A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

Institute Makes New Field-Initiated Research Grant Awards

Six Field-Initiated Studies Program grant awards were made by the Institute this fall totaling $937,839 for the first year of projects lasting up to three years. Including last year's grants, this brings the total currently being supported to twelve.

Erling E. Boe (University of Pennsylvania) is using national survey data to study the productivity of teacher preparation programs, including the quantity and quality of graduates who enter teaching. The results of the study will be useful to policyrnakers and teacher educators in improving preparation practices.

James G. Cibulka (University of Maryland) is examining schools "on probation," an early stage of reconstitution, in three states: Maryland, California, and Kentucky. These case studies will enhance our understanding of whether and how reconstitution policies support or hinder positive change in schools. Although policymakers increasingly resort to reconstitution as a strategy to fix failing schools, there is a vacuum of research knowledge about its actual effects.

Thomas S. Dee (Georgia Institute of Technology) is using several nationally representative surveys to evaluate how higher state-level graduation standards have influenced student coursetaking, educational attainment, and early labor market experiences. This analysis will provide policymakers with new evidence about whether variations in the stringency of requirements across states makes a difference and whether student effects differ by sex, race, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status.

Donald P. Oswald (Virginia Commonwealth University) is studying the implications of the disproportionate representation of ethnic minorities in special education using data from civil rights compliance reports. "Project ACHIEVE" will help policymakers at the state and national levels to interpret the data they are required to produce and to make better use of it to address equity problems.

Ruie Jane Pritchard (North Carolina State University) is examining how and why the National Writing Project has sustained itself for over 15 years in one district and to what extent teacher consultants from this parent district have succeeded as change agents in other outreach districts. The study will help policymakers understand the long-term impact of teacher-led staff development on policy, governance, and student achievement.

Kenneth Wong (University of Chicago) is studying whether the use of state legislative authority to intervene in failing schools can create the conditions for improving teaching and learning through case studies in two urban school districts. Along with the Cibulka study described earlier, this research will been to fill a gap in knowledge about the implementation and the effects of reconstitution.

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[Grants for Further Research on High Performance Learning Communities] [The Director's Column]