trial Registry (NTR4698).
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Kauppinen, Timo; Siikanen, Sami
2011-05-01
The improvement of energy efficiency is the key issue after the energy performance of buildings directive came into the force in European Union countries. The city of Kuopio participate a project, in which different tools will be used, generated and tested to improve the energy efficiency of public buildings. In this project there are 2 schools, the other consuming much more heating energy than the other same type of school. In this paper the results of the thermography in normal conditions and under 50 Pa pressure drop will be presented; as well as the results of remote controlled air tightness test of the buildings. Thermography combined with air tightness test showed clearly the reasons of specific consumption differences of heating energy - also in the other hand, the measurements showed the problems in the performance of ventilation system. Thermography, air tightness test and other supporting measurements can be used together to solve energy loss problems - if these measurements will be carried out by proper way.
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Glazerman, Steven; Protik, Ali; Teh, Bing-ru; Bruch, Julie; Max, Jeffrey
2013-01-01
One way to improve struggling schools' access to effective teachers is to use selective transfer incentives. Such incentives offer bonuses for the highest-performing teachers to move into schools serving the most disadvantaged students. In this report, we provide evidence from a randomized experiment that tested whether such a policy intervention…
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Values Education: The Power2Achieve Approach for Building Sustainability and Enduring Impact
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Davidson, Matthew; Khmelkov, Vladimir; Baker, Kyle; Lickona, Thomas
2011-01-01
Schools today struggle to prepare students for the moral and performance character challenges they will face in the 21st Century. Whether it is bolstering academic performance, reducing dropout, or improving integrity and safety, developing the character and culture of excellence and ethics is a critical need of schools--and yet they must do so…
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Improvement of the Performance of a Turbo-Ramjet Engine for UAV and Missile Applications
2003-12-01
Improvement of the Performance of a Turbo-Ramjet Engine for UAV and Missile Applications 5. FUNDING NUMBERS 6. AUTHOR ( S ) Dimitrios...Krikellas 7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME( S ) AND ADDRESS(ES) Naval Postgraduate School Monterey, CA 93943-5000 8. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION REPORT...NUMBER 9. SPONSORING / MONITORING AGENCY NAME( S ) AND ADDRESS(ES) N/A 10. SPONSORING/MONITORING AGENCY REPORT NUMBER 11
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Magzamen, Sheryl; Mayer, Adam P; Barr, Stephanie; Bohren, Lenora; Dunbar, Brian; Manning, Dale; Reynolds, Stephen J; Schaeffer, Joshua W; Suter, Jordan; Cross, Jennifer E
2017-05-01
Sustainable school buildings hold much promise to reducing operating costs, improve occupant well-being and, ultimately, teacher and student performance. However, there is a scarcity of evidence on the effects of sustainable school buildings on health and performance indicators. We sought to create a framework for a multidisciplinary research agenda that links school facilities, health, and educational outcomes. We conducted a nonsystematic review of peer review publications, government documents, organizational documents, and school climate measurement instruments. We found that studies on the impact of physical environmental factors (air, lighting, and thermal comfort) on health and occupant performance are largely independent of research on the social climate. The current literature precludes the formation of understanding the causal relation among school facilities, social climate, occupant health, and occupant performance. Given the average age of current school facilities in the United States, construction of new school facilities or retrofits of older facilities will be a major infrastructure investment for many municipalities over the next several decades. Multidisciplinary research that seeks to understand the impact of sustainable design on the health and performance of occupants will need to include both an environmental science and social science perspective to inform best practices and quantification of benefits that go beyond general measures of costs savings from energy efficiencies. © 2017, American School Health Association.
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Shaughnessy, R J; Haverinen-Shaughnessy, U; Nevalainen, A; Moschandreas, D
2006-12-01
Poor conditions leading to substandard indoor air quality (IAQ) in classrooms have been frequently cited in the literature over the past two decades. However, there is limited data linking poor IAQ in the classrooms to student performance. Whereas, it is assumed that poor IAQ results in reduced attendance and learning potential, and subsequent poor student performance, validating this hypothesis presents a challenge in today's school environment. This study explores the association between student performance on standardized aptitude tests that are administered to students on a yearly basis, to classroom carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations, which provide a surrogate of ventilation being provided to each room. Data on classroom CO2 concentrations (over a 4-5 h time span within a typical school day) were recorded in fifth grade classrooms in 54 elementary schools within a school district in the USA. Results from this preliminary study yield a significant (P < 0.10) association between classroom-level ventilation rate and test results in math. They also indicate that non-linear effects may need to be considered for better representation of the association. A larger sample size is required in order to draw more definitive conclusions. Practical Implications Future studies could focus on (1) gathering more evidence on the possible association between classroom ventilation rates and students' academic performance; (2) the linear/non-linear nature of the association; and (3) whether it is possible to detect 'no observed adverse effect level' for adequate ventilation with respect to academic performance in schools. All of this information could be used to improve guidance and take regulatory actions to ensure adequate ventilation in schools. The high prevalence of low ventilation rates, combined with the growing evidence of the positive impact that sufficient ventilation has on human performance, suggests an opportunity for improving design and management of school facilities.
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Goertz, Margaret E.; Barnes, Carol; Massell, Diane; Fink, Ryan; Francis, Anthony Tuf
2013-01-01
Over the last 20 years, state education agencies (SEAs) have been given considerably more responsibilities for directing and guiding the improvement of low-performing schools. At the same time, federal policies strongly pressed SEAs to use research to design these supports. Very few studies have explored the SEA as an organization, or its role in…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Stitzlein, Sarah M.
2015-01-01
Some parents and caregivers, frustrated by low academic performance of their local school, emphasis on testing, or the content of the curriculum, have worked independently or formed parent groups to speak out and demand improvements. Parents and families enact solutions such as opting out of tests, developing alternative curricula, invoking parent…
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Not Just Numbers: Creating a Partnership Climate to Improve Math Proficiency in Schools
Sheldon, Steven B.; Epstein, Joyce L.; Galindo, Claudia L.
2009-01-01
Although we know that family involvement is associated with stronger math performance, little is known about what educators are doing to effectively involve families and community members, and whether this measurably improves math achievement at their schools. This study used data from 39 schools to assess the effects of family and community involvement activities on school levels of math achievement. The study found that better implementation of math-related practices of family and community involvement predicted stronger support from parents for schools’ partnership programs, which, in turn, helped estimate the percentage of students scoring proficient on math achievement tests. PMID:20200592
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Expectations and high school change: teacher-researcher collaboration to prevent school failure.
Weinstein, R S; Soulé, C R; Collins, F; Cone, J; Mehlhorn, M; Simontacchi, K
1991-06-01
Describes the multilevel outcomes of a collaborative preventive intervention for ninth-graders at risk for school failure using qualitative and quasi-experimental methods. Teachers, administrators, and researchers implemented innovative practices communicating positive expectations for low-achieving adolescents in their transition to high school. Changes were made in the practices of curriculum, grouping, evaluation, motivation, student responsibility, and relationships (in the classroom, with parents, and in the school). Both implementation and evaluation evolved as a function of collaboration. Change was promising but not uniform. Project teachers became more positive about students and colleagues, expanded their roles, and changed school tracking policies. The 158 project students, in contrast to the 154 comparison students showed improved grades and disciplinary referrals post-intervention and increased retention in school 1 year later, but their absences rose and improved performance was not maintained. The implications of this analysis for school-based interventions and its evaluation are discussed.
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Murphy, J Michael; Guzmán, Javier; McCarthy, Alyssa E; Squicciarini, Ana María; George, Myriam; Canenguez, Katia M; Dunn, Erin C; Baer, Lee; Simonsohn, Ariela; Smoller, Jordan W; Jellinek, Michael S
2015-04-01
The world's largest school-based mental health program, Habilidades para la Vida [Skills for Life (SFL)], has been operating on a national scale in Chile for 15 years. SFL's activities include using standardized measures to screen elementary school students and providing preventive workshops to students at risk for mental health problems. This paper used SFL's data on 37,397 students who were in first grade in 2009 and third grade in 2011 to ascertain whether first grade mental health predicted subsequent academic achievement and whether remission of mental health problems predicted improved academic outcomes. Results showed that mental health was a significant predictor of future academic performance and that, overall, students whose mental health improved between first and third grade made better academic progress than students whose mental health did not improve or worsened. Our findings suggest that school-based mental health programs like SFL may help improve students' academic outcomes.
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Lessons from school: what nurse leaders can learn from education.
Davies, Nigel
2015-07-01
The drive to improve quality in the education sector is similar to that in health care, and lessons from the schools system are relevant to nursing leadership. This article discusses these shared traits, and details how school improvement was achieved in London and how a model of learning-centred leadership helped to transform pupil attainment in schools that had been performing poorly. Parallels are drawn between the education inspection system undertaken by Ofsted and the hospital inspections undertaken by the Care Quality Commission, and between the practice discipline-based managerial roles of nurse directors and head teachers. The article suggests that a learning-centred approach to improving the quality of patient care is needed, with a focus on the education and continuing professional development of staff.
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Bloodgood, Robert A; Short, Jerry G; Jackson, John M; Martindale, James R
2009-05-01
To measure the impact of a change in grading system in the first two years of medical school, from graded (A, B, C, D, F) to pass/fail, on medical students' academic performance, attendance, residency match, satisfaction, and psychological well-being. For both the graded and pass/fail classes, objective data were collected on academic performance in the first- and second-year courses, the clerkships, United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) Steps 1 and 2 Clinical Knowledge (CK), and residency placement. Self-report data were collected using a Web survey (which included the Dupuy General Well-Being Schedule) administered each of the first four semesters of medical school. The study was conducted from 2002 to 2007 at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. The pass/fail class exhibited a significant increase in well-being during each of the first three semesters of medical school relative to the graded class, greater satisfaction with the quality of their medical education during the first four semesters of medical school, and greater satisfaction with their personal lives during the first three semesters of medical school. The graded and pass/fail classes showed no significant differences in performance in first- and second-year courses, grades in clerkships, scores on USMLE Step 1 and Step 2CK, success in residency placement, and attendance at academic activities. A change in grading from letter grades to pass/fail in the first two years of medical school conferred distinct advantages to medical students, in terms of improved psychological well-being and satisfaction, without any reduction in performance in courses or clerkships, USMLE test scores, success in residency placement, or level of attendance.
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Schlechty, Phillip; And Others
1984-01-01
Offers recommendations for developing a system of teacher staffing and evaluation that would improve teacher performance and the state of education in general. Discusses incentive and reward systems, performance evaluation, career advancement and enrichment, and other issues. (KH)
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How to Improve the Supply of High-Quality Teachers
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Hanushek, Eric Alan; Rivkin, Steven G.
2004-01-01
Virtually everybody interested in improving the performance of schools concentrates on the importance of teacher quality. Yet policy recommendations related to teacher quality frequently do not incorporate existing evidence about performance. This paper reviews the various strands of research related to teacher quality, including the role of…
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Trevorrow, Tracy; Zhou, Eric S; Dietch, Jessica R; Gonzalez, Brian D
2018-03-13
The Society of Behavioral Medicine recommends school officials start middle and high school classes at 8:30 am or later. Such a schedule promotes students' sleep health, resulting in improvements in physical health, psychological well-being, attention and concentration, academic performance, and driving safety. In this position statement, we propose a four-tiered approach to promote later school start times for middle and high schools.
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Miron, Gary; Urschel, Jessica L.
2012-01-01
K12 Inc. enrolls more public school students than any other private education management organization in the U.S. Much has been written about K12 Inc. (referred to in this report simply as "K12") by financial analysts and investigative journalists because it is a large, publicly traded company and is the dominant player in the operation…
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Whose Choice? Student Experiences and Outcomes in the New Orleans School Marketplace. Research Brief
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Adamson, Frank; Cook-Harvey, Channa; Darling-Hammond, Linda
2015-01-01
As charters and other public and private schools of choice have created a new landscape in many urban areas across the country, some districts have adopted the idea of creating "portfolios" of options. Central to the philosophy of a portfolio district is continuous improvement, as lowest-performing schools are transformed or replaced. In…
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Principal Concerns in Wisconsin: Focus on Future Leaders for Rural Schools. Data Brief
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Martin, Katherine
2013-01-01
Common sense and recent research make it clear that schools cannot be successful without strong principals. Strong principals help improve student performance in many ways, from shaping a school's mission and culture to hiring, developing, and retaining its teachers. Even so, principals often get short shrift in today's debates about human capital…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Department of Energy, Washington, DC.
This guide shows ways that school administrators and board members can contribute to energy choice decisions for educational facilities, and it discusses how reducing operating costs also can create better learning environments. The guide reveals how design guidelines help create high-performance school buildings. It explains the use of energy…
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Seeds of Change in the Big Apple: Chartering Schools in New York City
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Lake, Robin J.
2004-01-01
In New York City and state, charter schools are slowly gaining momentum through performance that speaks for itself, and with quick action by authorizers and charter advocates when schools fail. But as the New York charter experience should demonstrate to districts and states nationwide, meeting the urgent need for systemwide improvement is far…
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Identity Crisis: Multiple Measures and the Identification of Schools under ESSA. Policy Memo 16-3
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Hough, Heather; Penner, Emily; Witte, Joe
2016-01-01
The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) makes sweeping changes to the way school performance is measured. Using the innovative measurement system developed by the CORE Districts in California, the authors explore how schools can be identified for support and improvement using a multiple measures framework. They show that 1) Different academic…