Jennifer L. Steele

An Experiment to Evaluate the Efficacy of Cognitive Tutor Geometry

Abstract This randomized, controlled field trial estimated the causal impact of a technology-based geometry curriculum on students’ geometry achievement, as well as their attitudes toward mathematics and technology. The curriculum combines learner-centered classroom pedagogy with individualized, computer-based student instruction. Conducted over a 3-year period in eight high schools within an urban fringe district, the study found that students assigned to the treatment curriculum scored 19% of a standard deviation lower on the geometry posttest than their counterparts assigned to the districts standard curriculum, but found no statistically significant impact on students’ attitudes toward mathematics and technology. Researchers also collected observation and interview data on teachers’ instructional practices. These data suggest that many teachers had difficulty implementing the treatment curriculums learner-centered pedagogy. In fact, observed levels of learner-centered practices were only modestly higher in treatment classes than in control classes. In both treatment and control classes, however, higher levels of learner-centered pedagogy were associated with higher student achievement in geometry.

Improving accountability through expanded measures of performance

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine how test‐based accountability has influenced school and district practices and explore how states and districts might consider creating expanded systems of measures to address the shortcomings of traditional accountability. It provides research‐based guidance for entities that are developing or adopting new measures of school performance.Design/methodology/approach – The study relies on literature review, consultation with expert advisers, review of state and district documentation, and semi‐structured interviews with staff at state and local education agencies and research institutions.Findings – The research shows mixed effects of test‐based accountability on student achievement and demonstrates that teachers and administrators change their practices in ways that respond to the incentives provided by the system. The review of state and district measurement systems shows widespread use of additional measures of constructs, such as school climate and colle...

Distributing Instructional Leadership: Implementation Lessons from an Urban School Leadership Residency Program

Using focus group and interview data collected annually over four years with participants in an alternative-route school leadership preparation program, we examine the strengths and challenges of the preparation model as implemented in a small urban district. Representing a partnership between the city school district, local charter school networks, and a large nonprofit organization, the program provided a two-year residency for aspiring administrators working as assistant-level administrators or teacher leaders. By their second program year, most residents reported feeling rigorously prepared for school leadership roles. Amid declining enrollments and school closures, residents’ career paths diverged over time, with two of 42 initially placed residents obtaining principalships within the four-year study period, and about a third receiving promotions to higher positions. Residents reported differing levels of support for their residency roles, especially those teachers in instructional leadership roles. Some program participants reported that residents in their schools were strategically deployed to distribute responsibility for instructional improvement; this was particularly true in schools staffed by program alumni.