Sobre, tecnología, Comprensión lectora y matemática

Technology access alone does not equal increased achievement Researchers from the National Bureau of Economic Research have published a new working paper that explores how important access to a home computer is to the educational achievement of children. They found no effects, either positive or negative, on a range of outcomes. The authors conducted a randomized controlled trial with 1,123 students aged 11-16 without home computers from 15 schools across California in the largest ever experiment involving the provision of free home computers. Half of the students were randomly selected to receive free computers, while the other half served as the control group. The goal of the study was to evaluate the effects of home computers alone, so no training or other assistance was provided to the students who received the free computers.  At the end of the school year, data from the schools was used to measure the impact of the home computers on numerous educational outcomes. Findings showed that, although computer ownership and use increased substantially, there were no effects on grades, test scores, credits earned, attendance, or disciplinary actions in the experimental group. Robert Slavin, director of the Center for Research and Reform in Education, discussed a similar topic in a March blog post about Sugata Mitra's "hole in the wall" experiment, in which Dr. Mitra made a computer freely available to children in a Delhi slum. In his post, Slavin says, "If access to computers were decisive, middle-class children, at least, would be gaining rapidly. Admittedly, the technology itself keeps getting better and faster and easier to use, but from thirty years of experience in the developed world, it seems unlikely that access alone will lead children to become wise and capable."

Never too late to help struggling readers From around the middle of elementary school, there is less emphasis on learning to read, and this has serious consequences for children who have not yet mastered the skill. A new article in Review of Educational Research analyzes the evidence on "extensive reading interventions" for students aged 10 to 18 with reading difficulties. These are long-term interventions (in this case 75 or more sessions), often developed as part of school-wide models for teaching literacy to younger students. The authors conducted a systematic review of research from 1995 to 2011, with 19 studies meeting their inclusion criteria. Mean effect sizes ranged from 0.10 to 0.16 for comprehension, word reading, word reading fluency, reading fluency, and spelling outcomes. No significant differences in student outcomes were noted in terms of instructional group size, relative number of hours of intervention, or year level of intervention. They conclude that accelerating reading growth in later years may be more challenging than in the earliest, but that it isn't too late to help struggling readers.

It's good to talk  Syntax is an important aspect of children's early literacy development, according to the authors of a new article published in Early Childhood Research Quarterly. However, the rate at which children develop syntax reflects, at least in part, their care-giving environment. This study looks at patterns of child-teacher talk within preschool classrooms, an important developmental context for young children and particularly those from low socio-economic households.  The research found that the children's use of complex syntax appeared to be influenced by the teachers' use of complex syntax, but also vice versa. Children's use of complex or simple syntax increased the likelihood that teachers would mirror their syntactic level. The authors suggest this work, based on data from a larger study, is a step towards addressing issues that may have direct, translatable implications for early education practice and intervention efforts. One of the authors, Laura Justice, has also contributed an article to the latest issue of Better: Evidence-based Education. It describes the evaluation of a project to train teachers to provide advanced language models to help prevent later reading difficulties.

What works in math? The What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) has released two new research reports on math programs: Saxon Math and Scott Foresman-Addison Wesley Elementary Mathematics. Saxon Math, a core curriculum for students in grades K-5 that uses an incremental approach for instruction and assessment, was found to have potentially positive effects on mathematics achievement for elementary school students. This finding is based on two studies of Saxon Math that meet the WWC evidence standards. Potentially positive effects means: "In the two studies that reported findings, the estimated impact of the intervention on outcomes in the mathematics achievement domain was positive and statistically significant in one study and indeterminate in one study." Scott Foresman-Addison Wesley Elementary Mathematics is a core mathematics curriculum for students in prekindergarten through grade 6 that aims to improve students' understanding of key math concepts through problem-solving instruction, hands-on activities, and math problems that involve reading and writing. The program was found to have mixed effects on mathematics achievement for elementary school students based on three studies that meet WWC evidence standards. Mixed effects means: "In the three studies that reported findings, the estimated impact of the intervention on outcomes in the mathematics achievement domain was negative and statistically significant in one study and indeterminate in two studies."

Lessons from innovators: eMints This blog post, based on an interview between the Forum for Youth Investment and eMINTS leadership, focuses on what the eMINTS National Center has learned about scaling a technology intervention in the sometimes low-tech environment of schools. eMINTS, an Investing in Innovation (i3) grantee,  provides professional development for K-12 educators using interactive group sessions and in-classroom coaching/mentoring to help teachers integrate technology into their teaching. Their i3 validation grant focuses on expanding an intensive professional development model for teachers in rural middle schools. Lessons learned include:  Plan for success. Thinking about scale and sustainability starts long before a funding stream is coming to an end. Expand with fidelity and flexibility. "It is critical to identify which parts of the program must be held constant from one implementation to the next in order to maintain quality, while also maintaining flexibility to adapt successfully to each new context," says Christie Terry, eMINTS associate director. Make the case for value early and often. Many initiatives with sound evidence and great materials bump up against shrinking school budgets. Be high tech and high touch. Educators need personal attention to succeed in trying and implementing a new program - even when they are high tech.

A closer look at math and science programs yields mixed results

A closer look at math and science programs yields mixed results New reports from the What Works Clearinghouse review the research on three programs designed to improve student achievement in math and science: Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies, Carnegie Learning Curricula and Cognitive Tutor, and Great Explorations in Math and Science (GEMS) The Real Reasons for Seasons. Findings were as follows: Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies, a peer-tutoring program for grades K-6 that aims to improve student proficiency in math and other disciplines, was found to have no discernible effects on mathematics achievement for elementary school students. Carnegie Learning Curricula and Cognitive Tutor, a secondary math curricula that offers textbooks and interactive software to provide individualized, self-paced instruction based on student needs, was found to have mixed effects on mathematics achievement for high school students. GEMS The Real Reasons for Seasons, a curriculum unit for grades 6-8 that focuses on the connections between the Sun and the Earth to teach students the scientific concepts behind the seasons, was found to havepotentially negative effects on general science achievement for middle school students.

Simple ways to improve learning A new article published by the Association for Psychological Science argues that educational outcomes can be improved by helping students to better regulate their own learning. The authors discuss ten techniques that might help them to do this. The techniques were selected on the grounds that they should be relatively easy to implement, and the article itself gives a clear review of each technique. The authors gave two techniques an overall high rating. The first of these was "practice testing," which is usually self-testing outside the classroom. The second was "distributed practice," essentially the opposite of "cramming," where study activities are spread over a single session or across multiple sessions. Some of the techniques with low- or moderate-utility ratings also showed promise, but there was insufficient evidence for a higher rating. The authors looked at all of the available evidence for each technique, and considered generalizability, issues for implementation, and an overall assessment of its utility - low, moderate, or high.

Moving to a "better" zip code isn't the answer A randomized experiment has explored whether or not where you live has an effect on life chances. Between 1994 and 1998, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Moving to Opportunity (MTO) for Fair Housing program recruited more than 4,600 families with children living in severely distressed public housing projects in five cities (Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York City). Some MTO families were offered the opportunity to use a housing voucher to move into private-market housing in wealthier neighborhoods, while the others were not. New research, led by researchers from the U.S. National Bureau of Economic Research, outlines the long-term (10-15 years) impact of the MTO program on children who were approximately 11 years old or younger at baseline. They discovered few detectable effects on achievement, education, employment, and a range of other health and risky behavior outcomes. However, there were some encouraging effects on mental health, primarily for girls and young women.

What makes children stressed?  A new research report from the Childhood Wellbeing Research Centre in the UK looks at family "stressors" and the impact on children's outcomes. The authors look at whether particular life events are especially detrimental, whether they have an impact across different outcomes (educational, social, etc.), and whether the effects of early childhood events persist into adolescence. They also look at the association between family factors and outcomes. The findings of the report are broad, especially as different family factors can be associated with different types of outcomes. Key findings include that extreme stressful events, such as homelessness, victimization, or abuse, can have long-term effects on children's outcomes. Some stressful events have an impact on children's emotional and social well-being but not their educational outcomes, and so their negative impacts may therefore be harder to pick up. The authors point out that in order to target interventions, it is important to understand which family circumstances are significant for child well-being at different ages, and how that varies across outcomes.

New tools for talking about education data The Data Quality Campaign has created a suite of ten tools for communicating messages about education data. Their goal is to help education stakeholders confront communication challenges and effectively communicate the value of data to meeting education goals. Resources include: Myths about Data Use Data Privacy, Security, and Confidentiality The Power of State Data: Message Map

Reading by third grade: Thinking beyond retention In his latest blog post, Robert Slavin, director of the Center for Research and Reform in Education, discusses reading-by-third-grade polices. He says, "If schools use the reading-by-third-grade movement as an opportunity to use proven practices throughout the primary grades, they can reap substantial savings by avoiding unnecessary retentions, and most importantly, they can make a life-changing difference for all of their students." Read the full post on Huff Post Education.

Study shows capital at home matters more than capital at school

Study shows capital at home matters more than capital at school A study published in Research in Social Stratification and Mobility finds that family social capital, described as the bonds between parents and children, such as trust, open lines of communication, and active engagement in a child's academic life, is a more significant factor than the qualities of the school itself with regard to a child's academic achievement. Using data from the National Longitudinal Education study and structural equation modeling, researchers examined whether the social capital of the home and school social capital (such as extracurricular activities and the ability of teachers to address the needs of individual students) have differing effects on children's academic achievement. Results show that capital from each context promotes achievement, but that students with high levels of family social capital but low levels of school social capital performed better in school than students with high levels of school social capital and low family social capital. Family social capital continues to have a stronger influence on children's academic achievement, even after controlling for socioeconomic status and other demographic characteristics.

Can cash incentives lead to positive outcomes for teens? Using a randomized control trial research design, MDRC is conducting an evaluation of the Opportunity NYC-Family Rewards program. Implemented in 2007, this program offered monetary incentives to families living in poverty for education, health, and workforce participation and job-training activities, with the ultimate goal of breaking the cycle of poverty. In MDRC's most recent report, researchers examine how parents and their teenage children were affected by Family Rewards two years into the program. Their analyses focus on the differences between a treatment group and control group in areas such as time use, mental health, and risky behaviors, as measured by surveys. Findings of their study show that Family Rewards: Changed how teenagers spent their time. For a subgroup of academically proficient teenagers, it increased the proportion of those who engaged primarily in academic activities and reduced the proportion who engaged primarily in social activities; Increased parents' spending on school-related and leisure expenses and increased the proportion of parents who saved for their children's future education; Had no effects on parents' monitoring of their teenage children's activities or behavior and did not increase parent-teenager conflict or teenagers' depression or anxiety; Had no effects on teenagers' sense of academic competence or their engagement in school, but substantially reduced their self-reported problem behavior, such as aggression and substance use; Did not reduce teenagers' intrinsic motivation by paying them rewards for school attendance and academic achievement. MDRC's next report on Family Rewards will examine the results after three years of the program; a final report will include two years of post-program follow-up.

Text messaging does not affect children's grammatical development Researchers from Coventry University in England carried out a longitudinal study to investigate whether "text speak" had any detrimental impact on grammatical development and other related literacy and language skills over the course of a year. They assessed the spelling, grammar, understanding of English, and IQ of three groups of children and young people (83 primary school children, 78 secondary school children, and 49 undergraduates), and compared those skills with a sample of their text messages. There was no evidence of any significant relationships between poor grammar in text messages and their understanding of written or spoken grammar. For the primary school children, there was an association between punctuation errors in text messages and spelling ability. Children who made fewer punctuation errors when texting tended to be better at spelling and quicker to process writing than those who made more errors in their text messages. For the undergraduate group, there was some evidence of a link between punctuation errors in text messages and the spelling ability and grammatical understanding of participants. However, this link was weak, and researchers concluded that it was probably related to children's IQ score.

Does school entrance age matter? Researchers in Croatia explored the relationship between the age that students begin school and school achievement. They found only a weak relationship in the lower grades of primary school, and at the end of primary schooling the effects are no longer evident. The study looked at the achievement of fourth- and eighth-grade students in 844 primary schools in Croatia. Students were divided into groups of younger and older school entrants based on the difference between their year of birth and the year of school entry. In the fourth grade, older entrants performed slightly better in all subjects than those who were younger when they entered school, but these differences in achievement were very small (effect sizes ranged from 0.02 to 0.07). By the eighth grade, there was no difference in achievement between younger and older entrants in the majority of subjects. However, contrary to the fourth grade sample, in the subjects where differences in achievement were found, the younger school entrants outperformed the older school entrants, but the effect sizes were again very small (effect sizes ranged from 0 to 0.12). In both samples, school entrance age explains less than one percent of the variance in school achievement in different subjects.

Effective classroom management practices

Effective classroom management practices As we mentioned in a special message last week, the fall issue of Better: Evidence-based Education magazine covers the important topic of classroom management. This issue presents a wide range of views and evidence about classroom management from international experts, providing both practical insights and evidence to ultimately enhance our children's learning experience, their contribution to their own learning, and their own long-term outcomes. Articles include: Good instruction is good classroom management Am I the only one struggling with classroom management? Dealing with classroom management problems The full issue is available to subscribers. If you have not already subscribed toBetter, you may do so on the Johns Hopkins University Press website. Subscriptions include electronic access to all archived issues. We have covered a range of topics, from reading, math, and science to effective uses of technologyand health and well-being.

Study investigates inquiry-based science curricula This study published in the October issue of Research in Science Educationmeasures the effects of higher level, inquiry-based science curricula on students at primary level in Title I schools. The sample included approximately 3,300 K-3 students from six schools who were assigned to experimental or control conditions (N = 115 total) on a random basis according to class. Students in the experimental condition were exposed to concept-based science curriculum that emphasized "deep learning" though concept mastery and investigation, whereas control classes learned science from traditional school-based curricula. Using standardized measures of achievement, researchers found that all ability groups of students benefited from the science inquiry-based approach to learning that emphasized science concepts, and that there was a positive achievement effect for low socio-economic young children who were exposed to such a curriculum. Related to this topic, the Johns Hopkins School of Education's Center for Research and Reform in Education completed a review of research in May on effective programs for elementary science. Results of the review support the use of inquiry-oriented programs without science kits, which help teachers to learn and use generic processes such as science-reading integration in their daily science teaching. Use of inquiry-oriented science kits such as FOSS, did not show any benefits for science learning. Limited research on technology approaches such as BrainPop showed positive impacts.

Home computer use improves children's academic performance A paper in Oxford Review of Education examines the link between children's home computer use and their academic performance in reading and math. The study uses data from the nine-year-old cohort of the Growing Up in Ireland survey and a multiple regression model to estimate the effect of home computer use on reading and math test scores, and finds that computer use is associated with increased scores. This result holds after controlling for multiple determinants of school performance, and there is no significant difference in effect for the amount of use. In addition, the study investigates the effects of different types of computer use and finds that surfing the internet for fun, doing projects for school, and emailing are associated with higher reading and math test scores. Children who are permitted to use the computer unsupervised tend to have higher test scores in math, and instant messaging and downloading music or watching movies are negatively associated with both reading and math test scores. However, while these results indicate significant association with academic performance, the study is not able to establish the direction of causation definitively.

Neuromyths in education Possessing greater general knowledge about the brain does not appear to protect teachers from believing in "neuromyths" - misconceptions about neuroscience research in education. A study reported in Frontiers in Educational Psychologyfound that teachers who are interested in the application of neuroscience findings in the classroom find it difficult to distinguish pseudoscience from scientific facts. They tested 242 primary and secondary school teachers in the UK and the Netherlands with an interest in the neuroscience of learning, using an online survey containing 32 statements about the brain and its influence on learning, of which 15 were neuromyths. Results showed that on average, teachers believed 49 percent of the neuromyths, particularly myths related to commercialized education programs like Brain Gym. One of the most commonly believed myths was "Individuals learn better when they receive information in their preferred learning style (e.g., auditory, visual, kinesthetic)," which was believed by over 80 percent of teachers in the study. Although loosely based on scientific fact, these neuromyths may have adverse effects on educational practice, and the study concludes that there is a need for enhanced interdisciplinary communication to reduce such misunderstandings in the future and establish a successful collaboration between neuroscience and education.

Good teachers get results

Good teachers get results Everyone knows that a good teacher makes a difference, but establishing who the good teachers are, and what difference they make, has long been a problem. A new study by economists at Harvard University attempts to answer these questions. They analyzed the school records and earnings information for 2.5 million children, and found that, when a high "value-added" teacher joins a new school, results for their class improve. Having a high value-added teacher (in the top 5%) for one year raises a child's cumulative lifetime income by $50,000. How this information is used is clearly a matter of policy, but any system that aims to reward good performance while supporting or punishing poor performance would need to be carefully designed and tested. An interesting article about the study can be found on the Shanker Institute's blog.

Should we be trying to reduce class sizes? Class size has long been a hot topic. As populations increase and funding decreases, pressure on class size is likely to grow. A research review from the UK's Department for Education considers a number of issues around this topic, including the impact of class size on educational outcomes. The authors found a number of benefits from smaller classes, such as individual students being the focus of the teacher's attention for longer. However, previous research has shown that reducing class size is beneficial when classes are as small as around 15 students. According to the UK report, available evidence suggests that class size reduction policies are not the best option in terms of value for money to raising student achievement compared to others options such as increasing teacher effectiveness.

Are low and middle income children ready for school? We see a lot of research into the school readiness of the poorest children, but what about those from low- to middle-income (LMI) families? The Resolution Foundation in the UK has published a new report that uses data from the Millennium Cohort Study to explore this, and found that LMI children are five months behind their more affluent peers on vocabulary skills when they begin school and exhibit more behavior problems. A number of factors were found to influence achievement for this group, including parental education, which was shown to be a powerful predictor of school readiness for these children. The challenge is how to break this cycle, and research-based parenting programs are one possibility.

Time to think about prevention Should we put a fence at the top of the hill or an ambulance at the bottom? Instead, how about an ounce of prevention? That is the topic of a recent blog post from Robert Slavin, Director of Johns Hopkins School of Education's Center for Research and Reform in Education. On his new Education Week blog, "Sputnik: Advancing Education through Innovation and Evidence," he writes, "There are good reasons to invest in proven educational programs at all levels and in all subjects, but when proven programs also reduce government expenditures within a few years, even the most bottom-line oriented administrator or legislator should see the need to invest in proven prevention."

NO MÁS EXCUSAS. PODEMOS LOGRAR QUE TODOS LOS NIÑOS LEAN

No More Excuses: We Can Get All Children Reading

Posted: 14 Nov 2011 04:33 AM PST

Everyone reading this blog knows how important it is that every child become a confident, skilled, and motivated reader.The latest NAEP results, released this month, remind us that there are far too many children who do not read well, that disadvantaged and minority children are overrepresented among poor readers, and that the inequalities in academic outcomes by race and class--our most serious social as well as educational problem--begins with reading inequalities in the early grades. Everyone knows that children who don't read well will incur huge expenses over time in remediation, special education, repeated grades, and ultimately delinquency, dropout, and unemployment.

Everyone reading this blog also knows that we know how to ensure success for virtually every first grader. Imagine that your job were to ensure the reading success of every child in a Title I school by the end of first grade, and you had flexible resources to do it. You'd make sure kids had language-rich preschool and kindergarten experiences, learned phonemic awareness and letter sounds in kindergarten, and were taught using proven kindergarten- and first-grade reading programs that emphasized systematic phonics, comprehension, fluency, and vocabulary. Recognizing that even with the best of teaching not every child will succeed, you'd provide tutoring for kids who are struggling in first grade. You would test children's vision and make sure they had eyeglasses if they needed them. You'd check their hearing and general health, and would make sure that all of these problems are solved as well.

You'd help teachers use effective strategies such as cooperative learning to motivate and engage kids with reading and effective classroom management methods to further build motivation and make effective use of time. You'd use technology, such as embedded multimedia, to add motivation, build skills, and individualize for students' needs. You'd constantly assess children's progress in reading and respond right away if they are found to be falling behind in any way.

Understanding that parents are a key partner, you'd encourage and help them read with their kids, build vocabulary, and develop a love of reading. You'd also work with parents to help ensure that all children attend school every day, and are healthy, well nourished, and have enough sleep.

You'd provide your staff with extensive professional development, give them regular opportunities to share ideas and solve problems with each other, and constantly monitor the quality of every part of your strategy. And, when your staff runs into problems that are not being solved with current approaches, you'd experiment with alternative solutions.

Each element of this strategy has substantial evidence of effectiveness in increasing reading performance.
If you did all of these things, and if the entire school system were focused on making sure that they were done in every elementary school, could anyone doubt that reading failure would be greatly reduced, if not eliminated?
Yet this rather obvious set of actions is far from what actually happens in most Title I schools. Title I elementary schools have funding for precisely this kind of work, and because they receive a lot of federal money, these schools are particularly responsive to federal policy. This is an area in which federal policy could make a substantial difference. Federal policies sometimes focus on aspects of reading, but do not facilitate the comprehensive approach needed to get every child to succeed.

Many problems of education are very complex, and the right solutions are not immediately apparent. In contrast, reading for every child is dead simple. Solutions are known. Wouldn't it make sense to focus attention on this critical, solvable problem?
- Robert Slavin

¿Cómo hacer que todos los niños aprendan Lecto-escritura?

Top-Rated Programs Key Findings Limited Evidence Programs Review Summary Other Programs Review Methods

Which elementary reading approaches have been proven to help struggling readers to succeed? To find out, this review summarizes evidence on six types of programs designed to improve the reading achievement of children having difficulty in learning to read:

• One-to-One Tutoring by Teachers (TT) such as Reading Recovery, Auditory Discrimination in Depth, Early Steps/Howard Street Tutoring, and Targeted Reading Intervention.
• One-to-One Tutoring by Paraprofessionals and Volunteers (T-Para/ Volunteers) such as Sound Partners, SMART, and Book Buddies.
• Small Group Tutorials (SGT) such as Corrective Reading, Quick Reads, Voyager Passport, and PHAST Reading.
• Classroom Instructional Process Approaches (CIP): Effects for low achievers were reported for programs such as Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition, PALS, Direct Instruction, and Project Read.
• Classroom Instructional Process Programs with Tutoring (CIP+T): Effects for low achievers were reported for Success for All.
• Instructional Technology (IT): Effects for low achievers were reported for programs such as Jostens/Compass Learning, Fast ForWord, and Lexia. 

Full Report
Slavin, R.E., Lake, C., Davis, S., & Madden, N. (2009, June) Effective programs for struggling readers: A best evidence synthesis. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University, Center for Data-Driven Reform in Education.

Additional source:
Slavin, R.E., Lake, C., Davis, S., & Madden, N. Effective programs for struggling readers: A best evidence synthesis. Educational Research Review (2010). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2010.07.002

Links

Full Report  (PDF, 2 MB)
Educator's Summary  (PDF, 464 KB)

Educator's Guide  (PDF, 584 KB)