History of IDEA
Jeannie Oakes, Founder and Former Director
Youth Voice in School Finance
NEW REPORT: Los Angeles' road to A-G for all
Without Dollars and Sense Powerpoint
Past Educational Opportunity Reports
The Latest from IDEA
A newsfeed on the most current research, news, and events at IDEA.
Feb. 8: New research questions LA Times value-added approach
The analysis the Los Angeles Times relied on to publish a series of stories and database of teacher effectiveness was inadequate, according to a report released today by the National Education Policy Center.
"Due Dilligence and the Evaluation of Teachers" published the findings of University of Colorado, Boulder researchers Derek Briggs and Ben Domingue, who used the same Los Angeles Unified School District data of elementary school teachers and students. In attempting to recreate the analysis that was conducted for the Times, the researchers found much variability.
The original analysis looked at student test scores in English Language Arts and mathematics. How much they improved from the previous year--"value added"--was attributed to the teacher. Positive growth and the teacher was considered "effective"; negative, not so. The Times ranked teachers on a five-point scale from "least effective" to "most effective."
Among NEPC new findings for reading scores:
- More than half of the teachers had a different effectiveness rating.
- 8.1 percent of teachers considered ineffective in the Times' model jumped to effective.
- 12.6 percent originally listed as effective were deemed ineffective in new model.
For the full report from IDEA's sister organization, visit nepc.colorado.edu
Feb. 2: Wikipedia's gender gap
IDEA researcher Jan Margolis speaks to NY Times about gender gaps in computer science
Council of Youth Research expanding reach
UCLA IDEA's Council of Youth Research has been busy the last few months. After a successful summer seminar when students from five Los Angeles urban high schools researched school conditions, the Council has spent the past few months expanding on that research.
Students from Crenshaw, Locke, Manual Arts, Roosevelt and Wilson high schools have continued to investigate the conditions at their schools and in their communities, using Williams v. California as a template. Williams was a class-action lawsuit settled in 2004 that guaranteed every student in California an adequate education.
In the next few months, the Council of Youth Research will present their yearly findings at the UCLA Labor Center. They will also travel to New Orleans for the annual American Educational Research Association conference, which brings together thousands of researchers to share their work.
To keep up with the latest, follow @youthcouncil_LA on Twitter and read the students' blog Young Critical Minds.
Jan. 25: Parent Engagement presentation at first LAUSD task force meeting
A new Los Angeles Unified School District Parent Engagement Task Force held its first meeting Monday. The 28-member task force, headed by California Community Foundation President Antonia Hernandez, will make recommendations to the LAUSD Board of Education on how to increase parent involvement and improve student achievement.
UCLA IDEA faculty fellow Veronica Terriquez presented research on parent engagement during the meeting. Terriquez is currently an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Southern California.
Click image below to download her PowerPoint presentation.
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