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The recent turn toward core practices and practice-based teacher education has been accompanied by a growing literature on the definitions, pedagogies to teach, and assessments of core practices. Despite these developments, the field lacks core practices performance assessments designed to be used across course sections, courses, and subjects. This paper provides an existence proof of this type of assessment and investigates the affordances and constraints of the approach. The study describes three types of mixed-reality simulation-based performance tasks of three core practices. More than 400 novices in 64 teacher preparation programs in the United States reported that they were able to use the simulation environment and believed the tasks measure important teaching skills. Scores on the tasks were positively related to novices' prior academic and teacher education experiences. Implications for the formative use of such simulations are discussed.

Sixty-seven school finance reforms (SFRs) in 26 states have taken place since 1990; however, there is little empirical evidence on the heterogeneity of SFR effects. We provide a comprehensive description of how individual reforms affected resource allocation to low- and high-income districts within states, including both financial and non-financial outcomes. After summarizing the heterogeneity of individual SFR impacts, we then examine its correlates, identifying both policy and legislative/political factors. Taken together, this research aims to provide a rich description of variation in states' responses to SFRs, as well as explanation of this heterogeneity as it relates to contextual factors.

This paper reviews recent evidence on the labor market returns to credit accumulation, certificates, and associate degrees from community colleges. Evidence is collated from estimates of earnings gaps across college students using large-scale, statewide administrative datasets from eight states. Six of these states were partners of the Center for Analysis of Postsecondary Education and Employment (CAPSEE), a research center funded by the Institute of Education Sciences of the U.S. Department of Education. CAPSEE researchers conducted extensive analyses of education and earnings in these states. Findings from these studies affirm a "CAPSEE consensus" with three main results and two key features. For associate degrees, this review affirms that completing an associate degree yields strongly positive, persistent, and consistent earnings gains: studies show that completing an associate degree yields on average approximately $4,640-$7,160 per annum in extra earnings compared to entering college but not completing an award. For certificates, the evidence shows positive but modest returns and that these returns may fade out within a few years post-college. For non-completers, there is evidence that earning more credits is associated with higher earnings. Generally, the results establish two main features. First, increments of college lead to higher earnings, but with returns that are heterogeneous by field of study. Second, the evidence is strongly suggestive that returns to college are robust to macroeconomic trends. Additional Figures and Tables are appended. [For the related Research Brief, "Does It Pay to Complete Community College--and How Much? Research Brief," see ED574807.]

Asthma is the leading chronic health condition among children in the United States and a major cause of childhood disability. It also disproportionately affects low-income and racial and ethnic minorities. Although a wide range of interventions have been implemented to improve asthma-related outcomes among socioeconomically disadvantaged and minority children, disparities persist. This paper, which was commissioned by the JPB Foundation and conducted by MDRC in partnership with the National Academy for State Health Policy, standardizes and compares effects from rigorous evaluations across three main types of interventions: those that focus on improving education and self-management, those that focus on addressing remediation of the conditions that trigger asthma in the home environment, and those that focus on improving health care provider practice. While prior reviews have summarized findings for each intervention type, this review systematically compares findings across a range of outcomes and a spectrum of different approaches to addressing childhood asthma, drawing from about 30 independent studies and earlier published reviews. In addition, the paper includes case studies of various local programs and state-level policy initiatives to illuminate current efforts to address childhood asthma in low-income communities and barriers faced in sustaining asthma programs. Key findings include: (1) Providing education on how to manage asthma is fundamental to improving outcomes, but it may not be enough to alleviate disparities in asthma management; (2) Some local programs are clearly bridging informational gaps among low-income families and are helping them maintain a safe home environment for their children with asthma; (3) The health care benefits of interventions that go beyond education are unclear; (4) Barriers to medication management are complex and medication adherence is difficult to influence; and (5) The role of the state, and the Medicaid program in particular, is relevant for the financing and sustainability of asthma programs for low-income children. Although the long-run sustainability of some of the programs highlighted in this report is uncertain, what is clear is that combating the disparities in the prevalence of asthma among different populations will require more than an agreement on standard asthma management practices within the medical community. The following are appended: (1) Methodology for Literature Review; (2) Summaries of Asthma Studies; (3) Detailed Case Studies of Local Asthma Programs; and (4) Detailed State-Based Case Studies. [This working paper was written with Felicia Heider, Carrie Hanlon, and Taylor Kniffin.]

The role of the public school principal has expanded dramatically in recent decades. The expanded role means they are now significant multipliers of effective teaching and have a real opportunity to affect student achievement. Most states have spent recent years working to improve teacher effectiveness, recognizing its importance in improving student outcomes. States have focused considerably less on principals as levers for school improvement, however, research on the importance of school principals in advancing student learning is compelling. Governors have authority over principal preparation programs in their state and are uniquely positioned to address gaps in the systems that influence aspiring and current school leaders at the state and local school district levels. "Promising Practices in Boosting School Leadership Capacity: Principal Academies" explores principal academies--a tool that governors can add to their policy toolkit to augment preparation and training for aspiring and sitting public school principals.

The Great Recession was one of the sharpest economic downturns of the past century, with significant impacts across the U.S. labor market. Over past decades, one key feature of the U.S. labor market has been the high and stable returns to education. In this paper I estimate the returns to education for large samples of young workers in Arkansas over the period before, during, and after the Great Recession. I use linked education and Unemployment Insurance earnings data on almost 1 million individuals within the state. From both cross-sectional and longitudinal analysis, I find very modest effects of the Great Recession on the earnings gaps of workers with different levels of education. Over the period 2001 to 2012, there were large and stable returns to postsecondary education relative to high school completion, and these gaps were largely unaffected by the Great Recession. I do find employment shocks that differ by education level: for persons without a college education, employment shocks were stronger and they persisted beyond the end of the recession. Adjusting for these employment shocks, earnings gaps by education level increased over the period after 2007. I also find evidence that those who graduated from college during the Great Recession gained less than those who graduated before 2007. As with earlier recessions, postsecondary education served as an effective buffer against labor market shocks. The following are appended: (1) Tables; and (2) Figures.

In 2012, five foundations launched the Credit When Its Due (CWID) initiative that was "designed to encourage partnerships of community colleges and universities to significantly expand programs that award associate degrees to transfer students when the student completes the requirements for the associate degree while pursuing a bachelor's degree" (Lumina Foundation, 2012, n.p.), also known as "reverse transfer." Initially, 12 states (Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, and Oregon) were funded to develop and implement these reverse transfer programs and policies, and the Office of Community College Research and Leadership (OCCRL) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign was chosen as the research partner. In late 2013, three states (Georgia, Tennessee, and Texas) were added to bring the total number of states to 15. At least six additional states have legislation, pending legislation, or statewide initiatives related to reverse transfer. This thought paper describes changes that are occurring at the state, system, and institution levels with implementation of reverse transfer in the 12 original states. Using qualitative and quantitative data collected from the CWID Implementation Study, the authors describe efforts related to the optimization of reverse transfer in these 12 states. The authors define optimization as policy and program change at any level--state, system, or institution--that yields the largest number of students who are eligible for and able to benefit from reverse transfer. The initial results suggest that some states are piloting reverse transfer with a limited set of public community college and university partnerships, and others are striving for system-level reforms that eventually may impact all forms of transfer. Understanding what optimization means and how it works is possible because of this variation in implementation approaches among states, and this thought paper explores how states are implementing and optimizing reverse transfer.

The consolidation of schools and districts has been one of the most widespread education reforms of the last century; however, surprisingly little research has directly investigated the effectiveness of consolidation as a reform strategy. We provide new evidence on this topic by taking advantage of a natural experiment in Arkansas that occurred when policymakers required the consolidation of all districts with average daily attendance of fewer than 350 students for two consecutive years. Using both regression discontinuity and instrumental variable models, we attempt to tease out the effects of state mandated consolidation. In general, we find that consolidation has a positive, yet practically insignificant performance impact on students from consolidating districts and a small negative performance impact for students in districts that merged with consolidating districts. School closure, a consolidation related phenomenon, is found to have a strong negative impact on affected students.

While it is generally understood that defined benefit pension systems concentrate benefits on career teachers and impose costs on mobile teachers, there has been very little analysis of the magnitude of these effects. The authors develop a measure of implicit redistribution of pension wealth among teachers at varying ages of separation. Compared to a neutral system, often about half of an entering cohort's net pension wealth is redistributed to teachers who separate in their fifties from those who separate earlier. There is some variation across six state systems. This implies large costs for interstate mobility. Estimates show teachers who split a thirty-year career between two pension plans often lose over half their net pension wealth compared to teachers who complete a career in a single system. Plan options that permit purchases of service years mitigate few or none of these losses. It is difficult to explain these patterns of costs and benefits on efficiency grounds. More likely explanations include the relative influence of senior versus junior educators in interest group politics and a coordination problem between states. (Contains 7 tables, 16 figures, and 40 footnotes.)

Defined Benefit pension plans often generate odd time patterns of benefits. One typical pattern exhibits low accrual in early years, accelerating in mid-late years, followed by dramatic decline, or even negative returns in years that are relatively young for retirement. We consider four states for specific analysis: Arkansas, Missouri, California and Massachusetts. There are interesting variations among these states' formulas, which affect the incentive to retire early. We identify key factors in the defined benefit formulas that drive such patterns and likely consequences for employee behavior. We examine the efficiency and equity consequences of these systems and lessons that might be drawn for pension reform. (Contains 1 table, 2 figures and 18 footnotes.)

This document represents the first of two volumes presented in "Study of the Impact of the Statewide Systemic Initiatives Program" (Norman L. Webb and Iris R. Weiss). In an effort to evaluate the impact of the Statewide Systemic Initiatives (SSIs) on student achievement and the lessons that could be learned from the National Science Foundation's effort to reform mathematics and science education on a statewide basis, research studies identified the technical strategies, the political strategies, and the interactions with funders that were critical factors in the attempt to effect significant change in student learning over large populations. Documents were received on 21 of the 26 SSIs. More intensive data were collected via telephone interviews of key personnel in seven of these states and during site visits in six other states. Among a number of lessons learned were the following: It was vital to incorporate enough flexibility within the design so that information produced by research, evaluation, and monitoring could be effectively used (technical lesson); the creation of partnerships with policy organizations significantly advanced policy work (political lesson); and, SSI leaders and funders needed to develop a shared, in-depth understanding of the reform strategies as these fit the local context (interaction with funders). The following are appended: (1) SRI International Evaluation Reports; (2) Abt Associates Inc. Monitoring Reports; (3) Coding Scheme: Chronology and Components; (4) Coding Scheme: Strategic Planning, Decision-Making, and Thinking; (5) Coding Scheme: Key Challenges; (6) Interview Protocol for Telephone Interviews and Site Visits; (7) Case Report: Arkansas Statewide Systemic Initiative; (8) Case Report: Maine Statewide Systemic Initiative; (9) Case Report: Michigan Statewide Systemic Initiative; (10) Case Report: Nebraska Statewide Systemic Initiative; (11) Case Report: Puerto Rico Statewide Systemic Initiative; and (12) Case Report: Vermont Statewide Systemic Initiative. [For Volume II of this report, see ED497577.]

Of the nearly 100 different types of high school diplomas that are awarded across all fifty states and the District of Columbia, less than half prepare students for success in college and career. And while the national high school graduation rate is at an all-time high, the rate at which students earn these college- and career-ready (CCR) diplomas is substantially lower, especially among students from low-income families, students of color, and other traditionally underserved students. "Paper Thin? Why All High School Diplomas Are Not Created Equal" provides a state-by-state analysis of the different types of diplomas that states awarded to the Class of 2014 and the impact on traditionally underserved students. [Robyn Harper, Francisco Jaimes, Liz Spurgeon, and Sean Bradley contributed to this report.]

This paper examines evidence from a performance-pay program implemented in five Little Rock, Arkansas elementary schools between 2004 and 2007. Using a differences-in-differences approach, the evidence shows that students whose teachers were eligible for performance pay made substantially larger test score gains in math, reading, and language than students taught by untreated teachers. Further, these is a negative relationship between the average performance of a teacher's students the year before treatment began and the additional gains made after treatment. That is, performance-pay in Little Rock appears to have improved student achievement and to have done so more for students of teachers who were previously less effective at producing learning gains. (Contains 5 tables and 4 footnotes.) [This working paper was prepared for "Performance Incentives: Their Growing Impact on American K-12 Education" in Nashville, Tennessee on February 28, 2008.]

In this paper, we present an analysis of the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System (ATRS) pension plan and an empirical investigation of the behavioral response to that plan, as well as to a possible reform plan. We begin by describing the plan parameters and discussing the incentives these parameters create. We then estimate the effect of pension wealth accrual on teacher separation decisions using a new longitudinal dataset of Arkansas teachers. The resulting coefficients are subsequently used to compare predicted separation probabilities under the current parameter regime versus a constant accrual retirement plan. We find evidence that teachers' retirement decisions are sensitive to pension wealth accrual. Our simulations suggest that a constant accrual plan could notably smooth the pattern of retirement behavior from that currently observed. (Contains 2 tables, 16 figures, and 22 footnotes.)

Defined Benefit pension plans often generate odd time patterns of benefits. One typical pattern exhibits low accrual in early years, accelerating in mid-late years, followed by dramatic decline, or even negative returns in years that are relatively young for retirement. We consider four states for specific analysis: Arkansas, Missouri, California and Massachusetts. There are interesting variations among these states' formulas, which affect the incentive to retire early. We identify key factors in the defined benefit formulas that drive such patterns and likely consequences for employee behavior. We examine the efficiency and equity consequences of these systems and lessons that might be drawn for pension reform. (Contains 1 table, 8 figures and 18 footnotes.) [A previous version of this paper was presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Education Finance Association in Baltimore, Maryland.]

Recommendations of six state reports that addressed issues confronting state governments and public higher education in the last 2 decades, as well as some new issues, are considered using content analysis. The reports were prepared by formal study commissions in the following states: Arkansas, Colorado, Maine, Michigan, Nebraska, and New York. In addition to briefly reviewing related literature, the recommendations are categorized, and new trends in the relationship between the state and higher education are identified. The potential impact of the recommendations on flagship universities are also assessed. The 301 recommendations are grouped into 18 categories, of which those most represented in the reports are: program review, finances, governance, size and scope, and economic development. For each of the 18 categories, tables indicate the frequency of the recommendations found in the six reports, and the distribution of the categories by state. The following conclusions are offered: many of the issues affecting statewide governance have persisted over time; new issues are found; both increased centralization and decentralization are recommended; flagship universities are likely to benefit from recommendations aimed at differentiation; and governors are becoming more active in higher education issues. Four pages of references are included. (SW)

This paper investigates how accountability pressures under No Child Left Behind (NCLB) may affect children's rate of overweight. Schools facing increased pressures to produce academic outcomes may reallocate their efforts in ways that have unintended consequences for children's health. For example, schools may cut back on recess and physical education in favor of increasing time on tested subjects. To examine the impact of school accountability programs, we create a unique panel data set of schools in Arkansas that allows us to test the impact of NCLB rules on students' weight outcomes. Our main approach is to consider schools to be facing increased pressures if they are on the margin of passing--that is, if any subgroup at the school has a passing rate that is close to the AYP passing threshold, where we define close as being 5 percentage points above or below the threshold. We find evidence of small effects of accountability pressures on the percent of students at a school that are overweight. A follow-up survey of school principals points to reductions in physical activity and worsening of the food environment as potential mechanisms.

The background, career and educational aspirations, and attitudes of 148 female freshmen in the Arkansas Ozarks were studied to determine reasons for underachievement and lack of commitment among females of this region. Comparisons were also made to responses of 54 male students. All respondents were residents of 29 hill counties and attended either two- or four-year institutions. Attention was directed to: attitudes toward success, families, and working women; family and extra-family support; comparison of parents' education and careers and the students' plans; desired size of community or current hometown; mobility; career choice (traditional/nontraditional); multiple role expectations; expected participation in activities; and salary expectations. Comparisons to findings from the literature and implications of the study findings for career education in Arkansas are examined, along with results of administering the Bem Sex Role Inventory. Generally, respondents desired careers that required more education and paid higher salaries than their parents achieved. Many of the female students desired a nontraditional career and were willing to relocate. Appendices include statistical tables and a questionnaire. (SW)

Reports on a survey of picture policies of Arkansas newspaper editors. (HOD)

This phenomenological study of school consolidation is an investigation of how education policy that dictates the reorganization of schools and districts impacts educational choices, learning environments, and school culture. Although quality studies of optimal school size for promoting student achievement and cutting costs have emerged in the consolidation literature, few rigorous studies exist that investigate the affective costs and benefits of school consolidation policies. We present the findings from twenty-five interviews in four Arkansas school districts with students, teachers, and administrators who moved as a result of district consolidation, as well as those who were already in receiving schools. In addition to evidence verifying and throwing into doubt arguments in the existing literature both supporting and opposing consolidation, we report evidence of three new themes: 1) those moving schools and in receiving schools have different experiences, with those moving much more affected; 2) adults and children are affected differently, with children much more adaptable; and 3) some promising consolidation strategies to mitigate the problems of consolidation have begun to emerge. (Contains 2 tables.)

Interest in single-sex classes continues to grow in the United States, but there has been little research at the elementary level in this country or elsewhere to help guide educators' decision-making about the overall value of single-sex classes in public schools and the specific value of single-sex classes in public schools for increasing boy's reading achievement. The major purpose of our study was to find out if single-sex classes in two public elementary schools in Arkansas, one in grade 5 and the other in grade 6, seemed to make a difference in boys' reading achievement in the 2008-2009 year, as judged by scores on annual state assessments. That is, did boys in an all-boys' class do better than, the same as, or worse than comparable boys in a mixed class? We were interested in whether boys' literacy scores significantly improved in a single-sex class because of the large and growing gap in reading (and writing) achievement between boys and girls by the high school years. The single-sex classes in the two elementary schools for which we had state assessment data showed differing results. In one school, boys in the boys' class gained significantly more in Literacy than boys in the mixed class. In the other school, boys in the boys' class did not gain significantly more or less than boys in the mixed class in Literacy, but they did gain significantly less than the boys in the mixed class on the Reading test from a nationally normed test that the school also gives. As we also found, girls did not gain significantly more in Mathematics in a girls' class than in a mixed class in either school, but they did not gain significantly less. However, the trends in gain scores for boys and girls in Literacy and in Mathematics tended to favor the single-sex classes. There does not seem to be an academic downside in experimenting with single-sex classes so far as is suggested by test results in these two elementary schools. Boys' and Girls' Scores in Mathematics are appended. (Contains 18 tables and 4 footnotes.)

This study investigates why teachers, identified by their school principal as being leaders or having leadership potential, chose not to become school principals. At a time in which the literature is reporting a shortage of qualified applicants for school administrative positions the identified reasons most cited by teacher leaders include testing/accountability pressures too great, job generally too stressful, too much time required, and societal problems make it difficult to focus on instruction. The key factors for teacher leaders choosing not to pursue a career in school administration are categorized as stress and time demands are too great. (Contains 5 tables.)

In 2010, unprecedented levels of resources began to flow through state education agencies (SEAs) to support dramatic change in persistently low-performing schools under the expanded federal School Improvement Grant (SIG) program. The challenge for states is to leverage the federal investment to drive dramatic and sustainable change efforts in low-performing schools in a coherent manner that does not simultaneously undermine established support networks designed to benefit all schools. Driven by the broader goal of culling lessons related to states playing a substantive role in dramatic school-improvement efforts, this monograph and practice guide examines the early implementation of the revised SIG program in select states (AL, AK, ID, IL, LA, MI, MT, OK, and VA) to identify: (1) how states are integrating the expanded grant program into existing school improvement efforts; and (2) emerging lessons for states interested in fully leveraging their roles to drive turnaround efforts relevant to the future rounds of SIG awards. The monograph examines nine states' initial approaches to supporting dramatic school improvement initiatives by strategically allocating state resources, building district and school capacity to support change, and monitoring districts' turnaround efforts. Three appendices provide supplemental tables and the data collection instrument. A list of references and resources is included.

What happens when teams from 57 cities building afterschool systems gather to discuss two key system responsibilities--improving afterschool programs and using data for informed decision-making? Lots of rich discussion. This report covers a national afterschool conference held in February 2013. It details what mayors, program providers, system leaders, researchers and others had to say on matters ranging from how to measure afterschool performance to how to boost program quality. [This conference was organized by: American Youth Policy Forum, The Collaborative for Building After School Systems, The Forum for Youth Investment, the National League of Cities Institute for Youth, Education & Families, and the Wallace Foundation.]

The number of days available to plant rice in Arkansas during the planting season depends on spring weather conditions every year. This paper examines the number of acres planted per fieldwork day in Arkansas, the number of fieldwork days available for planting the entire rice crop in Arkansas, and the historical distribution of suitable fieldwork days per week for the optimal rice planting window in Arkansas using Arkansas Crop Progress and Condition Report data from 1981 to 2022. The average maximum acres planted per suitable fieldwork day for the Arkansas rice crop is 58,926 acres, and the average minimum number of suitable fieldwork days required to plant the entire Arkansas rice crop is 23 days. The average number of fieldwork days per week for Arkansas's optimum rice planting window (late March through the third week of May) is 4.5 days per week. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]