Educational Researcher 43卷9期

1. Moving Through MOOCs: Understanding the Progression of Users in Massive Open Online Courses

Author: Laura W. Perna, Alan Ruby, Robert F. Boruch, Nicole Wang, Janie Scull, Seher Ahmad, and Chad Evans

Source: Educational Researcher 43.9 (Dec 2014): 421-432.

Abstract: This paper reports on the progress of users through 16 Coursera courses taught by University of Pennsylvania faculty for the first time between June 2012 and July 2013. Using descriptive analyses, this study advances knowledge by considering two definitions of massive open online course (MOOC) users (registrants and starters), comparing two approaches to measuring student progress through a MOOC course (sequential versus user driven), and examining several measures of MOOC outcomes and milestones. The patterns of user progression found in this study may not describe current or future patterns given the continued evolution of MOOCs. Nonetheless, the findings provide a baseline for future studies.

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2. Patterns and Trends in Grade Retention Rates in the United States, 1995–2010

Author: John Robert Warren, Emily Hoffman, and Megan Andrew

Source: Educational Researcher 43.9 (Dec 2014): 433-443.

Abstract:

Although grade retention may be consequential for a number of important educational and socioeconomic outcomes, we know surprisingly little about the actual rate at which students are made to repeat grades. We build on Hauser, Frederick, and Andrew’s 2007 measure of grade retention using data from the 1995 through 2010 Current Population Surveys. We make technical improvements to their measure, provide more recent estimates, and validate the measure against external criteria. Our measure describes large disparities in grade retention rates by sex, race/ethnicity, geographic locale, and students’ socioeconomic circumstances. However, both absolute retention rates and disparities in retention rates have declined markedly since 2005. We conclude by describing how our measures might be used to model the impact of economic and policy contexts on grade retention rates.

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3. Who Enters Teaching? Encouraging Evidence That the Status of Teaching Is Improving/strong>

Author: Hamilton Lankford, Susanna Loeb, Andrew McEachin, Luke C. Miller, and James Wyckoff

Source: Educational Researcher 43.9 (Dec 2014): 444-453.

Abstract:

The relatively low status of teaching as a profession is often given as a factor contributing to the difficulty of recruiting teachers, the middling performance of American students on international assessments, and the well-documented decline in the relative academic ability of teachers through the 1990s. Since the turn of the 21st century, however, a number of federal, state, and local teacher accountability policies have been implemented toward improving teacher quality over the objections of some who argue the policies will decrease quality. In this article, we analyze 25 years of data on the academic ability of teachers in New York State and document that since 1999 the academic ability of both individuals certified and those entering teaching has steadily increased. These gains are widespread and have resulted in a substantial narrowing of the differences in teacher academic ability between high- and low-poverty schools and between White and minority teachers. We interpret these gains as evidence that the status of teaching is improving.

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