Schoolwide Performance Research Articles

Does Prosocial Impact Reduce Performance Data Gaming? The Role of Data Visualizations and Expert-Novice Differences

While research has documented the framing effects of performance data on decision-making, little is known about the impact of data visualizations on performance gaming. We propose that performance information portraying prosocial impact reduces gaming if the information is episodic and visualizes benefits for clients in need. We also theorize about expert-novice differences and suggest that performance information is less influential among experts. We conduct an experiment with samples of citizens (novices) and school leaders (experts) in which subjects must decide whether they are willing to omit poorly performing students when calculating school-wide performance scores. We find that school leaders game less than citizens, and that the former are less responsive to episodic information cues than the latter. However, information becomes more influential if it can capture school leaders’ attention and if leaders have little work experience. More broadly, our findings suggest being cautious with generalizations across groups of data users.

Examining Spillover Effects From Teach For America Corps Members in Miami-Dade County Public Schools

This article examines Teach For America’s (TFA) placement strategy in Miami-Dade County Public Schools, in which large numbers of TFA corps members are placed as clusters into a targeted set of disadvantaged schools, to investigate whether the large-scale infusion of TFA corps members into these schools induced broader improvements across the school. Using 6 years of administrative data from the district, we exploit variation in TFA density over time within schools to measure the extent to which increases in density were associated with improvements in student test scores. We find that many of the schools chosen to participate in the cluster strategy experienced large subsequent gains in mathematics achievement. These gains were driven in part by the direct effect of having larger numbers of classrooms staffed by effective TFA teachers. However, we do not find any evidence that the clustering strategy led to any spillovers on schoolwide performance.

School Administrator Assessments of Bullying and State-Mandated Testing

Bully victimization is associated with lower academic performance for individual students; however, less is known about the impact of bullying on the academic performance of the school as a whole. This study examined how retrospective administrator reports of both the prevalence of teasing and bullying (PTB) and the use of evidence-based bullying prevention efforts might be associated with school-wide performance on 11 state-mandated achievement tests. Hierarchical regression analyses conducted at the school level with 301 Virginia high schools found that principal reports of both PTB and bullying prevention efforts were associated with the proportion of students that passed achievement testing. Findings could not be attributed to the proportion of White students in the school, student poverty, school size, or urban location, which were statistically controlled.

Linking student performance in Massachusetts elementary schools with the "greenness" of school surroundings using remote sensing.

Various studies have reported the physical and mental health benefits from exposure to “green” neighborhoods, such as proximity to neighborhoods with trees and vegetation. However, no studies have explicitly assessed the association between exposure to “green” surroundings and cognitive function in terms of student academic performance. This study investigated the association between the “greenness” of the area surrounding a Massachusetts public elementary school and the academic achievement of the school’s student body based on standardized tests with an ecological setting. Researchers used the composite school-based performance scores generated by the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) to measure the percentage of 3rd-grade students (the first year of standardized testing for 8–9 years-old children in public school), who scored “Above Proficient” (AP) in English and Mathematics tests (Note: Individual student scores are not publically available). The MCAS results are comparable year to year thanks to an equating process. Researchers included test results from 2006 through 2012 in 905 public schools and adjusted for differences between schools in the final analysis according to race, gender, English as a second language (proxy for ethnicity and language facility), parent income, student-teacher ratio, and school attendance. Surrounding greenness of each school was measured using satellite images converted into the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) in March, July and October of each year according to a 250-meter, 500-meter, 1,000-meter, and 2000-meter circular buffer around each school. Spatial Generalized Linear Mixed Models (GLMMs) estimated the impacts of surrounding greenness on school-based performance. Overall the study results supported a relationship between the “greenness” of the school area and the school-wide academic performance. Interestingly, the results showed a consistently positive significant association between the greenness of the school in the Spring (when most Massachusetts students take the MCAS tests) and school-wide performance on both English and Math tests, even after adjustment for socio-economic factors and urban residency.

Teaching Korean Rhythms in Music Class Through Improvisation, Composition, and Student Performance

The purpose of this article is to introduce the characteristics of Korean rhythmic patterns and provide effective ways to teach Korean rhythms based on the theoretical and pedagogical approaches derived from 5,000 years of Korean musical tradition. First, we have provided the fundamental principles of Korean rhythms that represent the culture from which the music originated. Then, we have introduced the pedagogical process of Korean music, which includes the use of gu-em (Korean verbal syllables of music) and improvisatory practice. Finally, we have offered the resource of composition and the schoolwide performance using Korean rhythms that would be suitable to a contemporary educational context. By doing this, music educators will gain an understanding of the characteristics of Korean rhythms and acquire the skills necessary to teach them in the classrooms; as a consequence, they can confidently incorporate Korean rhythms in general music classes.

The Micropolitics of Implementing a School-Based Bonus Policy

This article examines the micropolitics of implementing New York City’s Schoolwide Performance Bonus Program and school governance bodies (Compensation Committees) that determined distribution of school-level rewards among personnel. Drawing on a two-year, mixed-methods study, the author finds that although most participants surveyed described a democratic process, case data suggest that principals sometimes overtly and covertly exercised power to shape decisions. The author finds that egalitarian norms, macro-political pressures, the tendency to suppress conflict, and policy design explain why most committees developed equal-share distribution plans even though a significant proportion of members favored some differentiation. The article illuminates the challenges of engaging stakeholders in incentive program design and affirms the value of combining political and sociological perspectives to understand education policy implementation.

Resenha | A Big Apple for Educators: New York City’s Experiment with Schoolwide Performance Bonuses: Final Evaluation

No primeiro semestre de 2011, foi publicado o relatório A Big Apple for Educators. New York City’s Experiment with Schoolwide Performance Bonuses, produzido pela RAND Corporation, uma organização não-governamental norte-americana que busca contribuir para o desenvolvimento de políticas públicas e tomadas de decisão por meio de pesquisas e avaliações. A publicação foi feita em parceria com a Universidade de Vanderbilt. O trabalho dedica-se à avaliação de um programa educacional implementado a partir de 2007 pelo Departamento de Educação da cidade de Nova York, o New York City Schoolwide Performance Bonus Program (SPBP).