This article details a pilot Minimum Standards assessment in Afghan refugee schools supported by the International Rescue Committee's Female Education Program in the North West Frontier Province of Pakistan. A set of specifically selected, contextualized indicators, based on the global INEE Minimum Standards, served as a tool for teachers and…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to elaborate the need to educate and encourage students to seek an ethical realm in which the researcher not only accurately analyses and documents a problem, but also actually advocates involvement to mitigate negative impacts. Design/methodology/approach: Geographic information systems (GIS) applications are…

Over the past 35 years, the public, as well as state and federal policy makers, have increasingly pressured higher education to create a culture of evidence and, specifically, to account for student learning. While virtually all states report on collegiate learning using proxies (e.g., graduation rates), colleges and universities are now being…

Early childhood provision in England is undergoing a period of expansion and change. Policy for English early years education and care is based on principles of serving children in need rather than entitlement for all. The result is a two-tier system of private and state provision. Music has benefited from this increase in interest and investment.…

This paper describes a practical method for identifying and communicating expectations of student performance in the classroom. The method has been used at McREL for clients who require a systematic approach to setting performance expectations and communicating these to their constituents. This document in organized in the following sections: (1)…

Reviews the learning outcomes assessment literature and suggests contextual factors responsible for increased interest in outcomes assessment. Reports on a study of several hundred sociologists regarding usage and impact of various outcomes assessment strategies. Examines implications of outcome assessments for power redistribution. (Author/KDR)

Presents a procedure for standard setting that involves the cluster analysis of test takers to discover examinee groups that are useful for envisioning marginally competent performance or defining borderline or contrasting groups. Illustrates use of the procedure with a statewide mathematics test, and concludes that cluster analysis is useful in…

An urban community has forced the issue to get the school that it wants and that its children rightly deserve. The indispensable feature of successful schools in a functioning democracy include creating an authentic community capable of identifying obstacles and opportunities, setting standards and expectations, and deciding how best to provide…

This issue has presented seven previous chapters on international program evaluation standards. Chapter One defined terms and identified major themes. Subsequent chapters examined evaluation standards created in North America, Europe, and Africa; those contemplated in Australasia; and the evaluation standards created by the European Commission and…

After a period of top-down control under the mayor, the New York City system is freeing schools to run their own affairs--and holding them accountable for results. This fall, for the first time, each of the district's 1,456 public schools gained unprecedented control over budgetary and instructional decisions that previously resided with the…

The release of the "Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research 2007" by the Australian Government in 2007 was welcomed by Go8 (Group of Eight) institutions, particularly in relation to the improvements and broader scope of the matters covered by Part A of that Code. However, as foreshadowed by the Go8 during the consultation…

This article will primarily allow a definition of the strategic development of ICT in the Democratic Republic of Congo, to be put forward. For the most part it involves the precision of many types of measures and strategies (such as institutional, regulatory, infrastructural measures), human resources, the development of content and partnerships,…

The goal of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) is to have 100 percent of America's public school students "proficient" by the year 2014. As Rosenberg points out, however, there are multiple interpretations of proficiency, including: (1) Different methods of setting performance standards yield different meanings of proficient; (2)…

Describes a program for assessing student learning at a community college using critical theories of knowledge and the learning process. Finds all measures of learning indicate significant improvement in learning outcomes. Records and discusses the program methodology within the framework of critical pedagogical theory. (Author/KDR)

Discusses insights from the Institutional Operating Measures Forum, sponsored by the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO) and the National Postsecondary Education Cooperative. Discussions continued the debate about the value--and the feasibility--of a standard operating measure for colleges and universities.…