Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Chicago Study Finds Mixed Results for AVID Program

Edweek.org.
May 6, 2011 
By Sarah D. Sparks

Individual interventions intended to improve academic skills, such as the
popular Advancement Via Individual Determination, or AVID, program, may
not secure a student’s path to graduation and college without a schoolwide
structure to support it, according to a study from the Consortium on Chicago
School Research.

In a report set for release in the fall and previewed at the American
Educational Research Association convention in New Orleans in April,
researchers analyzed how AVID, a study-skills intervention for middle-
achieving students, played out in 14 Chicago high schools. They found AVID
participants in 9th grade gained little advantage that year over peers not
taking part in the program, and remained off track for graduation and college.

The study highlights a potential pitfall for the dozens of student-based
interventions aiming to scale up nationwide through private support and
programs like the federal Investing in Innovation, or i3, program: As
programs move out of the schools for which they were originally
developed, their success becomes increasingly dependent on
individual schools’ context and capacity.
“We’re not really trying to say, does AVID work or doesn’t it, but what has
been its impact in the Chicago context,” said Jenny Nagaoka, the Chicago
Consortium’s associate director and postsecondary-studies manager, and a
study co-author. “It’s not a transformative experience for the AVID student; it’s
not doing enough to change the trajectory of these students for graduation.”

After adjusting for academic and socioeconomic differences between Chicago
students who took part in the AVID program and those who had never had
access to it, researchers found AVID seemed to have little impact on
students' GPAs.
SOURCE: Consortium on Chicago School Research

Ms. Nagaoka and her CCSR colleagues Melissa R. Roderick, a senior
director, and Melanie LaForce, a research analyst, studied 14,031 students
who attended 9th grade from 2004-05 to 2007-08, including 2,521 AVID
students. The students came from 14 schools with stable 9th grade AVID
programs with student data from both before and after the programs’
implementation...

Unlike other studies of the program, the CCSR researchers tried to control for
the fact that AVID chooses students who are already highly motivated to
achieve.

Ms. Nagaoka used a method known as “propensity matching.” She paired
students who attended after AVID was implemented with 7,357 9th graders
who attended the same schools in 2002 and 2003, before AVID, and
compared the performance of students with access to the program with that
of nonparticipating students who had similar academic and socioeconomic
profiles.
Ms. Nagaoka found that students participating in AVID had average
weighted grade point averages of 2.32 in English and 1.9 in
mathematics on a 4-point scale. Those averages were slightly better
than nonparticipating students’ GPAs of 2.06 in English and 1.75 in
math, but not good enough for the participants to be considered on
track for graduation. No significant effects were seen on students’
gains on state tests in reading, math, or science.
Robert P. Gira, the executive vice president of the San Diego-based AVID,
said the Chicago study was too short-term to be conclusive, because student
academic gains from AVID build over a student’s high school career. “We
expect 9th graders to be making some progress, but the real payoffs start to
happen two to three years later,” Mr. Gira said.

Ms. Nagaoka said the research team is also conducting long-term studies of
AVID in Chicago schools.

Doug Rohrer, a psychology professor at the University of South Florida, in
Tampa, found the CCSR study more rigorous than prior AVID research.

In a September 2010 analysis, the U.S. Department of Education’s What
Works Clearinghouse found only one of 66 AVID studies met its quality
standards. Based on that study, the clearinghouse found AVID had “no
discernible effects on adolescent literacy.”

Mr. Rohrer said school leaders should consider their entire school
improvement approach in selecting an intervention for their own campus.

“The critical question in my mind,” Mr. Rohrer continued, “is whether AVID is
better than requiring students to go to another class, such as an extra dose
of math or writing. Learning how to take notes is a fine strategy, but it
might not help you in Algebra 2 if you haven’t learned Algebra 1.”...

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This is the fight of our professional careers. Are You In or Out?

What's taking so long? This is the fight of our professional careers. Are You In or Out? "Hell has a special level for those who sit by idly during times of great crisis."
Robert Kennedy

The Art of SETTING LIMITS, Its not as easy as it looks.

Art of Setting Limits Setting limits is one of the most powerful tools that professionals have to promote positive behavior change for their clients, students, residents, patients, etc. Knowing there are limits on their behavior helps the individuals in your charge to feel safe. It also helps them learn to make appropriate choices.


There are many ways to go about setting limits, but staff members who use these techniques must keep three things in mind:
Setting a limit is not the same as issuing an ultimatum.
Limits aren’t threats—If you don’t attend group, your weekend privileges will be suspended.

Limits offer choices with consequences—If you attend group and follow the other steps in your plan, you’ll be able to attend all of the special activities this weekend. If you don’t attend group, then you’ll have to stay behind. It’s your decision.
The purpose of limits is to teach, not to punish.
Through limits, people begin to understand that their actions, positive or negative, result in predictable consequences. By giving such choices and consequences, staff members provide a structure for good decision making.
Setting limits is more about listening than talking.
Taking the time to really listen to those in your charge will help you better understand their thoughts and feelings. By listening, you will learn more about what’s important to them, and that will help you set more meaningful limits.
Download The Art of Setting Limits

SYSTEMATIC USE OF CHILD LABOR


CHILD DOMESTIC HELP
by Amanda Kloer

Published February 21, 2010 @ 09:00AM PT
category: Child Labor
Wanted: Domestic worker. Must be willing to cook, clean, work with garbage, and do all other chores as assigned. No contract available, payment based on employer's mood or current financial situation. No days off. Violence, rape, and sexual harassment may be part of the job.

Would you take that job? No way. But for thousands of child domestic workers in Indonesia, this ad doesn't just describe their job, it describes their life.

A recent CARE International survey of over 200 child domestic workers in Indonesia found that 90% of them didn't have a contract with their employer, and thus no way to legally guarantee them a fair wage (or any wage at all) for their work. 65% of them had never had a day off in their whole employment, and 12% had experienced violence. Child domestic workers remain one of the most vulnerable populations to human trafficking and exploitation. And while work and life may look a little grim for the kids who answered CARE's survey, it's likely that the most abused and exploited domestic workers didn't even have the opportunity to take the survey.

In part, child domestic workers have it so much harder than adults because the people who hire children are more likely looking for someone easy to exploit. Think about it -- if you wanted to hire a domestic worker, wouldn't you choose an adult with a stronger body and more life experience to lift and haul and cook than a kid? If you could get them both for the same price, of course you would. But what if the kid was cheaper, free even, because you knew she wouldn't try and leave if you stopped paying her. Or even if you threatened her with death.



Congress Aims to Improve Laws for Runaway, Prostituted Kids

by Amanda Kloer

categories: Child Prostitution, Pimping

Published February 20, 2010 @ 09:00AM PT

The prospects for healthcare reform may be chillier than DC weather, but Democrats in the House and Senate are turning their attention to another warmer but still significant national issue: the increasing number of runaway and throwaway youth who are being forced into prostitution. In response to the growing concerns that desperate, runaway teens will be forced into prostitution in a sluggish economy, Congress is pushing several bills to improve how runaway kids are tracked by the police, fund crucial social services, and prevent teens from being caught in sex trafficking. Here's the gist of what the new legislation is trying to accomplish:

Shelter: Lack of shelter is one of the biggest vulnerabilities of runaway and homeless youth. Pimps will often use an offer of shelter as an entree to a relationship with a child or a straight up trade for sex. In the past couple years, at least 10 states have made legislative efforts to increase the number of shelters, extend shelter options, and change state reporting requirements so that youth shelters have enough time to win trust and provide services before they need to report the runaways to the police. Much of the new federal legislation would make similar increases in the availability and flexibility of shelter options.

Police Reporting: Right now, police are supposed to enter all missing persons into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database within two hours of receiving the case. In reality, that reporting doesn't always get done, making it almost impossible for law enforcement to search for missing kids across districts. This hole is a big problem in finding child prostitution victims and their pimps, since pimps will often transport girls from state to state. The new bill would strengthen reporting requirements, as well as facilitate communication between the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the National Runaway Switchboard

We Must Never Forget These Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen and Women

We Must Never Forget These Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen and Women
Nor the Fool Politicians that used so many American GIs' lives as fodder for the fight over an english noun - "Communism"