According to data from Education’s national survey, most elementary school teachers--about 90 percent--reported that instruction time for arts education stayed the same between school years 2004-2005 and 2006-2007. The percentage of teachers that reported that instruction time had stayed the same was similarly high across a range of school characteristics, irrespective of the schools’ percentage of low-income or minority students or of students with limited English proficiency, or the schools’ improvement under NCLBA.
Full report:
http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d09286.pdf
Nine of the 10 software products had statistically insignificant effects on test scores
In the No Child Left Behind Act, Congress called for the U.S. Department of Education (ED) to conduct a rigorous study of the conditions and practices under which educational technology is effective in increasing student academic achievement. Such a study was conducted. The study’s main objective was to assess the effects that using software products may have had on reading or math scores on standardized achievement tests.
Nine of the 10 products had statistically insignificant effects on test scores for the full sample (two years of student data) and the second-year sample. One product had a positive and statistically significant effect for the full sample. The magnitude of this effect is equivalent to moving the average student from the 50th percentile to the 54th percentile (an effect size of 0.09).
Full report:
http://www.mathematica-mpr.com/publications/pdfs/education/effectreadmath09.pdf
Technology's Edge: The Educational Benefits of Computer-Aided Instruction
A new report present results from a randomized study of a well-defined use of computers in schools, a popular instructional computer program for pre-algebra and algebra.
Students randomly assigned to computer-aided instruction score significantly higher on a pre-algebra and algebra test than students randomly assigned to traditional instruction. The researchers hypothesize that this effectiveness arises from increased individualized instruction as the effects appear larger for students in larger classes and in classes with high student absentee rates.
Article Citation
Barrow, Lisa, Lisa Markman, and Cecilia Elena Rouse. 2009. "Technology's Edge: The Educational Benefits of Computer-Aided Instruction." American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 1(1): 52–74.
MSU-led study: Charter school students more likely to graduate, attend college
Students at charter schools graduate and attend college at significantly higher rates than students at traditional public schools, according to a RAND Corp. study led by a Michigan State University scholar.
The study, which offers mixed overall results for charter school advocates, comes amid a national debate over President Obama’s endorsement of charter schools, which are experimental public schools that operate independently of the local school board. Obama recently said he would oppose limits on the number of charter schools.
Ron Zimmer, MSU associate professor of education, and colleagues are the first to conduct a long-term investigation of graduation and college-attendance rates at charter high schools. They found that charter students are 7 percent to 15 percent more likely to graduate from high school and attend college than students at traditional public schools.
“These are some of the most positive results so far for charter schools,” Zimmer said. “It may suggest that evaluations up to this point have not been broad enough to capture what’s going on in charter schools.”
Zimmer said further research is needed to explore the factors behind the higher graduation and college-attendance rates.
Other findings from the study, which looked at eight U.S. locations:
• There is little evidence that charter schools are producing, on average, test score gains that differ substantially from those of traditional public schools. Zimmer said much of the previous research has shown similar results.
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• Charter schools do not generally draw the top students away from traditional public schools. In fact, Zimmer said students transferring to charter schools generally have below-average test scores.
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• Charter schools do not appear to substantially help or harm student achievement in nearby traditional public schools.
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“This study provides evidence that charter schools might be moving in the right direction in terms of high school graduation and college attendance, but test scores and other outcomes might not be as promising,” Zimmer said. “So policymakers need to think more broadly about outcomes when evaluating how to proceed with charter schools.”
The first U.S. charter school opened in 1992. Since then the number of charters has grown to more than 4,000 in 40 states, serving 1.2 million students, according to RAND, a nonprofit research organization based in Santa Monica, Calif.
The study examined charter schools in Chicago, Denver, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, San Diego, and the states of Florida, Ohio and Texas.
Complete report:
http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/2009/RAND_MG869.pdf
Cognitive Decline Begins in Late 20s
A new study indicates that some aspects of peoples' cognitive skills – such as the ability to make rapid comparisons, remember unrelated information and detect relationships – peak at about the age of 22, and then begin a slow decline starting around age 27.
"This research suggests that some aspects of age-related cognitive decline begin in healthy, educated adults when they are in their 20s and 30s," said Timothy Salthouse, a University of Virginia professor of psychology and the study's lead investigator.
His findings appear in the current issue of the journal Neurobiology of Aging.
Salthouse and his team conducted the study during a seven-year period, working with 2,000 healthy participants between the ages of 18 and 60.
Participants were asked to solve various puzzles, remember words and details from stories, and identify patterns in an assortment of letters and symbols.
Many of the participants in Salthouse's study were tested several times during the course of years, allowing researchers to detect subtle declines in cognitive ability.
Top performances in some of the tests were accomplished at the age of 22. A notable decline in certain measures of abstract reasoning, brain speed and in puzzle-solving became apparent at 27.
Salthouse found that average memory declines can be detected by about age 37. However, accumulated knowledge skills, such as improvement of vocabulary and general knowledge, actually increase at least until the age of 60.
"These patterns suggest that some types of mental flexibility decrease relatively early in adulthood, but that how much knowledge one has, and the effectiveness of integrating it with one's abilities, may increase throughout all of adulthood if there are no pathological diseases," Salthouse said.
However, Salthouse points out that there is a great deal of variance from person to person, and, he added, most people function at a highly effective level well into their final years, even when living a long life.
One of the unique features of this project in the University of Virginia Cognitive Aging Laboratory is that some of the participants return to the laboratory for repeated assessments after intervals of one to seven years.
"By following individuals over time, we gain insight to cognition changes, and may possibly discover ways to alleviate or slow the rate of decline," Salthouse said. "And by better understanding the processes of cognitive impairment, we may become better at predicting the onset of dementias such as Alzheimer's disease."
Salthouse's team also is surveying participants' health and lifestyles to see if certain characteristics, such as social relationships, serve to moderate age-related cognitive changes.
They hope to continue their studies over many more years, with many of the same participants, to gain a long-term understanding of how the brain changes over time.
Digest of Education Statistics, 2008
The 44th in a series of publications initiated in 1962, the Digest's primary purpose is to provide a compilation of statistical information covering the broad field of American education from prekindergarten through graduate school. The Digest contains data on a variety of topics, including the number of schools and colleges, teachers, enrollments, and graduates, in addition to educational attainment, finances, and federal funds for education, libraries, and international comparisons.
Full report:
http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2009/2009020.pdf
Characteristics of Private Schools in the United States: Results from the 2007-08 Private School Universe Survey
This report on the 2007-08 Private School Universe Survey presents data on private schools in the United States for grades kindergarten through twelve by selected characteristics such as school size, school level, religious orientation, geographic region, urbanicity type, and program emphasis.
Full report:
http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2009/2009313.pdf
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