The Transformation of Title IX
The Transformation of Title IX

Author: R. Shep Melnick

Publisher: Brookings Institution Press

Published: 2018-03-06

Total Pages: 337

ISBN-13: 0815732406

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One civil rights-era law has reshaped American society—and contributed to the country's ongoing culture wars Few laws have had such far-reaching impact as Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. Intended to give girls and women greater access to sports programs and other courses of study in schools and colleges, the law has since been used by judges and agencies to expand a wide range of antidiscrimination policies—most recently the Obama administration’s 2016 mandates on sexual harassment and transgender rights. In this comprehensive review of how Title IX has been implemented, Boston College political science professor R. Shep Melnick analyzes how interpretations of "equal educational opportunity" have changed over the years. In terms accessible to non-lawyers, Melnick examines how Title IX has become a central part of legal and political campaigns to correct gender stereotypes, not only in academic settings but in society at large. Title IX thus has become a major factor in America's culture wars—and almost certainly will remain so for years to come.

School Finance and Teacher Quality
School Finance and Teacher Quality

Author: Margaret L. Plecki

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2014-01-09

Total Pages: 266

ISBN-13: 131792780X

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The yearbook is organized around four issues, each of which can be viewed as representing an important focal point to improve teacher and teaching quality and having important implications for school finance. The issues are (1) teacher recruitment, induction, and retention; (2) the ongoing porfessional development of teachers; (3) equity in the allocation of teaching resources; (4) teacher compensation and workplace conditions.

Let's Put Kids First, Finally
Let's Put Kids First, Finally

Author: Charles M. Achilles

Publisher: Corwin

Published: 1999-04-20

Total Pages: 224

ISBN-13:

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Small is better, especially in the early years of schooling How can we put into action what parents and teachers have known for years? Small classes for young children just make sense, and now research proves it. This accessible book provides the evidence to bring common sense into the classroom. In this clear and concise book, Achilles offers: Interpretation of findings from a solid foundation of research: the Student Teacher Achievement Ratio (STAR); the DuPont Study; and the Lasting Benefits Study (LBS) Vignettes, stories, and observations by practitioners on the front line that demonstrate specific applications of teaching and learning activities in small classes Positive effects and lifelong outcomes of small classes Insights into the impact of class size on social problems, physical and monetary considerations, and environmental conditions Evidence to back up supporters who advocate small classes in school This book is designed for school leaders, teachers, administrators, students, and anyone who cares about the future of education in America. Don't let good research go to waste. Small classes may come just in time to save the next generation of children.

Handbook of Research in Education Finance and Policy
Handbook of Research in Education Finance and Policy

Author: Helen F. Ladd

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2012-08-21

Total Pages: 786

ISBN-13: 1135863881

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Sponsored by the Association for Education Finance and Policy (AEFP), this groundbreaking new handbook assembles in one place the existing research-based knowledge in education finance and policy, thereby helping to define this evolving field of research and practice. It provides a readily available resource for anyone seriously involved in education finance and policy in the United States and around the world. The Handbook traces the evolution of the field from its initial focus on school inputs and the revenue sources used to finance these inputs to a focus on educational outcomes and the larger policies used to achieve them. It shows how the current decision-making context in school finance inevitably interacts with those of governance, accountability, equity, privatization, and other areas of education policy. Because a full understanding of the important contemporary issues requires input from a variety of perspectives, the Handbook draws on contributors from a variety of disciplines. While many of the chapters cover complex state-of-the-art empirical research, the authors explain key concepts in language that non-specialists can understand.

The Teacher's Attention
The Teacher's Attention

Author: Garrett Delavan

Publisher: Temple University Press

Published: 2009-04-27

Total Pages: 244

ISBN-13: 1592138950

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The Teacher’s Attention is a fresh take on relationships in schools. Looking beyond our obsession with raising test scores, this book recognizes that education is a key partner in raising children. Garrett Delavan contends that allowing students, educators and parents to navigate a smaller number of relationships—a concept he calls "relationship load"—provides many benefits, including a better chance at achieving equal access to a good education for all children. Delavan shows how class size, school size, and longer-term student-teacher relationships are all equally critical components for educating our children ethically and successfully. After examining these proposed reforms in detail, Delavan also considers counterarguments and provides a detailed projection of costs and savings, putting to rest the assumption that smaller classes and smaller schools are necessarily more expensive. Finally, the book discusses possible steps toward implementation, showing how the author's proposed reforms are remarkably practical.

Charter School Operations and Performance
Charter School Operations and Performance

Author: Ron Zimmer

Publisher: Rand Corporation

Published: 1999-06-30

Total Pages: 313

ISBN-13: 0833034146

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Analyzes an array of issues pertaining to accessibility, student achievement, governance, and operation of charter schools in California. Four specific research questions were investigated: (1) What population of students attends charter schools? (2) Is student achievement higher in charter schools than in conventional public schools? (3) What oversight and support do the chartering authorities provide? (4) How do charter schools differ from their conventional public school counterparts in terms of their operation, including finances, academic achievement, and staffing?

Changing Policies to Close the Achievement Gap
Changing Policies to Close the Achievement Gap

Author: Cynthia D. Prince

Publisher: R&L Education

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 116

ISBN-13: 9781578861200

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Closing the academic achievement gap is one of the most complex challenges that school system leaders face. Closing the gap became even more urgent with the enactment of the No Child Left Behind Act. For the first time, the federal government has set a deadline for closing the gap, requiring schools to bring all students to proficient levels of academic performance in twelve years. How much of the achievement gap can be attributed to what school districts themselves may be doing? What factors and conditions impede progress toward closing the achievement gap? And what can superintendents do to narrow as much of the gap as they can? These questions led to the development of this guide. In Changing Policies to Close the Achievement Gap Cynthia Prince identifies state and local policies that tend to make the achievement gap worse and describes policy changes that superintendents have made with the support of their boards to help narrow the gap. She also examines policies that aggravate the inequitable distribution of quality teachers and principals, that restrict student access to challenging coursework, and that reduce academic instruction time. Prince argues that closing the gap will require serious efforts to change these policies and other conditions that impede the ability of school districts to bring all students to high levels of performance.

Rethinking Class Size: The complex story of impact on teaching and learning
Rethinking Class Size: The complex story of impact on teaching and learning

Author: Peter Blatchford

Publisher: UCL Press

Published: 2020-11-12

Total Pages: 340

ISBN-13: 1787358798

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The debate over whether class size matters for teaching and learning is one of the most enduring, and aggressive, in education research. Teachers often insist that small classes benefit their work. But many experts argue that evidence from research shows class size has little impact on pupil outcomes, so does not matter, and this dominant view has informed policymaking internationally. Here, the lead researchers on the world’s biggest study into class size effects present a counter-argument. Through detailed analysis of the complex relations involved in the classroom they reveal the mechanisms that support teachers’ experience, and conclude that class size matters very much indeed. Drawing on 20 years of systematic classroom observations, surveys of practitioners, detailed case studies and extensive reviews of research, Peter Blatchford and Anthony Russell contend that common ways of researching the impact of class size are limited and sometimes misguided. While class size may have no direct effect on pupil outcomes, it has, they say, significant force through interconnections with classroom processes. In describing these connections, the book opens up the everyday world of the classroom and shows that the influence of class size is everywhere. It impacts on teaching, grouping practices and classroom management, the quality of peer relations, tasks given to pupils, and on the time teachers have for marking, assessments and understanding the strengths and challenges for individual pupils. From their analysis, the authors develop a new social pedagogical model of how class size influences work, and identify policy conclusions and implications for teachers and schools.