This research focuses on the everyday challenge in academic learning of assessment, and argues that academic buoyancy is a key factor in academic success. To scaffold students' learning and effectively support academic buoyancy, there is arguably a need for a better understanding of: (i) what students find most and least useful in their assessment…

Education reform efforts have mandated the use of student achievement data in schools. This Q-methodology study investigates the perceptions of principals and teachers about how data are used or misused. Principals in the sample were found to use data mostly to evaluate the school, make improvements, and model best practices of data use. Teachers…

The Regional Educational Laboratories (RELs) are a networked system of 10 organizations that serve the educational needs of 10 designated regions across the United States and its territories. The U.S. Department of Education (ED) is authorized by the Education Sciences Reform Act (ESRA) to award contracts to 10 RELs to support applied research,…

In 2003, Lumina Foundation for Education launched a bold, multiyear, national initiative called "Achieving the Dream: Community Colleges Count," to help students stay in school and succeed. The initiative is focused particularly on students who have faced the most barriers to success, including low-income students and students of color.…

The Local District Assessment Option (piggyback program) is an integral part of the Minnesota Statewide Educational Assessment Program, which provides the 162 participating local school districts with materials and procedures developed for the statewide program. Materials are available in reading, mathematics, social studies, and science for…

A study investigated the postsecondary intentions and the actual outcomes of secondary transition among 321 students from five schools in New Zealand. Phase 1 identified students who did not intend to return to secondary school. The next year (2000), they became the target population for Phase 2, which examined the students' actual continuation on…