This annotated bibliography is reformatted and customized by the Center for Positive Practices. Some of the authors featured on this page include Scott Carlson, Janet Freeman, Tiffany S. Lee, Robert Sapien, Brian Moore, Jennifer Kramer-Wine, James Lujan, Lynne Fullerton, Laurel Lampela, and Andrew Brodsky.
(2010). Educators Use Student Performance Data to Plan, Implement, and Evaluate, Journal of Staff Development. Having data about student academic performance motivates school leaders to perform better as educators, and tells them where they need to concentrate their efforts to improve. As principal of Ernie Pyle Middle School in Albuquerque, New Mexico, this author finds that the constant use of relevant data helps him stay focused on his instructional leadership responsibilities. He shares the information with his "data team," which includes teachers, parents, and students. Once the data are studied and analyzed, an action plan is created to implement the next steps necessary to improve the academic progress of very student in every grade level in any specific area. These actions plans are connected to every teacher's professional development plan. He believes there is an urgency to educate instructional leaders about quantitative and qualitative analysis of school data. However, instructional leaders must instill that sense of data accountability within all stakeholders involved in improving student learning. [More] Descriptors: Leadership Responsibility, Instructional Leadership, Academic Achievement, Evaluation
(2008). Marked Difference, Journal of LGBT Youth. Helen Cozza is a contemporary artist living in New Mexico who began working as a painter and moved into printmaking. Prevalent in her work is the use of the grid and the patterns created by weaving. The imagery is reminiscent of the environmental deterioration that Cozza observed in Buffalo and Cleveland where she lived for many years. Cozza knew at a young age that she was a lesbian and her work clearly speaks to her identity. Her work demands close inspection to see the marks of difference beneath the surface. [More] Descriptors: Visual Arts, Homosexuality, Artists, Art Education
(2008). In College Gyms, a Time for Women Only, Chronicle of Higher Education. Harvard University quietly started offering women-only gym hours early this semester. But since the news broke several weeks ago, it has prompted an onslaught of media attention. Harvard's move, however, is not unique. In recent years, women at several colleges across the country have requested women-only workout times. Some of those women have been motivated by their religions, whether Islam, Judaism, or Christianity. Others are "just plain fed up with having to play with the guys." In many of cases, institutions have agreed to make special accommodations. Programs in Massachusetts, New York, Illinois, New Mexico and Michigan are cited. [More] Descriptors: Females, College Students, Recreational Facilities, Shared Facilities
(2006). New Mexico Standards Based Assessment (NMSBA) Technical Report: 2006 Spring Administration, New Mexico Public Education Department. The purpose of the NMSBA technical report is to provide users and other interested parties with a general overview of and technical characteristics of the 2006 NMSBA. The 2006 technical report contains the following information: (1) Test development; (2) Scoring procedures; (3) Calibration, scaling, and equating procedures; (4) Standard setting; (5) Reliability; and (6) Validity. Six appendices provide additional statistical information for the spring 2006 administration: (1) Number of items and points addressing each of the New Mexico Standards and Benchmarks: (2) Raw score to scale score conversion tables and standard errors of measurement; (3) Raw and scale score frequency distributions; (4) Performance level percentages by subgroups; (5) Inter-rater reliability information; and (6) Classical test theory item statistics and item response theory model parameter estimates with fit indices. (Contains 5 figures and 185 tables.) [Prepared by Harcourt Assessment, Inc for the New Mexico Public Education Department.] [More] Descriptors: Interrater Reliability, Standard Setting, Measures (Individuals), Scoring
(2008). Aligning Mathematics Assessment Standards: New Mexico and the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). REL Technical Brief. REL 2008-No. 011, Regional Educational Laboratory Southwest (NJ1). This technical brief examines the current alignment between the New Mexico Standards Based Assessment (NMSBA) standards and the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) mathematics framework. It looks at the extent to which current state assessment standards cover the content on which 2009 NAEP assessments will be based. Applying the methodology used by Regional Educational Laboratory Southwest in 2007 in a similar study that examined the alignment of New Mexico science standards with the 2009 NAEP, this study presents results for areas of full alignment, partial alignment, nonalignment, and areas where the NMSBA assessment standards go beyond the NAEP standards. The study finds that 92 percent of NAEP grade 4, 94 percent of NAEP grade 8, and 80 percent of NAEP grade 12 assessment standards (aligned with current NMSBA assessment standards) and 77 percent of NAEP grade 12 assessment standards (aligned with proposed NMSBA assessment standards) are either fully or partially addressed by the NMSBA assessment standards. The study analyzes the alignment of the NMSBA and 2009 NAEP mathematics assessment standards. It does not analyze individual items or the alignment of state standards with the NMSBA assessment items. The study does not make specific recommendations about whether a state should close gaps in alignment to NAEP–a decision for state policymakers. Revising assessments requires substantial time and resources, so policymakers considering such revisions need to weigh the costs of such changes and the benefits they believe such changes will bring to students. [More] Descriptors: Alignment (Education), Core Curriculum, State Standards, National Competency Tests
(2010). Weaving Wisdom with Hard Work: Accomplished Student Learns, Grows, and Gives Back, Tribal College Journal of American Indian Higher Education. Linda Taylor (Dine) raises sheep and horses, creates sculpture, paints, teaches traditional weaving classes, hunts solo for elk and deer, and volunteers at the Methodist Thrift Shop. In the past, she has also cared for Native children in need, and she is currently applying to foster a Navajo girl. On weekends, she sells bales of hay at the Shiprock Flea Market, and if the buyer is pregnant or elderly, she loads the hay. Even with her many interests and talents, Taylor most enjoys teaching her grandchildren about lambs, wool, and responsibility. Taylor is also a tribal college student who practices lifelong learning. When she needed six credit hours to update her Colorado teaching credentials, she signed up for classes at Dine College at Shiprock, New Mexico. In this article, Taylor inspires readers with her talent as a modern weaver and her dedicated efforts to pass Navajo traditions to her family and community. [More] Descriptors: Tribes, Lifelong Learning, Tribally Controlled Education, American Indian Education
(2009). Cultural Identity and Schooling in Rural New Mexico, Journal of Research in Rural Education. Summarizing the findings of his study in southwestern Nova Scotia coastal fishing villages, Mike Corbett (2009), in his article "Rural Schooling in Mobile Modernity: Returning to the Places I've Been" lays out several arguments, including the following: First, that formal education "has been and continues to be…a key institution of "disembedding," loosening ties to particular locales and promoting out-migration from rural places". Second, the ambivalence about this process "is experienced in different ways by differently positioned social actors in the rural community". Following Corbett, in this commentary the author takes the opportunity to reflect on the implications of these arguments for rural people, rural communities, and rural schools in the context of the U.S. Southwest, in New Mexico. [More] Descriptors: Rural Population, Rural Education, Migration, American Indians
(2012). The Peer-Interactive Writing Center at the University of New Mexico, Composition Forum. The one-on-one format of tutoring, which is the norm for "writing" centers, can foster the much-maligned view of a "writing center" as a fix-it shop and undermine the role of the tutor as a co-learner and facilitator of peer-to-peer interactions. The peer-interactive "writing center approach", presented here, moves away from the one-on-one model and towards a format that encourages genuine peer collaboration, recreates the "writing center" as a place to actually engage in writing, and encourages students in their intuitions about "writing". As a case study of such a peer-interactive approach, this profile provides an overview and evaluation of the "Writing" Drop-In Lab at the University of New Mexico, which provides a model for bringing the practice of "writing" tutoring into line with a view of "writing" as a collaborative, process-oriented phenomenon. [More] Descriptors: Tutoring, Laboratories, Writing (Composition), Writing Instruction
(2010). It's Time to Talk: Tribal Colleges Tackle Culture of Silence about Suicide, Tribal College Journal of American Indian Higher Education. Compared to the general population, American Indians are experiencing an alarmingly increased rate of suicide, which some estimate at 50% higher than other ethnic groups. On the campuses of some tribal colleges, things look equally bleak, with 15% of students reporting that they seriously considered suicide over the past 12 months. While the reasons for this tragedy are myriad and complex–and much remains to be done–some tribal colleges in New Mexico, Montana, Nebraska, and North Dakota, are facing the crisis head-on, instituting prevention programs designed to reach students before they even set foot on campus. Culture-specific programs are pivotal for the success of suicide prevention at tribal colleges; research indicates that students who are more culturally and spiritually connected exhibit fewer suicidal tendencies. By engaging the community at large and incorporating cultural traditions, a tribal college can go a long way toward ensuring its students will seek help when they need it. [More] Descriptors: Prevention, American Indians, Suicide, Tribally Controlled Education
(2010). Design and Implementation Considerations for Alternative Teacher Compensation Programs, Theory Into Practice. Over the past decade, educators and policymakers have used a variety of approaches to designing and implementing teacher compensation programs. These approaches include federal incentive funds, state-level programs, and district initiatives. This article reviews 6 such programs in order to identify themes and draw conclusions relevant to educators, researchers and policymakers, including programs in Minnesota, Florida, New Mexico, Denver, Austin, and Houston. The programs varied in a number of ways, including the policy context in which they were conceived, how teachers were involved in program design, how accomplished teaching was defined, how specific program elements were used to reward teachers, and how student growth was rewarded. Two factors seemed to increase the success of programs in building teacher buy-in and in remaining sustainable: incorporating teachers at early stages of development, and basing teacher compensation on a range of elements in addition to standardized test scores. [More] Descriptors: Teacher Salaries, Program Design, Compensation (Remuneration), Program Implementation
(2010). School Nurse Online Emergency Preparedness Training: An Analysis of Knowledge, Skills, and Confidence, Journal of School Nursing. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a computer-assisted emergency preparedness course for school nurses. Participants from a convenience sample (52) of school nurses from New Mexico were randomly assigned to intervention or control groups in an experimental after-only posttest design. Intervention group participants completed 15 online emergency preparedness training modules followed by posttests, and control group participants completed the posttests without taking the training modules. Tests measured emergency preparedness with written exams, confidence surveys, and skills performance in videotaped scenarios; the videotaped scenarios were scored by Pediatric Emergency Medicine physicians blinded to whether the participants were in the intervention or control group. The intervention group participants scored significantly higher in tests of knowledge and skills than control group participants. Confidence Survey scores did not differ significantly. The online training modules are a valuable resource for improving school nurse emergency preparedness knowledge and skills but may not affect participants' confidence. [More] Descriptors: Control Groups, Intervention, School Nurses, Emergency Programs
(2010). Complex Ecologies of Indigenous Education at the Native American Community Academy, Online Submission. The Native American Community Academy (NACA) is demonstrating an example of Indigenous philosophies and practices in education through its holistic, student-centered approach to education. NACA was one school in a large statewide study on Indian education in New Mexico. Focus groups with students, teachers, and community members illustrate the evolution of complex ecologies NACA creates to facilitate students' growth intellectually, socially, emotionally, and physically. The experiences and perspectives of the participants at this secondary level charter school are shared to illustrate how this school exemplifies a model of Indigenous education, how it creates and builds community, and how it teaches students to know themselves by motivating a critical Indigenous consciousness and a sense of service toward building sustainable communities. [More] Descriptors: Charter Schools, American Indians, Focus Groups, American Indian Education
(2008). Dispute at New Mexico State Worsens Amid New Claims, Chronicle of Higher Education. This article reports that two married professors, John Moraros and Yelena Bird, whose contracts were not renewed by New Mexico State University, in what they say was a case of discrimination and retaliation, now say they are also the victims of baseless allegations of plagiarism by the university's president. Administrators at New Mexico State, who have been dogged by bad press over the incidents, are looking closely at the professors' 2004 master's theses. A senior public-health professor at the university says that President Michael V. Martin, who will soon become chancellor of Louisiana State University at Baton Rouge, visited his office brandishing copies of the professors' theses and urged him to look at passages he thought were similar in the two. The senior professor, Robert Buckingham, who has supported the dismissed professors, said Mr. Martin angrily told him that he had collected unflattering information about Mr. Buckingham's past that could be released to the public. The events make up merely the latest round in a complicated case in which allegations have been lobbed among the university, the professors, and their supporters. [More] Descriptors: College Faculty, State Universities, Dismissal (Personnel), Plagiarism
(2012). Interrelationships of a Home Economist: Legacy of an Extension Agent in New Mexico, Journal of Family and Consumer Sciences. Many pioneers in family and consumer sciences (FCS) are not recognized for what they accomplished. How evident this became as the author learned of a home economist who preceded many members and did so much for her state and its people during much of the 1900s. The author read an article from "New Mexico Magazine" which features three women–the teacher, the traveler, and the trailblazer. The labels for the three roles suggest a pioneer spirit and adventure, and each exemplifies three things: (1) interrelationships; (2) interdependence; and (3) intersections. The three women were true pioneers and adventurers during their lifetimes–challenging traditions and customs, traveling before modern modes of transportation, developing legacies for their families, communities, and country, and developing relationships with people from a variety of backgrounds. The author introduces each of the three women, and then shares what she has learned about the first woman in the article, the teacher, Fabiola Cabeza De Baca (1894-1991). [More] Descriptors: Females, Extension Agents, Home Economics, Consumer Science
(2003). The Nation's Report Card: State Reading 2002, Report for New Mexico. This report provides selected results from the 2002 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) for New Mexico's public-school students at grades 4 and 8. Since 1992, reading has been assessed in four different years at the state level (at grade 4 in 1992 and 1994, and at both grades 4 and 8 in 1998 and 2002). New Mexico participated in all of these assessments at grades 4 and 8 and met the criteria for reporting public-school results for both grades. Key findings for grade 4 are: the average scale score for students in New Mexico was 208, which did not differ significantly from that of 1992 (211) nor 1998 (205); students' scale scores in New Mexico were higher than those in 4 jurisdictions, lower than those in 37 jurisdictions, and the difference was not found to be significant for 6 jurisdictions; and the percentage of students in New Mexico who performed at or above the "Proficient" level was 21%, which did not differ significantly from that in 1992 (23%) and did not significantly differ from that in 1998 (21%). Key findings for grade 8 are: the average scale score for students in New Mexico was 254, which was lower than that in 1998 (258); students' scale scores in New Mexico were higher than those in 4 jurisdictions, lower than those in 35 jurisdictions, and the difference was not found to be significant for 7 jurisdictions; and the percentage of students in New Mexico who performed at or above the "Proficient" level was 20%, which was not found to differ significantly from that in 1998 (23%). After an introduction, the report presents overall results, comparisons between states, reading performance by demographic characteristics, and it discusses moving toward a more inclusive NAEP, and where to find more information. [More] Descriptors: Comparative Analysis, Elementary Education, Grade 4, Grade 8