"Schools that offer “good” or “outstanding” teacher professional development share a number of common traits, according to a new report out of England. The study was published by the Office of Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills—the English government agency that oversees K-12 education—and is based on observations of 40 primary and secondary schools. The schools were selected, in part, because of the success of their ongoing professional development programs."

Read the complete article here:

Tags: Principals | Professional Development | Leadership

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School Principals and School Performance:

"We draw three conclusions from these findings. First, in regard to principal selection, our results suggest that characteristics that can be directly observed on a resume – such as the selectivity the school from which a candidate received their master’s degree – are probably less important than
characteristics that cannot, such as leadership skills and motivation. Second, in regard to principal retention, the positive returns to principal experience suggest that policies which cause principals to leave their posts early (e.g., via early retirement or a move into district administration) could lower
school performance. Third, our results suggest that high rates of turnover in less-advantaged schools could exacerbate educational inequality. Principal training could improve the performance of new principals and further enhance the performance of more experienced principals, but determining the
effects of training is complicated by non-random selection of individuals into these programs."

Read the whole paper. Click here.

Tags: Leadership | school performance | principal performance

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"Whether rich or poor, residents of the United States or China, illiterate or college graduates, parents who have books in the home increase the level of education their children will attain, according to a 20-year study led by Mariah Evans, University of Nevada, Reno associate professor of sociology and resource economics.

For years, educators have thought the strongest predictor of attaining high levels of education was having parents who were highly educated. But, strikingly, this massive study showed that the difference between being raised in a bookless home compared to being raised in a home with a 500-book library has as great an effect on the level of education a child will attain as having parents who are barely literate (3 years of education) compared to having parents who have a university education (15 or 16 years of education). Both factors, having a 500-book library or having university-educated parents, propel a child 3.2 years further in education, on average."

Read the complete article here:  http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/05/100520213116.htm

Tags: Student Achievement

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This week JP staff are attending the Plain Talk Confernence in New Orleans.  Besides being hosted in one of the great cities, Plain Talk is one of the best Reading Conferences in the country.  Its presenters list boasts such speakers as Reid Lyons, Robert Brooks, Anita Archer (Anita is one of two keynotes at the JP Institute for Excellence in Education being held in Atlanta this July--http://www.jponline.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=8153&Itemid=84), Vicki Gibson, and Michael Graves to name just a few.

JP iis especially propud that this year we are presenting two sessions at Plain Talk. The first is "Selecting and Supporting Staff" and is being presented by our own president, Janie Feinberg, and Delia Stafford, President of The Haberman Educational Fouindation (one of JP"s strategic partners.  It focuses on the importance of using research proven methods of identifying teachers and adminstrators that possess the traiits and qualities that will make them effective and successful.  It also examines the professional development and support that needs to be provided so they can realize their potential. 

The second workshop is presented by Janie, Robert Harris (JP's Executive Director of Programming), Claudia Petersen (Reading/ELA Supervisor out of Buffalo Public Schools), and Marcy Stein (Professor from the University of Washington-a founding member of the education program).   The session provides information targetiing the school based support team and how an effective partnership can be establsihed between a district and an implementer.

Tags: Professional Development | Plain Talk | Reading

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A study, "Learning Styles: Concepts and Evidence", commissioned by Psychological Science in the Public Interest concludes that "scientists have yet to show conclusively that students learn better when they are taught according to their preferred modality--and the same authors say it is time to stop funding a technique that hasn't been proven effective."

The researchers, all cognitive scientists, report that "out of thousands of studies purporting to show the effectiveness of teaching to different learning styles, none managed to prove scientifically that students learn better when taught according to their preferred modaility."  These same researchers feel funds should be diverted to "support evidenced-based teacher practices."

"Upon reviewing major learning-style studies, the researchers say they found 'virtually no evidence' that teaching to learning styles helps students learn, simply because few studies have used an experimental methodology capable of testing the scientific validity of the learning style approach. According to the researchers, those studies that did use an appropriate method found that results flatly contradict the learning style theory."

Ken Koedinger, a cognitive scientist researcher at Carnegie Mellon University states, "that doesn't mean education should not individualize instruction for students, just that learning styles may be the wrong place to focus (their) differentiation...

"There is lots of evidence taht individualizing instruction based on students' prior knowledge of a topic leads to more effective and efficient learning. Students entering an algebra class vary much more on their prior knowledge...than they do in their learning styles. And the instructional strategy is clear: Move on for concepts and skills that a student knows well. Slow down or double back for ones they do not."

Read the entire article.

Tags: individualizing instruction | differentiated learning | learning styles

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A December 31, 2009 article on NPR's website looked at the effect of intensive reading programs on children's brains.  The conclusion is that they "can produce measurable changes in the structure of a child's brain...several different programs improved the integrity of fibers that carry information from one part of the brain to another."

REading involves different parts of the brain:

"Some parts recognize letters, others apply knowledge about vocablary and syntax, and still others decide what is all means."

These operations use "highways" to carry information back and forth.  "If those information highways can't handle the traffic, the brain won't be able to make sense of the text on the page or a screen."

To determine whether certain reading programs or reading practices can build up the brain poor readers were enrolled "in programs that provided a total of 100 hours of intensive remedial instruction. The program had the kids practice reading words and sentences over and over again."  When they were done it was determined that the training changed "not just their reading ability, but the tissues in their brain...The integrity of their white matter improved, while it was unchanged for children in standard classes."

read the entire article here.

Tags: intensive reading | brain | research

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A December 14 article on NationalJournal.com spoke of two recent reports, each taking a different position on the issue of education tracking:

"Should students of different abilities take the same class?...the practice sorts pupils into separate classes based on their perceived academic skill level...

Tom Loveless, an educational expert and senior fellow in the Governance Studies Program at the Brooking Institution, is critical of the indictment against tracking. In a recent new study he conducted of tracked and detracked middle schools in Massachusetts, schools with more tracks in math classes were associated with more high-performing students and fewer failures and vice versa."

"Kevin Welner, professor of education at the University of Colorado, begs to differ...The research on tracking is as clear as anything in the field of education...It is a destructive practice that has the undeniable effect of lowering expectations and opportunities for students who have already fallen behind."

Sign up and join JP's Responsive School Network and share your opinion with other educators on our discussion boards. Click on the RSN tab on the tool bar above for more information.


Click here for the full article.

Click here for the Massachusett's study

Click here for the Colorado Study

Tags: education tracking | Student Achievement

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An Education Week article published Thursday, December 3, 2009 states:

The vast majority of states plan to apply for $4 billion in Race to the Top Funds grants, even though they admit they’re struggling to improve teacher quality and low-performing schools—two ore reform areas in the federal economic-stimulus program and the Obama administration’s education agenda.

The article references a new report by the Center on Education Policy that states “more than half the states report that their capacity to carry out stimulus-related education changes is a ‘major problem’.  You can access the report by following this link:

http://www.cep-dc.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=document_ext.showDocumentByID&nodeID=1&DocumentID=299

The 100 billion dollars in aid to education focuses on four key reform areas:

• Teacher quality
• Data systems and the use of data
• Standards and Assessments
• Turnarounds of the lowest-performing schools

The report speaks to the uneven progress that the states are making in these areas. Some of the points made:

Data from 44 states and the District of Columbia show that states are farther along in making progress in the areas of data and of standards and assessments

• 33 states are considering adopting the common core standards in mathematics and English/language arts
• Two areas where states reported having the most difficulty are teacher quality and low-performing schools
• States seem to be relying on traditional strategies to make educational improvements (the question is whether the Department of Education is looking for bolder approaches)

You can read the full article by following this link:

http://www.edweek.org/login.html?source=http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2009/12/03/14cep.h29.html&destination=http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2009/12/03/14cep.h29.html&levelId=2100

Tags:

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Rather than try to summarize all the information and videos on this site, here are some links:

http://www.wallacefoundation.org/principal-story/Pages/default.aspx: This link brings you to the Principal Story website-- a documentary that will run on PBS stations on September 15, 2009.

http://www.wallacefoundation.org/KnowledgeCenter/KnowledgeTopics/CurrentAreasofFocus/EducationLeadership/Pages/default.aspx  This link will bring you to the Knowledge Center. Some good papers on leadershiip.

Tags: Leadership | Principals | Instruction

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The Children of the Code Project has released its newest interview. It is with Zig Engelmann. Most visitors to our sites are fairly familiar with Prof. Engelmann's work.  The interview is a good read and illustrates not only his important contributions, but also how our kids can best learn to read.  Here is the introductory paragraph to the interview:

"Siegfried "Zig" Engelmann is Professor of Education at the University of Oregon, the Director of the National Institute for Direct Instruction, and President of Engelmann-Becker Corporation, which develops instructional materials and provides educational services for students with various educational needs.

The creator of "Direct Instruction", Professor 

Tags: Zig Engelmann | Follow-Through | Direct Instruction

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EdWeek posted an article today—“Top-Notch Teachers Found to Affect Peers”—by Debra Viadero.  The article looks at a new study by authors C. Kirabo Jackson and Elias Bruegmann. The basic finding: “Teachers raise their games when the quality of their colleagues improves, according to a new study offering some of the first evidence to document a ‘spillover effect’ in teaching.”

“The authors and some independent experts said the study results are important, because they carry implications for school staffing practices and debates going on now at the national level over how to structure merit-pay plans for teachers.”

Studies outside of education have long shown that effective workers can have a spillover effect on their colleagues. But studies up until now have not noted the same pattern in teaching, a profession in which it’s long been thought that peers work mostly in isolation.

“…the researchers found, student achievement rises across a grade when a high-quality teacher comes on board. The effects were twice as strong, though, for the value-added calculations. They show that, for the average educator teaching in a grade with three other teachers, replacing one peer with a more effective one has a spillover effect of .86 percent of a standard deviation on students’ test scores.”

“They said the question now is: Do the test scores rise because the new teacher’s arrival is motivating peers to do better, because that teacher is helping out other teachers by doing some of the teaching, or because teachers are learning from their new colleague?...In their paper, Mr. Jackson and Mr. Bruegmann argue that peer learning is the likely explanation, mostly because they find that the effects persist over time. In both math and reading, the quality of a teacher’s peers a year or two before affects his or her students’ achievement, according to their report.”

You can read the entire article by clicking on the following link:  http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2009/09/01/03peer.html?tkn=[ZRC4i2frTDjZLzjOTpidcFhBs1ki6mQaCEF

Tags: Teacher Impact on Peers | team work

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Quality, ongoing professional development is essential in the process and progress of continual school reform.  The National Staff Development Council has created Standards for Staff Development. 

The information is divided into three areas:

Context Standards addresses Learning Communities, Leadership, and Resources.

Process Standards addresses data, evaluation, research-based decision making, design, collaboration and learning.

Content Standards addresses equity, quality teaching and family involvement.

Here is an excerpt from their rationale for professional development:

“Staff development that has as its goal high levels of learning for all students, teachers, and administrators requires a form of professional learning that is quite different from the workshop-driven approach.  The most powerful forms of staff development occurs in ongoing teams that meet on a regular basis, preferably several times a week, for the purposes of learning, joint lesson planning and problem solving.”

You can access more information by following this link: http://www.nsdc.org/standards/index.cfm

Tags: Staff Development | School improvement | Student Achievement

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The Education Equality Project has recently released a position paper on accountability. “The Educational Equality Project Position Paper Series on Accountability” provides great background information on the accountability movement to date and is peppered with excellent and meaningful quotes, like this 1993 statement of Al Shanker:

“Unless there is accountability, we will never get the right system. As long as there are no consequences if kids or adults don’t perform, as long as the discussion is not about education and student outcomes, then we’re playing a game as to who has the power (in schools)…Unless you start with a very heavy emphasis on accountability- not end with it- you’ll never get a system with all the other pieces falling into place.”

Here are some excerpts:

“The signatories of the Education Equality Project are under no illusions, poverty and its attendant burdens are important impediments to learning, and anti-poverty programs should be pursued to reduce economic hardship among low-income families. But the EEP does not subscribe to the belief that demography is destiny in the classroom, or to the environmental determinism of some educators, who seek to effectively be exempted from being accountable for boosting the academic performance of disadvantaged students.”

“Snapshot statistics can provide useful performance data to parents, teachers, and principals about a group of students at a given point in time. Snapshot numbers help to answer questions like how many eighth graders tested proficient in math and reading at the neighborhood middle school in 2009, or how many seniors graduated from the high school down the street this year? By contrast, longitudinal data allows parents, teachers, and principals to answer questions like, what schools and teachers produce the strongest academic growth for their students when compared to schools with similar student populations? What preschool and early childhood programs have the biggest, or the most lasting, impact on subsequent academic achievement among low-income students? How should instruction be tailored to address the needs of struggling students—and what courses should students take to ensure that they are college or career-ready when they graduate? ‘Longitudinal statistics,’ the Data Quality Campaign sums up, ‘are better suited for supporting the systemic, long-term effort to get large percentages of disadvantaged students ready for college and skilled careers.’”

“And according to a 2009 study by SRI International for the U.S. Department of Education, just two in five teachers can access their current students’ scores on benchmark or diagnostic tests. A mere 11 percent of teachers can access multiple years of standardized test scores for individual students. If teachers in inner-city schools were not flying half-blind, their ability to aid struggling students, tailor instruction, and narrow the achievement gap would be bolstered. In urban classrooms, knowledge is power but ignorance is not bliss.”

“More recently, studies of accountability measures have provided fresh evidence that accountability requirements may boost student performance in failing schools. Surprisingly few researchers have actually studied the school-level impact of accountability. But two recent National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) analyses of Florida and New York City’s school report card grading programs found that receiving a grade of an ‘F’ propelled schools to rapidly institute reforms that boosted math and reading test scores. In both locales, the NBER analyses found suggestive evidence that the bump in test scores resulted from real improvements in instruction, such as an increase in after-school tutoring, in-school supplemental instruction, extended school days and school years, summer school, mentors, and more direct instruction, rather than stemming from an artifact of gaming.”

The report also lists Five Guiding Principles for Reform:

1. Educators should be measuring outcomes, not inputs or compliance. The problem in schools today is not that they gather too little data, but rather that they are obligated to collect mountains of data that have little or no bearing on raising student achievement.

1. A good accountability system monitors academic progress and performance—it measures, that is, what schools contribute to students, not what students bring to schools.
2. Accountability should entail consequences—both sanctions for poor performance and rewards for outstanding performance in closing the achievement gap. An effective accountability system also provides ongoing feedback, such as early warning alerts and progress reports that enable district officials, principals, and teachers to improve classroom instruction and boost student learning. The point of gathering accountability data is not to collect it, but to use it to advance achievement.
3. The race to the bottom in state standards has weakened NCLB-style accountability. To make accountability more effective and kick start a “race to the top,” states should sign on to the growing voluntary movement to create rigorous career and college-ready, internationally benchmarked national standards.
4. A high-functioning accountability system is transparent, user-friendly, and collects comparable data across schools on academic performance and attainment that is not subject to easy corruption. A well-focused accountability system also primarily assesses academic performance in core subjects—rather that holding schools accountable for student health habits, art appreciation, community involvement, cooperative behavior, social skills, good citizenship, and electives like theatre and computer programming.

Access the complete report by following this link: http://eep.3cdn.net/45852972c23ac04c00_v0m6bhgvn.pdf

Tags: National Standards | Accountability | Achievement Gap | Leadership

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The August issue of the Education Commission of the States’ Progress of Educational Reform provides highlights of recent research addressing how to improve student success in the middle grades.

The issue provides the following statistical information:

· “National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP): While 4th-grade math scores jumped 24 points from 1973 to 2008, 8th-grade scores saw just a 15-point improvement during the same period. Likewise, 8th-grade reading scores rose only four points 1971-2008, while 4th-grade scores increased 12 points. Although 4th-grade science scores saw a modest increase between 2000 and 2005, 8th-grade science scores were stagnant in 1996, 2000 and 2005.”

• “State Assessments: In 2006-07, 8th graders in 32 states were less likely than their 4th-grade counterparts to demonstrate proficiency in reading; in math, 48 states and the District of Columbia saw a lower proportion of 8th graders scoring at the proficient level in 2006-07, in comparison to 4th graders.”

• “Lack of Adequate Yearly Progress: Four out of 10 (41%) of middle schools did not make adequate yearly progress (AYP) in 2005-06, compared to 19% of elementary schools and 34% of high schools. More than one out of five (22%) middle schools in 2006-07 were identified for improvement — in contrast to 13% of elementary schools and 14% of high schools whose performance triggered this designation.”

The following are 15 actions the research recommends:

• Develop early-warning mechanisms based on these indicators (grades, attendance, behavior), and ensure that student information systems regularly collect such data throughout the school year.

• Calibrate early-warning indicators to local data.

• Provide targeted, intensive academic support to students in need, as soon as they are identified.

• Take steps to reduce the number of absent and chronically absent students.

• Ensure the curriculum is hands-on, collaborative, relevant and engaging through activities such as virtual or on-site lab based science, robotics and academic competitions.

• Provide information on college admissions requirements and costs at least annually, beginning in the middle grades.

• Have all students develop an individual learning plan (ILP) by the end of grade 8

• Begin career exploration in the middle grades.

• Reduce the number of (and prioritize) middle grades content standards to help teachers focus on the essential skills and knowledge students must possess for later success with high school course content.

• Develop formative and diagnostic assessments for middle grades reading and math.

• Implement middle grades end-of-course assessments.

• Foster collaboration among middle grades and high school teachers, so that middle grades teachers are aware of the expectations students will be held to upon high school entry, and can help prepare students to meet them.

• Require pre-service teachers to take subject area courses in the respective Department.

• Require pre-service and in-service programs to provide tools to help teachers address adolescent literacy needs.

• Reconsider where to set content test scores.

• A less controversial approach for ensuring veteran teachers in low-performing schools are truly highly qualified might be to identify gaps in teachers’ content knowledge and skills, and require those showing evidence of gaps to successfully complete online modules designed to improve content knowledge in targeted areas of need. To ensure the gap is closed, teachers who have not passed their subject-area Praxis II might be asked to take the exam after successful completion of the module.

The issue contains more good information. You can access it at:

http://www.ecs.org/clearinghouse/81/38/8138.pdf

Tags: Achievement Gap Educational Reform | Middle School

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The Southern Regional Educational Board recently released a study entitled, “The District Leadership Challenge: Empowering Principals to Improve Teaching and Learning.” The study drew conclusions from confidential interviews with 22 high school principals “implementing the SREB High Schools That Work school improvement model.”

The following seven strategies were identified as commonly present in the school districts that effectively support school reform:

1. Establish a clear focus and a strategic plan for improving student achievement.

2. Organize and engage the district office in supporting each school to create and implement a

customized school improvement agenda within a district improvement framework.

3. Provide instructional coherence by establishing a vision of effective instructional practice; aligning curriculum, instruction and assessment to the vision and to state and national standards; and creating the context for meaningful learning experiences.

4. Invest heavily in instruction-related professional learning for principals and teachers that is aligned with the district and school-specific improvement agendas.

5. Provide high-quality data that link student achievement to school and classroom practices and assist schools to use data effectively.

6. Optimize human, financial and other resources to provide a level of support that is sufficient for schools to produce specified student performance results.

7. Use open, credible processes to involve progressive school and community leaders in school

improvement.

Two more facts worth sharing:

• Principals at the most-improved high schools felt they had a collaborative working relationship with the district.
• In the least-improved high schools, most reform initiatives were centralized in the district office.

You can access the complete report here:

http://www.wallacefoundation.org/KnowledgeCenter/KnowledgeTopics/CurrentAreasofFocus/EducationLeadership/Documents/District-Leadership-Challenge-Empowering-Principals.pdf

Tags: District | Principals | Leadership

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