17,451 research outputs found
Enrollment Trends in Northwest Arkansas Charter Schools
Northwest Arkansas is home to nine public charter schools, with plans to open a new charter school for the 2020-21 school year. These schools, which serve unique missions, are some of the most highly ranked schools in the State of Arkansas. While critics argue that public charter schools segregate based on race or academic ability, national evidence finds that these claims are highly context specific. What conclusions can we draw about northwest Arkansas charter schools based on enrollment trends in recent years
How physics instruction impacts students' beliefs about learning physics: A meta-analysis of 24 studies
In this meta-analysis, we synthesize the results of 24 studies using the
Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey (CLASS) and the Maryland
Physics Expectations Survey (MPEX) to answer several questions: (1) How does
physics instruction impact students' beliefs? (2) When do physics majors
develop expert-like beliefs? and (3) How do students' beliefs impact their
learning of physics? We report that in typical physics classes, students'
beliefs deteriorate or at best stay the same. There are a few types of
interventions, including an explicit focus on model-building and/or developing
expert- like beliefs that lead to significant improvements in beliefs. Further,
small courses and those for elementary education and non-science majors also
result in improved beliefs. However, because the available data oversamples
certain types of classes, it is unclear whether these improvements are actually
due to the interventions, or due to the small class size, or student population
typical of the kinds of classes in which these interventions are most often
used. Physics majors tend to enter their undergraduate education with more
expert-like beliefs than non-majors and these beliefs remain relatively stable
throughout their undergraduate careers. Thus, typical physics courses appear to
be selecting students who already have strong beliefs, rather than supporting
students in developing strong beliefs. There is a small correlation between
students' incoming beliefs about physics and their gains on conceptual
mechanics surveys. This suggests that students with more expert-like incoming
beliefs may learn more in their physics courses, but this finding should be
further explored and replicated. Some unanswered questions remain. To answer
these questions, we advocate several specific types of future studies.Comment: 30 pages. Accepted to Phys Rev ST-PE
The Binary Black Hole Model for Mrk 231 Bites the Dust
Mrk 231 is a nearby quasar with an unusually red near-UV-to-optical
continuum, generally explained as heavy reddening by dust (e.g., Leighly et al.
2014). Yan et al. 2015 proposed that Mrk~231 is a milli-parsec black-hole
binary with little intrinsic reddening. We show that if the observed FUV
continuum is intrinsic, as assumed by Yan et al. 2015, it fails by a factor of
about 100 in powering the observed strength of the near-infrared emission
lines, and the thermal near and mid-infrared continuum. In contrast, the line
and continuum strengths are typical for a reddened AGN spectral energy
distribution. We find that the HeI*/Pbeta ratio is sensitive to the spectral
energy distribution for a one-zone model. If this sensitivity is maintained in
general broad-line region models, then this ratio may prove a useful diagnostic
for heavily reddened quasars. Analysis of archival HST STIS and FOC data
revealed evidence that the far-UV continuum emission is resolved on size scales
of ~40 parsecs. The lack of broad absorption lines in the far-UV continuum
might be explained if it were not coincident with the central engine. One
possibility is that it is the central engine continuum reflected from the
receding wind on the far side of the quasar.Comment: Consistent with the accepted ApJ pape
Research-based assessment affordances and constraints: Perceptions of physics faculty
To help faculty use research-based materials in a more significant way, we
learn about their perceived needs and desires and use this information to
suggest ways for the Physics Education Research community to address these
needs. When research-based resources are well aligned with the perceived needs
of faculty, faculty members will more readily take them up. We used
phenomenographic interviews of ordinary physics faculty and department chairs
to identify four families of issues that faculty have around research-based
assessments (RBA). First, many faculty are interested in using RBAs but have
practical needs around how to do so: how to find them, which ones there are,
and how to administer them. They want help addressing these needs. Second, at
the same time, many faculty think that RBAs are limited and don't measure many
of the things they care about, or aren't applicable in their classes. They want
assessments to measure skills, perceptions, and specific concepts. Third, many
faculty want to turn to communities of other faculty and experts to help them
interpret their assessment results and suggest other ways to do assessment.
They want to norm their assessment results by comparing to others and
interacting with faculty from other schools to learn about how they do
assessment. Fourth, many faculty consider their courses in the broader contexts
of accountability and their departments. They want help with assessment in
these broader contexts. We also discuss how faculty members role in their
department and type of institution influence their perceived wants and needs
around assessment.Comment: submitted to Physical Review Special Topics - Physics Education
Researc
College Readiness Initiative: AVID and Navigation 101
The purpose of this report is to provide summative feedback to personnel at the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) and at the College Spark Washington regarding evidence of implementation and impact of the Advancement via Individual Determination (AVID) and Navigation 101 programs in schools funded by the College Readiness Initiative (CRI) in Washington State. The report, while addressing the effects of both programs, is also designed to provide formative feedback to assist in ongoing program development
Arkansas’s 9th Grade Course Failures and Building Configurations
In this brief, we examine the relationship between course failures among Arkansas’s 9th grade students and the grade levels served in their school. We find that in schools that terminate at 9th grade, 9th graders are less likely to fail one or more course during the year compared to failure rates in schools that terminate at 12th grade. We suggest an increase in awareness and examination of how we assess 9th graders in Arkansas
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