Would Higher Salaries Keep Teachers in High-Poverty Schools? Evidence from a Policy Intervention in North Carolina

For a three-year time period beginning in 2001, North Carolina awarded an annual bonus of $1,800 to certified math, science and special education teachers working in high poverty or academically failing public secondary schools. Using longitudinal data on teachers, we estimate hazard models that identify the impact of this differential pay by comparing turnover patterns before and after the program%u2019s implementation, across eligible and ineligible categories of teachers, and across eligible and barely-ineligible schools. Results suggest that this bonus payment was sufficient to reduce mean turnover rates of the targeted teachers by 12%. Experienced teachers exhibited the strongest response to the program. Finally, the effect of the program may have been at least partly undermined by the state%u2019s failure to fully educate teachers regarding the eligibility criteria. Our estimates most likely underpredict the potential outcome of a program of permanent salary differentials operating under complete information.

Pathways to Credentials: Does the Timing of Earning an Industry Certification in High School Influence Postsecondary Educational Outcomes?

Earning industry certifications helps people prepare for jobs in a range of careers. Doing so in secondary school may help students prepare for college as well. Using administrative data on two cohorts of first-time 9th graders in Florida, we examined whether earning a certification was associated with postsecondary enrollment and degree attainment and whether the timing of the certification influenced that relationship. Earning a certification in high school prepared students for success in both 2-year and 4-year colleges. However, the patterns of certifications and college enrollment and degree attainment differed based on when students earned the certification. For early earners the certification was more closely associated with enrollment and attainment at 4-year colleges; for later earners, the certification was closely associated with enrollment and attainment in 2-year colleges

Leveraging data for student success

People providing services to schools, teachers, and students want to know whether these services are effective. With that knowledge, a project director can expand services that work well and adjust implementation of activities that are not working as expected. When finding that an innovative strategy benefits students, a project director might want to share that information with other service providers who could build upon that strategy. Some organizations that fund programs for students will want a report demonstrating the program’s success. Determining whether a program is effective requires expertise in data collection, study design, and analysis. Not all project directors have this expertise—they tend to be primarily focused on working with schools, teachers, and students to undertake program activities. Collecting and obtaining student-level data may not be a routine part of the program. This book provides an overview of the process for evaluating a program. It is not a detailed methodological text but focuses on awareness of the process. What do program directors need to know about data and data analysis to plan an evaluation or to communicate with an evaluator? Examples focus on supporting college and career readiness programs. Readers can apply these processes to other studies that include a data collection component.Publishe

EVELYN GLENNIE Como ouvir realmente

Este artigo é cópia fiel do relato de experiência musical da musicista Evelyn Glennie. A tradução para a Língua Portuguesa é de Durval Castro e a revisão é de Felipe Hickmann. O presente relato está contido no endereço virtual abaixo referenciado, na data consultada e foi publicado pela relevância social que o texto – em domínio público – contem. Evelyn mudou a história do ensino musical em seu país e, sem dúvida alguma, pode mudar a sua forma de conceber a música em um contexto de surdez

The Relationship Between Project-Based Learning and Rigor in STEM-Focused High Schools

Project-based learning (PjBL) is an approach often favored in STEM classrooms, yet some studies have shown that teachers struggle to implement it with academic rigor. This paper explores the relationship between PjBL and rigor in the classrooms of ten STEM-oriented high schools. Utilizing three different data sources reflecting three different perceptions—student surveys, teacher logs, and classroom observations—the study examines the extent to which PjBL and rigor co-occur. Across all three measures, the results show that use of PjBL is associated with higher levels of rigor. However, the study also shows that academic rigor can be present in the absence of PjBL, and that PjBL can be implemented with low levels of rigor. The paper concludes with implications for practice

Noncognitive skills in the classroom

This book provides an overview of recent research on the relationship between noncognitive attributes (motivation, self efficacy, resilience) and academic outcomes (such as grades or test scores). We focus primarily on how these sets of attributes are measured and how they relate to important academic outcomes. Noncognitive attributes are those academically and occupationally relevant skills and traits that are not “cognitive”—that is, not specifically intellectual or analytical in nature. We examine seven attributes in depth and critique the measurement approaches used by researchers and talk about how they can be improved.Publishe

Retention and Satisfaction of Novice Teachers: Lessons from a School Reform Model

In many countries, novice teachers, or those with fewer than four years of experience, have a higher turnover rate than do more experienced teachers. Using teacher employment data, we examine whether schools in an American whole-school reform model are better able to retain novice teachers. Using survey data, we investigate whether novice teachers in a particular school reform model are more satisfied with school leadership than their peers in traditional high schools. In this reform model, early college high schools, high schools are located on college campuses and students have the opportunity to earn an associate’s degree or two years of credit in the state university system. This model emphasizes a shared mission and shared leadership. We find that early colleges had a higher turnover rate than their neighbor schools, and a higher percentage of early college teachers were novices. However, these novice teachers were not more likely to leave than novice teachers in traditional schools were. Early college novice teachers received more personalized support and were more satisfied with school leadership than their peers in traditional high schools. Under certain conditions, schools can have higher retention rates for novice teachers

Leveraging data for student success: Improving education through data-driven decisions

People providing services to schools, teachers, and students want to know whether these services are effective. With that knowledge, a project director can expand services that work well and adjust implementation of activities that are not working as expected. When finding that an innovative strategy benefits students, a project director might want to share that information with other service providers who could build upon that strategy. Some organizations that fund programs for students will want a report demonstrating the program’s success. Determining whether a program is effective requires expertise in data collection, study design, and analysis. Not all project directors have this expertise—they tend to be primarily focused on working with schools, teachers, and students to undertake program activities. Collecting and obtaining student-level data may not be a routine part of the program. This book provides an overview of the process for evaluating a program. It is not a detailed methodological text but focuses on awareness of the process. What do program directors need to know about data and data analysis to plan an evaluation or to communicate with an evaluator? Examples focus on supporting college and career readiness programs. Readers can apply these processes to other studies that include a data collection component

Noncognitive skills in the classroom: New perspectives on educational research

This book provides an overview of recent research on the relationship between noncognitive attributes (motivation, self efficacy, resilience) and academic outcomes (such as grades or test scores). We focus primarily on how these sets of attributes are measured and how they relate to important academic outcomes. Noncognitive attributes are those academically and occupationally relevant skills and traits that are not “cognitive”—that is, not specifically intellectual or analytical in nature. We examine seven attributes in depth and critique the measurement approaches used by researchers and talk about how they can be improved

The global meningitis genome partnership.

Genomic surveillance of bacterial meningitis pathogens is essential for effective disease control globally, enabling identification of emerging and expanding strains and consequent public health interventions. While there has been a rise in the use of whole genome sequencing, this has been driven predominately by a subset of countries with adequate capacity and resources. Global capacity to participate in surveillance needs to be expanded, particularly in low and middle-income countries with high disease burdens. In light of this, the WHO-led collaboration, Defeating Meningitis by 2030 Global Roadmap, has called for the establishment of a Global Meningitis Genome Partnership that links resources for: N. meningitidis (Nm), S. pneumoniae (Sp), H. influenzae (Hi) and S. agalactiae (Sa) to improve worldwide co-ordination of strain identification and tracking. Existing platforms containing relevant genomes include: PubMLST: Nm (31,622), Sp (15,132), Hi (1935), Sa (9026); The Wellcome Sanger Institute: Nm (13,711), Sp (> 24,000), Sa (6200), Hi (1738); and BMGAP: Nm (8785), Hi (2030). A steering group is being established to coordinate the initiative and encourage high-quality data curation. Next steps include: developing guidelines on open-access sharing of genomic data; defining a core set of metadata; and facilitating development of user-friendly interfaces that represent publicly available data