Research: Using Resources to Support Student Achievement
Educational research—an arm of social sciences—is inexact; few education studies would be labeled ‘gold standard.’ The highest quality or ”gold standard” study would require that we clone a student into student A and student B so that both students are exactly the same in all respects. Student A receives a treatment, say a particular reading program, while student B doesn’t receive this treatment. The effect of the treatment can then be gauged by comparing the reading achievement of students A and B after the treatment. If student A is reading at a higher level than student B, we then conclude that the treatment is linked to higher student achievement. Of course, since we cannot really clone a person there’s an inherent challenge in conducting this type of research in education.
Despite the challenges of education research, many highly regarded experiment-like studies have been conducted. From this research an overwhelming consensus has emerged that what matters most to student achievement is the teacher who stands in front of the classroom. Below is a summary of current research on education practices and policies and on student achievement should you wish to delve more deeply into these topics.
In some circumstances, smaller class size has been linked to increases in student achievement. The circumstances were as follows:
· Class size was reduced below 13-17;
· Students tested were between the grades of K through 3; and
· Low-income and minority students had more gains.
Class Size: Counting Students Can Count (PDF); The Class Size Debate (PDF)
Nonetheless, these results have been questioned. Indeed, some later studies found no effect of smaller class size on student achievement.
Additionally, class-size reduction is expensive and often difficult to implement (hiring large numbers of high quality teachers may be difficult).
CROWD Control: An international look at the relationship between class size and student achievement (PDF); What RESEARCH says about SMALL CLASSES & their effects (PDF)
A recent paper from the Brookings Institution discusses the link between curriculum and other student supports and student academic gains: Don’t Forget Curriculum (PDF)
Note: All references are to documents housed on external websites. The links to these websites were current as at February 9, 2010)
Research: Using Resources to Support Student Achievement
Educational research—an arm of social sciences—is inexact; few education studies would be labeled ‘gold standard.’ The highest quality or ”gold standard” study would require that we clone a student into student A and student B so that both students are exactly the same in all respects. Student A receives a treatment, say a particular reading program, while student B doesn’t receive this treatment. The effect of the treatment can then be gauged by comparing the reading achievement of students A and B after the treatment. If student A is reading at a higher level than student B, we then conclude that the treatment is linked to higher student achievement. Of course, since we cannot really clone a person there’s an inherent challenge in conducting this type of research in education.
Despite the challenges of education research, many highly regarded experiment-like studies have been conducted. From this research an overwhelming consensus has emerged that what matters most to student achievement is the teacher who stands in front of the classroom. Below is a summary of current research on education practices and policies and on student achievement should you wish to delve more deeply into these topics.
In some circumstances, smaller class size has been linked to increases in student achievement. The circumstances were as follows:
· Class size was reduced below 13-17;
· Students tested were between the grades of K through 3; and
· Low-income and minority students had more gains.
Class Size: Counting Students Can Count (PDF); The Class Size Debate (PDF)
Nonetheless, these results have been questioned. Indeed, some later studies found no effect of smaller class size on student achievement.
Additionally, class-size reduction is expensive and often difficult to implement (hiring large numbers of high quality teachers may be difficult).
CROWD Control: An international look at the relationship between class size and student achievement (PDF); What RESEARCH says about SMALL CLASSES & their effects (PDF)
A recent paper from the Brookings Institution discusses the link between curriculum and other student supports and student academic gains: Don’t Forget Curriculum (PDF)
Note: All references are to documents housed on external websites. The links to these websites were current as at February 9, 2010)