Research Papers

 Guidance for Spanish Language Arts in Dual Language

By the Mid-Atlantic Equity Assistance Center and the District of Columbia Public Schools' Office of Bilingual Education

September 2011

Until now, little cohesive documentation has been available for schools with dual language and Spanish immersion programs to guide Spanish language arts curriculum and instruction. The resource, Normas para la enseñanza de las artes del lenguaje en español para programas de inmersión doble, addresses this need. “This tool fills an important gap for dual language programs to help them meet goals for high academic achievement for all students,” declared Charlene Rivera, Executive Director of The George Washington University Center for Equity and Excellence in Education (GW-CEEE). As many states move toward adopting the Common Core Standards for English language arts, this tool can help dual language programs ensure that students are prepared to meet standards for Spanish that meaningfully correspond with those for English.

Carried out as a joint project of the Mid-Atlantic Equity Center at GW-CEEE and the District of Columbia Public Schools’ (DCPS) Office of Bilingual Education, the Normas are aligned to the Common Core Standards. They take into account the linguistic differences between the Spanish and English languages, and the methodological differences in Spanish and English literacy instruction and traditional Spanish literacy learning expectations. Most importantly, they delineate expectations for Spanish literacy development.

 


 The Public School Enrollment and Segregation of the Mid-Atlantic States

By Erica Frankenberg

May 2011
The Public School Enrollment and Segregation of the Mid-Atlantic States by Erica Frankenberg (2010) prepared for the Mid-Atlantic Equity Center provides a descriptive analysis of the composition and segregation of schools in the mid-Atlantic region. Nationally, public school enrollment is undergoing dramatic racial change: soon, the nation’s public schools will enroll a majority of non-White students. As the nation’s enrollment grows more diverse and complex, however, segregation is on the rise. This paper explores the composition and segregation of schools in the mid-Atlantic region from an annual dataset collected by the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics and compares data drawn from the 1990-91, 2000-01, and 2007-08 This paper examines racial and enrollment changes in the region over time and explores the overlap of racial and economic segregation.  
The paper first describes the racial and economic characteristics of students in schools and districts in the mid-Atlantic region. It also examines racial and enrollment change in the region over time. It next analyzes the extent of student segregation using several common segregation measures, first examining racial segregation and then economic segregation. The overlap of racial and economic segregation is also explored.  
Overall as a region, the mid-Atlantic states have a disproportionately higher percentage of White students than the public school enrollment in the nation as a whole. It is home to a state with an extremely high percentage of White students, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia, which has the lowest share of White students among all states in the nation.  Further, in contrast to the nation overall, the major non-White diversity remains Black students—a group which, in fact, in the mid-Atlantic region is increasing at a higher rate than the entire nation. By contrast, while Latinos have become the second largest group of students in the nation’s public schools (21%), in the mid-Atlantic region, less than 8% of students are Latino, and the region’s growth in the percentage of Latino students 1990 to 2007 has lagged behind the nation.
About the Author
Erica Frankenberg is an assistant professor in the Department of Education Policy Studies in the College of Education at the Pennsylvania State University. Her research interests focus on racial desegregation and inequality in K-12 schools, and the connections between school segregation and other metropolitan policies. 

Summer Reading, Summer Not:  How Project READS (Reading Enhances Achievement During Summer) Can Advance Equity

James S. Kim

June 2010

Numerous studies indicate that the achievement gap in reading between low-income and middle-income children widens during the summer months when schools are not in session.  In his recent work, James S. Kim, assistant professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, details how summer reading loss can be addressed through scaffolded interventions in the elementary grades.  In this paper, Professor Kim describes the key components of Project READS--as scaffolded voluntary summer reading program for children in grades 3 through 5.  He discusses the latest research on summer reading loss and explains which interventions have shown effectiveness in reversing the reading achievement gap.  The paper includes a checklist to guide districts and schools interested in implementing a scaffolded summer reading intervention.  It also includes tools and resources for developing a summer reading program based on Project READS.  This is a must read for any teacher or administrator interested in promoting equity and reading achievement in their school or district.

To download a copy of this paper click here.

Summer Reading, Summer Not Webinar
You may also view the archived webinar of Summer Reading, Summer Not by clicking the following link: http://ceee.gwu.na4.acrobat.com/p78922013/

Managing Contracts for Educational Equity: Emerging Trends and Issues

Patricia Burch

June 2010

In Managing Contracts for Educational Equity: Emerging Trends and Issues, Dr. Patricia Burch, visiting professor of K-12 Education Policy at the University of Southern California’s Rossier School of Education, explores how private markets influence the day-to-day governance and administration of public schools and how school districts can manage external contracts to promote equity. In many school districts private firms are being contracted to provide core instructional services such as tutoring, curriculum, test preparation, and professional development. As these private firms make billions of dollars from these contracts, they remain outside the purview of current accountability schemes, and there are no safeguards in place to ensure equity for minority students, economically disadvantaged students, and English language learner populations. This paper describes current developments underway in the private market for K-12 services and identifies strategies that school districts can use to structure relationships with private providers. 

To download a copy of this paper click here.

 

Contracting for Educational Equity Webinar
You may also view the archived webinar of Managing Contracts for Educational Equity by clicking the following link: https://admin.na4.acrobat.com/_a836069207/p23033241/

 

Beyond the Indicators: An Integrated School-Level Approach to Dropout Prevention

Martha Able Mac Iver and Douglas J. Mac Iver.

Beyond the Indicators (August 2009) provides an integrated framework that schools and districts can use to build a foundation to prevent students from dropping out. Based on a tiered public health model, this framework provides universal and schoolwide practices designed to produce high attendance, positive behavior, and successful academic achievement for the majority of students. It includes implementing early warning systems that identify students at risk of dropping out, and tiered interventions to insure that struggling students stay on track to graduate.
 
This report summarizes the research on why students drop out of school, explains the research implications for how to create an integrated dropout prevention strategy, and highlights an innovative pilot project that yielded results in a matter of months—a how-to example that works.
 
Authors:
 
Martha Abele Mac Iver, research scientist at the Johns Hopkins University Everyone Graduates Center, is a political scientist who studies the effectiveness of school and district educational interventions designed to improve student achievement. She is currently leading a research initiative in Colorado aimed at curbing the dropout rate.
 
Douglas J. Mac Iver, principal research scientist at the Johns Hopkins University Everyone Graduates Center, studies how to change classrooms, schools, and districts in ways that make them more effective in promoting student learning and engagement. He is part of a research and development team that created the Talent Development Middle Grades Model, a whole-school reform model.

Click here to view or download the Report

 

Additional Resources on Dropout Prevention:

Webinar: Beyond the Indicators Webinar
Ask the Expert (Q&A): Beyond the Indicators Q&A
Powerpoint: Beyond the Indicators Powerpoint
Audio: Beyond_the_Indicators.mp3
 

Index of Research:

  • The Public School Enrollment and Segregation of the Mid-Atlantic States
  • Summer Reading, Summer Not: How Project READS (Reading Enhances Achievement During Summer) Can Advance Equity
  • Managing Contracts for Educational Equity: Emerging Trends and Issues
  • Contracting for Educational Equity Webinar
  • Beyond the Indicators: An Integrated School-Level Approach to Dropout Prevention