State education departments find themselves pressured to reduce costs while improving student performance. To do so, state education departments must measure the performance of each school district in an objective, data-informed manner. We present a benchmarking methodology and illustrate its application in New York State school districts. We…

The Guam Department of Education ("GDOE") presents this report in compliance with Guam Public Law ("P.L.") 26-26 that specifically requires the Department to report on the following information in the Annual State of Public Education Report ("ASPER"): (1) Demographic information on public school children in the…

This college student retention practices report identifies which practices, strategies, and actions campus officials rate as the most effective for student success at four-year public and private institutions and two-year public colleges. This report includes: (1) 13 population-specific programs for student success and completion; (2) 13 online…

Ninth grade is a critical juncture for students. Students who make a good transition to high school are likely to graduate within four years. Those who do not--who fail to earn as many credits as they should in ninth grade--face an elevated risk of dropping out of high school. To understand how well they are supporting ninth graders, more school…

The issue of college completion has become a hot-button topic for higher education and the public in recent years. While completion is not a new issue, several national and state-level efforts, including President Obama's 2020 college-completion goal to increase the number of college graduates to 50 percent of the population, have brought…

This paper discusses methods for benchmarking vocational education and training colleges and presents results from a number of models. It is conceptually difficult to benchmark vocational colleges. The colleges typically offer a wide range of course programmes, and the students come from different socioeconomic backgrounds. We solve the…

Surveys play a prominent role in assessment and institutional research, and the NSSE College Student Report is one of the most popular surveys of enrolled undergraduates. Recent studies have raised questions about the validity of the NSSE survey. Although these studies have themselves been criticized, documenting the validity of an instrument…

Prompted by changing demographics, economic pressures, and global competition, Texas and members of the Southern Regional Education Board adopted policies to boost minority enrollment and success in higher education around the turn of the century. This study draws upon IPEDS graduation rate data for a benchmark year, 2002, and for 2006 through…

This article presents and discusses the results of a national survey of social work PhD students, faculty, and administrators (n = 416), conducted by the Group for the Advancement of Doctoral Education in Social Work (GADE), in December 2012. The survey was undertaken to inform the updating of GADE's 2003 "Guidelines for Quality in Social…

This study updates previous Education Trust briefs that looked at public, four-year colleges that successfully improved minority graduation rates and narrowed graduation-rate gaps. This new report examines which four-year, nonprofit colleges--public "and" private--have made the most improvements for Hispanic students. Because for-profit…

This study updates previous Education Trust briefs that looked at public, four-year colleges that successfully improved minority graduation rates and narrowed graduation-rate gaps. This new report examines which four-year, nonprofit colleges--public and private--have made the most improvements for African-American students. Because for-profit…

The Massachusetts Education Reform Act of 1993 set in motion a series of major new initiatives to equalize funding across the Commonwealth, improve the quality of teaching, and strengthen accountability for school performance. Among other important innovations, MERA established the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) to inform…

The Guam Department of Education (GDOE) presents this report in compliance with Guam Public Law 26-26 that specifically requires the Department to report on the following information in the Annual State of Public Education Report (ASPER): (1) Demographic information on public school children in the community; (2) Information pertaining to student…

The current study examines the relationship between the SAT® College Readiness Benchmark with the outcome of graduation from college in either four or six years. The results indicate that the SAT benchmark is indeed differentiating between those students who graduate within four years and those who do not, as well as between those who graduate…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to measure and compare the performance of Portuguese secondary schools. Design/methodology/approach: Some data on the schools were collected via an electronic questionnaire sent to 103 secondary schools of the centre region of Portugal; other needed data were available through the Centre Regional Education…