Achievement In Public Schools Research Articles

Causes of Failure and Low Achievement in Public Schools in some Yemeni Cities from Employees' and Twelfth Class Students' the Point of View

هدفت الدراسة إلى تحديد حجم التسرب في ندارس التعليم العام واستطلاع آراء عدد من إداري المدارس ومعلميها وعدد من طلبة الصف الثاني عشر حول اسباب الرسوب وضعف التحصيل لدى الطلبة في محافظات صنعاء وتعز والضالع على نحو يجعلها دراسة استطلاعية كما وكيفا، استخدم الباحث المتوسطات الحسابية ونسب التكرارات لتحليل آراء العينة، وبين التحليل وجود رسوب في كل صف من الصفوف، وأن نسب الرسوب في الصفوف من 1-6 أعلى منها في الصفوف من 7-12 ، كما ابرز التحليل ثمانية عوامل ومحددات اجتماعية وتربوية مسببة للرسوب وضعف التحصيل، هي: الأسرة وعدد أفرادها ومشاكلهاـ والحاجة لعمل الطفل، وعدم انتظام العام الدراسي، والمعلمين وممارساتهم الصفية، ومحتوى الكتب الدراسية، وازدحام الفصول، وصعوبة الاختبارات العامة.

THE IMPACT OF PEDAGOGICAL KNOWLEDGE AND TEACHING PRACTICES OF TEACHERS ON STUDENTS' ACHIEVEMENT IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF PAKISTAN

This study explores the impact of teachers' content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, student-centered approach, and teacher-centered approach on student achievement perceptions. Data were collected from seven public secondary schools in Pakistan using an adapted self-report instrument of five Likert scales. Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) was employed as an estimation technique by SMART PLS software. The results obtained from the testing model using structural equation modelling (SEM) were interpreted and discussed in tables. The study found that teachers' content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, and teaching practices significantly predict student achievement. These findings highlight the crucial role of teachers' content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, and teaching practices in achieving learning goals and outcomes. Keywords: Pedagogical-Knowledge, Teaching-Practices, Teachers' perceptions, Teaching effects, Students’ achievement

Instructional Leadership of Principals on Students' Achievement in Public Schools in Nepal

The purpose of this study is to find out the impact of principals' instructional leadership on students' achievement. School head teachers act as a leader and also a manager that determines students' achievements both directly and indirectly. Instructional leadership can significantly influence the quality of teaching and learning in the schools and consequently students' achievement, by improving the working conditions of the schools Literature shows that transformational leadership and instructional leadership determine the preferred styles of school improvement. This study shows that effective school leadership is the authority to lead the school. There is a growing understanding that leadership is surrounded in various organizational contexts within school communities, not centrally vested in a person or an office. The real challenge facing most schools is no longer how to improve but, more importantly, how to sustain improvement. Sustainability will depend upon the school’s internal capacity to maintain and support developmental work and sustaining improvement requires the leadership capability of the many rather than the few.

The long-term effect of competition on public school achievement: Evidence from the Indiana Choice Scholarship Program

Despite a vast literature on school vouchers, less is known about their long-term competitive effects on public schools. The current paper examines the competitive effect of the Indiana Choice Scholarship Program, the largest single voucher program in the US, on math and ELA proficiency rates in public schools in the last eight years. Exploiting school vouchers' market share as the primary measure of competition, I use two-way fixed effects regression and event study framework to examine the competitive effect. Results indicate that, although competition has a positive effect in the earlier years, it is detrimental in the long term, suggesting that the program created a “voucher shock” that led to an improvement in the short term. However, in the long term, the proficiency rates in public schools that faced higher competition fell and never increased again. The trend of voucher recipients who have prior public-school attendance revealed that the worsening proficiency rates in the public schools that face higher competition were driven by the departure of relatively high achieving students, suggesting that school vouchers inspire sorting. The results are robust to alternative specifications that use the variation in the interaction between the market share of vouchers and geospatial measures of private school density.

Homeownership and Students’ Achievement in Public Schools in the U.S. State of Georgia

ABSTRACT We investigate the impact of neighborhood homeownership rates on students’ achievement in public schools in the U.S. state of Georgia. Homeownership and students’ achievement are likely to be endogenously determined at the neighborhood level. We correct for this endogeneity concern using population growth as the instrument for the neighborhood homeownership rate. The findings suggest that a 1-percentage-point increase in homeownership rate at the census tract level increased the percentage of proficient learners and above in third-grade reading by 0.24 percentage points, and the effects are stronger—economically and statistically—in estimates that correct for the endogeneity of neighborhood homeownership rates. Further, the effects of homeownership are much larger in the sample of low-income, less affluent, or more black or African American-dominated neighborhoods, compared with the overall sample.

Mentoring as the Core Element of New Teacher Induction in the USA: Policies and Practices

Abstract The paper focuses on mentoring as the key strategy of novice teacher induction in the USA. The study reviews current mentoring/induction policies and trends in the U.S. system of in-service teacher training and support. The findings suggest that the conceptual framework, standards and practices of new teacher mentoring in the United States conform to the dynamic trends in education and organizational management. The conceptual modification of teacher mentoring manifests itself in the development of comprehensive and sustained formal induction programs based on the theories of educational leadership, adult learning, social interaction and collaborative learning. Quality induction programs are context-based and involve multiple stakeholders (schools, school districts, local educational organizations and agencies, partner universities, state departments of education etc). Diverse forms of mentoring (one-to-one, peer, group, reciprocal, online and needs-driven mentoring, etc.) are extensively combined with other induction components offered to beginning teachers and mentors during the whole induction period. The induction components include: summer courses, orientation sessions, workshops, seminars, webinars, conferences, interviews, informal meetings and celebrations, district-based mentor training programs etc. The quantitative data obtained through the analysis of the U.S. national surveys and research reports provides ground for highlighting those mentoring and induction programs which have significantly decreased turnover rates among new teachers, contributed to their professional development and improved academic achievement in public schools by providing students with quality instruction.

Class size effects on mathematics achievement in Cyprus: evidence from TIMSS

ABSTRACTClass size reduction has been viewed as one school mechanism that can improve student achievement. Nonetheless, the literature has reported mixed findings about class size effects. We used 4th- and 8th-grade data from TIMSS 2003 and 2007 to examine the association between class size and mathematics achievement in public schools in Cyprus. We employ instrumental variables methods, and take advantage of a regression discontinuity design to examine causal effects of class size on mathematics achievement. The results indicate a non-significant relationship between class size and mathematics achievement in 8th grades. However, there is evidence of positive class size effects in 4th grade. The gender gap is significant and favoured males in 4th grade and females in 8th grade. SES indexes such as parental education and items in the home are positively and significantly related to mathematics achievement. Teacher and school variables are not significantly related with mathematics achievement.

Protocol for a Systematic Review: “No Excuses” Charter Schools for Increasing Math and Literacy Achievement in Primary and Secondary Education: A Systematic Review and Meta‐Analysis

Protocol for a Systematic Review: “No Excuses” Charter Schools for Increasing Math and Literacy Achievement in Primary and Secondary Education: A Systematic Review and Meta‐Analysis

Weighing the Effects of Federal Educational Policy on Democracy: Reframing the Discourse on High-Stakes Accountability

The year 2013 marked the 30th anniversary of the report, A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform. Its original release was the watershed for a series of federal policies that would increasingly undercut the local control of public schools. The crux of its argument was that public school achievement was declining, threatening the nation's economic preeminence in commerce, industry, science, and technological innovation. Federal policy makers responded swiftly to the alleged “crisis” identified in the report by crafting a collection of recommendations to states for holding schools and districts accountable for producing educational “excellence.” The report marked the moment at which federal education policy began to veer away from decades of social science research and welfare programs that acknowledged how powerfully social, cultural, political, and economic conditions determine schools’ capacity for improvement (e.g., Coleman, 1966; Jencks et al., 1972). It also signaled the point at which the locus of power in public education began shifting increasingly into the hands of federal authorities.

Predictors of mathematics achievement of migrant children in Chinese urban schools: A comparative study

In China, the education of increasing numbers of migrant children in urban settings is undertaken in integrated public or segregated migrant schools. This study compares the factors and predictors related to migrant children's mathematics achievement in public schools and migrant schools. Regression analyses were conducted to determine which independent variables (school type, sibling numbers, length of residence in urban areas, gender, preschool attendance, and parental socioeconomic status) were the predictors of migrant students’ mathematics achievement. With respect to the total sample, the overall model of five factors pertinent to student achievement outcomes in mathematics was significant (sibling numbers, length of residence in urban areas, preschool attendance, parental socioeconomic status and school type). While these factors figure prominently as significant academic predictors for the migrant school sample, the only significant predictor of mathematics achievement for the public school sample is parental socioeconomic status. In the light of these findings the paper concludes with suggestions for the intervention that inform and characterize the education of migrant children in urban schools.

Assessing second language speaking

While the viva voce (oral) examination has always been used in content-based educational assessment (Latham 1877: 132), the assessment of second language (L2) speaking in performance tests is relatively recent. The impetus for the growth in testing speaking during the 19th and 20th centuries is twofold. Firstly, in educational settings the development of rating scales was driven by the need to improve achievement in public schools, and to communicate that improvement to the outside world. Chadwick (1864, see timeline) implies that the rating scales first devised in the 1830s served two purposes: providing information to the classroom teacher on learner progress for formative use, and generating data for school accountability. From the earliest days, such data was used for parents to select schools for their children in order to ‘maximize the benefit of their investment’ (Chadwick 1858). Secondly, in military settings it was imperative to be able to predict which soldiers were able to undertake tasks in the field without risk to themselves or other personnel (Kaulfers 1944, see timeline). Many of the key developments in speaking test design and rating scales are linked to military needs.

A case study of student achievement in a secondary charter school

The quality of student learning and achievement in public schools has become a matter of public discourse and policy, thus led to the establishment of charter school concept. However, there are controversial reports on the academic performances of charter schools, inadequate information on their instructional practices, and the learning experiences of students who attend secondary charter schools. The purpose of this case study was to find correlations on instructional practices, learning activities, learner motivation, and their perception of learning at a secondary charter school that serves students in various at‐risk situations that have not been described in existing research. Using a case study, the qualitative research identified instructional practices and connection between motivation, learning, and student's perception of learning. Data collected from 3 administrators, 13 teachers, and 30 students through interviews, observations of classrooms, and observation of social behaviors in the breakfast program, were subjected to inductive analysis. Findings revealed that the secondary charter school utilizes mission‐oriented instructional practices to meet the educational needs of every student. Flexible school structure, rewards, support systems, positive reinforcement, and ardent student teacher relationships were motivating factors responsible for student achievement. Students expressed satisfaction with their learning experiences at the school and able to progress to higher grade levels.

The impact of federal, state and local taxes on student achievement in public schools: the case of Indiana

In this article, data from 286 Indiana school districts during the 2009–2010 school year were used in a case study to investigate whether fiscal funding has a direct effect on education output (i.e. student achievement). Two results were found: (1) while federal taxes are not significantly associated with student achievement in public schools, both state and local taxes are strongly related to student achievement in public schools, implying a direct effect on education output; and (2) state tax funding has a greater impact on education output than local tax funding.

Exploring the Competitive Effects of Charter Schools

Central to the debate over school choice has been the question of how public schools respond to market-based competition. Many choice advocates suggest that competition can spur public schools to become more effective and efficient, but the evidence regarding the effect of competition from charters is comparably sparse and mixed. This article contributes to that literature by examining the relationship between competition, in the form of charter schools, and public school district effectiveness and technical efficiency. The investigation uses stochastic frontier analysis to analyze 6 years of statewide data in Colorado. Results indicate that charter competition appears to spur greater achievement in public schools but not greater efficiency.

Intergenerational Closure and Academic Achievement in High School: A New Evaluation of Coleman's Conjecture

This article reexamines the conjecture of James S. Coleman that intergenerational social closure promotes student achievement in high schools, analyzing the best national data on academic achievement and social networks: the 2002 and 2004 waves of the Education Longitudinal Study. The results show that within the Catholic school sector, schools that are characterized by dense parental networks have substantially higher average student achievement. This association can be reduced but not eliminated by conditioning on available measures of student network structure and standard measures of family background. In contrast, in the public school sector, a similarly strong bivariate association between dense parental networks and student achievement can be attributed almost entirely to these basic conditioning variables. These results represent, at best, a mixed verdict for Coleman's predictions. Intergenerational closure in its currently observed form does not increase achievement in public schools, suggesting that parental monitoring of discipline does not outweigh some of the costs of parental closure. However, intergenerational closure may increase achievement in Catholic schools to a modest degree because Catholic schools are affiliated with religious communities that have appropriable norms.

An Evaluation of the Effect of DC’s Voucher Program on Public School Achievement and Racial Integration After One Year

This study evaluates the initial effect of Washing, DC’s Opportunity Scholarship Program (OSP) on the academic performance of public schools and its effects on the opportunities that District students have to attend integrated schools. The OSP is a federally sponsored school voucher program that provides vouchers worth up to $7,500 for an estimated 1,800 to 2,000 students in the District of Columbia. The authors measure whether a public school’s test-score gains are related to its distance to the nearest voucher-accepting private school or the number of voucher schools within a one-mile radius of a public school. The evaluation finds that the OSP has had no academic effect, positive or negative, on the District’s public schools after its first year. The study also compares rates of racial integration in DC’s public schools and private schools participating in the voucher program. This is part of the first-year evaluation of the OSP. The authors plan to continue evaluating the OSP using a variety of approaches.

Precarious Space: Majority Black Suburbs and Their Public Schools

The fact that a third of all African Americans now live in suburbs might suggest how far we have come since the pre-Hrown days. But most African Americans live in predominantly Black suburbs, where property values are lower than in neighboring White suburbs, and where the public schools are funded by a lower tax base. After presenting a national picture, the authors draw on the experiences of Plainfield, New Jersey, and Prince George's County, Maryland, to describe how strained resources, a history of racialized conflicts resulting in troubled governance, and a perception of students as “inner city” all contribute to low student achievement in public schools in predominantly Black suburbs.

Precarious Space: Majority Black Suburbs and Their Public Schools

The fact that a third of all African Americans now live in suburbs might suggest how far we have come since the pre-Hrown days. But most African Americans live in predominantly Black suburbs, where property values are lower than in neighboring White suburbs, and where the public schools are funded by a lower tax base. After presenting a national picture, the authors draw on the experiences of Plainfield, New Jersey, and Prince George's County, Maryland, to describe how strained resources, a history of racialized conflicts resulting in troubled governance, and a perception of students as “inner city” all contribute to low student achievement in public schools in predominantly Black suburbs.

Public and Private School Competition: The Spatial Education Production Function

School vouchers may increase the competition public school districts face. Greater competition may spur public schools to improve student outcomes, which reliably predict labor market productivity and earnings. Previous school competition studies do not use spatial statistics; they fail to incorporate spillovers and the effect of omitted variables into their education production functions. Significant spatial effects are found in all regressions, and spatial statistics improves adjusted R-squared. There seems to be no consistent association between private school attendance rates and public school achievement, or between the number of public school districts in a county and public school performance. Competitive effects, which seem plausible in non-spatial regressions, dissipate when spatial statistics is used. When school inputs appeared statistically significant in non-spatial regressions, the spatial regressions generally made the significance disappear. Poverty appeared to depress reading and writing passage rates, but this effect disappeared in the spatial models.

A New Look at Public and Private Schools: Student Background and Mathematics Achievement

The claim that schools do a better job of educating their students than public schools -- an argument central to the push for market-style reforms -- is rarely questioned. But do the data back it up? The authors examined fourth- and eighth-grade NAEP mathematics achievement in over 1,000 public and schools to arrive at a surprising answer. A RECENT report of mathematics results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) highlighted this major Public- school students scored lower on average than non-public-school students at both grades 4 and 8.1 Of course, this finding is nothing new. Indeed, it is part of the common wisdom in the United States that school students outscore public school students on standardized tests. Furthermore, studies have suggested that this is true even when researchers account for the fact that the enrollment at public schools differs from the enrollment at schools. This belief is based, in part, on past studies involving the 1980 High School and Beyond dataset that found that schools are more effective than public schools at boosting student achievement, including that of disadvantaged students.2 These studies of test performance, which controlled for some potentially confounding variables such as socioeconomic status (SES), affirmed widespread assumptions about the superiority of schools. These assumptions, in turn, have influenced recent reform efforts promoting various forms of privatization of public schools, including the No Child Left Behind Act, which makes use of a variety of sector sanctions for failing public schools. However, the seminal studies on school effects are becoming dated, with most based on a sample of students who began school over a generation ago. In addition, most of these studies were limited to high school.3 Some used rough measures of SES that may not have been sufficiently sensitive to the differences in populations served by public and schools. Given the current interest in choice and privatization, it is an important time to examine current evidence relating to achievement in public and schools. While undertaking a broader study of mathematics instruction and equity, we became intrigued by an unexpected finding: when controlling for school status and student background variables in our statistical models, we saw that mathematics achievement in public schools actually appeared higher than that in schools.4 We decided to do a special substudy focusing specifically on achievement differences between public and schools. Using a powerful SES variable created for the broader study, we were able to more carefully examine the question of whether the widely assumed private school effect is due more to the population of students served than to institutional effectiveness. The study focused solely on student achievement in mathematics -- a subject generally thought to be less influenced by family background and more influenced by institutional effects than other school subjects such as literacy. The Role of Family Background NAEP has been an important tool for monitoring trends in U.S. student achievement. It is the only nationally representative, ongoing assessment of U.S. academic achievement, measuring student performance at fourth, eighth, and 12th grades in mathematics and other subject areas. Our study used fourth- and eighth-grade data; eliminating 12th- grade data removed the issue of high school dropouts, which could bias our samples. Furthermore, the focus on students in the earlier grades reduces the likelihood that the students in the sample had transferred between public and schools. We analyzed achievement and survey data from the 2000 Main NAEP mathematics assessment,5 which we obtained from a restricted-use CD-ROM. (When the study was conducted in 2004, the 2000 assessment was the most recent for which raw data were available to researchers. …