This study sought to uncover how the annual Florida School Report Card influences secondary English Language Arts (ELA) teachers’ self-efficacy and perceptions of student writing. The study’s findings suggested that ELA teachers’ self-efficacy may be indirectly influenced by the School Report Card. The participants in this study suggested that they do not feel totally capable of applying the information learned from the School Report Card to their own classrooms. The teachers who participated in the study also reported that they have low outcome expectations when interacting with the School Report Card. They do not believe that their actions can influence the School Report Card, and suggested that they see the school grade as a moving target with changing rules they may not be able to keep up with. The School Report Card was not suggested to directly impact the participants’ perceptions of student writing. Instead, the data suggested that a variety of internal and external factors influence the way teachers perceive their students’ writing quality. Finally, most of the participants suggested that they view the school grade as an unfair measure of achievement, and a tool that does not take into account the quality of the learning in the school and represents the school poorly. Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) was used to situate these findings and gain a better understanding of how the School Report Card functions as a tool for teachers and administrators.

The advent of charter schools has been one of the biggest reform initiatives in the history of schooling in the US: charters have significantly altered the landscape of many of our country’s largest public-school systems (Bracey, 2002; Hassel, 2009; Hill, 2006). Recent studies have examined a number of aspects of charter school leadership; however, there has been little research on charter school chief executive officers (CEO). The CEO is a relatively new role that oversees the entire charter school or network and is almost always independent of the principal. This mixed-methods study examined the organizational dynamics of Philadelphia Charter School CEOs by using a survey, personal interviews, and quantitative data analysis to obtain information regarding all CEOs of Philadelphia. Interviews were focused on the CEO job role and day-to-day duties, CEO successes and struggles, and what prior experiences prepared CEOs for this role. The quantitative findings show two correlations: suggesting that male CEOs and CEOs of stand-alone schools are in charge of schools with higher school performance. Five common themes emerged across CEOs during interviews: loneliness, overconfidence, under preparedness, non-traditional career path, and having a prior work experience in the field of education was crucial to success. Lastly, it was discovered that certifications and prior education experience were not commonplace for current CEOs, 19 of the 64 CEOs in this study did not have prior education experience. / Educational Leadership

The purpose of the study was to compare the relationship between grade eight English language proficiency as measured by the ACCESS for ELL's assessment (Assessing Comprehension and Communication in English State to State for English Language Learners) and achievement test outcomes on the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment, a state mandated test. The ACCESS for ELLs is an annual, large-scale English language proficiency assessment given to kindergarten through grade twelve students who have been identified as English language learners. The ACCESS assessment is administered in English. Data from the Nation's Report Card (US. Department of National Center for Education Statistics, 2007 a & 2007 b) show that ELL students lag behind their English proficient peers on standardized tests of reading. The inclusion of English language learners in state assessments has prompted issues regarding the validity and equity of assessment practices (Abedi, 2004). The data for the study were gathered from an analyses of 8th grade ELL students' scores on the 2011 PSSA standardized assessment test administered in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania public school district. Data were also gathered from the analysis of 8th grade ELL assessments for the 2010-2011 school year. The study also assessed the predictive values of the criterion variables and the moderating effects of categorical variables by school: Ethnicity (Black, White, Hispanic), ELL status (English Language Learner), Students with Disabilities status (SWD), Socioeconomic status (SES), which contribute to Pennsylvania's Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) status. The study showed strong evidence that there is a significant relationship between the PSSA and language background as measured by the ACCESS assessment. Assessment. The implications of these data for the testing and assessment of ELL learners was discussed. / Educational Leadership

[pt] O objetivo deste trabalho é contribuir para o debate sobre políticas de accountability educacional através da avaliação do programa cearense Prêmio Escola Nota Dez. Para tal, partimos do referencial da teoria democrática e da administração pública sob o prisma dos fundamentos de teoria social de Coleman visando construir uma abordagem analítica capaz de considerar não apenas os objetivos e resultados da política, mas seu contexto e tipos de incentivos, em um modelo de ação que leve em conta os agentes, recursos que dispõem e ações que empreenderam ao nível micro e que se agregam para modificar a realidade ao nível macro. Sendo um de dois sistemas de incentivos do PAIC - Programa Alfabetização na Idade Certa, o prêmio busca incrementar o desempenho do sistema escolar promovendo competição entre escolas por uma premiação dada às 150 primeiras de acordo com um ranking. Para moderar possíveis danos desta competição à equidade do sistema, o programa provê também um apoio, como forma de compensação, ás 150 escolas pior posicionadas. Além disso, tenta integrar as escolas beneficiadas em relações de cooperação, na qual as premiadas devem ajudar as apoiadas a cumprir suas metas. Utilizando-se de dados da Prova Brasil e do SPAECE, realizamos um estudo de série temporal com objetivo de avaliar os impactos líquidos do prêmio em relação à outras ações no âmbito do PAIC. Embora preliminares, os resultados indicam impactos em língua portuguesa no SPAECE, mas que não se reproduzem em matemática ou na Prova Brasil. No que diz respeito à equidade, observou-se que a estabilização dos indicadores de equidade da rede coincidiu com a introdução do prêmio. Mensuramos também os impactos dos incentivos pagos às escolas por meio de análise de regressão descontinua e observamos que os ganhos das escolas premiadas se concentraram na avaliação de disputa do prêmio, enquanto que os das escolas apoiadas se concentraram na avaliação de cumprimento de metas. No que diz respeito à equidade, os ganhos das escolas premiadas no SPAECE foram alcançados com aumento do percentual de alunos em nível adequado, porém com aumento da desigualdade interna, enquanto que os ganhos das escolas apoiadas indicam melhoria da equidade e aumento do percentual de alunos no nível adequado. Enquanto os efeitos positivos para as escolas apoiadas continuam a ocorrer ao longo do ciclo do prêmio, os ganhos das escolas premiadas parecem ser conjunturais e restritos à avaliação em que ocorre a competição. Por fim, concluímos que a maior lição que nos mostra o Estado do Ceará é que não basta um programa de bonificação ou distribuição de recursos: uma visão integrada que busque coordenar as ações entre agentes em diversos níveis institucionais e entes federativos pode ser um dos fatores decisivos para o sucesso das políticas cearenses. / [en] The objective of this is to contribute to the discussion about educational accountability policies through the evaluation of the program Prêmio Escola Nota Dez in the Brazilian state of Ceará. Therefore, our references como from Democratic Theory and Public Management, in the perspective of Coleman s Social Theory. Our aim is building an analytical approach able to consider the policies objectives and results, as well as its context and types of bonus, focusing on an action model that considers the agents, the resources they have and the actions they implement in a micro perspective that turns into a macro social change. There are two rewarding systems in the program Alfabetização na Idade Certa (PAIC in portuguese), and Escola Nota Dez Award is oneof them. It aims on increasing the performance of the school system by promoting competition among schools for an award given to the first 150 ones according to ranking. In order to control possible damages coming from this competition that could affect system equity, the program also provides a support, as a way of compensation, to the 150 worst-off schools in the ranking. Therefore, it tries to integrate the benefited schools into cooperative relations, in which the awarded schools must help the supported ones to fulfill their goals. Using dta from Prova Brasil and from the Basic Education Permanent Evaluation System of Ceará State (SPAECE in portuguese), we have conducted a time series analysis focusing on the impacts of this award in relation to other actions of PAIC. Even preliminary, the results indicate impacts on portuguese outcomes in SPAECE, but they do not show up in mathematics or on Prova Brasil. It was also observed that the stabilization of equity indicators of the educational system coincided with the time when the award was established. We have also measured the impacts of the prize paid to schools through the analysis of regression discontinuity, and we have observed that the benefits for the awarded schools focused on the evaluation of the competition for the prize, while the supported schools focused on assessing the goals achievement. Concerning equity, the achiavements of the awarded schools in SPAECE were accomplished in inequality inside the schools, while the achievements of the supported schools indicate an improvement in equity and an increase in the percentage of students at the satisfactory level. The positive effects for the supported schools continue to occur throughout the period of the award, while the benefits for the awarded schools seem to be temporary and restricted to the time of the competition. Finally, we conclud that the greatest lesson that Ceará state shows us is that a program of bonuses or resources distribution is not enough - an integrated vision that focuses on coordinating action among agents at different institutional levels and federative entities may be one of decisive factors for the succes of Ceará s policies.

Traditionally, models of instructional leadership espouse data-informed decision making in response to student assessment outcomes as one of the core school leader behaviors. In recent years, rising expectations from accountability policies and related assessment practices have myriad implications for school districts, specifically in the areas of standards-driven reform, student assessment systems, and professional development models. As a result, demands on schools to collect and use student assessment data to inform curricular and instructional decisions has expanded. While principals are typically held responsible for school improvement efforts, more contemporary models of instructional leadership incorporate teachers as classroom-based leaders of assessment practices in forums such as professional learning communities. School and classroom assessment leaders engage in behaviors such as (a) identifying an assessment vision, (b) fostering group goals, (c) providing a model of data- informed decision making, (d) promoting teacher job-embedded professional learning experiences, (e) evaluating instructional practices with specific feedback, and (f) strategically aligning resources to school improvement goals. Unfortunately, school districts face many challenges with assessment leadership due to barriers in beliefs about assessments, time with and access to tools and training, and knowledge and skills about how to operationalize effective assessment practices that yield positive student outcomes. The purpose of this study was to explore assessment leadership as a construct among P-12 school and classroom leaders in one large district in Florida. Data were collected using an Internet-based survey constructed from existing qualitative and quantitative measures of key components of assessment leadership established in the literature. A series of descriptive and inferential analyses were conducted to (a) explore the factor structure of the instrument and (b) evaluate the influence of assessment learning experiences, beliefs, and knowledge on assessment practices. Relationships among variables were examined when considering moderating variables for school role (i.e., school-level administrator or classroom teacher as professional learning communities facilitator) and school type (elementary or secondary). Limitations were discussed to inform future research in this critical area of school improvement.

This analysis of California's Public School Accountability Act (PSAA) and the federal government's No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation reviews the components, implementation timelines, and impact these two accountability policies have had on secondary schools and more specifically secondary schools located in Tulare and Kings Counties of the San Joaquin Valley of California. The study identifies both Immediate Intervention for Underperforming Schools Program (II/USP) schools and similar schools that did not elect to enter the program Non-II/USP schools. Quantitative analysis of Academic Performance Index (API) and Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) from 1999 to 2006 is statistically compared. Summary interviews with site administrators from all schools within the study reflect how these two populations II/USP schools and Non-II/USP schools addressed the requirements and met the challenges of the PSAA and NCLB legislation. Conclusions draw into question the state and federal legislations implementation timeline, readiness to support changes needed in the secondary schools starting in 1999, and recognition of communication issues with secondary schools concerning the expectations of the accountability legislation. Finally, issues are outlined concerning the effectiveness of the timeline and funding process associated with the state sanctions of II/USP and SAIT programs.

No description available.

Submitted by Marcelo Castro (macbhmgbr@yahoo.com.br) on 2012-04-03T18:51:54Z No. of bitstreams: 1 dissertacao_ganhos_enem_FINAL_correcoes12.pdf: 858499 bytes, checksum: dd6ba5532a447c8d771ec2c398f87931 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Gisele Isaura Hannickel (gisele.hannickel@fgv.br) on 2012-04-03T19:15:18Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 dissertacao_ganhos_enem_FINAL_correcoes12.pdf: 858499 bytes, checksum: dd6ba5532a447c8d771ec2c398f87931 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2012-04-03T19:16:58Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 dissertacao_ganhos_enem_FINAL_correcoes12.pdf: 858499 bytes, checksum: dd6ba5532a447c8d771ec2c398f87931 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-03-08 / Este estudo analisa os impactos de um exame que indica a qualidade da educação de ensino médio no Brasil, o Exame Nacional do Ensino Médio, o ENEM, sobre a rotatividade no mercado de trabalho, a partir do início da divulgação pública das notas médias das escolas. A hipótese testada é se a divulgação das notas médias das escolas aumentou de forma significativa o conjunto de informações disponíveis ao público sobre a produtividade real dos trabalhadores, o que geraria um efeito, ceteris paribus, de reduzir a taxa de desligamento nos meses iniciais de trabalho. As principais conclusões são que uma maior variação das notas das escolas no ENEM em uma cidade parece estar correlacionada com mais desligamentos para trabalhadores de nível médio antes da divulgação, e esse efeito parece ter diminuído devido à divulgação. Foram encontradas evidências de impactos sobre a decisão de participação na força de trabalho. / This study analyzes the impacts of a test that indicates the quality of school education in Brazil, the National Exam of Secondary Education, on turnover in the labor market from the beginning of pubic disclosure of average scores schools. The hypothesis tested is whether disclosure of the average scores of schools has increased significantly the number of public available information on the actual productivity of workers, which would generate an effect, ceteris paribus, to reduce the rate of shutdown in the early months of work. The main conclusions are that a greater variation in scores of schools in ENEM in a city seems to be correlated with more layoffs for workers of average schooling before the release, and this effect seems to have decreased due to the increase in the available information. We found evidence of impacts on the decision to participate in the workforce.

Submitted by Renan Gomes De Pieri (renanpieri@yahoo.com.br) on 2016-01-04T18:59:34Z No. of bitstreams: 1 tese Renan Pieri (final).pdf: 1613774 bytes, checksum: add528ec929ae2d5c1a012e6f1ba3823 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Letícia Monteiro de Souza (leticia.dsouza@fgv.br) on 2016-01-05T11:09:23Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 tese Renan Pieri (final).pdf: 1613774 bytes, checksum: add528ec929ae2d5c1a012e6f1ba3823 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-01-05T12:31:42Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 tese Renan Pieri (final).pdf: 1613774 bytes, checksum: add528ec929ae2d5c1a012e6f1ba3823 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-12-03 / Esta tese é constituída por três capítulos que se enquadram na área de Microeconomia Aplicada, sendo dois deles de Economia Política Aplicada e o outro de Economia da Educação. O primeiro capítulo investiga se a eleição de mulheres para a prefeitura impacta a inserção de outras mulheres no mercado político, reduzindo-se assim uma preferência pré-estabelecida pelos eleitores de não votar em mulheres. Para realizar o exercício, utiliza-se um experimento de Regressão em Descontinuidade onde explora-se eleições em que uma mulher perdeu ou ganhou por uma margem pequena de votos para um candidato homem, a ponto do gênero eleito ser aleatório. Os resultados mostram que a eleição de uma mulher tem impacto apenas em ambientes mais propícios a eleger mulheres (o que foi mensurado aqui pelo percentual de vereadoras eleitas) ou em locais onde os candidatos tinham maior qualidade (medido pela escolaridade). O segundo artigo estima o impacto da divulgação da qualidade escolar sobre a migração dos alunos entre escolas. A ideia é que ao tornar-se público o sinal de qualidade, escolas e alunos têm incentivos para se adaptarem conforme sua demanda por qualidade. Para isso, explora-se um desenho de Regressão em Descontinuidade Fuzzy devido a um dos critérios de divulgação do IDEB ser a escola ter no mínimo 20 alunos matriculados na série avaliada. Os resultados mostram que as escolas que tiveram IDEB divulgado tiveram maior migração de alunos e, em especial, de alunos em condições de vulnerabilidade. O terceiro artigo avalia a hipótese de exogeneidade da abertura comercial brasileira, promovida no final da década de 1980 e início da de 1990. Há uma vasta literatura que explora os efeitos da abertura comercial sobre o mercado de trabalho, desigualdade de renda, pobreza e crescimento econômico. Tais trabalhos consideram o processo de liberalização brasileiro como não correlacionado com as demandas de nenhum setor de atividade econômica específico, o que justificaria utilizar o período de abertura como um instrumento para lidar com endogeneidade nas estimações. Nós apresentamos evidência de que, embora não correlacionado com nenhum setor em especial, a abertura estava correlacionada com a distribuição de capital político dos governos nesse período, e pode ter funcionado como uma estratégica clara de fortalecimento político ou, pelo menos, teve o contexto político como um facilitador do processo. / This thesis includes three papers that fall in the Applied Microeconomics subject, two of them of Applied Political Economics and the other of Economics of Education. The first chapter investigates whether the election of women to the municipal government affects the political market to other women, reducing up a predetermined voters' preference of not to vote for women. To perform the exercise, I use a Regression Discontinuity experiment, which explores elections in which a woman barely lost or won by a small margin of votes, being the winner gender a random variable. Results show that the election of a woman has impact only in more favorable environments to elect female politicians (we used the percentage of elected female councilors as measure) or where there are better candidates (measured by schooling years). The second chapter estimates the impact of school quality disclosure on the migration of students between schools. The idea is that to become public the quality signal, schools and students have incentives to adapt themselves conforming their demand for quality. For this, I explore a Fuzzy Regression Discontinuity Design for one of the IDEB's disclosure criteria be the school have at least 20 students enrolled in the evaluated series. The results show that schools that had released IDEB experienced more migration of students. This is true, in special, for students in situation of vulnerability. The second chapter analyses the exogeneity hypothesis of Brazilian trade liberalization, promoted in the late 80's and early 90's. There is a vast literature that explores the effects of trade liberalization on labor market, income inequality, poverty and economic growth. These works consider the Brazilian process of liberalization as uncorrelated with the demands of any particular economic activity sector, which would justify using the opening period as an instrument to deal with endogeneity in the estimation. We present evidence that, while not correlated with any sector, the opening was correlated with the distribution of political capital of the central government during this period, and may have acted as a clear strategic political empowerment.