Milwaukee Parental Choice Program: Descriptive Report on Participating Schools 2010–11

This report is the fifth in a series of annual reports produced by the School Choice Demonstration Project (SCDP) that will provide descriptive information about the schools participating in the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP)

The evolution of transformative communication patterns in 1-to-1 computing classrooms

This research explores the evolution of communication patterns in 1-to-1 classrooms of teachers who vary in their years of experience teaching in these computer-rich classrooms. The context for this study was classroom observations and teacher interviews in 7 Milwaukee public schools during the spring of 2010 where teachers were implementing a 1-to-1 computer program in which every student was given a laptop. The researcher used an explanatory mixed-methods design in which both quantitative and qualitative data were collected. The researcher compared data collected through classroom observations and teacher interviews from 5 teachers in the first year of the program and 6 teachers who had been in the program for 2 or more years. The overall findings suggested a shift from more traditional forms of instruction toward constructivist teaching styles when comparing the 2 groups. The researcher compared classroom organization, technology use, communication patterns, and student identity in the 2 groups of teachers. Teachers with more experience in the 1-to-1 program structured instruction to allow students to work in small groups more often. They also used technology as a tool more often to mediate communication. The research also revealed that when students have ubiquitous access to real-time formative assessments, new forms of student-centered communication patterns occurred. Another finding was that student identity often changes in 1-to-1 computing environments from a passive role to taking on more responsibility, acting as experts, and becoming more engaged in their own learning. Ongoing professional development was found to be an important factor in helping teachers evolve their teaching practices. These positive findings suggest that communication patterns in 1-to-1 classrooms do evolve toward more transformational forms of communication over time

Towards a Lightweight Approach for Modding Serious Educational Games: Assisting Novice Designers

Serious educational games (SEGs) are a growing segment of the education community’s pedagogical toolbox. Effectively creating such games remains challenging, as teachers and industry trainers are content experts; typically they are not game designers with the theoretical knowledge and practical experience needed to create a quality SEG. Here, a lightweight approach to interactively explore and modify existing SEGs is introduced, a toll that can be broadly adopted by educators for pedagogically sound SEGs. Novice game designers can rapidly explore the educational and traditional elements of a game, with a stress on tracking the SEG learning objectives, as well as allowing for reviewing and altering a variety of graphic and audio game elements

Paying for school: an overview of charter school finance

This paper examines the current state of the market for charter school finance and will focus specifically on programs and financing structures for school facilities.Education - Economic aspects

Profiles of Academic Libraries

Collectively, the profiles included in this book are designed to give a bird‘s eye view of the various aspects of academic librarianship, not only in the United States, but in other countries as well, such as Egypt, Jordan, South Africa, and Saudi Arabia. These profiles enable the reader to compare the various aspects of academic librarianship on a national as well as international level. These comparisons may also lead to identifying best practices used by college and university libraries in such areas as management, marketing, information fluency and the like. Reading the chapters, the reader can draw examples of best practices in academic library management.https://dc.uwm.edu/sois_facbooks/1001/thumbnail.jp

Green Jobs in a Sustainable Food System

The U.S. food sector is among the most productive in the world and is a significant driver of our economy. Yet, it's failing us in major ways -- putting public health, livelihoods and our environment at great risk. Obesity and diabetes rates are rising, communities are plagued by food deserts, and agriculture runoff is the biggest source of pollution in our rivers and lakes.The good news is that communities across the country are addressing this crisis in innovative ways. Through different community-based efforts, local activists and food advocates are finding ways to improve community health and environmental outcomes while creating a more economically equitable food system.It is within this context that this report identifies opportunities to transform jobs in the green economy and enhance environmental and economic equity outcomes in the future. The initial analysis promises opportunities for workers to build long-term skills, and emphasizes the importance of linking local efforts to broader regional and national policy platforms. This multi-level engagement and collaboration will help set in motion the systemic changes needed to create a more sustainable and equitable food system

NBA: No (Anti-) Blackness Allowed

This paper serves as the foundational pillar in my art practice. This paper combines my experiences, influences, motivations, hopes, dreams, methodologies, historical research and contemporary analyses into a single document ripe for revisions. This document lives and breathes; its contents are constantly evolving, and should be continually challenged and evaluated for relevancy and validity. Part memoir, part manifesto, and part artist statement, it establishes where my work sits in the canon of fine art, even as I don’t know yet what that means. My writings, visual artworks and all other creative actions are tethered to this document and vice versa. Its first examination is the body of work that comprises NBA, my thesis exhibition. While the projects will change over time, the rigorous examination of the ideas and research that support them will remain constant

Four Pillars of Growth for Youth Serving Nonprofits

Based on interviews, outlines how fast-growing youth-serving nonprofits prepare systematically for growth, demonstrate clear programmatic results, market to specific funders, and actively engage board members' time, talent, and financial resources

Extremely low-income households, housing affordability and the Great Recession.

The effects of the Great Recession on housing equity and homeownership have been well-documented. However, we know little about how rental households fared and the efficacy of housing subsidies in addressing affordability gaps. This paper examines the extent to which rental housing became less affordable for Extremely Low-Income (ELI) households - those earning less than 30% of the Area Median Income (AMI). I then run regression models to determine the local characteristics most strongly associated with larger affordability gaps, with a focus on whether housing subsidies are effective at combating such gaps. Rental affordability gaps became more pronounced during the Great Recession. In nearly 70% of the counties in my sample, there was an increase from 2007 to 2010 in the number of ELI households per affordable rental unit. Across the country, the increase was 17%, a dramatic increase in only three years. There is considerable variation across the country, with acute affordability crises often concentrated in the South, particularly Florida. Regression models provide compelling evidence that housing vouchers, public housing, and project-based Section 8 subsidies play an important role in limiting the extent to which large numbers of ELI households are competing for a shortage of low-cost rental units. However, these programmes do not respond quickly to local needs - such as those brought about by the Great Recession. A pilot study where local housing authorities had funding to be more agile and responsive would be an important step toward crafting better policy