Ninth Grade Academies (NGAs)--also called Freshman Academies--have attracted national attention as a particularly intensive and promising approach for supporting a successful transition for high school freshmen. An NGA is a self-contained learning community for ninth-graders that operates as a school within a school. NGAs have four core structural…

This report takes a closer look at not just student learning, but also the quality of school conditions that support that learning. There, too, Michigan has troubling weak spots. The state currently ranks 42nd of 47 for funding equity, meaning Michigan has some of the biggest gaps in resources between high-poverty and low-poverty school districts.…

The OECD Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) and the OECD Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) constitute two of the largest ongoing international student and teacher surveys presently underway. Data generated from these surveys offer researchers and policy-makers opportunities to identify particular educational…

This study examines the feasibility of reporting scores of a test based on the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2000 instrument that was administered to a sample of 25-year-old Youth in Transition Survey (YITS) respondents on the PISA scale. Each of these respondents also participated in PISA 2000. The study examines the…

This report serves as a legacy document for the Ford Foundation's More and Better Learning Time (MBLT) initiative. It summarizes the approaches to and outcomes and challenges of successful MBLT strategies around the country. The report includes data from a survey for Ford Foundation MBLT grantees across the country and from case studies in Denver,…

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania plans to develop a new statewide evaluation system for teachers and principals in its public schools by school year 2013-2014. To inform the development of this evaluation system, the Team Pennsylvania Foundation (Team PA) undertook the first phase of the Pennsylvania Teacher and Principal Evaluation…

Within Professional Learning Teams, or PLTs, teachers actively collaborate, share expertise, improve their skills, examine and use various forms of data, and learn from each other--all for the purpose of improved student learning. Over the years the concept of PLTs has become increasingly familiar to Wake County Public School System (WCPSS)…

In the past year, Open Educational Resources have been a focus of policymakers and stakeholders in North Dakota. As a result, North Dakota University System (NDUS) faculty are more aware of the term open educational resources (OER) than their counterparts in national public institutions and all sectors of higher education. In addition, North…

The North Dakota University System (NDUS) "2014-2015 Annual Enrollment Report" is an effort to report system wide, duplicated and unduplicated student headcount by combining degree credit and non-degree credit enrollments across the eleven NDUS institutions for an entire academic year. Additionally, non-credit enrollments provided…

This second year of the faculty technology study is situated in the middle of what is surely one of the most dynamic decades in the history of higher education. Colleges and universities are monitoring or actively participating in some remarkable tectonic changes, including new technologies, new models for teaching and learning, and even new…

Improvements in workforce skills are essential for European countries to attain higher economic growth and to compete effectively on product markets. Literature indicates a positive relationship between levels of education and productivity growth. This report builds on and expands this body of research in two ways: (1) It investigates the…

This report summarizes findings from a two-year study of Chicago's Excellence in Teaching Pilot, which was designed to drive instructional improvement by providing teachers with evidence-based feedback on their strengths and weaknesses. The pilot consisted of training and support for principals and teachers, principal observations of teaching…

The Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS) framework, which uses a systems approach to promote school improvement and support all students in improving academics and behavior using data-based problem-solving, is a key part of the Wake County Public Schools System (WCPSS) Strategic Plan. As of 2017-18, MTSS schools were at the initial stages of MTSS…

This survey report contains the results of the 2009-10, 2010-11, and 2011-12 Teacher and Principal Surveys conducted by Stanford's Center for Education Policy Analysis (CEPA). The surveys were administered to teachers and principals in the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD). This report appears in two parts, each highlighting some of…

High turnover rates affect diverse professional areas. Recruiting and training new employees is costly for profit and non-profit organizations. Teacher induction programs provide the emotional and professional support that beginning teachers need in the transitory phase from being a student at a university to being a teacher in a classroom. To…