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WCER TodayAugust 2010 IN THIS ISSUE Feature Story: How Does Desegregation Help Reduce the Achievement Gap? Research Notes:
Feature StoryHow Does Desegregation Help Reduce the Achievement Gap? Desegregating schools has long been considered a matter of equity, justice, and improved student achievement. But there is still a lot to learn about exactly how having diverse classrooms improves student achievement. For example, do student peer groups affect individual achievement? Yes, peer effects are important determinants of student achievement, but it remains difficult to calculate the actual effects of desegregation directly. WCER researcher Jane Cooley uses a new approach to identify the effect of peer behavior on individual student achievement. Studying a group of public elementary school students in North Carolina, Cooley found that:
Cooley measures specific effects of desegregation by separating the effects of teacher quality from those of student peer group composition. She says students appear to form race-based reference groups within classrooms. White students conform to white peer achievement and nonwhites conform to nonwhite peers. To date, research has not explored this type of heterogeneity, yet it has important implications for understanding the effect of desegregation. Cooley finds that peer group effects are stronger within race than across races. At the same time, lower-achieving students benefit relatively more than higher achievers from increases in average peer achievement. In other words, the within-race effects diminish across the range of student achievement. Previous studies have not determined the effects from contemporaneous achievement of peers of the same race. But Cooley finds that these effects play a central role in determining the achievement benefits associated with creating racially diverse classrooms. Research NotesNew Directions in Value-Added Research WCER’s Value-Added Research Center (VARC) is working with Hillsborough County (Fla.) Public Schools to support and promote effective teaching. VARC is producing teacher-level value-added estimates using data from district-wide assessments, which include the state-mandated Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test and district-required end-of-course tests. The District will use the results as part of its Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation-funded Teacher Effectiveness Initiative. VARC is working with the Milwaukee Public Schools to align its employee evaluation systems with the District’s strategic plan. This approach includes defining what employees need to do to carry out the strategic plan, defining performance competencies for each group, specifying the measurement and administrative characteristics that strategically-aligned evaluation. More... Doctoral Research Training Evolves John Rudolph, department of Curriculum & Instruction, is beginning duties as as WCER’s Director of Graduate Training and the Doctoral Research Program. John has taught the DRP seminar and has been a member of the DRP Advisory Committee. In Spring 2011 a new school-wide lecture course will address important questions in education research. Coordinated by Diana Hess, the course will feature faculty from across the SoE presenting their work and insights into the education research process. In subsequent semesters students will register for newly designed minicourses that will address issues of importance to developing scholars, including writing a literature review, grant writing in education, doing effective presentations, and the DRP lecture series. More.... Online Gaming and Adolescent Reading Video games and participatory cultures have emerged as an important force for student learning, both in and out of school. Under the right conditions, video games can promote valued forms of thinking and learning. With funding from the MacArthur Foundation, Constance Steinkuehler and colleagues are examining how students engage with reading that occurs during online videogame play. The project seeks to answer these questions: How does the reading performance of adolescents on such game-related texts compare to their performance on school-related texts? What factors contribute to differences in reading performance on game-related and school-related text? And how are game-related reading activities situated within (or against) children’s everyday literacy networks across contexts, including both school and home?. More... Careers in Computing for African American Students The U.S. is producing record numbers of Ph.D.s in computing; however, the number of African Americans receiving advanced degrees in computing at the master’s level still lags behind those of other ethnic/racial groups. To counter this trend, Jerlando Jackson will work with undergraduates students on project evaluation and manuscript development during the coming academic year. They will be exposed to research and evaluation of STEM-related projects. They will be encouraged to pursue a graduate degree in an evaluation-related field, or develop a related research agenda for Ph.D. study. The Alliance for the Advancement of African American Researchers in Computing (A4RC) works to increase the number African Americans receiving advanced degrees in computing. In this work, students will help with data collection and analysis of the multi-faceted components of the Alliance; they will help develop a proposal for the next AERA conference; and will be invited to attend to help present the research paper. More....
WCER Today reaches more than 2000 subscribers monthly. Part of the School of Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the 44-year-old Wisconsin Center for Education Research receives funding from the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Education, and private foundations. http://www.wcer.wisc.edu Contact the editor: pbaker@wisc.edu
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