State Departments Of Education Research Articles

Students’ Perceptions of the Benefits of Scholastic Chess Instruction

This paper explores students’ perceptions of the benefits of chess-based instruction as part of an evaluation of a Chess in Schools (CIS) program implemented in 2017-2018 by a State Department of Education in the southeastern United States. The data were collected using a cross-sectional survey administered to students at the end of the academic year after one year of exposure to the CIS program. Results from the student survey responses (n = 1,286) indicated that the majority of students across all grade levels felt they had experienced a variety of positive outcomes as a result of their exposure to scholastic chess-based instruction. These perceived positive outcomes are beneficial for understanding the holistic impact of chess-based learning as they provide insight beyond only measuring students on a metric such as a test score or GPA.

Education as Advocacy: The Foundations of Support for Immigrant Youth

This article is a review of the following video series: Kleyn, T. (2019). Supporting immigrants in schools. The City College of New York and the New York State Education Department. https://www.cunyiie.org/videos Kleyn, T. (Ed.). (2019). Supporting immigrants in schools: Resource Guide. The City College of New York and New York State Education Department. 54p. Available as download from https://cuny-iie.org/ .

Implementation of Personalized Learning in a New Charter School

Personalized Learning (PL) is an educational approach that tailors instruction to the academic needs of each student. Most research on PL focuses on student achievement, technology, and implementation challenges. Little research has been conducted on the actual practices that teachers use to personalize instruction and on students’ and teachers’ feelings about being in a school that implements PL. I conducted a case study at a recently opened rural elementary charter school in the southern United States, which was implementing PL schoolwide. After attending a professional development workshop on PL hosted by the State Department of Education, I conducted classroom observations in a first-grade and a fifth/sixth-grade classroom. I interviewed the teachers of these classes, the school principal, and three students. Three themes emerged from my analysis of this material, relating to student engagement, teacher behaviors and dispositions, and student outcomes. Overall, I concluded that PL is not a quick or easy transition for a school to make, nor does it involve just changing the curriculum to individualize instruction for students. Personalized Learning requires an adaption of teacher and student mindsets and the development of a school culture that fosters both academic and social-emotional growth among the students.

Migration and schooling in Brazil: an exploratory study on the governmental response to the educational inclusion of contemporary migrants (Migración y escolarización en Brasil: estudio exploratorio de la respuesta gubernamental a la inclusión educativa de la población migrante contemporánea)

ABSTRACT This paper discusses migrant welcoming strategies in the Brazilian public education system and offers critical reflection on the underlying concepts. We argue that the redemocratized Brazilian government provides centralizing, non-specific legal frameworks and policies tending to see vulnerable persons as a social problem; racial and economic biases place migrants from peripheral countries as part of this problem. The data collected to investigate this hypothesis were: (a) the 2019 Brazilian School Census; (b) an inquiry sent to the State Department of Education of all 27 Federative Units of Brazil; and (c) the official state government websites. Our analysis indicated that, in the absence of a federal education policy attentive to the specificities of contemporary migrants, the state governments undervalue migrants and disregard their cultural, economic, social and intellectual potential. The data also confirm that public policies have been slowly changing this outlook into an equitable appreciation of difference but still do not impact the education of migrants. Finally, the notion of Brazil as a welcoming country is challenged.

Computational thinking using ICT in Chemical education: a research record in Amazonas/Brazil Region

The research records of the last decade bring a systemic look, which involves historicity and triggers strategies with perspectives to solve problems and dilemmas that involve the educational context. The article addresses the difficulties that teachers have in integrating ICT as a motivating tool for the problem of the lack of interest of students in chemistry classes. The observation was made with chemistry teachers from thirteen public schools in the city of Manaus in the Midwest Zone, the State Department of Education of Amazonas - SEDUC. The results obtained through the questionnaires applied were tabulated and analyzed using the Likert scale, demonstrating how insufficient this integration is. The implications of this research address the difficulties that need to be overcome in relation to the computational thinking of chemistry teachers, bringing perspectives on the need for continuing education courses for professionals involved with this science.

Summaries of Articles

Summaries of Articles

‘Serene Classroom’ Minimizes Noise for More Conducive Learning

Noise pollution can be categorized as a danger in silence. In school, noise pollution inhibits the focus of learning, impairs learning and cognitive development, for example, students' skills to think and understand both oral and written comprehension may be hampered by noise. Many schools in Malaysia experience excessive noise pollution as their locations are very near busy roads. This will be one factor that hinders the implementation of the education system in producing holistic students in order to prepare for the 4IR era. Knowing the importance of this problem, a group of researchers from UTM GREENPrompt, School of Civil Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia together with industry partners have built a special class called 'Serene Classroom' through a community project to overcome this problem. A classroom on the second floor of Sekolah Kebangsaan Kampong Pasir, Johor Bahru that has traffic noise exposure from the Skudai-Johor Bahru highway was selected for this purpose. The community project is in collaboration with the Johor State Education Department, Ministry of Education Malaysia and industrial partners, such as Vibrant Echo Company, Sanjung Sempurna Sdn. Bhd. and DZAZ Collection. The implementation of the project, the lessons learned from the project and challenges for the implementation are discussed. Technically, Serene classrooms significantly reduce the level of noise pollution for more conducive learning and have received better perceptions from students and teachers. Therefore, hopefully more ‘Serene Classroom’ community projects can be implemented in schools, especially in urban areas affected by high noise levels as a way to reduce the renovation costs on schools.

Mental health and wellbeing coordinators in primary schools to support student mental health: protocol for a quasi-experimental cluster study

BackgroundHalf of mental health disorders begin before the age of 14, highlighting the importance of prevention and early-intervention in childhood. Schools have been identified globally by policymakers as a platform to support good child mental health; however, the majority of the research is focused on secondary schools, with primary schools receiving very little attention by comparison. The limited available evidence on mental health initiatives in primary schools is hindered by a lack of rigorous evaluation. This quasi-experimental cluster study aims to examine the implementation and effectiveness of a Mental Health and Wellbeing Co-ordinator role designed to build mental health capacity within primary schools.MethodsThis is a primary (ages 5–12) school-based cluster quasi-experimental study in Victoria, Australia. Before baseline data collection, 16 schools selected by the state education department will be allocated to intervention, and another 16 matched schools will continue as ‘Business as Usual’. In intervention schools, a mental health and well-being coordinator will be recruited and trained, and three additional school staff will also be selected to receive components of the mental health training. Surveys will be completed by consenting staff (at 2-, 5-, 10- and 17-months post allocation) and by consenting parents/carers (at 3-, 10- and 17-months post allocation) in both intervention and business as usual schools. The primary objective is to assess the change in teacher’s confidence to support student mental health and wellbeing using the School Mental Health Self-Efficacy Teacher Survey. Secondary objectives are to assess the indirect impact on systemic factors (level of support, prioritisation of child mental health), parent and teachers’ mental health literacy (stigma, knowledge), care access (school engagement with community-based services), and student mental health outcomes. Implementation outcomes (feasibility, acceptability, and fidelity) and costs will also be evaluated.DiscussionThe current study will examine the implementation and effectiveness of having a trained Mental Health and Wellbeing Coordinator within primary schools. If the intervention increases teachers’ confidence to support student mental health and wellbeing and builds the capacity of primary schools it will improve student mental health provision and inform large-scale mental health service reform.Trial registrationThe trial was retrospectively registered in the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ANZCTR) on July 6, 2021. The registration number is ACTRN12621000873820.

“Like where are those teachers?”: a critical race theory analysis of teachers of color who have “left” teaching

In seeking to address teacher shortages in the United States, teacher preparation programs, and state education department leaders in particular, have largely focused on the recruitment of new teachers. To some extent, recruitment efforts have also included attention to racially diversifying the teacher ranks. Using a Critical Race Theory framework, this article challenges hegemonic narratives about Teacher of Color absence in, and departure from, teaching, calling attention to their enduring presence in the profession and their experiences as teachers. Findings reveal that despite the persistent and pervasive spiritual, psychological, physiological trauma Teachers of Color suffer, their pride in their identities and commitment to their work as Teachers of Color persist.

Cultural Validity as Foundational to Assessment Development: An Indigenous Example

The state of Hawai‘i has a linguistically and culturally diverse population that recognizes Hawaiian and English as official languages. Working with the community, the state established the Hawaiian Language Immersion Program, Ka Papahana Kaiapuni Hawai‘i (Kaiapuni), to support and promote the study of Hawaiian language, culture, and history. Kaiapuni students are historically marginalized test-takers and had been assessed using instruments that were culturally and linguistically insensitive, contained construct irrelevant variance, or had inadequate psychometric properties (U. S. Department of Education, 2006;Kaawaloa, 2014). In response, the Hawai‘i State Department of Education and the University of Hawai‘i developed the Kaiapuni Assessment of Educational Outcomes (KĀʻEO), which engages Kaiapuni students in technically rigorous, Native language assessments. This article details the theoretical framework of the KĀʻEO program, which includes traditional validity studies to build content and construct validity that support the assessment’s use for accountability. However, the KĀʻEO team recognized that additional evidence was needed because the KĀʻEO theory of action is grounded in principles of community use of assessment scores to advance cultural and language revitalization. The article provides an example of one of the validity studies that the team conducted to build evidence in support of cultural and content validity.

GIS and Multi-criteria Analysis for School Site Selection (Study Case: Malacca Historical City)

School sites selection is an essential process which needs information on various fields. The process includes scientific justification, judgment and a finding of suitable land, which consider financial, social, ecological and political perspectives, that limit conflicts and supports agreement among the decision makers. A set of school suitability map would be very useful for education planners when making a complex decision within a short period of time. This study will utilize both spatial and non-spatial parameters to establish a systematic site selection process for primary schools in Melaka Tengah District. It was carried out by using Geographic Information System (GIS) and Multi-criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA). Three analysis namely demographic, safety and constrain analysis were used to identify the potential sites. Then accessibility analysis, using expertise and public opinion were used to further analyze the potential site. The resulted map showed 54.% of the total area is highly not suitable, leaving 46% suitable for school sitting. The final safety model output was compared with field verification data from State Education Department (JPN Melaka) and Malacca Historical City Council (MBMBB).

“Much more chewing”: a case study of resistance to school reform in rural New York during the early twentieth century

ABSTRACT Between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, as the United States was transformed from an agrarian nation to an industrial one, significant changes in the nation’s economic, social, and political structures, and the challenges that ensued, led to a multitude of diverse reform movements and a surge of regulatory measures from the federal and state governments. State governments played a particularly significant role in education reform by establishing new standards and regulations and taking steps to implement them in the nation’s schools. State education officials often met with resistance to reform from the residents of small rural school districts, who had enjoyed a long history of local control and resented the state’s interference. Conflict became more complicated when the residents within a rural community differed among themselves about school reform. This historical study investigates and analyses two documented disputes between the New York State Education Department and two common school districts in the Town of Conklin, Broome County, which occurred during the early 1900s. The physical condition of the schoolhouses led to both conflicts, and rural school consolidation and community infighting were additional factors that marked the second dispute. Both cases highlight the forces of local democratic governance and the central authority of the state over local schools and its role in the process of school reform. The Conklin cases are discussed and analysed within the larger contexts of localism, state-local tensions during the Progressive Era, rural school consolidation, and the reform initiatives of the New York State Education Department during this historical period.

Examining the Actor Coalitions and Discourse Coalitions of the Opt-Out Movement in New York: A Discourse Network Analysis

Background/Context Since 2013, opting out of state standardized tests has become a movement—the grassroots, organized efforts to refuse to take high-stakes state standardized tests. In particular, opt-out rates in the state of New York have been consistently fluctuating around 20%. Purpose/Objective This study aims to examine the actor coalitions and discourse coalitions that have propelled the opt-out movement in the state of New York—the movement's epicenter with the highest opt-out rate in the United States. Conceptual Framework This study is conceptually grounded in the advocacy coalition framework (ACF), a prominent conceptual lens to investigate the formation of coalitions and their impact on policymaking. The ACF posits that advocacy coalitions are forged by policy actors who have similar policy preferences. By contrast, differences in policy preferences are manifested in the discourse that serves to defend or propose coherent arguments as justifications for policy preferences held by the opposition coalitions. Research Design This study compiled the Opt-out Discourse Data Set by using data from 323 press articles and 52 archival documents from 2015 to 2018. Each news article or archival document was coded with three variables: movement actors, statements articulated by the actors, and the actors’ sentiment toward the statements. An actor-statement bipartite network, an actor coalition network, and a discourse coalition network were created, respectively. Next, Freeman degree centrality was calculated to identify major actors and their statements. The network metrics of density and connectedness of the two competing coalitions were calculated to compare the coalitions’ network structure. Findings In the actor coalition network, the movement advocacy coalition is clearly more densely connected than the movement opposition coalition in terms of the number of actors, coalition density, and coalition connectedness. The discourse coalition network shows similar patterns: the movement advocacy coalition is densely connected, as evidenced by the numbers of nodes in each coalition and the network metrics of coalition density and connectedness. Conclusions/Recommendations This study concludes with a discussion on how the future of the opt-out movement depends on (1) how the movement advocacy coalition continues to amass power and influence in education policymaking, and (2) how the New York State Education Department exercises its power over implementation of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). Moreover, this article demonstrates the application of discourse network analysis to examine qualitative data in education research. The discourse network approach is particularly instrumental in explaining a policy output by identifying coalitions and their interactions within and across the coalitions.

PENERAPAN PATRIOTISME DALAM KALANGAN GURU-GURU SEJARAH SEKOLAH MENENGAH DI SABAH

The main purpose of this study is to identify the level of patriotism application in secondary school history teachers in Sabah. This study is a survey study using a questionnaire for the purpose of collecting data. The sample of the study consists of history teachers involving a total of 367 respondents throughout Sabah. Study variables were tested using descriptive and inferential statistics involving t-tests. The findings of the study indicate that the patriotism application is at a high level. The results of the t-test showed that there was a significant difference in the mean score of the patriotism application between the respondents of history specialization and non-history specialization. These findings provide useful input, especially to the Ministry of Malaysia Education, the State Education Department, and the school administration to plan professional development programs.

The Development of Critical Consciousness in Adolescents of Color Attending “Opposing” Schooling Models

Critical consciousness refers to the ability to analyze and take action against oppressive social forces shaping society. This longitudinal, mixed methods study compared the critical consciousness development of adolescents of color (n = 453) attending two sets of high schools featuring schooling models that represent “opposing” approaches to education. The participating adolescents were 13-15 years old at the start of the study; the majority identified as African American or Latinx; and nearly 80% came from low-SES households. They attended public charter high schools located in five different northeastern cities. Analyses of longitudinal survey data revealed that the adolescents attending these two sets of high schools demonstrated greater rates of growth on different dimensions of critical consciousness over their four years of high school. Qualitative interviews with youth attending these two sets of schools(n = 70) offered evidence of the long-theorized relationship between critical consciousness and problem-posing education, but also that effective practices supporting youth critical consciousness can be found embedded in schools featuring a broader range of pedagogies. These findings offer support for ethnic studies and action civics programming that several state departments of education have recently added to secondary school curricula.

Integrating Landscape Of Organizational Commitment Among Teachers In Indigeneous Primary Schools In Malaysia

Purpose of the study: This study focused on job satisfaction and organizational commitment among teachers who are teaching the indigenous students in the Pahang state. The purpose of this study was to identify the relationship between job satisfaction and organizational commitment among the teachers and to find out which dimension in job satisfaction scored the highest factors in fulfilling organizational commitment. Methodology: This is a correlational study adopting a quantitative approach in data analysis. A questionnaire on organizational commitment was adapted from Meyer and Allen (1990) while job satisfaction dimension was adapted from Spector (1985). The questionnaires were distributed to 51 respondents from 3 indigenous schools in Pahang. This study used purposive sampling technique and data were analysed using SPSS version 25. Main Findings: Findings showed a significant relationship between job satisfaction and organizational commitment among the teachers. The result showed that promotion opportunities were the element of job satisfaction that has the highest influence towards organizational commitment, meanwhile supervision has the factors lowest influence to organizational commitment. Applications of this study: This study is beneficial to the Pahang State Education Department in providing guidelines on how to increase organizational commitment among teachers in indigenous schools. Besides that, this study also benefits the school management as it offers a guideline for them to improve performance appraisal. The findings can also help future researchers by providing better understanding of the connection between job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Novelty/Originality of this study: Although literature pertaining to job satisfaction and organizational commitment has often been discussed internationally, there is a scarcity of investigation on the issue in the Malaysian context, explicitly in the topic related to indigenous school teachers. Hence, this study is trying to fill this gap.

The education and work of the educational advisor

Este artigo analisa a atuação do Orientador Educacional frente às funções político-sociais da escola e sua formação, e como esta se relaciona com as demandas originadas em sua carreira. Realizamos entrevistas semiestruturadas com vinte orientadores educacionais da rede pública de ensino do Distrito Federal; revisões bibliográficas de documentos da Secretaria de Estado de Educação e publicações nas bases de dados Google Acadêmico, Scielo e Portal de Periódicos da Capes, utilizando como filtro as palavras-chave: “orientação educacional” e “formação”. Como embasamento teórico, ressaltam-se autoras como Bicudo (1978), Pascoal et al. (2008), Grinspun (2011) e Curado Silva (2019).

Is Music Education in Tune With the Pursuit of Equity? An Examination of Access to Music Education in Michigan’s Schools

Access to music education in American schools is not guaranteed. Although national studies have demonstrated disparities based on poverty, race, and other markers, these studies miss a necessary level of local detail in describing access. Additionally, studies that exist are based on self-report surveys and prone to nonresponse bias. The purpose of this study was to describe access to music education at the state level. Using Michigan administrative data provided by the state department of education, we describe the state’s population of music educators and examine student access to music education. We found that music teachers differed from nonmusic teachers in a number of ways. We also identified substantial and persistent disparities in access to music education across the state. These findings have important implications for school arts education policy.

Estratégias didáticas para o avanço dos processos de ensino e de aprendizagem durante a Pandemia da COVID-19

No atual cenário de pandemia pelo qual o mundo está passando, fez-se necessário um isolamento social para desacelerar a disseminação do novo coronavírus. Para que não haja prejuízos ao ano letivo, a Secretaria de Estado de Educação do Rio de Janeiro firmou uma parceria com o Google para que, por meio da plataforma Classroom, os professores e alunos possam dar andamento ao processo de ensino-aprendizagem. Baseado nesta iniciativa, este trabalho aborda uma pesquisa de opinião com alunos de uma escola estadual de Queimados, buscando conhecer sua realidade acerca de manipulação e disponibilidade de conexão com Tecnologias Digitais de Informação e Comunicação. Além disto, buscou-se fazer um levantamento de ferramentas didáticas possíveis de auxiliar professores e alunos na modalidade de ensino remoto, inédita para a maioria dos estudantes. Os resultados da pesquisa feita com os alunos foram compilados em gráficos e indicam que a maioria deles consegue acessar à internet de casa e possuem ao menos um smartphone para realizar o acesso à plataforma. Já as ferramentas que podem ser utilizadas norteiam de materiais mais simples, como a postagem de textos na plataforma, até o uso de aplicativos que servem de auxílio ao processo de ensino-aprendizagem. Estas ferramentas serão listadas e divulgadas aos professores da escola na intenção de lhes proporcionar um leque de opções educativas que contribuam para montagem e organização de estratégias didáticas, afim de tornar o aprendizado mais eficaz, lúdico e/ou atrativo.

Discover - Communicate - Collaborate

EdNA Online is a unique national collaboration between the Australian Commonwealth government Department of Education, Training and Science and the state Education Departments. This collaboration unites learning communities as it provides free resources and online services to all education sectors, including tertiary, schools, vocational training and adult education. There is access to evaluated curriculum resources in a safe environment. The use of standards to enable sharing between states, territories and national education departments has extended knowledge networks. Free communication tools link teacher librarians, teachers and students and assist engagement in professional development.