US Department Of Education Research Articles

Accuracy and Dignity: Staging Madama Butterfly in Occupied Japan

ABSTRACT Puccini’s opera Madama Butterfly has long been viewed in Japan and abroad as demeaning Japan, portraying Japanese women as helpless victims of a cruel society, easily exploited by Japanese and American men. But a remarkable 1948 production by two Japanese men, Fujiwara Yoshie (1898–1976) and Aoyama Yoshio (1903–1976), reimagined the typical Euro-American staging to display their vision of a ‘real’ Japan, one they also believed most faithful to Puccini. Not only did their production mute the inequities present in the opera; it was initiated, funded, and fully supported by the US Troop Information and Education (TI&E) Section in Tokyo. Ultimately, the Fujiwara and Aoyama interpretation became the dominant staging of the opera worldwide for decades to come. Exploring the institutional, political, and popular interest in Madama Butterfly in occupied Japan, this article examines how this 1948 production bolstered the Cold War narrative of the US as a non-colonialist, democratizing power striving to liberate Japanese women while celebrating Japan’s ‘return’ to its native aesthetic traditions.

Itaú Social Foundation, Renaissance 2010, inequalities and segregation: critical analysis of the application of the US education model in Brazil

Resumo Este artigo realiza uma análise crítica dos projetos defendidos por organizações empresariais que propõem políticas públicas de educação no Brasil (no caso, a Fundação Itaú Social [FIS]). Para tal, o texto apresenta, a partir de documentos assinados pela FIS, como esta instituição defende que medidas implementadas nos Estados Unidos (como o Renaissance 2010 de Chicago) sirvam de modelo para o país. Em seguida, a partir de dados quantitativos e qualitativos, decorrentes de levantamento bibliográfico em fontes primárias e secundárias no Brasil e nos Estados Unidos, o trabalho discute alguns resultados desses projetos em seu local de origem (especialmente Chicago). Assim, será demonstrado como, ao contrário do que indicam seus proponentes, tais diretrizes podem ser relacionadas à manutenção e ao agravamento de problemas sociais, como a segregação racial. Por fim, o artigo mostra que, apesar de essas reformas serem apresentadas como expressão de um consenso social, nos Estados Unidos, as comunidades escolares têm protagonizado intensas mobilizações contra elas. Portanto, considerando tal cenário, o texto reflete como a insistência na manutenção de tais projetos não é justificável por dados, mas pelo interesse político e econômico do capital e suas instituições.

Contemporary Education Systems: The Case of United States

Modernization efforts for the development of education systems were carried out in parallel with the needs of the age. In this direction, societies that have taken the step of modernization have first tried to revise their existing education systems and identify the prominent obstacles. Education systems have followed a very different course in history; It has been affected by many historical, geographical, economic, social, and cultural factors. The United States education system is an education system that is managed locally due to the history and structure of the country, where the education program, academic calendar, programs, school system structuring, and teacher appointments are determined by the states. In this study, first the political and cultural history of the country and then the functioning and structure of the education system are discussed. The study also compared the Turkish education system and US education. Finally, the study was concluded by including the problems encountered in the US education system.

DEATH AND DYING EDUCATION IN US MEDICAL SCHOOLS: A SCOPING REVIEW

Abstract With an aging population, knowledge about death, dying, loss, grief, and end-of-life (EOL) care is an essential skill for most physicians. However, EOL education has been minimally incorporated into medical school curricula in the United States (U.S.); there is a significant need to better prepare medical students for the unique challenges of improving patient wellbeing at end-of-life. To understand how death and dying topics have been incorporated into U.S. medical school education, we conducted a systematic scoping review, using PRISMA guidelines, of published research on death education for medical students between 2010 through 2022. An initial search in EMBASE and PubMed yielded 3,443 citations; 265 articles met the initial inclusion criteria (e.g., research-based, EOL education specific), with 97 articles selected for full-text review. Overall, we found significant variation in the type and content of EOL training in U.S. medical schools. Using a competency-based medical education framework that reflects tangible knowledge, skills, and attitudes as a guide to ensure proper EOL training, a deductive coding approach yielded several themes including: reliance on brief, skills-based workshop interventions and limited longitudinal integration into curricula; general research on student attitudes and wellbeing; and an emphasis on needs assessments highlighting gaps in evidence-based EOL training interventions. Using these findings, we offer applied considerations for teaching EOL related skills in U.S. medical schools. In turn, this work contributes to the enhancement of health across the lifespan and might ultimately lead to a society where a “good death” is not an exception, but a reality.

"I Sing the Body Electric": Embodied Presence in the Community of Inquiry Framework

Even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, more K-12 teachers in the United States were teaching online than ever before, particularly in rural and economically distressed communities (US Department of Education, 2011), and since March 2020, nearly every teacher has become, at least for a little while, a virtual teacher. The purpose of this study was to better understand the embodied experiences of women “sojourner” teachers—that is, teachers who move among online, face-to-face, and hybrid teaching spaces (Howell, 2020). Working from a feminist poststructuralist perspective, I gathered qualitative data from four sojourner teachers in the Midwestern and Mid-Atlantic United States. These data revealed participants’ complex relationships with their bodies while teaching online and how their bodies fit into their perceptions of what it means to be a good virtual teacher. I argue that the current domains of the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework (Garrison et al., 2000) are limited and would benefit from the explicit inclusion of embodiment to facilitate discussion about the interplay of physical and intellectual labor and, potentially, the real effects embodied identities have on teachers’ experiences in virtual classrooms.

Human Capital and the Managerial Revolution in the United States: Evidence from General Electric

Abstract This paper estimates the returns to human capital accumulation during the first era of mega-firms in the United States by linking employees at General Electric—a canonical enterprise associated with the “visible hand” of managerial hierarchies—to the 1940 census. I find large returns to higher education through seniority in the hierarchy, span of control, earnings, and selection into management training, using the proximity of land-grant colleges and historical universities to birth states for identification. The findings highlight the human capital determinants of the managerial revolution at a prominent firm, driven by earlier public investments in the US education system.

Bolstering Education Statistics to Serve the Nation

Despite providing objective, benchmark statistics on the condition and progress of U.S. education since 1867, the National Center for Education Statistics has been the center of scrutiny over the last dozen years for its lack of resources and agility as well as for its diminished stature and autonomy. Motivated by the COVID-19 pandemic exposure of NCES’ bureaucratic hurdles, Congress’ interest in reauthorizing the agency and its umbrella organization, and the 2022 National Academies’ report, A Vision and Roadmap for Education Statistics, we explore legislative changes and attendant administrative actions that would contribute to building the trust of respondents who provide data to NCES and users who depend on the agency’s products; our article offers recommendations to that end.

The structural-demographic theory revisited: An empirical test for industrialized societies.

The structural demographic theory for industrialized societies generates three testable predictions. The first prediction is that labor oversupply leads to declining (relative) wages. The second prediction is that labor oversupply leads to elite overproduction: as relative wages fall, elite incomes display a hump-shaped pattern while elite numbers increase. The third prediction is that elite overproduction leads to political instability. I test these predictions on US data by combining evidence from existing studies with empirical proxies for elite numbers and elite income. The predictions are not supported by the data. First, labor oversupply cannot explain the polarization of wages and the decline in relative wages. The largest share in wage variance is explained by automation. Second, the data shows that as relative wages fall, elite incomes increase, in contrast to the hump-shaped pattern displayed by the model. Third, elite overproduction did not predict political instability in the last decades. Political instability is modelled by the Political Stress Index (PSI). The reviewed evidence shows that the increase in the model based PSI in the last decades is driven by the increase in inequality. The rise in inequality was caused by technological change, globalisation and to a lesser extent by the erosion of labor market institutions. Attributing the rise in inequality and the resulting increase in political instability to labor oversupply rather than to the lost race between education and technology may weaken incentives to design effective policies addressing the inefficiencies in the US education system.

Unleashing the wordsmith: Analysing the stock market reactions to the launch of ChatGPT in the US Education sector

Is the stock market reacting to the launch of ChatGPT? This study examines the reaction of US education firms to the introduction of ChatGPT, an advanced language model. Our event study methodology reveals a significantly negative investor reaction to the launch of ChatGPT in US education stocks. Furthermore, we observe that responses were more pronounced for education and training services companies (traditional) than for professional and technology services companies (technology-based). In so doing, this article sheds new light on the responses of the stock market to the launch of ChatGPT.

From improvement to relationship management: a case study of data artifact creation and use in a school improvement network

ABSTRACT Improvement networks are a relatively recent phenomenon in US education that create interorganizational networks of educators working together to improve specific educational problems. A shared emphasis of these networks is the use of data to support the improvement process, but little is known about their data use in practice. This study takes an in-depth look at the 800+ data artifacts created and used in a single focal network’s 3rd year, applying a mixed methods case study design. The findings show that while data artifacts are predominantly created to support the improvement process, they are frequently used for relationship management as network hub members navigate the sociopolitical dynamics typical of a complex change effort – if they are used at all. The study has implications for practitioners as they decide what data artifacts to create and use, as well as for researchers’ theory building about productive data use in improvement efforts.

Adaptive personalized learning: Implementation of emerging technologies in higher education

The fourth industrial revolution determined the increase of active research on redesigning universities’ educational programs to modern technological advancement. Thus, the education system is faced with the challenge of applying an adaptive self-sufficient learning environment that meets labor market’s demands and students’ needs. The importance of adaptive personalized learning in the electronic information and educational environment is to create conditions that provide each student with possibilities to choose and compose learning content, methods and means. Moreover, students can manage their own learning and pace, and obtain interdisciplinary knowledge, professional and soft skills. The aim of this study was to design an adaptive personalized learning model in electronic information and educational environment for Russian higher education institution. This study examined US and Russian higher education institutions’ successful models of individual educational path, adaptive and/or personalized learning. The comparative and content analyses revealed various possibilities for using this model in an electronic information and educational environment. For instance, the model would be able to propose students individual learning path, analyze their level of educational materials’ assimilation and adapt learning programs to improve their performance.

ChatGPT and Google Assistant as a Source of Patient Education for Patients With Amblyopia: Content Analysis.

We queried ChatGPT (OpenAI) and Google Assistant about amblyopia and compared their answers with the keywords found on the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus (AAPOS) website, specifically the section on amblyopia. Out of the 26 keywords chosen from the website, ChatGPT included 11 (42%) in its responses, while Google included 8 (31%). Our study investigated the adherence of ChatGPT-3.5 and Google Assistant to the guidelines of the AAPOS for patient education on amblyopia. ChatGPT-3.5 was used. The four questions taken from the AAPOS website, specifically its glossary section for amblyopia, are as follows: (1) What is amblyopia? (2) What causes amblyopia? (3) How is amblyopia treated? (4) What happens if amblyopia is untreated? Approved and selected by ophthalmologists (GW and DL), the keywords from AAPOS were words or phrases that deemed significant for the education of patients with amblyopia. The "Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level" formula, approved by the US Department of Education, was used to evaluate the reading comprehension level for the responses from ChatGPT, Google Assistant, and AAPOS. In their responses, ChatGPT did not mention the term "ophthalmologist," whereas Google Assistant and AAPOS both mentioned the term once and twice, respectively. ChatGPT did, however, use the term "eye doctors" once. According to the Flesch-Kincaid test, the average reading level of AAPOS was 11.4 (SD 2.1; the lowest level) while that of Google was 13.1 (SD 4.8; the highest required reading level), also showing the greatest variation in grade level in its responses. ChatGPT's answers, on average, scored 12.4 (SD 1.1) grade level. They were all similar in terms of difficulty level in reading. For the keywords, out of the 4 responses, ChatGPT used 42% (11/26) of the keywords, whereas Google Assistant used 31% (8/26). ChatGPT trains on texts and phrases and generates new sentences, while Google Assistant automatically copies website links. As ophthalmologists, we should consider including "see an ophthalmologist" on our websites and journals. While ChatGPT is here to stay, we, as physicians, need to monitor its answers.

Weaponizing settler slogans to mandate colonial school policy in the Americas: Transformation through Indigenous futurity

The topic of this academic review is settler slogans that mandate colonial school policy in North America. Also discussed is Indigenous futurity as a strategy for transforming education and countering the educational harm that comes from weaponized language. Beginning in 1887, the US federal government authorized colonial schooling, using the dangerous educational cliché “Kill the Indian in him, and save the man.” The purpose of this article was to illuminate this weaponizing rhetoric in education, which served as a guiding principle for imposing Indigenous assimilation that manifested as federal policy in the Americas. Research questions were, How did the kill-and-save slogan shape US and Canadian education and policy? How can the concept of Indigenous futurity improve Indigenous education? Colonial settler efforts to control tribal nations with weaponizing rhetoric leveled at education policy, public perception,and compulsory boarding/residential schools are exposed. Peer-reviewed studies were read, with analysis of 51 sources, many authored by Indigenous academics. Resultant cultural genocide, systemic discrimination, and educational disparity are described. Indigenous resistance to settler ideologies, policies, and settlements, as well as assertions of tribal rights, freedom, and sovereignty, reflect patterns in the material analyzed. Modern-day empowerment of society’s most vulnerable ethnic group requires a deep rethinking of schooling processes. Debunking settler futurity, the lesser-known Indigenous view of futurity looks to sustaining Indigenous communities and calls on society for amends.

Department of Education to update 504 regulations

On May 4, 1977, the United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare promulgated regulations implementing Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act (45 CFR Part 84 (effective date June 3, 1977)). When HEW was split in two, the United States Department of Education reissued the 504 regulations (34 CFR Part 104). Now, 47 years later, ED has announced that it will update the Section 504 regulations.

Linguistic Variation and Linguistic Inclusion in the US Educational Context

This article examines linguistic variation in relation to the critical social institution and social domain of education, with an emphasis on linguistic inclusion, focusing on the United States. Education is imbued with power dynamics, and language often serves as a gatekeeping mechanism for students from minoritized backgrounds, which helps create, sustain, and perpetuate educational inequalities. Grounded in this context, the article reviews intersecting factors related to linguistic variation that affect student academic performance. Empirical and applied models of effective partnerships among researchers, educators, and students are presented, which provide road maps to advance linguistic inclusion in schools within the broader social movement for equity in education.

Influence of performance feedback and academic performance on parent-family involvement and parent satisfaction in US schools.

Parental and family involvement in schools has been a concern for educators and administrators. The authors set out to assess the path directions and significance of the interrelationships between Performance Feedback (PF), Academic Performance (AP) on Parent-Family Involvement (PFI), and Parent Satisfaction(PS) in schools. This study utilizes data from the PFIin Education Survey 2019 under the National Household Education Surveys program done by the USDepartment of Education. The sample for this research is 954parents. Structural equation modeling was employed using AMOS. Results establish the three research propositions: influence of PFIon PS with the mediation of AP and PF, influence of AP on PS is moderated by PF, influence of AP on PFI is moderated by PF. The findings are important for school administrators and all stakeholders for ensuring greater PFI, improved PF and AP of students, and higher PS. This study is unique in assessing the interactional effects of the variables considered. The study also establishes mediating and moderating influences and offers new insights in understanding the influences on PFI and PS and some bidirectional effects.

Re/Definitions of teachers and teaching work in UK and US policy discourses under Covid-19 and their implications for social justice

ABSTRACT This article is concerned with the discourses of teachers and teaching work that have circulated in UK and US education policy circles during the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing on UK and US policy texts published in Spring and Summer 2020, we discuss how the policy discourses underpinning these texts re/define and mis/recognise teaching work. On a theoretical level, the article bears on a poststructuralist tradition calling, inter alia, for a critical deconstruction of discourses and the relationships of power they sustain, while also borrowing from critical theorists’ understandings of social justice. We argue that while some aspects of teachers’ work have attracted more visibility and recognition, these processes have been partial and coexist with the strengthening of some of the hierarchies of teaching work in place prior to the pandemic.

The 100 Leading Contributors to English-Language Gerontological Journals: An International Study of Scholarly Impact

ABSTRACT The two aims of this study were to: 1) identify the 100 most impactful contributors to English-language gerontological journals, and 2) map their respective disciplinary affiliations to help illuminate the perspectives shaping gerontological discourse. Toward that end, we conducted a secondary data analysis of a publicly available database of the world’s leading scientists. After extracting all scientists in the gerontological category, we rank ordered them according to a composite measure of scholarly impact that controls for self-citations and author order while also calculating other bibliometric statistics. Disciplinary affiliations were assigned based upon the Classification of Instructional Programs codes developed by the National Center for Education Statistics at the United States Department of Education. The results reveal the mean contributor to the gerontological literature published 241.15 (SD = 203.95) papers and – after correcting for self-citations – had an h-index of 50.05 (SD = 25.00), and an hm-index 23.67 (SD = 7.50). A diverse array of professional affiliations characterized the contributors with a plurality being located in the health professions category, followed by the biological and biomedical science, and social sciences categories. The results reveal that gerontology is home to some of the world’s leading scientists. Leveraging their expertise can help advance the field’s collective knowledge development.

A Study of Students’ Learning of Computing through an LP-Based Integrated Curriculum for Middle Schools

There has been a consensus on integrating Computing into the teaching and learning of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) subjects in K-12 (Kindergarten to 12th grade in the US education system). However, rigorous study on the impact of an integrated curriculum on students' learning in computing and/or the STEM subject(s) is still rare. In this paper, we report our research on how well an integrated curriculum helps middle school students learn Computing through the microgenetic analysis methods.

“What Library?”

Although charter schools are a growing segment of the US education market, they are less likely than traditional public or private schools to have dedicated library facilities, staffing, or services. Currently there is little data about what services charter schools provide to support literacy, research, or technology skill building - services commonly provided by school libraries. Without these data it is unknown whether, how, or to what extent charter schools without school libraries ensure that their students have access to these crucial learning resources. This study collected data in 87 US based K-12 charter schools across 11 states using an online survey completed by school administrators. This survey addresses library services of charter schools both with and without school library facilities. The survey shows that most charters lack facilities and staffing to provide quality school library services. In charters that have a school library the data suggests the school benefits from more services to encourage reading for fun and information literacy instruction that can improve technology use and research skills. This study informs future research and advocacy for charter school libraries.