Florida Legislature’s Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability: Education-Related Reports Compiled During August 2011
Aug 26, 2011
Below are various education-related reports compiled during August 2011 by the Florida Legislature’s Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability.
To access a complete report, click on its corresponding organization’s name.
Should you have any questions or comments, please contact Colodny Fass.
National Center on School Choice
Leadership Practices and School Choice
Choice schools offer a unique context to study the empirical evidence regarding important assumptions on the effect of choice on school leadership practice. This paper examines the results from principal surveys collected from charter, magnet, private and traditional public schools comparing leadership challenges and practices across school choice types, and exploring the influence of school governance structures on leadership practices. Preliminary analyses show that differences across school types in terms of challenges faced by principals, and their leadership practices, are small. However, there are noteworthy differences between charter schools that are affiliated with parent organizations and charters with no affiliation in terms of acquiring financial resources and the amount of time principals spend on instructional development.
No Child Left Behind Waiver Watch
This online resource allows users to track developments related to the federal government’s decision to offer waivers to states from some No Child Left Behind requirements. The status of the waivers changes almost daily as states express interest, formally submit requests and receive responses from the U.S. Department of Education. The waiver watch also contains links to the sources for each update and will provide links to statements and announcements from the U.S. Department of Education and other key players.
Florida Department of Education
The Core
This newsletter presents items of interest from the Florida Department of Education. This issue covers recognition of the state’s highest performing schools, the launching of a new education-centered YouTube channel, and the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (“PARCC”) draft of the PARCC Model Content Frameworks in English Language Arts/Literacy and Mathematics for public review and feedback.
Alliance for Excellent Education
Assessing Deeper Learning
The state tests that have had such a dominant influence on classroom practice have tended to measure a relatively narrow set of knowledge and skills, and have encouraged teachers to focus on those competencies. The rapidly advancing global economy and an increasingly complex society require that all students develop a broader set of competencies. New assessments that measure these abilities are needed. This brief examines what new assessments that measure deeper learning may look like, how other countries use assessments like these, how technology can play a role in measuring deeper learning more efficiently and effectively, and what it will take to make these assessments the norm in U.S. schools.
State Test Score Trends Through 2008-09, Part 4: Is Achievement Improving and Are Gaps Narrowing for Title I Students?
This report compares achievement trends since 2002 (or a more recent year in some states) on state reading and math tests for Title I students and students not participating in Title I. The largest of the federal aid programs for K-12 schools, Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 supports extra instructional services for low-performing students in low-income schools and for all students in the highest-poverty schools. The study found achievement on state reading and math tests has improved in recent years for students participating in the Title I program in most of the 19 states with comparable data. Further, gaps between Title I participants and non-participants have also narrowed more often than they have widened since 2002, although trends were more positive at grades 8 and high school than at grade 4.
Education Commission of the States
Learning Time in America: Trends to Reform the American School Calendar
This report discusses the debate and policies concerning school time and explores how policymakers and educators have dealt with the matter of school time at the federal, state, and local levels. It also presents strategies to support efforts to expand learning time in schools. For example, the authors recommend aligning resources with the diverse needs of students and highlighting successful school models. In addition, policymakers can incentivize expanded time by linking it to autonomy, supporting high quality technical assistance for school reform efforts, and creating competitive grant programs to support expanded learning time.
Rural Education Resource Center
More than half of public school districts (56%), nearly one-third (31%) of public schools, and almost a quarter of students (23% or 11.3 million) reside in rural communities. Class sizes are generally small, rural schools are often the centers of community life, and overall high school graduation rates are high in many rural areas. However, rural students are less likely than their peers nationally to access postsecondary education. This new webpage highlights the work of teachers and students in rural areas. It includes news as well as information on programs and events. In addition, the site contains links to resources particularly useful to students, parents, and teachers in rural community.
A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas
The Committee on a Conceptual Framework for New Science Education Standards was charged with developing a framework that articulates a broad set of expectations for students in science. The framework is based on a growing body of research on teaching and learning in science, as well as on nearly two decades of efforts to define foundational knowledge and skills for K-12 science and engineering. The committee recommends that science education in grades K-12 be built around three major dimensions. These dimensions include scientific and engineering practices; crosscutting concepts that unify the study of science and engineering through their common application across fields; and core ideas in the four disciplinary areas of physical sciences; life sciences; earth and space sciences; and engineering, technology and the applications of science.
To unsubscribe from this newsletter, please send an email to Brooke Ellis at bellis@cftlaw.com.