Children's social media use survey

The C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health found that 32% of children ages 7 to 9 and 49% of children ages 10 to 12 use social media apps. The findings, based on a survey of 1,030 parents, also showed that 35% of parents said their child was taught about the safe use of social media apps in school, and that these parents were more likely to report that their child uses these apps.

National Poll: 1/3 of children ages 7-9 use social media apps. (2018). https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/931448.

Report on 3rd graders' reading ability

 This report ranks 287 California school districts, which have 100+ socio-economically-disadvantaged/Hispanic/LatinX 3^rd graders, on their “effectiveness in teaching reading by 3^rd grade.” The authors found that “it is not the students themselves, or the level of resources, that drive student reading achievement - the primary drivers are district focus on reading, management practices, and curriculum and instruction choices.” One surprising finding is that “none of the top performing districts are located in the San Francisco Bay Area. The Bay Area contains nearly half of the lowest performing districts, including large districts like San Francisco Unified, Oakland Unified, and West Contra Costa County Unified.  By contrast, Southern California has 80% of the high performing districts, led by Los Angeles County, where over half of all ranked districts are in the top 20% statewide. Fresno County is also a standout, with 4 of the top 30 districts (including 2 of the top 5), while making up only 1% of all ranked districts.”

The First Annual California Reading Report Card. California Reading Coalition. Sept. 2021.

Public Schooling for Undocumented and Asylum-Seeking Children Study

 Migration over the U.S. southwest border in the past decade has been composed of growing numbers of undocumented and asylum-seeking families and children from Mexico and Central America. By U.S. law, states must provide education to all children, regardless of immigration status. Yet sufficient information needed for policymaking is lacking, in particular about the ages and geographic locations of the children by state and district, needs for teachers and staff to accommodate these children, and experiences and good practices in schools.

To fill this gap, the authors model the numbers of such children by state, review the federal and state policy landscapes, and provide case studies of how schools are managing education. The report specifically aims to help various stakeholders understand the broad range of issues and implications related to population increases in undocumented and asylum-seeking children over the southwest border.

Key Findings

• Growing numbers of undocumented and asylum-seeking children from Central America and Mexico are arriving in the United States.
• Approximately 575,000 were encountered at the border from FYs 2017 to 2019, and 321,000 were enrolled in U.S. schools in 2020.
• Federal law establishes the rights of these children to public education.
• The two case study school districts, Jefferson Parish Schools and Oakland Unified School District, were making efforts to provide quality education for this population and address challenges through innovating and learning.
• However, gaps remain in the supports needed in the education of these newcomers, including those related to data, educational resources, funding, and nonacademic supports.

Culbertson, S. (2021). educaeting newcomers. Rand.

https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA1326-1.html?utm_source=WhatCountsEmail&utm_medium=NPA:2906:7316:Sep%2030,%202021%205:46:55%20AM%20PDT&utm_campaign=NPA:2906:7316:Sep%2030,%202021%205:46:55%20AM%20PDT

Australian teen reading attitudes survey

 The following infographic summarizes an survey of 15 year old Australians.

Underwood, C. (2021). Snapshots, April 2021: What do Australian 15 year olds think about reading? ACER. 

https://research.acer.edu.au/teacher_graphics/142/

Graded readers are becoming real literature

 Graded readers are becoming real literature

Stephen Krashen, August, 2021 

 

I have been in quarantine for the last year, and I am reluctant to give it up. I have been exercising, practicing the piano, doing research, and …. reading. I have been trying to improve my Spanish by reading lots of easy texts, graded readers, following the advice of Beniko Mason. (I have read “authentic” Spanish, but it has been a struggle.)  And I think it is working. 

 

I have discovered that graded readers in Spanish have improved in quality in recent years. They have graduated from “simple stories for students” to real literature.  Until recently, I had two favorite authors writing in this genre: Bill VanPatten (e.g Angel) and Adriana Ramirez (e.g. Me Perdi en Medallin, Rigo).  I just added a third: Kristy Placido. I just finished reading her book, Testigo, La Historia de Brayan. Not just interesting, but compelling, and it gets more and more compelling as you read. And I just ordered another Placido title. 

 

Middle schoolers and praise study

 Middle-school students respond more to praise than criticism, especially when it comes to curbing problem behaviors, a study found. By making a point of praising desired behaviors at least as much as reprimanding undesirable behaviors, teachers improved overall class conduct by up to 70%, researchers noted.

Caldarella, P. , Larsen, R., & Williams, L. (2021). Effects of middle school teachers' praise-to-reprimand ratios on students' classroom behavior. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions. https://doi.org/10.1177/10983007211035185

Administrators and school librarians study

 A recent study explores how school district leaders can foster the development of effective school libraries in which school librarians serve as instructional leaders of multiple literacies. "Results revealed two main barriers that inhibit the development of an effective school library: a) ambiguous administrative expectations for school librarians, and b) school librarians’ limited participation in the K–12 instructional program. Conversely, results demonstrated that positive relationships serve as significant supports for enabling school librarians to function as instructional leaders of multiple literacies."

Lewis, M. (2021). Enabling School Librarians to Serve as Instructional Leaders of Multiple Literacies. School Library Research, 24.

https://www.ala.org/aasl/sites/ala.org.aasl/files/content/pubs/slr/vol24/SLR_EnablingSchoolLibrarians_V24.pdf