Tag » increasing

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  Building Collaboration Between Schools and Parents of English Language Learners: Transcending Barriers, Creating Opportunities

  1/24/09 - Robin Waterman, Beth Harry, Equity Alliance at ASU

  Parents of English Language Learners (ELLs) represent a vital source of support for increased student engagement and achievement; they bring skills, values and knowledge that would benefit both students and teachers. Most importantly, they bring profound commitment and motivation: The majority of the parents of ELLs have come to the United States in order that they and their children will have a “better life.” And many of these families quickly come to believe that supporting their...

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  Disproportionate Representation of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students in Special Education: Measuring the Problem

  1/31/07 - Martha Countinho, Donald Oswald, Equity Alliance at ASU

  The author of this brief discusses that racial disproportionality in school disciplinary practices has a long history, and still continues today. In the last three decades, racial disproportionality in school suspensions has increased noticeably, especially in high socioeconomic status (SES) schools. Empirical evidence suggests that exclusionary discipline practices result in further exclusion, school failure, and dropout. Today, nationwide African American students are disproportionately...

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  How Multiple Intelligences Theory Can Guide Teachers' Practices: Ensuring Success for Students with Disabilities

  1/5/09 - Edward Garcia Fierros, Equity Alliance at ASU

  This On Point was produced by the National Institute for Urban School Improvement (NIUSI). It is about the Gardner's multiple intelligences (MI) theory and it is implications for Special Education. This On Point applies to all students having Special Education services and families and teachers of people with disabilities. In MI theory, Gardner indicated that the intelligence of children (i.e., thinking, problem solving, and creating) is valued differently depending on the family and...

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  On Infusing Disability Studies into the General Curriculum

  1/5/09 - Phil Ferguson, Equity Alliance at ASU

  Teachers and administrators are all familiar with the growing movement toward the inclusion of children with disabilities into general education classrooms. Discussions about how to do this, with which children, at what ages, and with what supports and structural reforms are happening in urban school districts across the country. As a result, there is an increasing amount of information and research about the “how and why” of inclusion. Indeed, some of that information is available from...

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  Preparing Teachers for the Future

  1/5/09 - Diane L. Ferguson, Equity Alliance at ASU

  As American schools seek to accommodate an increasing range of students, teachers are challenged as never before. When students with disabilities, linguistic differences or other unique abilities join general education classrooms, even willing teachers fear their lack of training and preparation to deal with such differences make their role as primary teacher inappropriate and inadequate.

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  Achievement gap patterns of grade 8 American Indian and Alaska Native students in reading and math

  1/28/09 - Steven Nelson, Richard Greenough, Nicole Sage

  The results indicate that in most states both American Indian and Alaska Native students and all other students experienced achievement gains across the study period. Although achievement gaps were generally found to persist, the American Indian and Alaska Native students were at least keeping pace by increasing in achievement along with all other students. The majority of states with three or four years of continuous data saw an increase in the proficiency rates of American Indian and...

• Opportunity to Learn and English Learner Achievement: Is Increased Content Exposure Beneficial?

  1/1/08 - Aguirre-Munoz, Zenaida, Boscardin, Christy Kim

  This investigation examined the impact of opportunity to learn content and skills targeted by a writing assessment on the achievement of English learners (ELs), including the potential for differential impact of increased exposure to literary analysis and writing instruction. Results revealed several factors contributing to students' writing performance. Student-level and teacher-level variables were found to significantly contribute to writing performance. Although exposure to writing and...

• Accountability Standards, and the Growing Achievement Gap: Lessons from the Past Half-Century

  1/1/06 - Harris, Douglas N., Herrington, Carolyn D.

  The rise of accountability policies during the early 1990s coincided with an increase in the achievement gap between white and minority students, reversing decades of steady improvement in outcome equity. This article explores the policies that helped to reduce the achievement gap before 1990, the effects of the subsequent shift toward accountability, and what can be learned from past successes to guide the future development of accountability systems. An extensive review of research...

• Accountability, Standards, and the Growing Achievement Gap: Lessons from the Past Half-Century

  1/1/06 - Harris, Douglas N., Herrington, Carolyn D.

  The rise of accountability policies during the early 1990s coincided with an increase in the achievement gap between white and minority students, reversing decades of steady improvement in outcome equity. This article explores the policies that helped to reduce the achievement gap before 1990, the effects of the subsequent shift toward accountability, and what can be learned from past successes to guide the future development of accountability systems. An extensive review of research...

• Addressing the Achievement Gap Between Minority and Nonminority Children by Increasing Access to Gifted Programs

  1/1/04 - Olszewski-Kubilius, Paula, Lee, Seon-young, Ngoi, Mephie

  Project EXCITE is a collaborative program of a university-based gifted center and local school districts designed to prepare gifted minority elementary and middle school students for advanced tracks in math and science in high school. This paper describes the characteristics and components of the EXCITE program and gives data regarding the academic and school achievement of participating students over the past 3 years. Results showed that most of the students were retained in the program...

• Addressing the Achievement Gap Between Minority and Nonminority Children by Increasing Access to Gifted Programs

  1/1/04 - Olszewski-Kubilius, Paula, Lee, Seon-Young, Ngoi, Mephie, Ngoi, Daphne

  Project EXCITE is a collaborative program of a university-based gifted center and local school districts designed to prepare gifted minority elementary and middle school students for advanced tracks in math and science in high school. This paper describes the characteristics and components of the EXCITE program and gives data regarding the academic and school achievement of participating students over the past 3 years. Results showed that most of the students were retained in the program...

• Addressing the Achievement Gap Between Minority and Nonminority Children: Increasing Access and Achievement Through Project EXCITE

  1/1/06 - Olszewski-Kubilius, Paula

  Part of a special issue on underrepresented populations. The writer discusses Project Excite, which was developed with the aim of raising the achievement of gifted minority students in a large suburban school district of Chicago so that they could qualify for advanced programs and accelerated tracks in high school in math and science. After having discussed the elements of the project, she presents findings on the extent to which the project increased both minority student access to advanced...

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  Adolescent Violence and Unintentional Injury in the United States

  1/23/09 - Susan Wilde Schwarz

  "Overall rates of injury and death increase dramatically from childhood to late adolescence. Due to developmental and social factors, such as time spent without adult supervision and increasing independence, adolescents are more likely to engage in risk-taking behaviors than either younger children or adults. Biology also plays a role. The maturation of brain networks responsible for self-regulation often does not occur until late adolescence, making adolescents more likely to engage in...

• Closing the Achievement Gap in Math: The Long-Term Effects of Eighth-Grade Algebra

  1/1/06 - Spielhagen, Frances R.

  Recent changes in national and state mathematics standards have increased the level of algebraic thinking taught in younger grades. These changes have prompted more inclusive curriculum designs that open the opportunity to enroll in advanced mathematics courses at younger ages. Of particular interest to this study is the access to eighth-grade algebra, once traditionally reserved for select populations. This study examined long-term academic outcomes for students who did or did not enroll in...

• Does school accountability lead to improved student performance?

  1/1/05 - Hanushek, Eric A., Raymond, Margaret E.

  The leading school reform policy in the United States revolves around strong accountability of schools with consequences for performance. The federal government's involvement through the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 reinforces the prior movement of many states toward policies based on measured student achievement. Analysis of state achievement growth as measured by the National Assessment of Educational progress shows that accountability systems introduced during the 1990s had a clear...

• Helping Struggling Middle School Literacy Learners Achieve Success

  1/1/09 - Palumbo, Anthony, Sanacore, Joseph

  Teachers can help minority children close the academic achievement gap in intermediate and middle school by combining literacy instruction and content-area material. This connection improves reading achievement and increases curriculum knowledge, even if students have previously experienced difficulty with primary school reading. Fortunately, upper-elementary and middle-level learners are still naturally curious, are developing cognitively, and have acquired some basic reading skills...