The Top 20 Education Next Articles of 2016

Which Education Next articles were most popular in 2016?

Our top article of 2013 was a randomized experiment designed to measure the effect of taking students on a field trip to an art museum. The study concluded, as the authors wrote in an op-ed in the New York Times, that “art makes you smart.”

What other topics were popular?

Five of the top 20 articles for 2013 looked at some aspect of technology in education: an article on flipped classrooms, a study of the effectiveness of online learning for college students, a profile of a charter schoolthat utilizes blended learning to individualize instruction, an article “checking the facts” of a study that evaluated K12 virtual schools, a look at educational apps aimed at preschoolers.

Another five articles of the top 20 articles focused on teachers or teacher training: a critique of ed schools, a look at the role played by substitute teachers, an article describing new organizations aimed at giving teachers a greater voice in the profession, a study of the academic qualifications of today’s teachers, an article on the cost of teacher benefits, and an article on changes at Teach for America.

Five more articles looked at some aspect of charter schooling:  a look at how graduates of No Excuses charter schools are doing in college, an inside look at high-scoring BASIS charter schools, a look at the softer side of KIPP schools, an article about a blended learning charter school in L.A., and a study looking at how competition with charter schools affects district schools.

Assessment Through the Student's Eyes

Rather than sorting students into winners and losers, assessment for learning can put all students on a winning streak.

Historically, a major role of assessment has been to detect and highlight differences in student learning in order to rank students according to their achievement. Such assessment experiences have produced winners and losers. Some students succeed early and build on winning streaks to learn more as they grow; others fail early and often, falling farther and farther behind.

As we all know, the mission of schools has changed. Today's schools are less focused on merely sorting students and more focused on helping allstudents succeed in meeting standards. This evolution in the mission of schools means that we can't let students who have not yet met standards fall into losing streaks, succumb to hopelessness, and stop trying.

Our evolving mission compels us to embrace a new vision of assessment that can tap the wellspring of confidence, motivation, and learning potential that resides within every student. First, we need to tune in to the emotional dynamics of the assessment experience from the point of view of students—both assessment winners and assessment losers. These two groups experience assessment practices in vastly different ways, as shown in “The Assessment Experience,” p. 24. To enable all students to experience the productive emotional dynamics of winning, we need to move from exclusive reliance on assessments that verify learning to the use of assessments that support learning—that is, assessments for learning.

How Much Do Teachers Hate Common Core?

As more and more governors and local politicians denounce Common Core initiatives, and more states officially back away from the standards, the debate over the place and effectiveness of Common Core heats up. There is a lot of talk about students, but what about teachers? After all, they are the people who are most accountable for any standards and testing systems that are put in place. They are also the ones who see firsthand how education policies impact students. So what do teachers say about Common Core and PARCC testing?

• 75 percent support Common Core, says a May 2013 American of Federation (AFT) poll that surveyed 800 teachers.
• 76 percent strongly, or somewhat, support Common Core based on an Education Next Survey from 2013.
• More than three-fourths support Common Core Standards “wholeheartedly” or with some minor reservations, according to a September 2013 National Education Association member survey.
• 73 percent of teachers that specializes in math, science, social studies and English language arts are “enthusiastic” about the implementation of Common Core standards in their classrooms, from a 2013 Primary Sources poll of 20,000 educators.

A higher amount of elementary teachers are optimistic about Common Core than their high school counterparts. A survey conducted by The Hechinger Report Scholastic and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation found that just 41 percent of high school teachers are positive about Common Core standards. A recent survey by the National Association of Elementary School Principals found that more than 80 percent of principals (out of 1,000 from 14 states) say that Common Core standards have the potential to increase student skill mastery, create meaningful assessments and improve areas like conceptual understanding.

These are just a few examples of studies of educators and administrators that relate directly to Common Core initiatives, but each one lists well over a majority who back the standards to some degree. This, despite the fact that many parents and legislators cite “unfairness” to teachers as a reason to dissolve the standards on a national level. In fact, this idea that all teachers somehow “hate” Common Core or are against the standards being taught is just not true. Yet this widely held public belief has led to even greater fervor when it comes to Common Core, PARCC testing and the related lessons in classrooms.

You may notice that many of these studies are a bit outdated. Even something from six months ago does not take teachers’ true feelings into account following teaching the standards, and facing assessments on them. Implementation aside, though, based on the criteria alone teachers appear to think that Common Core is a step in the right direction for the students in their classrooms.

Become an Online Educator: Career and Education Roadmap

Step 1: Earn a Teaching Degree

Online teaching at the K-12 level requires a bachelor's degree and appropriate state-issued teaching certification. At the postsecondary level, potential online educators must have earned their master or doctoral degrees. Most colleges and universities don't require applicants to have degrees in education. Rather, they prefer a degree and experience in the subject which the applicant intends to teach.

Step 2: Gain Certification or Licensure

According to the BLS, teachers are generally required to become certified or licensed in their state which may require passing an exam. Most education degree programs cover information required to become a licensed teacher. Online educators are also required to meet any teaching requirements that are applicable to classroom instruction.

Success Tips:

• Research your state's certification and licensure requirements. Colleges or the applicable state's board of education website can provide information on a state's teacher certification requirements and any required examinations. Continuing education or professional development may be required for teachers to maintain state certification or licensure.

Step 3: Teach in a Classroom

Online teaching duties are similar to teaching duties in the classroom, except more computer and technology skills are needed in the virtual classroom. Proving teaching skills to potential employers with experience teaching in a brick and mortar classrooms may lend itself to an easier transition to teaching online. Moreover, it's usually easier to negotiate an online teaching position with a current employer than to find a new employer for a direct hire into an online education position.

Success Tips:

• Find a teaching position in a specific subject area and/or age group. Online educator jobs typically require experience in a specific subject area and 1-3 years of experience in teaching. Choosing a classroom teaching position in the specific area or level of instruction better prepares candidates for online instruction positions.

Step 4: Seek Additional Education Certificates

Elective certificate programs for aspiring educators can be a good way to learn about online instruction. It may also help to advance a career through providing more experience and professional networking. Many colleges and universities offer certificate programs with courses in e-learning, computer-based training, online tutorials, and electronic delivery. Many of these courses are available through the Web, so potential online educators are exposed to the online classroom experience while learning how to use programs designed for online learning, such as Blackboard. Certificate programs are available at both the graduate and undergraduate levels and vary in the number of courses required for completion.

Younger Students Increasingly Drawn to Online Learning, Study Finds

Prospective online students are skewing younger, tend to enroll in local institutions and put a program's cost and reputation at the top of their priority list, according to a recent survey.

Those and other findings are outlined in "Online College Students," a July report by Aslanian Market Research and the Learning House, a company that helps colleges ​and universities improve their online degree programs. The report, in its fourth year, surveyed about​ 1,500 graduate and undergraduate students enrolled, recently enrolled or about to be enrolled in online programs in spring 2015.

Among the most surprising findings in the report, authors say, is the shifting age of online students. While distance education students are often assumed to be older, the report found the popularity of online undergraduate programs is growing among those under 25.

TAKE QUIZ

Quiz: How Much Do You Know About Online Learning?

Thirty-four percent of undergraduate online students were under the age of 25 this spring,​ up from 25 percent in 2012, according to the report.

The percentage of online graduate students under 25 also grew, jumping from 13 percent in 2012 to 19 percent this year.​ Authors say these changes could be due to two factors: the economic pressure to work while going to school and increasing familiarity with online courses. 

Students "have had online courses in their background because many high schools now require an online course," says study author Carol Aslanian, senior vice president of Aslanian Market Research. "If they have started college and are going back, many colleges have them. They are going to be groomed to appreciate it." 

While online students can in theory enroll in any institution, most are drawn to local programs offered by​ schools they know. Half of online students live within 50 miles of their campus and 65 percent live within 100 miles, the report found. 

That's not too surprising to Joel Hartman, vice provost for​ ​information technologies and resources at the University of Central Florida, who says most universities successfully recruit online students within the geographic areas they serve.

"We do very well," says Hartman, who also serves as chief information officer. ​"It's how we got to have 38 percent of our credit hours generated online."  

When it comes to choosing an online program, the report found that prospective students put cost at the top of their priority list. Forty-five percent of respondents said they selected the most inexpensive institution out of their options, up from 30 percent the year before. 

Two-thirds of students did not receive a scholarship when they enrolled in their online program.

[Find out how to decipher the true cost of your online degree.]

Cost "seems to be an increasing concern," says Dave Clinefelter, ​report author and chief academic officer at Learning House. 

Reputation was the second most important decision-making factor after cost, although a significant percentage of students also considered whether the institution was recognized as high quality, the number of hours required for study each week and whether ​there were set ​class meeting times.

Once again, the report found women to be more highly represented in online programs than men. At the undergraduate level, 70 percent of students were women. Among graduate students, 72 percent of students were female. 

But more women are in higher education in general, ​Aslanian says. Women represented ​56 percent of undergraduates in fall 2013 and 59 percent of graduate students, according to a May 2015 report ​by the National Center for Education Statistics. ​

The percentage of female online students could also be the result of the kind of careers women pursue, Aslanian says.

"A lot of the professions for which you need further education – health, social services, education – they are dominated by women," she says. "Many men may go into business and on their own. The women-oriented employment fields require more education." 

While the report highlights various trends in student preferences, Clinefelter is quick to point out that online students are split on many issues, from how often they would like to engage with a faculty member to their tolerance for synchronous, or live, courses.