CTU's Quest Center conducts research on issues important to our members and to all public education advocates. Below, find research summaries on topics of interest to you.
CTU's researchers have developed Position Papers on the topics listed below. Please click the link to read each.
High-stakes Testing
Teacher Evaluation
Instructional Time
Merit Pay
The following research topics and articles are intended to be used by CTU members to examine current issues in education and to become familiar with current authors and publications. This is not meant to be the definitive statement or position on an issue. Any suggestions for topics or articles to be included should be sent to CarolCaref@ctulocal1.com.
Topic: The Impact of Poverty on Education
1. Poverty Issues Get Short Shrift in Today’s Education Debate by G. Bracey
Short article by Gerald Bracey cites some of the problems associated with poverty such as lack of pre-natal care and stunted growth which have consequences in education. He states that this is not news, but a problem that is persistent.
http://nepc/colorado.edu/files/cerai-00-04.htm
2. Poverty & Potential: Out-of-school Factors and School Success by David Berliner
Long and excellent article focusing on seven out-of-school factors that have a major impact on education. The author’s focus on these factors is to emphasize that the “achievement gap” will only be narrowed when these factors are addressed. The seven factors are birth weight, medical care, food insecurity, pollutants, family relations & stress, neighborhood norms and extended learning opportunities.
http://epicpolicy.org/publication/poverty-and-potential brief and download full article
3. Class and Schools by Richard Rothstein
In this book the author establishes how economic conditions impact education and he also addresses some current arguments in Chapter 2 - Schools that “beat the demographic odds”. Other chapters are about testing, cognitive skills, non-cognitive skill and reforms that could help.
Summary of the book at www.epi.org/publications/books_class_and_school/
4. PISA: It’s Poverty Not Stupid
The 2009 PISA test results showed the U.S. ranking 14th among the nations tested, but test results also show a direct correlation between poverty and test scores. Schools in the U.S. with less than a 10% poverty rate had a PISA score of 551 which would rank it first among countries with similar poverty rates. The author comments that Sec. of Education Arne Duncan,“ doesn’t trust us enough to tell us the truth.”
http://nasspblogs.org/principaldifference/2010/12/pisa_its_poverty_not_stupid_1.html
Topic: Corporate Reform of Education
1. Got Dough? How Billionaires Rule Our Schools by Joanne Barkan
A must read article for anyone who has wondered where all these “reforms” are coming from. The author identifies the Big Three: Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation, and the Walton Family Foundation. These foundations are spending millions to change education on their terms which include charter schools, high stakes testing, merit pay for teachers, firing teachers, closing schools and data collection on teachers and students. The article address three issues: how the foundations operate on the ground, how they leverage their money into controlling public policy and how they control consensus.
http://www.dissentmagazine.org/article/?article=3781
2. The Gates' Foundation and the Future of U.S. Public Education: A Call for Scholars to Counter Misinformation Campaigns by Philip E. Kovacs, H.K. Christie
In a response to the increasing influence of corporations on education, the authors focus on four organizations which receive millions from the Gates Foundation to influence/control/direct educational policy in the U.S. The four are Education Trust, Education Sector, Aspen Institute’s Commission on NCLB and Ed. in 08/Strong American Schools. The authors believe that when corporate leaders shape government institutions there is a move away from democracy and towards corporatism. They state, “In a democratic school system, parents, students, teachers, academics and business leaders would participate in curricular decisions. Corporatism, on the other hand, requires citizen obedience to corporate demands; individual needs are ignored.”
http://www.jceps.com/index.php?pageID=article&articleID=128
3. The Impact of Advocacy Funding on the School Choice Debate by Wendy C. Chi
A close look at the funding behind the school choice debate reveals that there is a small group of philanthropists funding the arguments for school choice. They are contributing considerably more money than those groups opposing school choice (AFT & NEA). The authors argue that since the funding is so unequal that the issue could be decided by money and not by objective studies. Data should be gathered and evaluated using traditional academic standards which is not necessarily what is being used by many foundations and think tanks. The author concludes that everyone involved in education should “follow the money” to learn where information is coming from and to become familiar with sources of bias in research. She also emphasizes the value of peer review and the significance of the absence of peer review in some advocacy research. A lengthy Works Cited is included.
http://nepc.colorado.edu/files/CHOICE-03-Chi-FINAL_EG0428082.pdf
4. Gates and Broad Foundation
Seattle Education is a news and commentary blog focused on Seattle and is committed to an informed public discussion on education. In trying to understand what was happening in Seattle, the authors were drawn into the national discussion and to an understanding of the influence of the Gates and Broad foundations. The following articles focus on the Gates and Broad foundations and what they are doing in Seattle. Follow the money is the key to understanding where initiatives are coming from, who is implementing them and anticipating what may be next.
http://seattleducation2010.wordpress.com/race-to-the-top/the-broad-foundation/
http://seattleducation2010.wordpress.com/race-to-the-top/bill-gates-and-the-gates-foundation/
Topic: Impact of Class Size
1. Reducing Class Size What Do We Know?
Research completed by the U.S. government in 1999 on the impact of class size. The article’s conclusion is that students achieve best when in classes of 15-20 and the greatest impact of this is in grades 1–4 (for grades 5-12 the evidence is not as convincing). The article cites major studies mostly completed in the 80’s and 90’s. Some of the improvements are: improved classroom atmosphere, students receive more individual attention, teacher has more flexibility for differentiation, more time for parents, fewer students to distract each other, reduced noise level, students more engaged. As a result of smaller class sizes, test scores also increased.
http://ed.gov/pubs/ReducingClass/title.html
http://ed.gov/pubs/ReducingClass/Class_size.html
2. Class Size from Education Week Dec. 1, 2011
Article includes a short history of the class size issue in the last ten years with an emphasis on funding and state laws. In a follow up report on the Tennessee STAR project, students continued to reap the benefits of smaller class size in the early grades as they continued on. This was particularly true for poor and black students. The article closes with the observation that the Obama/Duncan school of thought is to increase the school day rather than decrease class size. The article includes a current list of works cited.
http://www.edweek.org/ew/issues/class-size/
3. The Effect of Attending a Small Class in the Early Grades on College Test Taking and Middle School Test Results: Evidence from Project STAR by Alan Krueger and Diane Whitmore
This working paper is a follow-up to the Tennessee STAR project which lasted from 1985-89 and began with kindergarten. 11,000 students were randomly assigned classrooms which were either smaller class size, regular class size or regular with a teacher aide. At third grade all students returned to standard classrooms. The authors looked at past attendance in a small class and standardized test scores in elementary schools, if the students took the SAT/ACT and what those scores were. The results indicate that attendance in a smaller class size leads to somewhat higher standardized test scores, and an increased likelihood of taking the SAT/ACT, especially among minority students. “Most significantly, being assigned to a small class appears to have narrowed the black-white gap in college test-taking by 54%.” This is an academic study which includes many charts and shows why and how they draw their conclusions.
http://www.irs.princeton.edu/pubs/pdfs/427.pdf
4. Class Size: Counting Students Can Count from Essential Information on Education Policy Vol. 1, Issue 2 Fall 2003
Article reviews the Tennessee STAR project and the Wisconsin SAGE projects and concludes that reducing class size leads to greater student achievement, especially with minority students. Ideally students should experience class sizes of 13-17 in the early grades. This can shrink the achievement gap, reduce grade retention, fewer disciplinary actions, less dropping out and more students taking college entrance exams. In their conclusion, the authors state clearly that smaller class size has many benefits but then they caution that it is expensive and this cost should be considered.
http://nepc.colorado.edu/files/SAGE-0308-16-SRP[1].pdf
5. Benefits of Small Class Size by American Federation of Teachers Issue Brief, Nov. 2003
Outlines the reasons the AFT supports smaller class sizes.
http://www.bvsd.org/schools/Columbine/Ourschool/School%20Brochures/Class%20Size%20Brief.pdf
