Math experts developed Formative Assessment Lessons that teachers can incorporate throughout the year's curriculum. Both tools target the "instructional core." A study by Research for Action (RFA) examining the first year of piloting the Literacy Design Collaborative (LDC) and Math Design Collaborative (MDC) tools (2010-11) found…

This study is a quantitative descriptive research design which compared 1995 and 2005 data regarding family influence on rural Pennsylvania high school seniors' postsecondary decisions. A chi-square analysis at p less than 0.05 determined that there was (a) an increase in students planning college attendance, (b) a decrease in students not…

Concerned about reports of a 15% decline in HIV testing among high-risk youth in an earlier study in Pittsburgh, this study was initiated to explore reasons why young people are not getting tested for HIV, while gathering data on their respective level of risk taking behaviors. A total of 580 surveys were collected from youth aged between 14 and…

Community coalitions (CCs) have labored with some difficulty to demonstrate empirical evidence of effectiveness in preventing a wide range of adolescent problem behaviors. Training and technical assistance (TA) have been identified as important elements in promoting improved functioning of CCs. A reliable, valid, and inexpensive method to assess…

The primary purpose of this study was to assess the impact of the GROW program on the intrinsic, extrinsic, and the general job satisfaction of principals and assistant principals in Pennsylvania. The impact of the variables of year in position, age, gender, level of work, location of school, and present degree was examined; the impact of…

The National Institute of School Leadership's (NISL's) Executive Development Program (EDP) was established to provide professional development to school leaders to drive their schools to high performance. The program emphasizes the role of principals as strategic thinkers, instructional leaders, and creators of a just, fair, and caring culture in…

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has invested in the development and dissemination of instructional tools to support teachers' incorporation of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) into their classroom instruction. Literacy experts have developed a framework and a set of templates that teachers and other educators can use to develop content…

Opponents of school choice argue that private schools are not "accountable" because they are not subject to detailed oversight by a regulatory bureaucracy. They claim private school employees can be expected to engage in abusive and criminal behavior more frequently. School choice supporters respond that parents hold private schools…

"Charter Schools in Eight States" uses longitudinal data from eight states to evaluate the effects of charter schools on achievement, attainment, integration, and competition. The findings are mixed. "Achievement": The study examines seven jurisdictions and finds insignificant effects on reading and math performance in five,…

In the report entitled "Educating School Leaders," Arthur Levine (2005) criticizes leadership preparation programs as "inadequate to appalling," citing, among other issues, the proliferation of off campus programming, the weakening of standards, and an unwillingness to engage in any measure of "systematic…

SEVENTH- AND EIGHTH-GRADE PUPILS WERE SELECTED FOR THIS STUDY OF DIFFERENCES BETWEEN GOOD AND POOR PROBLEM-SOLVERS AND FOR AN ANALYSIS OF PROBLEM-SOLVING ABILITY. THESE PUPILS WERE OLD ENOUGH FOR MANY TESTS IN LARGE-SCALE FACTOR ANALYSES OF REASONING ABILITY, AND HAVE HAD LITTLE PARTICIPATION IN FORMAL PROBLEM-SOLVING ACTIVITIES. SEVERAL TESTS OF…

This study examined the impact of NISL's [National Institute for School Leadership's] Executive Development Program for principals on student achievement in Pennsylvania schools between 2006-2009. Roughly half of the NISL-trained principals started the program during the 2007 school year and completed it in the 2008 school year, whereas the other…

This report contains a series of recommendations for a uniform statistical report system for Pennsylvania public libraries, based on the assumption that many of the procedures in library work can be quantified in a meaningful manner. The types of data needed for the Commonwealth, individual library use, local reporting, and for research purposes…

Principals rate teachers in their own schools whom they had previously nominated as either effective or ineffective, using the four dimensions of the Tuckman Teacher Feedback Form (TTFF)--creativity, dynamism, organized demeanor, and warmth and acceptance. A sample of 180 teachers was rated, 60 each at the elementary, intermediate, and secondary…

THIS STUDY WAS PHASE 1 OF A 2-PHASE PROJECT DESIGNED TO CHANGE TEACHER BEHAVIOR WITH THE OBJECTIVE OF IMPROVED CLASSROOM UTILIZATION OF NEW INSTRUCTIONAL MEDIA. PHASE 1 TRIED TO INCREASE TEACHER KNOWLEDGE OF MEDIA VIA A MONTHLY NEWSLETTER, "THE CIRCULATOR," DISTRIBUTED IN 5 DISSEMINATION PATTERNS TO 2,200 EDUCATORS IN PENNSYLVANIA. A…