How might we know whether our schools or system are set up to optimise learning? How can we find out whether we are getting the most from technology? How can we evaluate our innovation or think through whether our change initiative will bring about its desired results? Teachers and educational leaders who grapple with such questions will find this…

As voucher and tax-credit scholarship programs have expanded in recent years, another promising development has been the incorporation, into more such programs, of provisions that hold participating private schools to account for their students' performance. The newest and largest voucher programs, such as those in Louisiana and Indiana, have gone…

This resource is part of a series of reports about challenges facing statewide science assessments and innovative solutions states are enacting to meet those challenges. Deciding to implement a system of assessments is a critical step toward ensuring that all students are getting the high-quality science education they need--but it is also…

Federal education policy will soon undergo a major revision, with significant consequences for the state's own policy and practices. This report seeks to help federal and state policymakers consider this restructuring and one of its core questions: How should schools and school districts be held accountable for the academic progress of their…

Since 1973, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) has gathered information about student achievement in mathematics. Results of these periodic assessments, produced in print and web-based formats, provide valuable information to a wide variety of audiences. They inform citizens about the nature of students' comprehension of the…

This monograph provides educational researchers, policymakers, and practitioners with an overview of existing knowledge regarding factors that influence success among racial and ethnic minority students in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) circuit. To accomplish this task, the authors reviewed more than four hundred…

This article develops a model for longitudinal student achievement data designed to estimate heterogeneity in teacher effects across students of different achievement levels. The model specifies interactions between teacher effects and students' predicted scores on a test, estimating both average effects of individual teachers and interaction…

To remain competitive in the international marketplace, the United States will have to recommit to a new era of educational reform. Students must be pushed to reach higher expectations, and the U.S. educational system must find an efficient and centralized mechanism to measure national progress in education reform. This document describes the…

This paper considers preliminary issues in the development of quality educational outcome indicators for students with disabilities within the context of current changes in general education and a conceptual model of important educational outcomes and indicators for all children. The approach and development process of the National Center on…

This report is an attempt to conceptualize a comprehensive framework for evaluating vocational education quality. It is intended to inform policymakers of the breadth of the elements of quality and to suggest an integrated framework for assessing quality to vocational education evaluation theoreticians. Chapter 1 offers preliminary considerations.…

This Education Policy Brief provides readers with a broad overview of Response to Intervention (RTI). Response to Intervention refers to an integrated, schoolwide method of service delivery across general and special education that promotes successful school outcomes for all students. This brief first discusses the impetus behind RTI, which stems…

This report describes the model used by the Oregon State System for Higher Education to assess the impact of higher education on the growth and change in students as a result of participation in higher education. The model prescribes assessments of general knowledge and abilities, learning environment, major field knowledge, degree completion,…

Long-range planning is becoming increasingly important for educators in today's rapidly changing society. This bulletin accordingly presents a step-by-step model for school districts to use in developing and successfully implementing a long-range plan. Chapter 1 introduces long-range planning and suggests ways of getting district personnel…

This book gives an updated account of the present use and status of performance indicators (PIs)in British higher education, a decade after their controversial introduction into higher education policy. The first chapter explores some key issues in the development of PIs, noting that since their introduction as a largely, externally imposed…

This book gives an account of the present use and status of performance indicators in British higher education, set against the developing literature and experience of performance indicators in the United States and other countries. The book provides a critical survey of the range of devices being proposed but also points to possible patterns or…