Stay abreast of the latest in education research.
- The Educational Trajectories of English Language Learners in Texas (PDF). Migration Policy Institute. (March 2012). This study looked at how Texas schools, where there are about 832,000 English language learners (ELLs), have served this population. Researchers found that students who complete an ELL program in three years were more successful than their peers who don't. Students who don't complete these courses in a timely manner have less education success.
- Enrollment in Postsecondary Institutions, Fall 2010; Financial Statistics, Fiscal Year 2010; and Graduation Rates, Selected Cohorts, 2002–07 (PDF). National Center for Educational Statistics. (March 2012). This article shows that throughout the United States, college enrollment is rising. Although the rate of enrollment does not match previous rates, enrollment rose more than 7 percent between 2008 and 2009. Many students are enrolling in for-profit institutions.
- Learning from Charter School Management Organizations: Strategies for Student Behavior and Teacher Coaching. Center on Reinventing Public Education. (March 2012). After a four-year study, this research looks at what practices used by charter school management organizations most improve achievement. According to the research, establishing certain behavior models for students can have an effect, while offering professional development and providing teachers with feedback can improve schools.
- "The Neurodevelopmental Basis of Math Anxiety." Psychological Science. (March 2012). A team of Stanford University scientists determined that math anxiety relates to reactions about problem solving. This anxiety can have detrimental effects throughout a person's life and cause issues with their finding successful careers. The team also determined that the brain function of people who have this anxiety differs from those who do not.
- Students' Perceptions of Teacher Biases: Experimental Economics in Schools (PDF). Centre for the Economics of Education. (January 2012). Researchers conducted a study of 1,200 students across 29 schools in Manchester, UK, to learn how students' perceptions of their teachers affect the achievement gap and whether they feel they are graded properly.
Students were given a small amount of money that they could use to bet on how they would perform on certain exams. Half of the students had their tests graded anonymously and the other half knew which teacher was grading their work. Male students, researchers learned, tended to bet more when male teachers were grading them. Females also bet more when they knew they were being graded by men. The study also found that male teachers rewarded male students with better grades, and male students put in less effort for female teachers.
