2006

A National Survey of the Types and Extent of the Marketing of Foods of Minimal Nutritional Value in Schools

epicpolicy — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 13:30:41 -0600

Institution: Arizona State University

Source: Commercialism in Education Research Unit

A Policy Maker's Guide to "The 65% Solution" Proposals

epicpolicy — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 12:44:50 -0600

Source: Education Policy Research Unit

This study details the shortcomings of and political motivation behind "The 65% Solution" proposals.

A practitioner's guide to value added assessment (Educational Policy Studies Laboratory Research Monograph)

epicpolicy — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 14:53:15 -0600

Publisher Tempe, AZ: Arizona State University
Summary This guide is intended for the practitioner needing to get up to speed quickly regarding Value Added Assessment (VAA). Based on a comprehensive review of current research on VAA, the guide outlines several issues that must be kept in mind when implementing a VAA-based accountability system. In addition to describing the similarities and differences among six major approaches to VAA, the guide also details several VAA-based accountability programs currently in use. Finally, the guide offers practitioners and policymakers guidance on assessing the potential of VAA for their own purposes.

Alternative Approaches to the Politics of Detracking

epicpolicy — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 11:21:59 -0600

Publisher Theory Into Practice, 45(1)
Page Numbers 90-99

An Analysis of the 2005 National Technology Plan: Better for Business than for Children

epicpolicy — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 11:46:04 -0600

Institution: Penn State University

Source: Education Policy Research Unit

This report identifies, analyzes, and critiques assumptions underpinning the U.S. Department of Education's National Education Technology Plan recommendations, and uncovers embedded advantages for business and privatization supporters. The report is available at: http://epsl.asu.edu/epru/documents/EPSL-0608-206-EPRU.pdf

Assessment, high stakes, and alternative visions: Appropriate use of the right tools to leverage improvement

epicpolicy — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 16:54:23 -0600

Institution: Simon Fraser University

This brief examines the theoretical basis behind high-stakes accountability, the intended and unintended consequences of such systems, and proposed alternative reform models. It also reviews existing research on all models, although the research is scant for some alternatives. As a caution to research consumers, the brief also details the highly political nature of much related contemporary research.

Benefits and Costs of Channel One in a Middle School Setting and the Role of Media-Literacy Training

WorkStudy — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 13:22:02 -0600

Authors: Erica Weintraub Austin, Yi-Chun "Yvonnes" Chen, Bruce E. Pinkleton, and Jessie Quintero Johnson
Source: American Academy of Pediatrics

This study analyzed the differential effects of Channel One depending on whether early-adolescent viewers received a media-literacy lesson in conjunction with viewing the program. The authors concluded that the program can provide some benefits to young adolescents, but the results also provide justification for concerns about the commercialization of the classroom.

Benzene Fears Prompt Call for Banning Some Soft Drinks at Schools

WorkStudy — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 13:09:18 -0600

Author: David Goldstein
Source: Knight Ridder Newspapers

Some leading public-health experts want education officials to ban certain soft drinks from public schools until they are proven to be safe and free of the cancer-causing chemical benzene.

Bill Strikes at Low-Nutrition Foods in School

WorkStudy — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 13:01:35 -0600

Author: Marian Burros
Source: The New York Times

Under a proposed bill, an amendment to the National School Lunch Act, high nutritional standards would be required of all food sold on school premises.

Book Review of School Commercialism in ER: From Democratic Ideal to Market Commodity

WorkStudy — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 12:46:29 -0600

Author: Trevor Norris
Source: Educational Researcher

Trevor Norris offers a positive review of Alex Molnar's book School Commercialism: From Democratic Ideal to Market Commodity.

Book Review of School Commercialism in TCR: From Democratic Ideal to Market Commodity

WorkStudy — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 12:48:14 -0600

Author: Stephen Petrina
Source: Teachers College Record

In his review of Alex Molnar's book, School Commercialism: From Democratic Ideal to Market Commodity, Stephen Petrina says the book is "the clearest, most cogent and productive book on the issue" of schoolhouse commercialism.

Book Review of School Commercialism: From Democratic Ideal to Market Commodity

WorkStudy — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 12:53:35 -0600

Author: Stuart Poyntz
Source: Education Review

In his review of Alex Molnar's book, School Commercialism: From Democratic Ideal to Market Commodity, Stuart Poyntz says the book examines "how various commercial initiatives...threaten the future of American education."

Book Review: The SAGE Handbook of Quantitative Methods in the Social Sciences

epicpolicy — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 14:58:14 -0600

Publisher     Applied Psychological Methods, 30(5)
Page Numbers     447-451
Summary     This book review asserts that David Kaplan has convened a panel of top-notch methodologians to write of The Sage Handbook of Quantitative Methodology for the Social Sciences (SHQM), resulting in an engrossing collection of chapters that are sure to add screwdrivers, wrenches and the occasional buzzsaw to your toolbox. That the book falls a bit short of developing an organizing structure for the toolbox is not so much an indictment of the editor and the authors, but a reflection of the state of the field.

Captive Kids: Selling Obesity at Schools; An Action Guide to Stop the Marketing of Unhealthy Foods and Beverages at School

WorkStudy — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 13:27:09 -0600

Source: Public Health Institute

This study found indications that many high school campuses in California are targets of food and beverage marketing from companies and brands associated with foods that are discouraged in children's diets including soda, sports drinks and other sugary beverages, chips, candy, and fast food.

Charter, Private, Public Schools and Academic Achievement: New Evidence from NAEP Mathematics Data

WorkStudy — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 11:57:31 -0600

Authors: Christopher Lubienski and Sarah Theule Lubienski
Institution: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Source: National Center for the Study of Privatization in Education

Recent debates have highlighted the issue of school sector as an important consideration in student academic achievement. This analysis compares achievement in public, charter, and different types of private schools.

Cultural considerations with response to intervention models

epicpolicy — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 10:35:59 -0600

Publisher     Reading Research Quarterly
Page Numbers     108-117
Summary     Now that the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act has been reauthorized, states have the option of discontinuing the use of IQ–achievement discrepancy formulas and using Response to Intervention (RTI) criteria as part of the special education identification process. This change has dramatic implications for culturally and linguistically diverse students who historically have been disproportionately overrepresented in special education programs. RTI models hold promise for preventing academic failure by providing support for culturally and linguistically diverse students before they underachieve. By offering quality literacy instruction in a supportive general education environment, the authors hope to decrease the number of students who are inappropriately referred to and placed in special education.

Diagnostic Assessment with Ordered Multiple-Choice Items

epicpolicy — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 15:35:18 -0600

Publisher     Educational Assessment, 11(1)
Page Numbers     33-46
Summary     This article describes the development, analysis, and interpretation of a novel item format we call Ordered Multiple-Choice (OMC). A unique feature of OMC items is that they are linked to a model of student cognitive development for the construct being measured. Each of the possible answer choices in an OMC item is linked to developmental levels of student understanding, facilitating the diagnostic interpretation of student item responses. OMC items seek to provide greater diagnostic utility than typical multiple-choice items, while retaining their efficiency advantages. On the one hand, sets of OMC items provide information about the developmental understanding of students that is not available with traditional multiple-choice items; on the other hand, this information can be provided to schools, teachers, and students quickly and reliably, unlike traditional open-ended test items.

http://www.leaonline.com/doi/abs/10.1207/s15326977ea1101_2?journalCode=e...

Ending the Blame Game on Educational Inequity: A Study of "High Flying" Schools and NCLB

epicpolicy — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 12:48:39 -0600

Institution: Florida State University

Source: Education Policy Research Unit

This study shows that the number of high-poverty schools truly achieving at high levels on standardized tests is much lower than reported in Education Trust and Heritage Foundation studies. Unlike the previous research, this study examines test score gains over time, and only 1.1 percent of high-poverty schools were identified as "high flyers."

Fat Children Take Over the World

WorkStudy — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 13:12:05 -0600

Author: Jeremy Laurance
Source: The Statesman

On every continent childish waistlines are expanding, driven by low-energy lifestyles and high-energy foods. According to obesity specialists, the accretion of adipose tissue on developing bodies is already having a damaging effect on their health.

Free School Wellness Tool Kit Provides Resources for Local Citizens Involvement

WorkStudy — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 13:16:58 -0600

Author: Dayle Hayes
Source: Nutrition for the Future, Inc.

In this tool kit, concerned citizens, health professionals, and school officials can find all the information needed to develop, implement and manage a local school wellness program.

Imminent Class Action Law Suits Over Soft Drink Sales in School

WorkStudy — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 12:33:33 -0600

Author: John F. Banzhaf III
Institution: George Washington University

Banzhaf writes to formally offer advice concerning the imminent filing of massive class action law suits aimed at the sale of sugary soft drinks in schools and your inevitable involvement in these law suits as a named party or otherwise.

In Public Schools, the Name Game as a Donor Lure

WorkStudy — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 13:18:49 -0600

Author: Tamar Lewin
Source: The New York Times

Next fall, a stunning $55 million high school will open on the edge of Fairmount Park. It is a public school being used to raise a lot of private money.

Junk-Food Jihad

WorkStudy — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 12:57:53 -0600

Author: William Saletan
Source: The Washington Post

Legislators, lawyers, and concerned citizens have waged a new war on America's growing obesity problem.

Junked: Sales of Fizzy Drinks and Unhealthy Foods Slump

WorkStudy — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 13:15:34 -0600

Author: Martin Hickman
Source: The Independent News

The signs of a profound shift in our shopping and eating habits are growing apace. Market research shows that a sharp divide has opened up between the sales of healthy and unhealthy foods.

K-12 Race-conscious Student Assignment Policies: Law, Social Science, and Diversity

epicpolicy — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 13:37:46 -0600

Publisher     Review of Educational Research, 76(3)
Page Numbers     349-382
Summary     At a time when schools nationwide have become more racially isolated, some districts have used such policies to mitigate segregation. This article examines these policies in light of the Supreme Court's recent decisions concerning affirmative action at universities. It explores the legal implications of differences between higher education and K-12 schooling, considering what the differences might mean for particular diversity goals and for policies designed to meet those goals. Beginning with a concise summary of research on the effects of K-12 student diversity, the article places the research in a current legal context, explaining relevant law, what the courts consider important, and how research addresses evidentiary issues. Available from the AERA website: http://www.aera.net/uploadedFiles/News_Media/News_Releases/2006/07_RERv76n3_Welner(1).pdf