Min Chen-Gaddini | University of California, Berkeley (original) (raw)
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WestEd
Historically, state education agencies have had a strong role in determining what instructional m... more Historically, state education agencies have had a strong role in determining what instructional materials (usually textbooks) are used in classrooms, but in recent years, decisions about adoption of instructional materials have shifted to school districts and schools. A recent Education Week article indicates that a declining number of states conduct textbook reviews to identify materials that the state approves, and that districts are not necessarily bound to select from the approved materials. 1 Current state adoption processes yield inconsistent results and provide limited guidance to support districts in selecting materials , and developing or adopting instructional materials has become more of a district-level effort than a state-level effort. 2 Confirming this shift, a recent study found that most teachers indicated that school districts were their primary source for curricula for English language arts (ELA) and mathematics. 3 Somewhat in contrast to those studies, teachers in WestEd's focus groups did not seem to rely on either the district or resources such as EdReports, an effort launched in 2015 to systematically review curricular materials, as their main sources of authority for determining the quality of materials.
With the adoption of new learning standards, states and districts have had to rewrite curriculum ... more With the adoption of new learning standards, states and districts have had to rewrite curriculum and adopt new instructional materials. States have had little to guide them in adopting new instructional materials or in determining what other states are using or how effective the materials are. Recent research has shown that the quality of instructional materials can make a big difference in student learning. New resources, such as EdReports (http://www.edreports.org) launched in 2015, supply third-party ratings and reviews of textbooks, to help states and districts make decisions about the quality of textbooks. Using an educator-designed tool that measures alignment, usability, and other quality criteria, these ratings and reviews help districts and educators to make informed purchasing and instructional decisions in support of positive student outcomes. Textbooks are not the only source of instructional materials that teachers routinely use in their classrooms. In the focus groups conducted for this brief-in which teachers in six cities talked about how they obtain, judge the quality of, and select instructional materials-all teachers made it clear that they use materials that they have sourced themselves to supplement the required text materials. A separate brief in this series, Teachers' Perceptions and Practices Related to the Adoption of Instructional Materials, documents teachers' descriptions of their reasons for and sources of their supplementation choices. The fact that all teachers in the focus groups reported that they are using supplemental materials raises the question of how they judge the quality of the materials that they select. This brief describes the criteria that teachers indicated that they apply when judging the quality of instructional materials.
Eighty-five dyads of eighth-grade adolescents (mean age = 14.15 years, SD = 0.39) and their mothe... more Eighty-five dyads of eighth-grade adolescents (mean age = 14.15 years, SD = 0.39) and their mothers in China (30 dyads from urban one-child families, 27 from urban multiple-children families, and 28 from rural multiple-children families) were interviewed individually. They described daily parent-adolescent conflicts, justified their perspectives on disputes, and evaluated conflict resolutions. The results indicated that across urban and rural areas, for both one-child and multiple-children families, adolescents differed significantly from their mothers in their views of parental authority and individual autonomy. The results also showed several regional differences, pointing to the importance of considering the specific context in which conflicts occur.
Key findings • Slightly more than half of California high schools had adopted the Expository Read... more Key findings • Slightly more than half of California high schools had adopted the Expository Reading and Writing Curriculum (ERWC) as of 2016/17. The adoption rate was lower in rural schools than in city, suburban, and town schools. The larger the schoolwide enrollment, the more likely a school was to adopt the course. • Among schools that reported having students in the ERWC and students in at least one other grade 12 mainstream college preparatory English course, a higher percentage of Hispanic students and a lower percentage of White students were in the ERWC than in the other English courses. • Among these same schools, class sizes were larger, on average, for ERWC classes than for other grade 12 mainstream college preparatory English classes. At WestEd
WestEd
Historically, state education agencies have had a strong role in determining what instructional m... more Historically, state education agencies have had a strong role in determining what instructional materials (usually textbooks) are used in classrooms, but in recent years, decisions about adoption of instructional materials have shifted to school districts and schools. A recent Education Week article indicates that a declining number of states conduct textbook reviews to identify materials that the state approves, and that districts are not necessarily bound to select from the approved materials. 1 Current state adoption processes yield inconsistent results and provide limited guidance to support districts in selecting materials , and developing or adopting instructional materials has become more of a district-level effort than a state-level effort. 2 Confirming this shift, a recent study found that most teachers indicated that school districts were their primary source for curricula for English language arts (ELA) and mathematics. 3 Somewhat in contrast to those studies, teachers in WestEd's focus groups did not seem to rely on either the district or resources such as EdReports, an effort launched in 2015 to systematically review curricular materials, as their main sources of authority for determining the quality of materials.
With the adoption of new learning standards, states and districts have had to rewrite curriculum ... more With the adoption of new learning standards, states and districts have had to rewrite curriculum and adopt new instructional materials. States have had little to guide them in adopting new instructional materials or in determining what other states are using or how effective the materials are. Recent research has shown that the quality of instructional materials can make a big difference in student learning. New resources, such as EdReports (http://www.edreports.org) launched in 2015, supply third-party ratings and reviews of textbooks, to help states and districts make decisions about the quality of textbooks. Using an educator-designed tool that measures alignment, usability, and other quality criteria, these ratings and reviews help districts and educators to make informed purchasing and instructional decisions in support of positive student outcomes. Textbooks are not the only source of instructional materials that teachers routinely use in their classrooms. In the focus groups conducted for this brief-in which teachers in six cities talked about how they obtain, judge the quality of, and select instructional materials-all teachers made it clear that they use materials that they have sourced themselves to supplement the required text materials. A separate brief in this series, Teachers' Perceptions and Practices Related to the Adoption of Instructional Materials, documents teachers' descriptions of their reasons for and sources of their supplementation choices. The fact that all teachers in the focus groups reported that they are using supplemental materials raises the question of how they judge the quality of the materials that they select. This brief describes the criteria that teachers indicated that they apply when judging the quality of instructional materials.
Eighty-five dyads of eighth-grade adolescents (mean age = 14.15 years, SD = 0.39) and their mothe... more Eighty-five dyads of eighth-grade adolescents (mean age = 14.15 years, SD = 0.39) and their mothers in China (30 dyads from urban one-child families, 27 from urban multiple-children families, and 28 from rural multiple-children families) were interviewed individually. They described daily parent-adolescent conflicts, justified their perspectives on disputes, and evaluated conflict resolutions. The results indicated that across urban and rural areas, for both one-child and multiple-children families, adolescents differed significantly from their mothers in their views of parental authority and individual autonomy. The results also showed several regional differences, pointing to the importance of considering the specific context in which conflicts occur.
Key findings • Slightly more than half of California high schools had adopted the Expository Read... more Key findings • Slightly more than half of California high schools had adopted the Expository Reading and Writing Curriculum (ERWC) as of 2016/17. The adoption rate was lower in rural schools than in city, suburban, and town schools. The larger the schoolwide enrollment, the more likely a school was to adopt the course. • Among schools that reported having students in the ERWC and students in at least one other grade 12 mainstream college preparatory English course, a higher percentage of Hispanic students and a lower percentage of White students were in the ERWC than in the other English courses. • Among these same schools, class sizes were larger, on average, for ERWC classes than for other grade 12 mainstream college preparatory English classes. At WestEd