Mind the kinder-gap: New data on children’s math and reading skills as they enter kindergarten

2020 ◽  
Vol 102 (2) ◽  
pp. 36-39
Author(s):  
Christine M.T. Pitts ◽  
Megan Kuhfeld
Keyword(s):  
Black Students ◽  
Reading Skills ◽  
National Data ◽  
Math Skills ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Math Scores ◽  
Student Reading ◽  
Reading And Math ◽  
Growth Assessment

States have invested heavily in improving early childhood education in hopes of improving student reading and math skills before they enter kindergarten. However, there is limited national data from later than 2010 on children’s skills in these areas at kindergarten entry, so it is difficult for educators and policy makers to ascertain whether these investments have paid off. One available source is the NWEA’s MAP Growth assessment. Christine Pitts and Megan Kuhfeld have examined the data from 2010 to 2017 and found that upon entry into kindergarten, children’s reading and math scores have declined, while gaps between white and Black students and between white and Latinx students have decreased.

scholarly journals The Association Between Parents’ Growth Mindset and Children’s Persistence and Academic Skills

2022 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuchen Song ◽  
Michael M Barger ◽  
Kristen L. Bub
Keyword(s):  
Reading Skills ◽  
Positive Association ◽  
Academic Skills ◽  
Growth Mindset ◽  
Early Age ◽  
Coherent System ◽  
Educational Beliefs ◽  
Motivational Beliefs ◽  
Math Skills ◽  
Reading And Math

Parents’ educational beliefs are thought to guide children’s early development in school. The present study explored the association between parent’s growth mindset and elementary school-aged children’s self-reported persistence, as well as teacher-reported reading and math skills in 102 dyads. Findings showed that children self-reported greater persistence when their parents held more growth mindset. Teachers also rated students as more capable readers when their parents endorsed a growth, rather than fixed, mindset. Additional analysis indicated that although the effect of parents’ growth mindset on children’s reading skills became non-significant once SES was controlled, the positive association between parents’ mindset and children’s persistence was unaffected by SES. Our study provides evidence about the intergenerational association of motivational tendencies at an early age, even when children may not be able to develop a coherent system of motivational beliefs of their own.

Between-Year and Within-Year School Mobility: Different Effects by Race/Ethnicity

2021 ◽  
pp. 001312452110045
Author(s):  
Jie Min
Keyword(s):  
Academic Achievement ◽  
Asian American ◽  
School Mobility ◽  
Student Groups ◽  
Asian American Students ◽  
Math Scores ◽  
American Students ◽  
Reading And Math ◽  
Multiple Membership ◽  
Racial Ethnic

The current study investigated the effects of school mobility on the academic achievement of different racial/ethnic groups in four cohorts of students from a very large urban school district. In this study, I compared within-year and between-year mobility and, most importantly, account for all the schools students attended over the study period. Using a multiple membership model (MMM), the findings confirmed that, for all student groups, academic achievement was affected more by within-year school mobility than between-year school mobility. Black students had the highest mobility rates, both for between- and within-year mobility. Although Asian-American students achieved higher reading and math scores on average, they were more negatively impacted by within-year school mobility compared to other groups. The current study was able to pinpoint the students most at risk for negative outcomes following within-year mobility. The findings are discussed in the context of policy recommendations that can be adopted by school districts.

scholarly journals Investigating the Effects of Brain Respiration on Children’s Behavior

2009 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 46-61
Author(s):  
Geoffrey K. Leigh ◽  
Cynthia Robinson ◽  
Steven Bernard Hollingsworth
Keyword(s):  
Treatment Group ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Fifth Grade ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Control Groups ◽  
Teacher Observations ◽  
Fifth Grade Students ◽  
Math Scores ◽  
Reading And Math ◽  
Post Test

Building on the increasing number of programs designed to enhance brain development, a program developed in Korea, Brain Respiration, was adapted to a school in Nevada. Classes were offered twice weekly to a class of fourth and fifth grade students with control group classes assessed in the same school. Self-report surveys, teacher observations, and standardized reading and math scores were used to determine effects of the program on the students. Some differences were found in the pretest for the survey and the observation, with control groups scoring higher. There were differences in some post-test scores, with treatment group children scoring higher when differences did occur. There also were differences in the reading and math scores, with control groups scoring higher than the overall treatment group, but not higher when compared to those actively participating in the program. Such differences are discussed as well as other issues possibly influencing the effects.

Chronic Absenteeism in the Classroom Context: Effects on Achievement

2015 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael A. Gottfried
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Context Effects ◽  
Spillover Effects ◽  
Classroom Context ◽  
Urban District ◽  
Chronic Absenteeism ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
School Year ◽  
Reading And Math

Although educational policy makers uphold that chronic absenteeism (missing 10% or more of the school year) is damaging to students’ schooling outcomes, there is little empirical research to match. This study considers the role of spillover effects of chronic absenteeism on classmates’ achievement. It does so by utilizing a large-scale administrative urban district data set of elementary schoolchildren—a sample of students where the rates of chronic absenteeism are expected to be higher compared with the national average. The results show that students suffer academically from having chronically absent classmates—as exhibited across both reading and math testing outcomes. Chronic absenteeism not only had a damaging effect on those individuals missing excessive school days but also has the potential to reduce outcomes for others in the same educational setting.

Sink or Swim: What Happened to California's Bilingual Students after Proposition 227?

2001 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 295-317 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valentina A. Bali
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
Proposition 227 ◽  
Bilingual Students ◽  
Bilingual Programs ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
English Only ◽  
Math Scores ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Reading And Math ◽  
Southern California School

Proposition 227, passed by California voters in 1998, aimed to dismantle bilingual programs in public schools and to replace them with English-only programs. Bilingual education, a long-standing program in California, involved mostly Hispanic students of limited English skills who were taught initially in their native language, and then were gradually transitioned into English-only classes. Using individual-level data from one southern California school district, I find that in 1998, before Proposition 227, limited-English-proficient (LEP) students enrolled in bilingual classes had lower scores in reading than LEP students who were not enrolled in bilingual classes, and who were, in general, more proficient in English. In math, bilingual students had test scores as good as those of non-bilingual LEPs. But in 1999, after Proposition 227, the same set of bilingual students had reading and math scores that were no worse than those of non-bilingual LEPs. Proposition 227, which interrupted bilingual programs and emphasized English instruction, did not set bilingual LEP students back relative to non-bilingual LEPs, and it may have even benefited them.

Do School Discipline Policies Treat Students Fairly? Evidence From Arkansas

2018 ◽  
Vol 34 (5) ◽  
pp. 707-734 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kaitlin P. Anderson ◽  
Gary W. Ritter
Keyword(s):  
Black Students ◽  
White Students ◽  
School Discipline ◽  
Behavioral History ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Discipline Policies ◽  
To Receive ◽  
Disciplinary Consequences ◽  
School Discipline Policies

It is well documented that Black students are more likely to receive expulsions and suspensions than their White peers. These disparities are troubling, but researchers and policy makers need more information to fully understand the issue. We use 3 years (2010-2011 through 2012-2013) of state-wide student- and discipline incident-level data to assess whether non-White students are receiving harsher disciplinary consequences than their White peers for similar infractions and with similar behavioral history. We find that Black students received more severe (longer) punishments than their White peers for the same types of infractions, but that these disproportionalities are primarily across rather than within schools.

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