Student Social Services in Kentucky’s Schools: Understanding the Impact of FRYSCs on Student Achievement

This study examines the impact of a public policy intervention, called Family Resource and Youth Service Centers (FRYSC), on student achievement in Kentucky. The author provides a quantitative evaluation of FRYSC, supplementing a void in prior research on FRYSC effectiveness. FRYSC-eligible schools (n = 1263) included in this study had no center, an elementary center, a middle or high school center, or a combined center. The researcher analyzed data obtained from government databases reporting school-level statewide assessment results. Student achievement metrics reflect reading and mathematics proficiency outcomes for at-risk students, whom are typically served by a FRYSC. For reading and mathematics multi-level models show observed variability throughout the FRYSC structure. Level one represents the type of center (ICC = .32 for reading and .33 for mathematics). Level two represents the county where the FRYSC is located (ICC = .46 for reading and .41 for mathematics). Level three represents the state-designed FRYSC regions (ICC = .22 for reading and .27 for mathematics). The county level show the largest effect when understanding the impact of FRYSC on student achievement and implies leadership at this level drives effectiveness. This study also calculates cost ratios to measure the cost of FRYSC per achievement outcome. At each level reading costs less per outcome than mathematics, however, achievement is not correlated with the funding centers receive. Implications of this finding suggest identifying cost-effective models to maximize outcomes while considering state-funded allocations for centers

Park College, Eastbourne: report from the Inspectorate (FEFC inspection report; 26/00)

The Further Education Funding Council has a legal duty to make sure further education in England is properly assessed. The FEFC’s inspectorate inspects and reports on each college of further education according to a four-year cycle. This record includes the inspection report for the period 1999-2000

MELEES - e-support or mayhem?

This paper reports on progress in developing a web-based environment to support non-specialist mathematics students taking University level Mathematics as a compulsory subject in their first and second years. The scale and diversity of the service teaching provision at Nottingham invites the use of a technology-based framework in order to make available the ‘good practice’ features developed both locally and elsewhere. Initially the two year development is focusing on: • establishing a supportive environment; • providing feedback to students, their lecturers and importantly to their home Schools; • identifying and supporting e-learning strategies; • improving student motivation. Current activities have been primarily directed to the first three bullet points

A Collaborative Pre-Practicum Apprentice Program Gives a Community College a Jump-Start in Teacher Preparation

The Virginia Collaborative for Excellence in the Preparation of Teachers (VCEPT), funded by a grant from the Division of Undergraduate Education of the National Science Foundation, implemented the VCEPT Pre-Practicum Apprentice Program a couple of years into the grant. Groups of colleges within the Collaborative were to work together to set up an experience for pre-service teachers at their colleges which emphasized mathematics, science, and technology and which gave the pre-service teachers some in-field experience observing instruction in the local schools with lead teachers in these disciplines. Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), Virginia Union University (VUU), and J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College (JSRCC) formed a collaboration of colleges with the City of Richmond. The carefully planned program of seminars and in-field observations in Richmond Public Schools provided a model program for identifying pre-service teachers and giving them the opportunity to decide if teaching was a career for them. All evaluations of the Program at J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College indicate that it was educational for the pre-service teachers and assisted them in forming their own philosophies of education. Once the VCEPT grant was complete, JSRCC institutionalized the Program by developing a course, Introduction to Teaching as a Profession, modeled after the Program, included teacher preparation as part of the Strategic Plan of the College, and created a Center for Teacher Education

Signaling the Competencies of High School Students to Employers

[Excerpt] The fundamental cause of the low effort level of American students, parents, and voters in school elections is the absence of good signals of effort and accomplishment and the consequent lack of rewards for learning. In most other advanced countries mastery of the curriculum is assessed by examinations that are set and graded at the national or regional level. Grades on these exams signal the student\u27s achievement to employers and colleges and influence the jobs that graduates get and the universities and programs to which they are admitted. Exam results also influence school reputations and in some countries the number of students applying for admission to the school. In the United States, by contrast, students take aptitude tests that are not intended to assess the learning that has occurred in most of the classes taken in high school. The primary signals of academic achievement are diplomas awarded for time spent in school and grades and rank in class—criteria that assess achievement relative to other students in the school or classroom, not relative to an external standard

Scientific Illiteracy: Causes, Costs and Cures

[Excerpt] This article examines the causes of the learning deficits in science, math and technology, evaluates their social costs and then recommends policy measures for remedying the problems identified. Following the American Association for the Advancement of Science\u27s Science for All Americans report, I define the domain of science very broadly to include mathematics and technology along with the natural sciences. To avoid confusing readers accustomed to the narrower definition of science, broadly defined science is referred to as science, mathematics and technology