McRel Rural E-News, June 2007

1. Questioning the Admissions Assumptions Inside Higher Ed
A new University of California study shows that high school grades offer a good predictor of college performance. While SAT scores are commonly used in the admissions process, these scores appear to be heavily affected by a student's socioeconomic status. The study also suggests that the information available to college admissions officers accounts for only 30% of the grade variance in colleges.

2. States: Ed tech is raising student achievement eSchool News
Over the past three years, nine states have received $15 million in grants from the U.S. Department of Education (ED) to evaluate the impact of education technology on student achievement. The final reports will be submitted this fall, but all indications are that the states will report that the technology has helped students achieve. The technology programs, which range from one-to-one laptop initiatives for students to technology-based professional development for teachers, appear to improve student engagement, achievement, and discipline in the test states.

3. New Study Finds Gains Since No Child Left Behind New York Times
A new report from the Center on Education Policy shows that student achievement has increased and achievement gaps have decreased since the implementation of NCLB. However, the study cautions that it is unclear whether these increases can be attributed solely to the implementation of NCLB, or if other factors may have contributed to the apparent improvements.

4. Data suggest states satisfy No Child law by expecting less of students USA Today
According to a Gannett News Service analysis of test scores, some states that appear to be meeting the demands of NCLB may be setting standards too low to improve their ranking without significantly improving student achievement. In the most drastic example, 18% of the students in Mississippi passed the National Assessment of Educational Progress (which is only administered to a small percentage of students), although a whopping 89% passed the state reading test in 2005.

5. Middle School Entry Year and Student Behavior Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development Research Brief
Most public schools in the United States follow the elementary school, middle school, and high school pattern. However, there are many different opinions about which grades should be included in each of these three divisions. According to a recent National Bureau of Economic Research study, Should Sixth Grade be in Elementary or Middle School? An Analysis of Grade Configuration and Student Behavior, students who entered junior high school in the 6th grade were about 1�3 percent less likely to complete high school than those who entered later.

6. Charter schools outperform regular schools in middle grades, but further study needed to find out why, researcher says San Francisco Chronicle
California researchers attempting to determine whether traditional public schools or charter schools offer the best education opportunities for students have found that elementary students perform better in traditional public schools, while middle school students perform better with charters. High school students performed equally in both public and charter schools. Overall, the study demonstrates that further research is needed to explain the phenomenon and determine the future of charter schools in the U.S.

7. Summer Balanced Leadership Institutes
McREL
McREL's Summer 2007 Professional Development series of workshops continues with four two-day Balanced Leadership Institutes, in which school administrators will learn and apply insights from McREL's research on effective principals, as reported in School Leadership that Works: From Research to Results. On July 31-Aug.1, Balanced Leadership: An Overview will examine findings from research on principal leadership and the concepts of shared and balanced leadership. On Aug. 2-3, Balanced Leadership: Developing a Purposeful Community will engage participants in hands-on learning that promotes a deep understanding of the importance of creating a purposeful community. On Aug. 6-7, Balanced Leadership: Managing Change will show how to initiate, monitor, and lead change effectively. Finally, on Aug. 8-9, Balanced Leadership: Choosing the Right Focus shows how to focus your school on the school and classroom practices and leadership responsibilities that McREL research shows are positively associated with student achievement.

8. T+L Conference
National School Boards Association
Creativity and innovation are the focus of the National School Boards Association's 21st annual T+L Conference, to be held October 17-19 in Nashville, Tenn., at the Gaylord Opryland Resort. The focus on "Six Big Ideas" provide models of promising practice for some of today's biggest technology issues such as One-to-One Initiatives, 21st Century Skills, Using Data to Use Student Achievement, Professional Development, Open Source Initiatives, and Tools for the Classroom. Teams of K-12 district leaders can participate in workshops, roundtable discussions, field trips, in-depth mini-academies, and an exhibition with more than 200 companies. Early bird registration ends June 30.

9. Join CASL study to receive free professional development
McREL
McREL is looking for fourth- and fifth-grade mathematics teachers from Colorado to participate in a study of Rick Stiggins' Classroom Assessment for Student Learning program. This study on classroom assessment practices and student achievement offers the opportunity for district teams to participate, free of charge, in a unique professional development program and to contribute to research on how quality assessments can support student success. For more information, contact Mya Martin Glenn at 303-632-5503 or mglenn@mcrel.org.

10. Join RISE/OWE study and receive free teacher training and classroom materials
McREL
Attention educators in California, Colorado, Florida and Texas! McREL is seeking elementary schools with 33 percent or more Spanish-speaking LEP students to participate in a two-year study of Harcourt Achieve's Responsive Instruction for Success in English (RISE) teacher training and On Our Way to English (OWE) classroom materials. For more information, contact Mya Martin Glenn at 303-632-5503 or mglenn@mcrel.org.

11. Classroom Instruction that Works online course offered
Jones International University
Classroom Instruction that Works is now available as a graduate-level online course through Jones International University. In a series of three, four-week courses, participants learn about nine strategies proven to raise student achievement and how to apply these strategies in the classroom. The course also teaches how to use educational technology to enhance the strategies and how to apply them to English-language learning in mainstream classroom settings.

NEW FROM McREL

12. Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works
McREL
Written by McREL's educational technology experts and available in July through ASCD, this new companion book shows how technology can maximize the effectiveness of the proven, research-based instruction strategies found in Classroom Instruction that Works. This book guides readers in the use of a variety of technologies�such as word processing and spreadsheet applications, multimedia, data collection tools, communication software, and the Internet�with any grade level and subject. Choose from hundreds of lesson-planning ideas as you learn when to use technologies, which ones are
best for any given learning task, and how they help students use new learning strategies.

13. Balanced Leadership Profile� now offered with free self-assessment
McREL
Principals can benchmark themselves against the best with McREL's Balanced Leadership Profile, a unique, research-based online survey which helps analyze leadership strengths and weaknesses. The Profile offers feedback from multiple perspectives, gives insight into school change efforts, and supports professional growth�and now the self-assessment version is being offered completely free.

14. Classroom Instruction that Works with English Language Learners workshop
McREL
This workshop, based on the book of the same name, shows participants how to apply the instructional strategies found in Classroom Instruction that Works to ELL students in K-6 classrooms. Participants will learn about the stages of language acquisition and how they relate to instruction as well as the research background and recommended practices for each of the nine categories of strategies.

15. Power Walkthrough� software and training
McREL
Principals know that, to serve as instructional leaders, they should conduct regular classroom observations. How can they make the most of these important but brief encounters? McREL's Power Walkthrough software and training allows school leaders to turn brief observations into "power walkthroughs" by using palm-held devices loaded with software based on our popular title, Classroom Instruction that Works. For schools, districts or intermediate agencies that purchase the software for their administrators, McREL offers a two-day training session designed to help school leaders understand and identify the strategies, learn how to upload and analyze the data they collect on desktop computers, and learn how use this information to coach teachers to higher levels of performance.

REPORT ROUNDUP

16. The Condition of Education in Brief 2007
National Center for Education Statistics
This annual, congressionally mandated report provides a snapshot of education in the United States. The report reveals that high school students are taking more mathematics, science, social studies, arts, and foreign languages than in past years, largely due to an increasing number of students enrolled in Advanced Placement courses. In addition, the report shows the increasing diversity of enrollment in public schools, and the increasing enrollment in post-secondary education. This report is a summary of 20 of the 48 indicators evaluated in The Condition of Education 2007.

17. Public Elementary and Secondary School Student Enrollment, High School Completions, and Staff From the Common Core of Data: School Year 2005-06
National Center for Education Statistics
This report provides an in-depth look at student enrollment, teacher and staff populations, high school completion, and college graduation rates for 2004-05.

18. Improving the Yield of Rural Education Research
Journal of Research in Rural Education
Although roughly one in five students attend rural schools, and almost one third of all public schools are classified as rural, education research in this area is consistently lacking. This report identifies shortcomings in the rural education research and suggests strategies for improvement, starting with creating a clear and precise definition of rural education.

19. CPRE's School Finance Research: 15 Years of Findings
Consortium for Public Research in Education
This report summarizes CPRE's research in school financial policy over the past 15 years. The report is divided into the following sections:

How education dollars are spent
Tracking education resource at the school level and by educational strategy
Education resource reallocation
Toward school finance adequacy
Using resources to double student achievement
Use of dollars after a school finance reform
Pricing adequacy recommendations and enhancing teacher compensation
School-based budgeting and the weighted student formula
Summary with policy and practice implications

20. Standards-Based Accountability Under No Child Left Behind: Experiences of Teachers and Administrators in Three States
RAND Corporation
Beginning in 2002, the RAND corporation began an investigation on how teachers, principals, and superintendents are responding to NCLB. The study found that, although each of the states implemented new accountability measures, the actual measures used varied widely from state to state. Despite these differences, schools and districts generally responded to the new accountability measures in similar ways, leading to both desirable and undesirable responses in the classroom.
Although educators in general were supportive of NCLB and the new accountability measures, many of them were conserned about certain aspects of these systems. Overall, there are still several factors that continue to hinder effective implementation of NCLB.

21. The Economics of Education
EPE Research/Education Week (Subscription required)
This new report examines the economic value of education in the workplace. The EPE Research Center analysis found that education levels rise steadily with higher-level jobs, which typically pay better than entry-level jobs. Ultimately, the report concludes that a high school diploma (without a college education) is insufficient to provide economic stability to individuals and families in the 21st century.

22. National Evaluation of Early Reading First: Final Report to Congress
National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance
Early Reading First (ERF) is an NCLB-sponsored program intended to provide funding to preschools (particularly in low-income areas) to support the development of language and literacy skills. This evaluation finds that Early Reading First had a positive impact on preschool students' print and letter knowledge as well as the classroom environment and teacher practices, but not much impact on phonological awareness or oral language.