What's New for December 2020
District Changes in Student Achievement and Local Practice under Georgia's District and School Flexibility Policy (December 17, 2020)
REL Southeast explored whether Georgia's flexibility policy, which grants waivers from state regulations and requires districts to meet performance targets, changed districts' academic performance and approaches to implementing innovative practices.
Participation in State-Funded Prekindergarten in Oklahoma (December 16, 2020)
This REL Southwest report describes prior participation in Oklahoma's state-funded prekindergarten program among first-time public school kindergarten students as well as how participation varies across different groups of students and relates to geographic measures of access to early learning and care.
The Effects of Expanding Pell Grant Eligibility for Short Occupational Training Programs: Results from the Experimental Sites Initiative (December 15, 2020)
Pell Grants are the cornerstone of federal financial aid for low-income students enrolled in postsecondary education. Between 2012 and 2017, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) conducted pilots of two experimental expansions to Pell Grant eligibility. The first experiment allowed income-eligible students with a bachelor's degree, not normally eligible for Pell Grants, to obtain them for short-term occupational training programs. The second experiment allowed income-eligible students to obtain Pell Grants for very short-term programs lasting as little as eight weeks, under the normal minimum of 15 weeks of instruction. This report presents the findings from a study that tested whether these experimental expansions to Pell Grant eligibility were effective.
An Approach to Using Student and Teacher Data to Understand and Predict Teacher Shortages (December 15, 2020)
This REL Central report presents a process for developing and implementing a teacher predictor model that describes and predicts the teacher workforce and shortages by subject area, grade level, and geographic region.
Professional Learning Community: Emergent Literacy (December 14, 2020)
This REL Southeast tool is designed to engage preschool teachers in collaborative learning experiences to support implementation of evidence-based language and literacy strategies that, in turn, can benefit children.
IES Announces New Research Competitions and Virtual Technical Assistance (December 14, 2020)
Learn more about the two new competitions and virtual technical assistance sessions here.
From the IES Director: Operation Reverse the Loss, Redux (December 9, 2020)
Director Mark Schneider and co-author Kumar Garg (Schmidt Futures) discuss three main "buckets" of actions that IES should pursue to help reverse pandemic-related learning loss.
The Transition to ESSA: State and District Approaches to Implementing Title I and Title II-A in 2017-18 (December 8, 2020)
A new report describes state and district implementation of Title I and Title II-A during the transition to the Every Student Succeeds Act in 2018.
TIMSS 2019 U.S. Highlights Web Report (December 8, 2020)
This web report provides key comparative results from the most recent cycle of the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) at the 4th and 8th grades. Findings and interactive figures show how the United States and other education systems performed in 2019. Trend data and results by student demographics are also included.
NCER News: November Blogs and Letters from the Commissioner (December 4, 2020)
NCER recently published a new series called Letters from the Commissioner, as well as blogs focused on research training programs, an intervention for addressing child anxiety, adult struggling readers, and education technology resources for special education practitioners.
Postsecondary transcript data for 2011–12 first-time beginning postsecondary students, through 2017 (December 4, 2020)
Based on data collected for the 2012 Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:12) Postsecondary Education Transcript Study (PETS), a nationally representative study which followed first-time in college students for 6 years, these PETS data include detailed information, by institutions attended and time periods, on enrollment, degree programs, fields of study, course taking, credit accumulation, and academic performance.
Teacher Performance Evaluations in U.S. Public Schools (December 3, 2020)
This Data Point describes teacher performance evaluations in public schools and how results are used during the 2017-18 school year, by type of public school.
Request for Proposals in 2021: SBIR Phase I in Education and Special Education (December 2, 2020)
The ED/IES Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program provides funding for the development and evaluation of commercially viable education technology and special education technology products.
Dual or Concurrent Enrollment in Public Schools in the United States (December 1, 2020)
This Data Point examines dual or concurrent enrollment at public schools in the United States with students enrolled in any of grades 9–12.