Education and Literacy, Energy and Environment, Parenting and Families
As the world continues to add close to 80 million people each year, high population growth is running up against the limits of our finite planet, threatening global economic and political stability. To stay within the bounds of the earth's natural resources, the world's population will have to stabilize.
The United Nations' recently revised "medium" projection (http://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp/index.htm) shows world population exceeding 9 billion by 2045. In the "high" projection, which assumes high levels of fertility, world population would top 10 billion by the same year. But spreading hunger and poverty, along with the conflict and disease that come with them, could forcibly curtail growth before we reach 9 billion. Alternatively, the "low" projection suggests it is possible for world population to peak at just over 8 billion around 2045 if we voluntarily make rapid reductions in family size.
August 1970
Geographic Focus:
Children and Youth;Education and Literacy
In 2009, for the first time in a decade, Massachusetts' dropout rate fell below three percent. While this progress is promising, there remain nearly 8,300 students who did not earn their high school diplomas during the 2009-2010 school year. Given that these individuals face significantly lower earning potential, fewer prospects for employment, much higher rates of incarceration and health problems, and are much more likely to utilize public assistance than those who graduate, there is continued cause for concern and attention to the goal of ensuring that every student receives their high school diploma.
In the current environment of constrained resources, many districts are reluctant to launch new programs or improve existing services that provide additional supports for students at risk of dropping out. Declines in revenue combined with rising costs have constricted local education budgets, forcing superintendents and school business officers to make tough decisions about which programs to fund and which must be cut. It is within this context that the Rennie Center for Education Research & Policy engaged in a study to not only explore promising dropout reduction approaches across Massachusetts, but to also examine the costs and benefits of promising practices for reducing the number of students dropping out of school.
Meeting the Challenge: Fiscal Implications of Dropout Prevention in Massachusetts, conducted with support from the Massachusetts Association of School Business Officers (MASBO), explores the approaches, costs and potential financial benefits of implementing dropout reduction strategies. It highlights a diverse group of five Massachusetts districts that have substantially reduced their dropout rates over the past three years and identifies the district-wide policies and school-based strategies that superintendents and principals indicate have contributed to reducing the number of students dropping out of school. The brief also presents two scenarios that illustrate how, for some districts, per pupil funding obtained from increased enrollment due to successful dropout prevention strategies can be allocated to serve at-risk students.
Considerations for School and District Leaders
- Incorporate strategies that promote engagement and student success into every aspect of the school experience.
- Support staff in taking on new roles and responsibilities.
- Analyze data to determine what works and allocate resources accordingly.
- Use the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's Early Warning Indicator Index to budget for dropout prevention initiatives for incoming high school students.
- Formalize strategies for reaching out to and re-engaging students who have dropped out.
Considerations for State Policymakers
- Work to establish sustainable funding streams for districts' dropout prevention initiatives.
- Continue to promote, provide and seek ways to expand data collection and analysis tools for schools and districts.
- Strengthen the ability of districts to establish partnerships with community based social service agencies, local businesses and institutions of higher education.
- Facilitate outreach to dropouts.
- Expand alternative education options.
This policy brief was released at a public event on March 1st, 2011.
August 1970
Geographic Focus: North America / United States (Northeastern) / Massachusetts
Education and Literacy;Health;Poverty
Key findings from this second national human development report for the U.S. reveal new information on three core indicators of well-being and access to opportunity: life expectancy, median personal earnings, and access to education.
Broken down into state and congressional district-levels, as well as for race and ethnicities and genders, we found startling disparities within the nation:
- In the 2007 -- 9 Great Recession, college graduates faced a combined unemployment and underemployment rate of 1 in 10; the rate for high school dropouts was greater than 1 in 3.
- An African American baby born today in DC has a life expectancy 12 years shorter than that of a white baby, at 71 years.
- Asian Americans in Connecticut have an average life span 26 years longer than Native Americans in South Dakota.
- Men earn more than women across all racial and ethnic groups, with the greatest disparity among whites, at $15,500 a year.
The full report concludes with a set of recommendations for priority actions required to improve scores on the Index, and to address pressing issues and close the stark gaps that continue to separate groups.
August 1970
Geographic Focus: North America / United States
Children and Youth, Education and Literacy
Every spring since 2006, EdVestors (www.edvestors.org) invites Boston Public schools with 4-year rates of improvement on the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) tests that are significantly (50% or more) greater than the district average to apply for a $100,000 School on the Move Prize (SOM). Since the creation of the Prize, the Rennie Center for Education Research & Policy has served as EdVestors' research partner, identifying and documenting lessons from the winning schools. This report draws upon the previous SOM case studies produced by the Rennie Center, along with interviews with school leaders, staff and students. The study identifies common themes across all four winning schools that describe the structures and strategies put in place to better serve students, as well as some of the opportunities and barriers the schools have faced in sustaining their success since winning the award. Finally, the study highlights some key lessons the leaders of these four schools view as critical to implementing the strategies and practices outlined to support students and improve outcomes.
Over the past four years, a diverse group of schools have emerged as winners, including two pilot schools -- one a high school and the other an elementary school -- a traditional K-8 school and a small high school occupying one floor of the South Boston Education Complex. These schools also represent the diverse neighborhoods in Boston, including Dorchester, Roxbury, Brighton, and South Boston. Despite differences in structure, governance and grades served, all four winning schools do share some similar characteristics. First, they all experienced significant structural changes in the immediate years prior to winning the SOM Prize that provided an opportunity for reflection and strategic planning. Second, they are all relatively small schools with lower enrollments than most comparable schools with the same grade configurations in the district. Third, they are all led by experienced educators who are strong leaders with deep knowledge of the Boston Public School system. Finally, they all share common practices that have been critical to their success in improving student achievement, including:
- Shared Leadership -- Shared Learning: Distributed leadership grounded in shared accountability between administrators and teachers toward a goal of instructional excellence and increased student achievement;
- Data-driven Instruction: Intentional systems to use data to drive decisions about curriculum, instruction and student supports; and
- Academic Rigor and Student Support: A student-centered approach that balances high academic expectations with integrated academic and developmental supports targeted to student needs.
August 1970
Geographic Focus: North America-United States (Northeastern)-Massachusetts, North America-United States (Northeastern)-Massachusetts-Suffolk County-Roxbury
Children and Youth, Education and Literacy, Gay, Lesbian, Bi and Trans
National survey of the school experiences of 7,261 lesbian, gay, bisexual and trasngender secondary school students.
In our 2009 survey, we examine the experiences of LGBT students with regard to indicators of negative school climate:
- hearing biased remarks, including homophobic remarks, in school;
- feeling unsafe in school because of personal characteristics, such as sexual orientation, gender expression, or race/ethnicity;
- missing classes or days of school because of safety reasons; and
- experiences of harassment and assault in school.
We also examine the possible negative effects of a hostile school climate on LGBT students' academic achievement, educational aspirations, and psychological well-being. We explore the diverse nature of LGBT students' experiences by reporting on how these differ by students' personal and community characteristics. We also examine whether or not students report experiences of victimization to school officials or to family members and how these adults address the problem. In addition, we demonstrate the degree to which LGBT students have access to supportive resources in school, and we explore the possible benefits of these resources, including Gay-Straight Alliances (GSAs), school harassment/assault policies, supportive school staff, and curriculum that is inclusive of LGBT-related topics.
Given that we now have 10 years of data, we examine changes over the past decade on both indicators of negative school climate and levels of access to LGBT-related resources in schools.
August 1970
Geographic Focus: North America-United States
A new Think Twice review released today finds that a recent report on the effect of Florida's class-size reduction reform on student achievement does not actually study the impact of class-size reduction.
The Impact of a Universal Class-Size Reduction Policy: Evidence from Florida's Statewide Mandate, written by Matthew M. Chingos for the Program on Education Policy and Governance at Harvard University's Kennedy School, was reviewed for the Think Twice think tank review project by Professor Jeremy Finn of the University at Buffalo-SUNY. Finn, a statistics expert, was a lead researcher of Tennessee's Project STAR, a large, randomized experiment in class-size reduction (CSR). In 2002, Florida voters passed a constitutional amendment mandating CSR throughout that state's schools.
The Chingos study compares student test scores in districts that already had average class sizes smaller than required by the amendment with student scores in districts with average class sizes larger than required by the amendment. Districts that already had smaller class sizes received the same additional funding but could use the money as they saw fit, while those with larger class sizes were required to use the state CSR funds to reduce class sizes. Chingos concludes that "mandated CSR in Florida had little, if any, effect on cognitive and non-cognitive outcomes" in the students examined. Finn, however, points out that the study doesn't actually address the effect of CSR on student achievement. Instead the study compares the results of schools that reduced class size with a group of schools that received monies to use as they wished. Both sets of districts in the study had small class sizes. According to Finn, the study's finding would more accurately be stated as "administrative discretion in spending state class-size reduction funds did not affect students' academic performance."
Finn's review also points out that there are other flaws in the Chingos study: It uses the broad brush of school and district averages rather than student-level information about class sizes and test scores. Also, the actual class-size differences between the two groups were too small to make an educational difference; both of the groups had small average class sizes.
Finn concludes, "Despite its title, this report does not address the issue of class-size reduction. By being presented as an evaluation of Florida's mandated class size limits, it may lead parents, educators, or policy makers to draw faulty conclusions about the impact of the program."
August 1970
Geographic Focus: North America / United States
Education and Literacy, Gay, Lesbian, Bi and Trans
The GLSEN Research Department conducted an evaluation of the New York City Department of Education's (NYC DOE) Respect for All training program for secondary school educators. The two-day training program, which was one component of the NYC DOE's Respect for All initiative, was implemented so that every secondary school in the district had at least one staff member who could support lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) students and combat all forms of bias-based bullying and harassment, particularly bias based on sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression.
In order to evaluate Year One of the training program, GLSEN surveyed 813 educators who participated in the training at three times -- before the training, six weeks after, and six months after. Training participants were also compared to educators who had not yet completed the training. Focus groups were conducted in order to gain a greater, in-depth understanding of participants' experiences in the training. Key findings are listed below.
Compared to before the training, after the training educators demonstrated increased:
- Knowledge of appropriate terms;
- Access to LGBTQ-related resources;
- Awareness of how their own practices might have been harmful to LGBTQ students;
- Empathy for LGBTQ students;
- Belief in the importance of intervening in anti-LGBTQ remarks;
- Communication with students and staff about LGBTQ issues;
- Engagement in activities to create safer schools for LGBTQ students (i.e., supporting Gay-Straight Alliances, including LGBTQ content in curriculum); and
- Frequency of intervention in anti-LGBTQ name-calling, bullying, and harassment.
In addition, compared to educators who had not yet participated in the training, those who had participated in the training indicated higher levels of:
- Knowledge of appropriate terms;
- Access to LGBTQ-related resources;
- Empathy for LGBTQ students;
- Communication with students and staff about LGBTQ issues; and
- Engagement in activities to create safer schools for LGBTQ students.
Findings from the Year One evaluation demonstrate that this training program is an effective means for developing the competency of educators to address bias-based bullying and harassment, and to create safer school environments for LGBTQ students. The findings suggest that providing such training to all school staff, including administrators, would result in an even stronger effect on the school environment. Furthermore, ensuring sufficient opportunities for developing educators' skills in intervening in anti-LGBTQ behaviors could enhance the effectiveness of trainings. To maintain the benefits of training, staff should receive continued and advanced professional development opportunities related to supporting LGBTQ students and combating bias-based bullying and harassment.
August 1970
Geographic Focus:
Cobb's review of this report praises it for its technically sound analysis and results that are descriptively useful. However, Cobb cautions that any real claims about whether the voucher program is actually causing higher graduation rates must depend upon a much stronger research design.
August 1970
Geographic Focus: North America-United States (Midwestern)-Wisconsin-Milwaukee County-Milwaukee
