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GGMnonreg: Non-regularized Gaussian graphical models in R
Graphical modeling has emerged recently in psychology (Epskamp et al. 2018), where the data is typically long or low-dimensional (p < n; Donald R. Williams et al. (2019),
Donald R. Williams & Rast (2019)). The primary purpose of GGMnonreg is to provide methods that were specifically designed for low-dimensional data (e.g., those common in the
social-behavioral sciences).
By: Donald Williams
Topics: Measurement & scaling
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This study examined the stability of social-emotional learning (SEL) skills and the extent to which students’ initial level in SEL skills in 6th grade and growth in SEL skills from 6th to 8th grade are related to students’ successful transition to secondary school. Findings suggest that understanding how a student develops social-emotionally can improve identification of students not on track to succeed in high school.
By: James Soland, Megan Kuhfeld
Topics: Social-emotional learning, High school, Middle school
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The forgotten 20 percent: Achievement and growth in rural schools across the nation
Using achievement data from fall and spring of grades K-8 for 840,000 students in 8,800 public schools, this study provides novel evidence on how achievement and growth differ between rural and nonrural schools. Rural students start kindergarten slightly ahead of nonrural students but fall behind by middle school. The divergence is driven by larger summer losses for rural students. In both rural and nonrural schools, Black–White achievement gaps widen during the school year.
By: Angela Johnson, Megan Kuhfeld, James Soland
Topics: Equity, Growth modeling, Seasonal learning patterns & summer loss
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Does four equal five? Implementation and outcomes of the four-day school week
The four-day school week (4dsw) is growing in popularity, especially in rural areas across the western United States. RAND researchers conducted a study of the implementation and outcomes of the 4dsw in numerous districts across Idaho, New Mexico, and Oklahoma, as well as administrative data from these and other states. The analyses resulted in mixed findings, with small cost savings and high satisfaction for teachers, families, and students, but lower test scores related to the 4dsw. Given these mixed findings, communities are likely to make different choices about the 4dsw depending on their goals and the local context.
By: M. Rebecca Kilburn, Andrea Phillips, Celia Gomez, Louis Mariano, Christopher Doss, Wendy Troxel, Emily Morton, Kevin Estes
Topics: Informing instruction
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Family perceptions of participating in a structured summer kindergarten transition program
Researchers interviewed parents whose children participated in a three-week structured kindergarten transition program designed to promote parental involvement in school, reduce students’ chronic absenteeism, and increase children’s readiness for kindergarten. Interviewees expressed that participating in the program yielded benefits for themselves and their children, and proposed various ways that adjusting the program could better meet the needs of all stakeholders. Parent suggestions were synthesized into multiple implications for practice and substantiated by current relevant literature.
By: Christopher Merideth, Beth Cavanaugh, Sue Romas, Nicole Ralston, Eva Arias, Beth Tarasawa, Jacqueline Waggoner
Topics: Early learning, Empowering educators
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How does schooling affect inequality in students’ academic skills? This study uses seasonal comparisons to examine the possibilities that schooling exacerbates, reduces, or reproduces overall skill inequality in math, reading, language use, and science with recent national data on US public school students spanning numerous grade levels from the NWEA MAP Growth assessment. Results suggest that schooling has a compensatory effect on inequality in reading, language, and science skills but not math skills. Theoretical implications of findings are discussed.
By: Dennis Condron, Douglas Downery, Megan Kuhfeld
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Disparities and discrimination in student discipline by race and family income
Black and poor students are suspended from U.S. schools at higher rates than White and nonpoor students. While the existence of these disparities has been clear, the causes have not. By comparing the punishments given to Black and White (or poor and nonpoor) students who fight one another, the study addresses a challenge that has kept prior studies from identifying discrimination in student discipline. It finds that Black and poor students are punished more harshly than the students with whom they fight.
By: Nathan Barrett, Andrew McEachin, Jonathan Mills, Jon Valant
Topics: Equity