The District Effect: Systemic Responses to High Stakes Accountability Policies in Six Southern States

High stakes accountability (HSA) reforms were enacted in state after state and federally through the No Child Left Behind law, based on the belief that incentives that have consequences attached are effective ways to motivate educators to improve student performance. Our focus for this article is on school district level responses to HSA reforms that could produce positive changes in teaching and learning. We set out to determine whether a district effect was present in the implementation of HSA systems in six southern states and whether that effect was accompanied by the types of activities previously identified in the research literature as being associated with changes in teaching and learning and student achievement. We tested a theory of action that assumed that HSA would cause school districts to develop coherent instructional strategies that would be evidenced by the provision of coherent, high-quality professional development and the alignment of district policy and resources in support of school improvement. These activities on the part of districts would then improve student achievement as measured by state tests

An evaluation of the implementation of Georgia's Pre-k program: Report of the findings from the Georgia Early Childhood Study (2002-03)

After ten years, Georgia continues to lead the nation in providing full day, publicly subsidized Pre-K to four-year-olds whose parents choose to enroll them. In this report, we assess the extent to which differences in the way Pre-K is implemented affect children's development. Do teachers with higher levels of education have more positive impacts on children's development? Do teaching styles make a difference in terms of children's outcomes by the end of kindergarten? Do children taught using certain curricula fare better than those taught using others? Answers to questions such as these can assist Pre-K administrators in refining Georgia's program and inform those in other states who are developing or expanding their prekindergarten programs

Evaluating the Validity of Classroom Observations in the Head Start Designation Renewal System

Classroom observations are increasingly common in education policies as a means to assess the quality of teachers and/or education programs for purposes of making high-stakes decisions. This article considers one policy, the Head Start Designation Renewal System (DRS), which involves classroom observations to assess the quality of Head Start programs in order to decide whether their funding is renewed. This article applies an argument-based approach for evaluating the validity of observational assessments that (a) explicates assumptions that underlie the presumed logic, leading from the collection of scores from observations of Head Start classrooms, to the inference that scores assess the quality of Head Start programs, to the decision to renew funding to Head Start programs, and (b) summarizes evidence that speaks to the plausibility of each assumption. There was limited evidence to support the plausibility of many assumptions, including those pertaining to score generalizability, predictive validity, and the cutoff scores set as minimum standards of quality. Implications for improving the validity of classroom observations and the accuracy and fairness of decisions in the Head Start DRS are discussed

A psychological process of college student dropout

M.S.Stanley A. Mulai

Live Versus Video Observations: Comparing the Reliability and Validity of Two Methods of Assessing Classroom Quality

When conducting classroom observations, researchers are often confronted with the decision of whether to conduct observations live or by using pre-recorded video. The present study focuses on comparing and contrasting observations of live and video administrations of the Classroom Assessment Scoring System–PreK (CLASS-PreK). Associations between versions, mean differences, reliability, and predictive validity were examined. Results generally indicated high correlations between versions. Video codes were slightly lower on average than live codes. Reliability was generally acceptable in terms of Cronbach’s alpha, but multigroup confirmatory factor models suggested some differences between observation types. Finally, CLASS scores based on each observation type indicated some predictive validity of children’s academic achievement, but no observation type was uniformly better. The discussion focuses on why the codes might differ and the implications of those differences

Peer Interaction in Rural Preschool Classrooms: Contributions of Children\u27s Learning-Related Behaviors, Language and Literacy Skills, and Problem Behaviors

Peer interaction contributes strongly to children’s development and learning, but the processes by which peer interaction is shaped in preschool classrooms, particularly classrooms in rural communities, are largely unknown. This study aimed to examine the patterns of peer interaction in rural preschool classrooms as a way to extrapolate how children influence each other in their day-to-day social interaction. Included in this study were 270 preschoolers (Mean age = 53 months, SD = 3.2) from 61 preschool classrooms located in rural communities that primarily served children from low-income families. Results of actor-partner interdependence models demonstrate significant homophily effects of children’s learning-related behaviors and language and literacy skills, after accounting for gender and problem behavior homophily. The similarity of learning-related behaviors between a dyad mediated the relationship between their problem behaviors and the frequency of peer interaction. Children’s language and literacy skills were similar to the skills of their peers with whom they interacted more often toward the end of the academic year. These findings have implications for understanding and improving peer interaction in rural preschool classrooms

Middle School Teachers\u27 Mindfulness, Occupational Health and Well-Being, and the Quality of Teacher-Student Interactions

Building upon contemporary models of teaching that suggest that teachers’ own well-being is related to their classroom practice and student outcomes, we examined whether middle school teachers’ mindfulness skills were related to their concurrent occupational health and well-being (job stress, occupational burnout, and depressive and anxiety symptoms), and quality of their interactions with students in their “most stressful” class during the school day. Multivariate regression analyses of 58 middle school teachers indicated that teacher mindfulness was significantly associated with lower levels of job stress, occupational burnout, and depressive and anxiety symptoms; and higher levels of observers’ ratings of teachers’ emotionally supportive interactions with students in their most stressful classroom. Occupational burnout, in contrast, was negatively related to observers’ ratings of emotional support and organization in the classroom. Results suggest individual differences in middle school teachers’ mindfulness may affect their interactions with students in the middle school classroom directly and through reductions in burnout, though longitudinal studies of these relations are needed. Findings are discussed in relation to intervention efforts to improve teacher mindfulness through training in order to support occupational health and well-being, improve the quality of teacher-student interactions in the classroom, and increase student engagement and learning

Theory of Mind, Directly and Indirectly, Facilitates Kindergarten Adjustment via Verbal Ability, Executive Function, and Emotion Knowledge

Theory of mind describes the ability to engage in perspective‐taking, understand intentions, and predict actions and emotions. Theory of mind typically achieves major developmental milestones around age of 5, coinciding with the transition to kindergarten, and is associated with a verbal ability (receptive and expressive vocabulary), executive function (inhibitory control and working memory), and emotion knowledge. Less is known about how the theory of mind operates in low‐income samples, where foundational skills (i.e., verbal ability, executive function, and emotion knowledge) tend to be delayed. Applied to classrooms, the theory of mind may support the transition to kindergarten by facilitating relationships, learning‐related behaviors, and socioemotional skills that require perspective‐taking. In a low‐income sample of 140 kindergarteners across 21 classrooms, the theory of mind was directly associated with teacher‐ratings of social and emotional skills, behavioral and academic adjustment, and closeness within the teacher–child relationship, beyond the contribution of foundational skills. Moreover, verbal ability, executive function, and emotion knowledge were indirectly associated with outcomes through the theory of mind. Findings suggest the theory of mind facilitates the transition to kindergarten and is built upon a complex set of foundational skills

Impacts of Teacher–Child Managed Whole-Group Language and Literacy Instruction on the Depth of Preschoolers’ Social Interaction

Research Findings: This study examined the potential impacts of ongoing participation (twice weekly for 30 weeks) in teacher–child managed whole-group language and literacy instruction on prekindergarten children’s social interaction with classmates. Teacher–child managed whole-group instruction that provides children with opportunities to engage with all of their classmates regularly may potentially deepen the social depth within a classroom (i.e., the frequency with which children regularly interact with each other). Provision of this type of instruction occurred via teachers’ implementation of a whole-class literacy curriculum twice weekly. Participants were 119 preschoolers who received an experimental literacy curriculum in 26 classrooms and 76 children in 17 business-as-usual control classrooms. Condition predicted the strength of children’s social interaction, suggesting that children in experimental classrooms had relatively stronger social ties with peers than children in control classrooms. Practice or Policy: The findings suggest that participation in ongoing teacher–child managed whole-group instruction could facilitate stronger social connections among preschool children