January 2007

RESEARCH HEADLINES

Are highly educated teachers worth the extra pay?
Dallas Morning News
While it might sound logical to increase teacher pay based on their level of formal training, studies show there is no link between a teacher's ability and his or her own education level. "If we pay for credentials, teachers have an incentive to seek and schools have an incentive to provide easy credentials," said Arthur Levine, a researcher who once headed Columbia University's Teachers College. "If, on the other hand, we only pay for performance, teachers have an incentive to seek and schools have an incentive to provide excellent training."

Broaden education: schools neglect high achievers
The News and Observer (N.C.)
A new study from the N.C. Public School Forum reports that North Carolina's efforts to raise student achievement in math and reading have taken the focus away from other subjects and leaves students who are already high-achievers with too little attention or support.

RESOURCES & EVENTS

2007 PEAK Afterschool Workshop Series

McREL and the National Partnership for Quality Afterschool Learning are convening the third annual PEAK (Practices that Engage and Attract Kids) Afterschool Event. In 2007, the event will be held as a series of three, two-day workshops in Kansas City, MO (February 22–23, 2007), Wheeling, IL (March 8–9, 2007), and St. Paul, MN (May 3–4, 2007). All three workshops will offer new ideas for academic enrichment in afterschool programs and provide in-depth professional development covering six academic areas: math & science, arts & literacy, and homework & technology. Space is limited, so register today!

McREL Summer Institutes
In June 2007, McREL will provide a series of intensive, weeklong Summer Institutes that will provide educators with proven, practical strategies for raising student achievement. The institutes focus on three of the 11 elements of schooling that McREL research, as reported in What Works in Schools, demonstrates can have a positive effect on student achievement:

McREL IN THE NEWS

January 23
Kearney Public Schools Superintendent Kenneth Anderson joins McREL Board of Directors
McREL
Ken Anderson, the superintendent of Kearney Public Schools (Neb.), has joined McREL's Board of Directors.

January 19
Approximately 18 languages spoken in local schools
NWLA News (La.)
This article about increasing diversity in northwest Louisiana schools cites McREL's quarterly newsletter, Changing Schools, noting that the No Child Left Behind law requires states to develop English-language-proficiency standards and implement English-language-proficiency tests.

CONTACT US

Mid-continent Research for Education & Learning
4601 DTC Blvd., Suite 500
Denver, CO 80237
303.337.0990
www.mcrel.org
info@mcrel.org

WHAT'S NEW FROM McREL

NREL Web site
McREL's Education and Public Outreach (EPO) team recently created a Web site for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), based in Golden, Colo. The Web site highlights NREL's RnE²EW van, a customized, propane-fueled vehicle that travels to schools, conventions and exhibits around the country to educate its visitors about renewable energy and showcase NREL's research and technology in a fun, engaging way. The Web site offers a way to learn about renewable energy and efficiency sciences as well as schedule a visit from the RnE²EW van.

Winter 2006 Changing Schools
The Winter 2006 issue of Changing Schools examines how school systems can use research to stop the pendulum of constant change and begin making real progress toward student success. Articles feature:

Key findings from McREL's research on effective superintendents — and the implications for avoiding initiative "churn" and sticking with efforts long enough for them to bear fruit
The results from McREL's Balanced Leadership Profile, which suggest that principals often view change as more complex and difficult than teachers, with reasons as to why this may be true
The results of a recent McREL evaluation study that suggests that with many improvement efforts, it's often "too soon to tell" how they're going, especially when seemingly negative results can mean positive changes are occurring

Does your school need a Technology Audit?
This article describes the features and importance of a comprehensive technology audit, which is a close examination of how effectively teachers and schools are integrating technology in their classrooms. The author explains how a well-designed audit can help district leaders determine whether their investment in technology is paying off where it matters the most – with student learning.

REPORT ROUNDUP

Rural School Success: What Can We Learn?
The Journal of Research in Rural Education
This article reports on an exploratory study of the factors perceived by school personnel to contribute to success in high-performing, high-needs (HPHN) rural schools. Based on earlier research that identified four key components of success (leadership, instruction, professional community, and school environment), this study included 21 central U.S. rural schools whose assessment scores and free and/or reduced-price lunch rates indicated they were high-performing but also high-needs. Interviews and site visits led to case studies, which revealed that, although schools differed in context, they all reported a supportive relationship with their community, high teacher retention, and high expectations for students.

Family Involvement in School and Low-Income Children's Literacy Performance
Family Involvement Network of Educators (FINE)
This report highlights a study on the impact of a family's involvement in a child's education on the child's development during elementary school, specifically on literacy achievement. Researchers worked with 300 low-income families and their children and discovered two primary findings: 1) An increase in family involvement in school (including involvement in the home, in the school, and in parent-teacher and parent-parent communication) predicts an increase in literacy achievement, and 2) family involvement matters most for children who are at the greatest risk. In other words, a high level of involvement was most strongly and positively associated with the literacy achievement of children whose families were low-income and whose mothers had very low levels of education.

A New Day for Learning
The Time, Learning and Afterschool Task Force
How can we make sure that all children have the opportunity to reach their full potential in a competitive society where thinking skills are the most important asset? The Time, Learning and Afterschool Task Force, funded by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, has examined this question and, in this report, urgently proposes a new learning system based on organizing learning time more effectively. To do so, the Task Force suggests that policymakers, educators and communities work together to:

redefine student success,
use knowledge about how students learn best throughout the day, from morning to night and year-round,
integrate various approaches to acquiring and reinforcing knowledge,
collaborate intentionally across local, state and national sectors, and provide new leadership and professional development opportunities.