Reports

 

Chalkboard aims to help create a more informed and engaged public that understands and addresses the tough choices and trade-offs required to build strong schools. Read our reports and issue papers to learn more about the state of Oregon's schools and research supported proposals to raise student achievement.

"Reports" are the findings of research into the current state of K-12 education in Oregon.

"Issue Papers" are focused on a particular issue and provide research-based suggestions and proposals for how to improve K-12 schools in Oregon.

Read Chalkboard's original 15 point action plan.

Annual Condition of K-12 Education in Oregon

Read Chalkboard's reports to the Oregon community on the condition of K-12 education.

Our Voices, Our Schools: Chalkboard's Education Report to the Community 2008-2009.

2008-2009 Education Report to the Community (DOWNLOAD PDF)

Condition of K-12 Education in Oregon: 2007 Update

Condition of K-12 Education in Oregon: 2006 Update

Condition of K-12 Education in Oregon: 2005 Report (Full Report) (Appendix) (Summary)

Quality Educators

Reports

Nurturing Quality Teachers: A Profile of the Successes and Challenges of Six Oregon Districts - Examines the professional development activities of six small and mid-sized districts from across Oregon. Reviews of budgets, collective-bargaining agreements, and calendars shows the size and nature of the professional development investment varies considerably across districts.

Professional Development in Oregon: What Do Teachers Want, What Do They Get, and Do They Find It Useful? -Sheds light on the
scope and perceived quality of professional development through
an analysis of data from the 2003-04 Schools and Staffing Survey
(SASS), conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics
(NCES) and administrative data from the Oregon Department
of Education.

Ten Key Findings on Professional Development in Oregon -Draws ten conclusions from the research paper above.

Issue Papers

Teaching Effectiveness and Why It Matters - Produced in partnership with the Departmend of Education at Marylhurst University, this paper serves to help contextualize the conversation around teacher effectivess. Providing background information on effective teaching practices and drawing connections to professional practice and multiple measures of student achievement, this paper is an excellent beginning to a much-needed dialogue around teacher effectiveness.

Teaching Effectiveness and Why It Matters: Key Ideas - A one-page summary of the above paper.

How Well Is Oregon Supporting Excellence in Our Schools? - Every successful business invests in keeping its employees well trained and at the top of their profession. Teachers need that investment, too. Chalkboard makes recommendations in five areas of teacher professional development: equity, quality, professional learning, time, and accountability.

Finance and Accountability

Reports
"Estimated Costs of Teacher Turnover in Oregon Using Two Methodologies" - A brief report prepared by ECONorthwest comparing two measurements of teacher turnover costs. Depending on the measurement, it is estimated that Oregon spends roughly $40 million to $59.4 million annually due to teacher turnover.

"Oregon Public School Transportation Funding: An Evaluation of Alternative Methods" - Addresses the need to incentivize transportation cost saving within school districts in Oregon.

Oregon School Finance Full Report, 2005 -The third in a series of reports evaluating schools, this report assembles evidence on policies that show potential to strengthen the state’s method of funding its schools.

Improving Quality & Strengthening Accountability in Oregon's Schools - The second in a series of reports evaluating schools, this report moves from describing problems to exploring a wide range of policy options that schools might employ to solve them.

Charter Schools & Tax Credits - An examination of tax credits for charter schools and the best ways to apply various options in Oregon.

PERS- This report seeks to provide clear, objective information to policymakers, so they can evaluate whether additional changes to the Public Employees Retirement System are necessary. The report concludes with a range of policy options designed to further reduce the cost of the system to public employers and ultimately taxpayers. The report does not consider options designed to expand retirement benefits or increase the cost of the system. Read Chalkboard's statement about the report. We do not endorse one option for reform, we simply present them for discussion.

Issue Papers

High Desert ESD Efficiency Study - ECONorthwest produced a report detailing the potential savings for school districts in Central Oregon if they were to consolidate their fiscal and information technology services. The results indicate a potential savings of $500,000.  

"PERS 2009: Where does the system stand and where could we go from here?" November 2009 Read Chalkboard's statement about the report. We do not endorse one option for reform, we simply present them for discussion.

ODE Executive Summary - "Oregon Public School Transportation Funding: An Evaluation of Alternative Methods" - Oregon Department of Education budget note on aforementioned transportation issue.

School Choice - Explores open enrollment and charter schools for expanding school choice.

Local Option - A background an analysis of school funding and proposals for reforming the local option process.

School Improvement Fund - This issue paper highlights the limited, but growing, number of programs proven effective through experimental trials. Targeted expansions of these rigorously tested programs, with some of the newly available School Improvement Fund resources, would spark progress and rapidly move Oregon students into the academic top tier.


 

Student Success

Reports

The Hispanic-White Achievement Gap in Oregon

Download The Hispanic-White Achievement Gap in Oregon - Summer 2009

"A Deeper Look at the Black-White Achievement Gap in Multnomah County."

"A Deeper Look at the Black-White Achievement Gap in Multnomah County." - February 2009 (DOWNLOAD PDF)- a statistical portrait of Black students and their teachers spanning six school districts in Multnomah County.  The research reveals that the gap is not primarily about the pace at which students learn, but where they start out.

Background on Innovation Zones (December 2009) - Innovation Zone (IZ) policies have been implemented in West Virginia and Colorado, and are being considered in other states. An IZ policy allows schools to obtain IZ status enabling them to bypass a subset of district and state regulations thus freeing them to implement innovative administrative strategies and teaching techniques to advance student performance.

Educating Autistic Children (September 2008) - A summary of current best practices in educating Autistic Spectrum Disorders.

Extended Learning Time (August 2008) - A review of research on extended learning time in K-12 schools.

Issue Papers

"Using Stimulus to Drive Change: Opportunities for Oregon." May 2009 - A review of the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act and the opportunities it could provide for Oregon schools.

Early Age Initiatives (Summary) - There is no silver bullet to increasing student achievement. But two practices to help early learners show particular promise – reducing K-1 class sizes to 15 students, and providing reading tutors to every K-3 student reading below grade level.

Best Practices Research

In its first two years, Chalkboard collected data nationally and internationally on best practices in raising student achievement.   The Chalkboard Project has pointed the public, education stakeholders and decision makers to interventions with the highest likelihood to improve K-12 student achievement. Chalkboard issues best practice reports to help guide policy decisions our K-12 schools our communities deserve.

Pay for Performance - 2006 - The balance of this paper outlines a state policy that would encourage Oregon school districts to adopt alternative methods of compensating their teachers.

Attendance - Addresses key implementation issues associated with a proposed transition to using average daily attendance, rather than enrollment, as the foundation of Oregon’s formula for distributing school revenue.

K-12 Business Practices - Addresses proposals to increase efficiencies in two areas: support services and student transportation.