New York City School Survey 2008-2010: Assessing the Reliability and Validity of a Progress Report Measure

A growing number of cities and states are using surveys to collect vital information about school climate from students, teachers and parents. The New York City Department of Education's (DOE) annual survey of parents, students, and teachers is the largest of its kind in the United States. Since 2010, the Research Alliance has been working with the DOE to assess the reliability and validity of the survey's measures. This technical report provides an account of our statistical exploration of the School Survey

Re-Taking the Test

Application of Avital Ronnell's theory of the "test drive" to high-stakes standardized testing in K-12 schooling

Avoiding the Gaze of the Test: High Stakes Literacy Policy Implementation

This qualitative embedded case study documents the policy implementation of literacy assessment in a Texas urban high school, using Foucault’s theory of the panopticon to understand how teaching and learning were shaped by the state high-stakes exit exam. In addition to the strong influence of the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) test, data also indicated that despite an atmosphere of surveillance, teachers also worked strategically to make room for other types of literacy instruction. This was most visible in English I and II teachers’ commitment to process-based writing instruction focused on real-world text genres.Educatio

Learning to design for social sustainability through the synthesis of two approaches

This paper brings together research that I was involved in the SUE –MOT (sustainable urban environments; metrics models and toolkits) funded by the EPSRC (completed in 2010) and my work in Sri Lanka on a pioneering project to relocate Canal Bank dwellers that was awarded to me as winner of an open competition conducted by the Sri Lanka Institute of Architects. The project was completed in 1998. This paper compares the two approaches; Top down and Bottom up approaches to learn to design better for social sustainability

Exploring user types and what users seek in an open content based educational resource

The OpenLearn site is an example of an Open Educational Resource (OER) providing units for free study and for re-use under the Creative Commons license. The primary focus of the site is content but it also offers social tools such as forums, personal journals, presence, and videoconferencing. The content can also support interactivity such as quizzes, opportunities for reflection, and interactive diagrams. This paper discusses desirable attributes for a learning environment suited to OERs and considers OpenLearn in the light of the four types of learning focus suggested by Bransford et al (2002) namely: learner, knowledge, community and assessment centred. A study of user views of OpenLearn is reviewed using cluster analysis to identify possible user types. The needs of these user types are then considered with a focus on assessment issues and possible responses suggested in the case of OpenLearn to help bring in assessment to informal learning resources

Sharedness and privateness in human early social life

This research is concerned with the innate predispositions underlying human intentional communication. Human communication is currently defined as a circular and overt attempt to modify a partner's mental states. This requires each party involved to posse ss the ability to represent and understand the other's mental states, a capability which is commonly referred to as mindreading, or theory of mind (ToM). The relevant experimental literature agrees that no such capability is to be found in the human speci es at least during the first year of life, and possibly later. This paper aims at advancing a solution to this theoretical problem. We propose to consider sharedness as the basis for intentional communication in the infant and to view it as a primitive, i nnate component of her cognitive architecture. Communication can then build upon the mental grounds that the infant takes as shared with her caregivers. We view this capability as a theory of mind in a weak sense.

"Low-Income Students of Color in the U.S. Neoliberal Public Education System: An Examination of Federal and State Intervention Policies”

In this thesis I will use a critical policy analysis approach to examine US education reform and its effects on social inequality. I situate my analysis within the rise of neoliberal ideology which prioritizes market-driven values, champions individualism, diminishes social responsibility, and promotes deregulation. I seek to answer research questions such as: how does the United States’ neoliberal agenda create, maintain, and reproduce the marginalization of low-income students of color? How is the neoliberal agenda embedded in US education policy and law at state and federal levels? And, how might students of color conceptualize themselves within the larger framework of neoliberalism? As evidence I draw on theory, policy analysis, and existing empirical data on one of the most underperforming public schools in San Diego, California, with most of the students being minorities and low-income: Abraham Lincoln High School

Effective Schools: Managing the Recruitment, Development, and Retention of High-Quality Teachers

Analyzes the correlation between a school's effectiveness as measured by student achievement value-add and its ability to recruit, retain, and develop high-quality teachers and remove others, with a focus on the principal's leadership effectiveness