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As the City of Detroit emerges from municipal bankruptcy, the imperative for school improvement takes on an urgency rarely witnessed in a U.S. city. If the city is to experience the redevelopment boom that many now anticipate, its public schools must improve. While a variety of different reform strategies are possible, the establishment of a portfolio district in Detroit currently appears to have the greatest political salience. This report is primarily devoted to a detailed analysis of Michigan's Education Achievement Authority (EAA) which was established in 2011 to turn around the state's lowest-performing schools, starting in Detroit. An understanding of the EAA is essential for informed discussion of a Detroit portfolio district for two key reasons. First, portions of Excellent Schools Detroit's plan for a portfolio district were included in the EAA's original design, but they were not effectively implemented. Second, like the EAA, a new administrative authority for a Detroit portfolio district would face basic administrative challenges related to its financial and human resources, oversight of teaching and learning, and public accountability for its operations. It would be unfortunate if policy makers and designers failed to take full measure of the lessons learned from the EAA's experience. The EAA failed to reach its objectives because the policy was hastily and poorly designed. In this report we seek to shift the debate about the EAA from the ideologically polarized question of whether the system is "good" or "bad" to the more fruitful question of how to align policy design with worthy policy goals. This report was written first and foremost for the citizens of Detroit to explain features of state policy so that they may participate effectively in efforts to shape their local public schools. It was also written, however, for citizens of good will throughout Michigan who understand that their own public schools are now powerfully shaped by policy decisions in Lansing, who regret the divisions that have isolated Detroiters for too long, and who will support policies for the children of Detroit that they themselves would want for their own children. This is not simply an ethical issue because, with well-designed policies, the children and grandchildren of residents across Michigan may someday have a choice to live in racially and socially diverse Detroit neighborhoods anchored by excellent public schools. The following are appended: (1) Purpose of the EAA; (2) Powers of the EAA; (3) Implementing the EAS in Detroit; (4) Planned Expansion of the EAA; and (5) Appointment of New EAA Chancellor.

This report on California higher education covers public and private junior and senior colleges and universities. It is arranged by topic rather than by kind of institution; data specifically on the junior college therefore is found, along with information on other institutions, in its appropriate place under each topic. Part I contains an introduction and outlines the current state of higher education (its structure and governance; programs, policies, and objectives; financing), major trends of the past decade, and cost and enrollment projections through 1975. Part II amplifies points in the present structure and governance and goes on to a proposed plan of reorganization, with due regard for the constant debate on consolidation vs. autonomy. The principal objectives, as well as details, of the plan are given. Subsequent chapters describe the achievements in, and obstacles to, equality of opportunity for the disadvantaged in higher education, the problem of student attrition, the role and function of private education (including the legal and constitutional aspects of state financial aid), sources and budgeting of funds for public higher education, and the problems of urban community education and assistance. Appendices include resolutions concerning the Joint Committee on Higher Education of the California Legislature, further details of legal opinion on state aid to private schools, and statements by the Committee members (including a dissenting opinion on the reorganization plan). (HH)

28 pages :

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72 pages 24 cm

Northwest Evaluation Association regularly conducts studies of alignment between the RIT scale and the scales used for statewide achievement tests. In recent years, educational experts have put increasing emphasis on the need for triangulation of student achievement information in order to assure that important educational decisions are based on data that is robust and corroborated. Indeed, many school systems use NWEA assessments as one way in which they triangulate data from their state assessment and other tests that may be in use in their district. The catalyst for this investigation was completion of a recent study to confirm and monitor the alignment between the PACT and NWEA assessments (Cronin, 2004). For the most part it was found that the two assessments remained closely correlated and that NWEA results predicted PACT status reasonably well. Nevertheless, it was also found that performance level estimates at a few grades showed large changes and that the predictive accuracy statistics stemming from the 2004 study were both lower than those generated from the 2002 study and also lower than those gathered from most of the other state studies.(Contains 12 tables.)

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The title of this volume, "Learning Languages in the Digital Age," focuses on the integration of technology to promote authentic and interactive communication within and outside the walls of the language classroom. Major innovations have shifted Internet use from a consumer to a participatory model; that is, previously, Internet users were placed in the role of consumers who had access to materials and information (this phase of Internet integration is commonly referred to as Web 1.0). Now Internet users can become producers of resources themselves (Web 2.0 is a term used to describe this shift in Internet use from a consumer model to a participatory model). While traditional consumer and communication applications continue, widespread participation as producers of resources has jumped dramatically. Blogging, podcasting, Wikis, and other forms of democratized media are all examples of applications that promise to challenge traditional systems and roles and to enhance the nature of language teaching and learning. This shift from consumer to producer allows language learners to take a more active role in the learning process, participate in authentic communication and create products that can serve as authentic assessment of language production. This volume provides the theoretical foundation for effective language teaching and learning while providing practical applications for the language classroom. Each of the three sections represents an important aspect of language education designed to promote best practices and to increase student achievement: (1) Embracing Technology: Tools Teachers Can Use to Improve Language Learning; (2) Teacher Education and Professional Development: Agents of Change; and (3) Teaching Culture through Divergent Paths.

The key features of student achievement were examined at twelve sixth form colleges (SFCs) in the United Kingdom with an emphasis on strategies to maintain and improve performance. It was found that students at SFCs have on average higher prior attainment and suffer less deprivation than their counterparts in General Further Education and Tertiary Colleges. Although SFCs had high levels of student retention, there was concern about low grade point averages. These were among key success factors for SFCs: (1) overall commitment of college administration and staff to student achievement; (2) college-wide strategic planning for review and assessment; (3) intensive student recruitment, placement, and orientation; (4) updated and evolving curriculum and delivery systems; (5) attention to tutorial and other student support services; and 6) rigorous teaching and course review. The study concluded that although SFCs make a major and distinctive contribution to post-16 education, individual institutions vary significantly due to increasingly divergent student populations who have lower levels of prior academic achievement and no family tradition of higher education goals. (There are 23 tables and figures. The bibliography lists 19 references. Appended are a list of colleges that participated in the study and a checklist for consultant visits to colleges). (AJ)

The key features of student achievement were examined at twelve sixth form colleges (SFCs) in the United Kingdom with an emphasis on strategies to maintain and improve performance. It was found that students at SFCs have on average higher prior attainment and suffer less deprivation than their counterparts in General Further Education and Tertiary Colleges. Although SFCs had high levels of student retention, there was concern about low grade point averages. These were among key success factors for SFCs: (1) overall commitment of college administration and staff to student achievement; (2) college-wide strategic planning for review and assessment; (3) intensive student recruitment, placement, and orientation; (4) updated and evolving curriculum and delivery systems; (5) attention to tutorial and other student support services; and 6) rigorous teaching and course review. The study concluded that although SFCs make a major and distinctive contribution to post-16 education, individual institutions vary significantly due to increasingly divergent student populations who have lower levels of prior academic achievement and no family tradition of higher education goals. (There are 23 tables and figures. The bibliography lists 19 references. Appended are a list of colleges that participated in the study and a checklist for consultant visits to colleges). (AJ)

This is the second and final report for MDRC's evaluation of the Bay Area School Reform Collaborative (BASRC), a grant-making and support organization in San Francisco, California. BASRC is dedicated to improving student achievement in public schools and narrowing achievement gaps among different racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups. BASRC reforms are designed as continuous improvement processes driven by collective inquiry into student learning outcomes, school functioning, and teacher practice. This process-oriented reform strategy is designed to build professional knowledge about effective practice, promote mutual accountability, and facilitate collaboration. BASRC hypothesizes that making changes along these lines will result in improved teaching and learning, but the organization does not prescribe particular instructional practices, curricula, or school structures that should evolve as a result of its reform processes. This evaluation centers on a specific BASRC initiative, the "focal strategy," as it was implemented during the 2002-2003, 2003-2004, and 2004-2005 school years in five Bay Area districts (the "focal districts"), and two to four selected schools within those districts (the "focal schools"). Building on earlier phases of BASRC reforms, which began in 1996, the focal strategy was meant to increase the intensity of the core BASRC reforms by creating more opportunities for district and school administrators to interact with BASRC staff. In selecting the focal districts, BASRC tended to focus on districts where a strong working relationship had developed during earlier BASRC efforts, and the focal reforms were implemented on top of existing BASRC reform work in these places. In short, compared with the earlier reform strategies, the focal strategy served as a stronger test of BASRC reform ideas in fewer places. While the first report on the evaluation explored the relationship between the BASRC focal strategy and student reading achievement for third-and fifth-graders in the first two years of implementation in the focal districts, this report focuses only on fifth-graders and provides an additional year of follow-up data. Key findings include: (1) In the districts that participated in the focal strategy, there were improvements in achievement during the years of the initiative, but these improvements were either similar to or only slightly greater than improvements in similar districts in the Bay Area that were not part of the focal strategy; (2) The evidence suggests that the BASRC focal strategy is not associated with substantial districtwide improvements in average elementary student achievement on state standards tests of reading; and (3) Although BASRC originally intended to support both districts and schools in a "bottom-up and top-down" approach, in practice the focal strategy primarily served district leadership, was not sustained at the school level, and, thus, typically did not lead to specific changes in instruction or specific instructional supports at the school and classroom levels. MDRC's evaluation of the BASRC focal strategy expands knowledge about how districts approach systemic reform. (Contains 6 tables and 13 figures.)

This is the second and final report for MDRC's evaluation of the Bay Area School Reform Collaborative (BASRC), a grant-making and support organization in San Francisco, California. BASRC is dedicated to improving student achievement in public schools and narrowing achievement gaps among different racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups. BASRC reforms are designed as continuous improvement processes driven by collective inquiry into student learning outcomes, school functioning, and teacher practice. This process-oriented reform strategy is designed to build professional knowledge about effective practice, promote mutual accountability, and facilitate collaboration. BASRC hypothesizes that making changes along these lines will result in improved teaching and learning, but the organization does not prescribe particular instructional practices, curricula, or school structures that should evolve as a result of its reform processes. This evaluation centers on a specific BASRC initiative, the "focal strategy," as it was implemented during the 2002-2003, 2003-2004, and 2004-2005 school years in five Bay Area districts (the "focal districts"), and two to four selected schools within those districts (the "focal schools"). Building on earlier phases of BASRC reforms, which began in 1996, the focal strategy was meant to increase the intensity of the core BASRC reforms by creating more opportunities for district and school administrators to interact with BASRC staff. In selecting the focal districts, BASRC tended to focus on districts where a strong working relationship had developed during earlier BASRC efforts, and the focal reforms were implemented on top of existing BASRC reform work in these places. In short, compared with the earlier reform strategies, the focal strategy served as a stronger test of BASRC reform ideas in fewer places. While the first report on the evaluation explored the relationship between the BASRC focal strategy and student reading achievement for third-and fifth-graders in the first two years of implementation in the focal districts, this report focuses only on fifth-graders and provides an additional year of follow-up data. Key findings include: (1) In the districts that participated in the focal strategy, there were improvements in achievement during the years of the initiative, but these improvements were either similar to or only slightly greater than improvements in similar districts in the Bay Area that were not part of the focal strategy; (2) The evidence suggests that the BASRC focal strategy is not associated with substantial districtwide improvements in average elementary student achievement on state standards tests of reading; and (3) Although BASRC originally intended to support both districts and schools in a "bottom-up and top-down" approach, in practice the focal strategy primarily served district leadership, was not sustained at the school level, and, thus, typically did not lead to specific changes in instruction or specific instructional supports at the school and classroom levels. MDRC's evaluation of the BASRC focal strategy expands knowledge about how districts approach systemic reform. (Contains 6 tables and 13 figures.)

On national and international assessments, students attending French-language schools in Ontario usually perform worse than students attending English-language schools. Interpreting these results is challenging because the French- and English-language schools differ both in prescribed curriculum and in how the curriculum is taught. In addition, the French- and English-language versions of the tests and scoring procedures sometimes differ. Even how students in the French- and English-language schools take the tests may differ. Finally, the populations of students differ in important ways. In this paper, we illustrate these challenges using results from the 2001 Progress in International Reading Literacy Study. (Contains 5 tables.)