{"title":"What Have Researchers Learned from Project STAR?","authors":"D. Schanzenbach","doi":"10.1353/PEP.2007.0007","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/PEP.2007.0007","url":null,"abstract":"Project STAR was a large-scale randomized trial of reduced class sizes in grades K-3. Because of the scope of the experiment, it has been used in many policy discussions. For example, the California state-wide Class Size Reduction was justified in part on the successes of Project STAR. Recent (failed) proposals for Federal assistance for class size reductions in the Senate were motivated by Project STAR research. Even the recent discussion of small schools often conflates the notion of small schools and smaller classrooms. Because of the importance of Project STAR, it has been studied by many scholars looking at a wide variety of outcomes and even exploiting the randomization using its variation to understand variations in inputsother aspects of the education production function that do not directly relate to class size. This paper provides an overview of the academic literature using the Project STAR experiment.","PeriodicalId":9272,"journal":{"name":"Brookings Papers on Education Policy","volume":"27 1","pages":"205 - 228"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2006-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"86816856","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Reid Lyon, S. Shaywitz, B. Shaywitz, Vinita Chhabra
{"title":"Evidence-Based Reading Policy in the United States: How Scientific Research Informs Instructional Practices","authors":"Reid Lyon, S. Shaywitz, B. Shaywitz, Vinita Chhabra","doi":"10.1353/PEP.2005.0009","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/PEP.2005.0009","url":null,"abstract":"Over the past decade the root of certain education policies in the United States has shifted from philosophical and ideological foundations to the application of converging scientific evidence to forge policy directions and initiatives. This has been particularly the case for early (kindergarten through third grade) reading instructional policies and practices. The use of scientific evidence rather than subjective impressions to guide education policy represents a dramatic shift in thinking about education. Some education policy initiatives in the United States now reflect a reliance on findings from rigorous scientific research rather than opinion, ideology, fads, and political interests.1 Advances in brain imaging technology now make it possible to provide evidence of the impact of scientifically informed reading instruction on brain organization for reading.","PeriodicalId":9272,"journal":{"name":"Brookings Papers on Education Policy","volume":"289 1","pages":"209 - 250"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2005-02-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"79432421","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Education Reform and Content: The Long View","authors":"E. Hirsch","doi":"10.1353/PEP.2005.0005","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/PEP.2005.0005","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":9272,"journal":{"name":"Brookings Papers on Education Policy","volume":"32 1","pages":"175 - 207"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2005-02-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"81696762","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"School Choice: How an Abstract Idea Became a Political Reality","authors":"J. Viteritti","doi":"10.1353/PEP.2005.0011","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/PEP.2005.0011","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":9272,"journal":{"name":"Brookings Papers on Education Policy","volume":"2 1","pages":"137 - 173"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2005-02-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"83233840","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Comments","authors":"R. Boruch, M. Vinovskis","doi":"10.1353/pep.2005.0003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/pep.2005.0003","url":null,"abstract":"Recent dissatisfaction with public education in the United States has been matched by dismay with the current state of education research. A common complaint is that education research is good at description and hypothesis generation but not at answering causal questions about the effects of education policies on student outcomes.1 In this vein, many policymakers have expressed frustration that, as Ellen Condliffe Lagemann has noted, “education research has not yielded dramatic improvements in practice of the kind one can point to in medicine.”2 Such dissatisfaction has contributed to a number of recent federal policy changes intended to improve the quality of research in education, including the creation of a new Institute of Education Sciences (IES) to support increased experimentation within education and an emphasis on the use of teaching methods supported by “scientifically-based research” in the 2001 No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). In this paper we consider the possible effects of these recent changes on the state of education research. We focus on what might be termed program or policy evaluation—research that aims to support causal inferences about the efficacy of specific educational programs or policies. Examples include studies that examine whether smaller class size improves student achievement, whether a particular reading curriculum leads to increased reading comprehension, and whether “pull-out” programs are more effective than “push-in” programs for students with learning disabilities. It is important to note that a great deal of research in education does not aim to answer these types of questions but rather","PeriodicalId":9272,"journal":{"name":"Brookings Papers on Education Policy","volume":"27 1","pages":"67 - 80"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2005-02-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"81244175","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Can the Federal Government Improve Education Research?","authors":"B. Jacob, J. Ludwig","doi":"10.1353/PEP.2005.0006","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/PEP.2005.0006","url":null,"abstract":"Recent dissatisfaction with public education in the United States has been matched by dismay with the current state of education research. A common complaint is that education research is good at description and hypothesis generation but not at answering causal questions about the effects of education policies on student outcomes.1 In this vein, many policymakers have expressed frustration that, as Ellen Condliffe Lagemann has noted, “education research has not yielded dramatic improvements in practice of the kind one can point to in medicine.”2 Such dissatisfaction has contributed to a number of recent federal policy changes intended to improve the quality of research in education, including the creation of a new Institute of Education Sciences (IES) to support increased experimentation within education and an emphasis on the use of teaching methods supported by “scientifically-based research” in the 2001 No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). In this paper we consider the possible effects of these recent changes on the state of education research. We focus on what might be termed program or policy evaluation—research that aims to support causal inferences about the efficacy of specific educational programs or policies. Examples include studies that examine whether smaller class size improves student achievement, whether a particular reading curriculum leads to increased reading comprehension, and whether “pull-out” programs are more effective than “push-in” programs for students with learning disabilities. It is important to note that a great deal of research in education does not aim to answer these types of questions but rather","PeriodicalId":9272,"journal":{"name":"Brookings Papers on Education Policy","volume":"73 1","pages":"47 - 87"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2005-02-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"86329770","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Realizing the Promise of Brand-Name Schools","authors":"S. F. Wilson","doi":"10.1353/PEP.2005.0013","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/PEP.2005.0013","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":9272,"journal":{"name":"Brookings Papers on Education Policy","volume":"39 1","pages":"135 - 89"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2005-02-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"90491239","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Test-Based Accountability: The Promise and the Perils","authors":"Tom Loveless","doi":"10.1353/PEP.2005.0008","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/PEP.2005.0008","url":null,"abstract":"Reform movements in American education are based on theories of social change. The standards and accountability movement is based on the theory that a sequence of three activities will improve education: first, defining what students should learn (setting standards); second, testing to see what students have learned (measuring achievement); third, making the results count (holding educators and students accountable). Most analysts date the standards and accountability movement to the early 1990s, when states began establishing standards in academic subjects. States then instituted testing programs and implemented incentives for schools and students based on pupil test scores. The systems are mature enough to have produced some preliminary results. What is known so far about the effects of accountability systems on student achievement? Do they work? Are there any unintended consequences? In general, evaluations of accountability systems have been quite positive. In raising student achievement, states that have implemented such systems are outperforming states that have not done so. Although the potential for serious unintended consequences cannot be ruled out, the harms documented to date appear temporary and malleable. Promising results, however, do not guarantee the longevity of an education reform.1 Various threats to accountability exist, in particular, the political perils that state systems face when policies are implemented. What do these threats portend for the future of test-based accountability in the United States? That question is especially relevant today as the No Child Left Behind Act, the landmark legislation that federalized what had been primarily a state and local","PeriodicalId":9272,"journal":{"name":"Brookings Papers on Education Policy","volume":"4 1","pages":"45 - 7"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2005-02-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"81384788","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Comments","authors":"Henry M. Levin, J. Mathews","doi":"10.1353/pep.2005.0007","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/pep.2005.0007","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":9272,"journal":{"name":"Brookings Papers on Education Policy","volume":"94 1","pages":"126 - 132"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2005-02-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"76427387","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Comments","authors":"Robert M. Costrell, Larry Cuban","doi":"10.1353/pep.2005.0004","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/pep.2005.0004","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":9272,"journal":{"name":"Brookings Papers on Education Policy","volume":"33 1","pages":"27 - 41"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2005-02-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"90315727","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}