Teacher Attrition in Charter Schools

This study focuses on the reasons why teachers are leaving charter schools. It is based on analyses of data collected in surveys of charter school employees from around the country from 1997-2006. The authors found that while overall attrition rates fluctuate from year to year and state to state, as many as one in four charter school teachers leave each year- approximately double the traditional public school rate of 11 percent. Moreover, attrition among new teachers in charter schools is close to 40 percent annually. The authors contend that high attrition, "consumes resources of schools, impedes schools' efforts to build professional learning communities and positive, stable school cultures," and recommend that supporters of charters schools focus efforts on reducing teacher attrition

The Class Size Controversy

[Excerpt] When we ask whether class size matters for achievement, it is essential to ask also, how class size matters. This is important for three reasons. First, if we can observe not only achievement differences, but also the mechanisms through which the differences are produced, this will increase our confidence that the differences are real, and not an artifact of some unmeasured or inadequately controlled condition. Second, the effects of class size may vary in different circumstances, and identifying how class size affects achievement will help us to understand why the effects of class size are variable. Third, the potential benefits of class size reduction may be greater than what we observe. For example, suppose class size reductions aid achievement, but only when teachers modify instructional practices to take advantage of the smaller classes. If a few teachers make such modifications, but most do not, then understanding how class size affects achievement in some cases will help reveal its potential effects, even if the potential is generally unrealized

A systematic review of school-based sexual health interventions to prevent STI/HIV in sub-Saharan Africa

Background The HIV/AIDS epidemic remains of global significance and there is a need to target (a) the adolescent age-groups in which most new infections occur; and (b) sub-Saharan Africa where the greatest burden of the epidemic lies. A focused systematic review of school-based sexual health interventions in sub-Saharan Africa to prevent HIV/AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI) in this age group was therefore conducted. Methods Searches were conducted in Medline, Embase, Cinahl and PsychINFO according to agreed a priori criteria for studies published between 1986 and 2006. Further searches were conducted in UNAIDS and WHO (World Health Organization) websites, and 'Google'. Relevant journals were hand-searched and references cited in identified articles were followed up. Data extraction and quality assessment was carried out on studies selected for full text appraisal, and results were analysed and presented in narrative format. Results Some 1,020 possible titles and abstracts were found, 23 full text articles were critically appraised, and 12 articles (10 studies) reviewed, reflecting the paucity of published studies conducted relative to the magnitude of the HIV epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa. Knowledge and attitude-related outcomes were the most associated with statistically significant change. Behavioural intentions were more difficult to change and actual behaviour change was least likely to occur. Behaviour change in favour of abstinence and condom use appeared to be greatly influenced by pre-intervention sexual history. Conclusion There is a great need in sub-Saharan Africa for well-evaluated and effective school-based sexual health interventions

The use and misuse of computers in education : evidence from a randomized experiment in Colombia

This paper presents the evaluation of the program Computers for Education. The program aims to integrate computers, donated by the private sector, into the teaching of language in public schools. The authors conduct a two-year randomized evaluation of the program using a sample of 97 schools and 5,201 children. Overall, the program seems to have had little effect on students'test scores and other outcomes. These results are consistent across grade levels, subjects, and gender. The main reason for these results seems to be the failure to incorporate the computers into the educational process. Although the program increased the number of computers in the treatment schools and provided training to the teachers on how to use the computers in their classrooms, surveys of both teachers and students suggest that teachers did not incorporate the computers into their curriculum.Tertiary Education,Primary Education,Secondary Education,Teaching and Learning,Education For All

Impacts of the Teach For America Investing in Innovation Scale-Up

In 2010, Teach For America (TFA) launched a major expansion effort, funded in part by a five-year Investing in Innovation (i3) scale-up grant of $50 million from the U.S. Department of Education. Using a rigorous random assignment design to examine the effectiveness of TFA elementary school teachers in the second year of the i3 scale-up, Mathematica Policy Research found that first- and second-year corps members recruited and trained during the scale-up were as effective as other teachers in the same high-poverty schools in both reading and math. To estimate the effectiveness of TFA teachers relative to the comparison teachers, we compared end-of-year test scores of students assigned to the TFA teachers and those assigned to the comparison teachers. Because students in the study were randomly assigned to teachers, we can attribute systematic differences in achievement at the end of the study school year to the relative effectiveness of TFA and comparison teachers, rather than to the types of students taught by these two different groups of teachers. In addition to the impact analysis described in this report, the evaluation included an implementation analysis that describes key features of TFA's program model and its implementation of the i3 scale-up

Charter-School Management Organizations: Diverse Strategies and Diverse Student Impacts

Examines the growth of charter school management organizations, characteristics of students served, and use of resources; CMO practices; impact on students, including middle school test scores; and structures and practices linked to positive outcomes

San Francisco Bay Area KIPP Schools: A Study of Early Implementation and Achievement: Final Report

Examines the achievement results and operations of five Knowledge Is Power Program middle schools to assess the program's effectiveness, the role of leadership, implementation of the KIPP culture, design of curricula and instruction, and lessons learned

STUDENT CHARACTERISTICS THAT PREDICT PERSISTENCE AND PERFORMANCE IN ONLINE COURSES AND THE FACE-TO-FACE EQUIVALENTS AT A FOUR-YEAR PRIVATE NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY

Attrition in online courses is of growing concern in higher education. Many researchers and practitioners are concerned about student persistence (course completion) and performance (completion of a course with a grade of C or better) in online courses. This study investigated the undergraduate student characteristics that predict student persistence and performance in online courses and the face-to-face equivalents at a four-year private northeastern university. The sample consists of undergraduate students (42,280 observations, 25,167 unduplicated student headcount, which is the actual number of individual students in the population) who enrolled in courses, regardless of delivery format, from fall 2002 to spring 2013. This study attempted to identify the undergraduate student characteristics that predict student persistence and performance in online courses and the face-to-face equivalents while controlling for all available institutional variables such as demographics (age, gender, race/ethnicity, and financial aid) and academic performance (grade point average prior to enrollment at the institution, concurrent enrollment programs, and math and verbal scholastic aptitude test scores). The student characteristics were examined using multilevel modeling. The first level of analysis was the individual student and the second level of analysis was the academic school/college in which the student was enrolled. The findings of this study were mixed. No cause and effect claims were made. Aligning with much of the literature in this area, the results of this study consistently demonstrate that GPA prior to enrollment at the institution predicts student success in both online courses and the face-to-face equivalents. Students enrolled in the College of Engineering and Computer Science and the School of Management were more likely to succeed (persist and perform) in both online courses and the face-to-face equivalent. Consistently those students who identified their race/ethnicity as a minority, were less likely to succeed in online courses and the face-to-face equivalents

ImpacT2 project: preliminary study 1: establishing the relationship between networked technology and attainment

This report explored teaching practices, beliefs and teaching styles and their influences on ICT use and implementation by pupils. Additional factors explored included the value of school and LEA policies and teacher competence in the use of ICT in classroom settings. ImpaCT2 was a major longitudinal study (1999-2002) involving 60 schools in England, its aims were to: identify the impact of networked technologies on the school and out-of-school environment; determine whether or not this impact affected the educational attainment of pupils aged 816 years (at Key Stages 2, 3, and 4); and provide information that would assist in the formation of national, local and school policies on the deployment of IC

Many Children Left Behind? Textbooks and Test Scores in Kenya

A randomized evaluation suggests that a program which provided official textbooks to randomly selected rural Kenyan primary schools did not increase test scores for the average student. In contrast, the previous literature suggests that textbook provision has a large impact on test scores. Disaggregating the results by students? initial academic achievement suggests a potential explanation for the lack of an overall impact. Textbooks increased scores for students with high initial academic achievement and increased the probability that the students who had made it to the selective final year of primary school would go on to secondary school. However, students with weaker academic backgrounds did not benefit from the textbooks. Many pupils could not read the textbooks, which are written in English, most students? third language. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that the Kenyan education system and curricular materials are oriented to the academically strongest students rather than to typical students. More generally, many students may be left behind in societies that combine 1) a centralized, unified education system; 2) the heterogeneity in student preparation associated with rapid expansion of education; and 3) disproportionate elite power.