Archive for the ‘Research’ Category

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The Debate about Online Courses

Wednesday, August 25th, 2010

Online courses are gaining popularity among college students, however a recent article raises debate over such programs’ effectiveness and which students are able to get the most out of them.

A recent article, Effectiveness of Fully Online Courses for College Students: Response to a Department of Education Meta-Analysis, assesses a meta-analysis conducted in 2009 by the U.S. Department of Education. Researchers found that online learning could be beneficial for well-prepared and financially stable students. As for lower income students and underprepared students, online learning does not seem to be as accessible or effective.

Supporters of online learning feel that, potentially, these programs can provide superior learning outcomes as well as increased access for students because of reduced costs and commute time. While this could hold true, many researchers and higher education institutions are still not completely supportive. Some research suggests that students who complete online courses do indeed learn as much and are just as satisfied as students in regular classroom environments, while other research shows that students are less likely to complete online courses in general.

The report did point out various discrepancies within the study. The first concern was the lack of comparative outcomes between online and face-to-face learning. Another issue found was the absence of diversity among the types of online courses assessed. All of these courses were some form of computer or technical related course, making it easier to use the online learning method. Finally, the samples chosen for these studies were all from mid-sized or larger universities. Five of the samples were rated by U.S. News and World Report as “selective” or “highly selective” schools, which raise issue of diversity among the types of students who were assessed. Taking all of these factors into account, the report concluded that while online courses can be effective for prepared students, this form of learning needs a great deal of improvement in order to achieve its original goal of increasing accessibility to college and improving student achievement through higher education programs.

By Warren in Research
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Linked Learning Approach Attempts to Renew Curriculum

Friday, August 20th, 2010

The state of California is leading the charge to provide relevant learning and ensure that their CTE students are college and career ready. The Alliance for Excellent Education hosted an event, “Building the Capacity of Teachers to Prepare Students for College and Careers,” to highlight The Linked Learning Approach which has been adopted in the state of California as a way for teachers to increase student engagement.

One example highlighted during this presentation was the school of Digital Media and Design (DMD) at the Kearny High Education Complex. DMD adopted the Linked Learning Approach two years ago when the school was ranked in the bottom 20 percent of California schools. Since implementing this model, DMD has been ranked in the top 25 percent of schools.

The Linked Learning Approach incorporates project and inquiry-based curriculums where students are given semester long projects to complete with a team. At the end of each semester students present their final project to a panel of business and industry representatives. In order to ensure that projects provide relevant learning for all students, instructors work together to align course materials that allow students to make connections across all subjects.

Panelists all echoed the importance of quality professional development programs to ensure the best education for America’s youth.

By Warren in Meetings, Research
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College and Career Readiness on the Rise, But Still Short

Friday, August 20th, 2010

The percentage of high school graduates that meet college- and career readiness benchmarks is slowly climbing, according to a recent ACT report.

About 24 percent of all 2010 ACT-test takers met all four benchmarks in English, reading, science and math, and 47 percent met between 1 and 3 standards in the 4 subject areas. This year’s increase is one percentage point greater than last year’s, which counts to the total of three percentage points over the last five year, according to the Condition of College and Career Readiness 2010.

However, while the trajectory is encouraging, the percentage of students who do not demonstrate college and career readiness remains significant. Among 2010 ACT-tested graduates, a combined total of 43 percent met either none (28 percent) or only one (15 percent) of ACT’s benchmarks. Further, readiness gaps remain wide across racial groups. The readiness rates underscore the nation’s struggle to prepare all students to succeed in college and career.

About 1.6 million students—about 47 percent of the nation’s 2010 high school graduates–took the ACT. As the number of and diversity of students increase, the nation will gain a better understanding of how much more work needs to be done to prepare students to succeed when they leave high school.

By Erin in News, Publications, Research
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Report Provides Guidance of how State Data can Improve Longitudinal Data Systems

Friday, August 13th, 2010

The Community College Research Center released a report, Using State Data to Promote Continuous Improvement of Workforce Programs: Guidance to the U.S. DOL Workforce Data Quality Initiatives, that provides guidance to states applying for the U.S. Department of Labor’s Workforce Data Quality Initiative (WDQI). In an effort to strengthen longitudinal data systems (LDSs), the WDQI will provide funding to state workforce agencies. By improving LDSs, the Department of Labor is hoping to track individual participants through education and employment programs and in the workforce.

This data will be used to help program providers and workforce systems improve their overall performance and provide students with programs that best fit their needs. The report outlines a four-step model that will support innovation and lead to improved workforce outcomes:

  • Analyze gap between job demand and credential production by region.
    • By recognizing industry needs, states will be able to provide regionally specific and relevant curriculum that will set students up for success upon earning their credentials.
  • Track progression across education/workforce systems and into the labor market.
    • By tracking students’ progression through education and workforce systems into the labor market, states can see the effectiveness of programs and identify where the “leaks” are within these systems that impede student progress.
  • Engage providers to analyze opportunities for program improvement, implement and evaluate systemic solutions.
    • By using and analyzing the data collected, states and providers can work together to create and implement new and improved programs.
  • Set system performance goals and create policy incentives for innovation.
    • By setting ambitious performance goals, states will be able to provide something for these programs to strive for and can push workforce programs to provide the best services for students.

The information provided in this report intends to assist states in better understanding their education and workforce systems. In turn this can help states to improve their programs and provide the best training options for students.

By Warren in Research
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New Report Finds Comprehensive Data Critical to Successful Remedial Education

Monday, August 2nd, 2010

The Education Commission on the States’ Getting Past Go (GPG) project recently surveyed and analyzed state and higher education systems’ reports on developmental, or remedial, programs.  In their report, State Reporting on Developmental Education: Analysis of Findings, GPG found that states, in regard to remedial programs, reported on three main categories:

  • Student Participation
  • Student Success
  • Cost of Developmental Education

Each category serves as an important element in tracking data of developmental education programs for postsecondary students. Looking at student participation will show how many students are being served through these programs. Monitoring student success is important as it shows how well these programs are serving the students and what is or is not working. The final category, cost, will determine the efficiency, when partnered with the above two categories, of remedial education.

One of the major findings from this report was that, “States and higher education  systems that report on all three areas – participation, success and cost – appear better positioned to improve and eventually reduce the need for remedial services, and as a result, to increase college completion rates.”

In addition, the report found that while it is necessary to track the pass rates of remedial courses, it is not the only thing that matters. Tracking students through their postsecondary careers and seeing whether they graduate is vital for the United States to remain globally competitive. States that do track all of this information, as well as the participation, success and cost of remedial courses, will be able to improve their programs more easily and provide better services for students.

Tracking developmental education will allow states to discover their strengths and weaknesses. As stated in the article, “The need for this direction (monitoring developmental education programs) is rooted in a reality: Despite efforts to reduce the need for remediation, history, demographic trends and economic conditions ensure that significant numbers of students — of all ages — will require additional support before entering college‐level courses and attaining a degree.”

The report also highlights a number of examples where states are tracking the progress of students in remedial courses to evaluate their effectiveness and to eventually improve these services.

By Warren in Research
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Dual Enrollment: Programs Increase, Linked to Student Achievement

Friday, July 23rd, 2010

A recent article, Dual Enrollment: Postsecondary/Secondary Partnerships to Prepare Students, highlights the rise in high school dual enrollment programs and the positive impacts they have on student achievement. The article further states that, according to the most recent data from the 2002-2003 school year, three-quarters of high school students were participating in dual enrollments programs and that since then this number has increased. In addition, they found that dual enrollment, “…was positively related to students’ likelihood of earning a high school diploma, to college enrollment, to persistence in college and to high postsecondary grade-point average,” (Hughes, 2010).

Dual enrollment allows high school students the opportunity to take college level classes and earn college credit while enrolled in high school. While there have been ways, such as Advanced Placement (AP) classes and International Baccalaureate (IB) classes, for students to earn college credit while in high school, dual enrollment programs provide students with an additional option.

Other statistics provided in the article include:

  • Fifty-seven percent of the college sample reported that they had high school students taking their courses.
  • Over the course of the 2002-2003 school year, more than 800,000 high school students nationwide enrolled in a college-credit course.

These types of programs are important to CTE because they not only allow students to get a head start on their college career or training program but they allow students to further explore career opportunities while still in high school. By supporting dual enrollment, we are encouraging communication between high schools and colleges to help to ensure that students are prepared to enter into a rigorous postsecondary environment.

In a time where our nation’s college completion rates have been declining, it is important to take steps toward change. With more emphasis on these programs, we are better preparing our students, the future of America’s workforce, to be college and career ready.

By Warren in Publications, Research
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Career Technical Education: A Critical Component of States’ Economic Strategy

Friday, July 23rd, 2010

The United States has declined in top rankings in international competitiveness and the nation is fighting to reclaim its spot. The hot button issue has opened a range of discussions on how the United States can best prepare its workforce to compete and excel in this dynamic global economy. That’s where career technical education (CTE) fits in the discussion.

A new issue brief, Career Technical Education: A Critical Component of States’ Economic Strategy, highlights Alabama and South Carolina as model states that transformed their programs to prepare students to compete in the global economy. This issue brief is the first of a five-part series connected with our association’s vision and action plan for CTE and preparing all students to succeed in college and ultimately their careers. Global competition is the theme of one of our five core principles that we plan to address through policy and efforts from the classroom to Capitol Hill.

Alabama and South Carolina provide examples of how states can leverage their CTE programs to attract and retain international companies – from the medical science field to high-tech. These states, realizing that their students are not only competing with their classmates or neighbors in other U.S. regions, took initiative to develop programs that prepared students to compete with students for jobs across the globe.

By Erin in Publications, Research
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Survey: Curriculum Lack Relevancy, Students Lack Engagement

Friday, July 9th, 2010

More than half of high school students are bored at least every day in class; only about a quarter of them feel like they are acquiring skills related to work after high school, according to a recent survey and report that assess the relationship between student achievement and student engagement.

Charting the Path from Engagement to Achievement, a report on the High School Survey of Student Engagement, was conducted by the Indiana University Center for Evaluation & Education Policy and offers perspective of students from a 2009 sampling of 42,754 high school students. Boredom with school and lack of relevancy in curriculum surfaced among other issues that inferred poor student engagement.

Some statistics underscore the areas in which CTE programs may provide a positive impact:

  • Of the 98 percent of students who claimed they were bored in school, about 40 percent students said there was lack of relevance in the material that they learned.
  • About 26 percent of students said they were acquiring skills related to work after  high school.
  • About 23 percent said they were solving real-world problems.

There are schools that have made it a priority to address these issues of engagement. The report highlights model schools in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii to Richmond, Virginia that provide examples of how to deal with this pressing problem. While the schools implement a range of strategies, they all recognize that student engagement is key to student achievement.

By Erin in Publications, Research
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IES Report: Graduation Rates Show Slight Increase

Friday, June 11th, 2010

Some states demonstrated a slight increase in the number of students who graduate on time from the 2006-7 to 2007-8 academic year, according to a recent U.S. Department of Education report.

Public School Graduates and Dropouts from the Common Core of Data: School Year 2007-08, a report delivered by the National Center for Education Statistics showed that 16 states and the District of Columbia experienced a percentage point or greater increase in their averaged freshman graduation rate (AFGR), NCES’s measure of on-time graduation. Six states experienced a decrease by a percentage point.  The remaining 27 states showed changes only within a percentage point margin.

This data is important because graduation rates are an education system’s measure of success. CTE can fill the gaps to increase and improve the overall national graduation rate. It is clear that a great deal of work still needs to be done to increase the nation’s graduation rate.

Across states, AFGR varies widely. The nation demonstrated a 74.9 percent AFGR, however rates ranged from 51.3 percent in Nevada to 89.6 percent in Wisconsin.

The IES data further highlights the persistent gaps in graduation/dropout rates:

  • Ethnicity (Graduation Rates)
    • American Indian/Alaska Native – 64.2 percent
    • Asian/Pacific Islander – 91.4 percent
    • Hispanic – 63.percent
    • Black – 61.percent
    • White – 81 percent
    • Gender (Dropout Rates)
      • Males – 4.6 percent
      • Females – 3.5 percent

By Warren in Research
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Report: Apprenticeship Programs Vital to Train Workforce for Green Industry

Friday, June 4th, 2010

The green industry is projected to offer the hottest growing jobs in our nation, but a recent report warns that more needs to be explored in how workforce training programs, particularly apprenticeships, can quickly adapt to train workers for the field.

Last week, Workforce3 One hosted a webinar that addressed this question, focusing particularly on the role of apprenticeship in preparing the future workforce in today’s green climate. The Office of Apprenticeship’s recently issued report titled, The Greening of Registered Apprenticeship: An Environmental Scan of the Impact of Green Jobs on Registered Apprenticeship and Implications for Workforce Development.  The report shares the current state of registered apprenticeship as it prepares workers for green careers. The webinar shared an overview of the findings and specifically addressed the concern of modifying apprenticeship to reflect evolving green technologies.

While green is making its mark on industry, education and training must also keep up. The webinar exemplified apprenticeship as the primary training vehicle to provide seamless transitions from school to work, although they expressed a need for stronger linkages between pre-apprenticeship and registered apprenticeship programs. Apprenticeship is a vital link in the pathway from education and training to jobs with growth opportunities like those in the green industry.

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), Employment and Training Administration’s (ETA) Office of Apprenticeship (OA) met, during March and April of 2009, with 14 stakeholders representing critical industries to gather information. The critical industries most like to be impacted by green, according to the report, are:ExamplesCurriculum

  • Building and construction
  • Advanced manufacturing
  • Transportation
  • Building services
  • Electrical utilities

They determined two common findings of green’s impact on industry:

  1. Green is cutting edge. As new processes are continuously developed, green will be at the forefront and industry must continue to adapt.
  2. Green demands growth in existing occupations, not the establishing of new occupations.

If apprenticeship is not part of the discussions on how to update training programs to reflect the advancement of thegreen industry, students who try to enter the green industry without any experience or credentials will likely find themselves unprepared, according to the report Any evolutions in industry must also be reflected in education. Apprenticeship is the ideal stage because it is it cultivates job specific training and places students in real-world situations.

In order to meet the challenges of today’s economy and embrace green as it leads the way in industry, strategic partnerships and collaboration are also necessary. National organizations and federal agencies, research and development hubs at universities, advocacy groups and community based organizations are all resources that must work together to provide a trained workforce for industries that are constantly evolving.

By Emma in News, Publications, Research, Uncategorized
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