The proficient handling of data can undoubtedly be regarded as a key skill for the future. However, the need for data competencies is not limited to traditional professions in the information technology environment but is rather necessary across industries and work fields. Consequently, there is a call to integrate such Data Literacy and Data…

This support document accompanies the research summary "From VET to Sustainable Employment for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples," which examines the contribution of vocational education and training (VET) participation to sustainable employment for this cohort of the Australian population. The purpose of this document is to…

This is the Mackinac Center's fourth school report card and covers elementary and middle schools. A similar report card was published in 2013, and this edition includes two years' worth of new data. A unique characteristic of this report card is that takes into consideration the "context" of a school when assessing its performance.…

This paper provides the first population-based evidence on how much standardized test scores vary among public school districts within each state and how segregation explains that variation. Using roughly 300 million standardized test score records in math and ELA for grades 3 through 8 from every U.S. public school district during the 2008-09 to…

Across the Regional Educational Laboratory Southeast Region there is growing interest in strengthening the presence of online learning in all public schools to help equalize education opportunities for all students and prepare students for a digital future. For instance, the North Carolina General Assembly has required that the state transition to…

This publication provides a summary of data relating to students, programs, subjects and training providers in Australia's government-funded vocational education and training (VET) system (defined as Commonwealth and state/territory government-funded training). The data in this publication cover the period of 1 January to 30 September 2016. For…

The Advanced Placement Program® (AP®) offers high school students the opportunity to take rigorous coursework in high school and receive college credit for AP Exam scores that meet or exceed the requirements of their attending institution. Students receiving AP credit are typically exempted from an introductory-level course or series of courses…

The 2014 Michigan Public High School Context and Performance Report Card is the Mackinac Center's second effort to measure high school performance. The first high school assessment was published in 2012, followed by the Center's 2013 elementary and middle school report card, which used a similar methodology to evaluate school performance. The…

The Michigan Context and Performance Report Card measures school performance by adjusting standardized test scores to account for student background. Comparing schools using unadjusted test scores ignores the significant relationship between academic performance and student socioeconomic background--a dynamic outside a school's control. The…

This study examines the impact of providing parents with an informational brochure about the role of algebra II in college access on students' grade 11 algebra II completion rates in Texas. One hundred nine schools, covering all 20 Educational Service Center regions in Texas, participated in the study. Parents in the 54 treatment schools were…

This study evaluates the impact of the Retired Mentors for New Teachers program, a two-year mentoring program at the elementary school level developed by Aurora Public Schools in Colorado. Many of the district's schools serve a large percentage of economically disadvantaged children, experience high teacher turnover, and hire newer, less…

Despite extensive efforts to increase the number of undergraduates majoring and persisting in science, math, engineering, and technology (STEM) fields, there is surprisingly little understanding of recent patterns of switching from these majors to those in other fields of study. In addition, little is known about whether the racial, class, and…

This Fordham study, conducted by learning technology researcher June Ahn from NYU, dives into one of the most promising-and contentious-issues in education today: virtual schools. What type of students choose them? Which online courses do students take? Do virtual schools lead to improved outcomes for kids? With over thirty-five thousand students…

Facilitating student transfer from two-year to four-year institutions has been a focus of research and policy in recent years. Much less attention has been given to the phenomenon of four-year to two-year (4-2) college transfer. About 16 percent of students who begin in a four-year college transfer to a two-year college within six years. Using…

This NCEE Technical Methods Paper compares the estimated impacts of an educational intervention using experimental and regression discontinuity (RD) study designs. The analysis used data from two large-scale randomized controlled trials--the Education Technology Evaluation and the Teach for America Study--to provide evidence on the performance of…