This study estimated the amount of time required to teach standards at four grade levels (K-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12) as compared to the time available for instruction. Teachers from four districts in Wyoming, Colorado, and North Dakota made three types of judgments regarding each benchmark within a standard: amount of time needed to teach a given…

Today's institutions of higher education are facing an increased number of significant challenges taking place in the political, economic, social and technological environment. Accordingly, the issues of performance, accountability, and marketing strategies have become ever more important. It has been suggested that universities that are more…

The purpose of this study was to identify and describe the actions taken on new charter school petitions or proposals. This report offers a summary of charter school activity in the 426 Wisconsin school districts during the 2002-2003 school year. The data is based upon an electronic survey administered by the Wisconsin Department of Public…

Over the past 20 years, the amount of information available to students via the Internet has increased dramatically. Access for students to technological resources used to locate information on the Internet has likewise increased. As a result, teachers are now being asked to teach students important 21st Century Skills, including the ability to…

This paper presents a case study on how benchmarking was used to determine how one organization's Web site compared to Web sites of related schools and professional organizations. Highlights include application of metrics, the Web site evaluation form, functional/navigational issues, content and style, and top site generalizations. (Author/LRW)

The Concerns Based Acceptance Model (CBAM) has been a key element in developing and assessing the implementation of science and mathematics programs over the past 20 years. CBAM provides an organized approach to assessing where people stand as they learn about, and accept, changes in organizations. This study examined the status of the adoption of…

Discusses quality assurance benchmarks for distance education and describes results of a survey of academic staff at higher education institutions in Hong Kong that measured their perception of quality assurance in Web-based learning. Examines institutional support; course development; teaching/learning process; course structure; student support;…

The National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) annually collects information from undergraduate students about the quality of their education. In this first year of the survey, more than 63,000 first-year and senior students from 276 colleges and universities answered questions focusing on the extent to which they participate in proven…

A total of 36 third, fifth, and seventh graders were interviewed about strategies they used to solve multiple-choice questions involving estimation of discrete quantities. Successful estimators tended to use decomposition/recomposition and multiple benchmark strategies, whereas less successful estimators generally used perceptually based…

Online courses have many components and dimensions. Both the form (structure) and the content (expression) are situated in an overall environment. The sum of these elements results in student outcomes and learning. In order to facilitate construction and evaluate the quality of an online course, a four-part rubric was designed to reflect:…

This packet of "Tech Plan Update" Preview forms is provided by the Massachusetts Department of Education for planning purposes for the July 1, 2000 to June 30, 2001 fiscal year, prior to submitting "Tech Plan Update" electronic forms online. The first section, Local Technology Plan Data Collection Form, is divided by…

Researchers and policymakers are increasingly interested in the issue of school accountability. Despite this, program standards for afterschool programs are not as fully developed as they are in other fields. This study bridges that gap and presents the results from a study that identifies benchmarks and indicators for high quality afterschool…

This handbook presents findings of a survey that asked human-resources managers to identify current barriers preventing women and people of color from reaching senior management. The survey was sent to 902 human-resources managers at various organizations. A total of 304 surveys were returned, a 34 percent response rate. The managers gave support…

There are usually many testing activities going on in a school, with different tests serving different purposes, thus organization and planning are key in creating an efficient system in assessing the most important educational objectives. In the ideal case, an assessment system will be able to inform on student learning, instruction and…

Nine Canadian health libraries participated in a pilot test of the Benchmarking Tool Kit between January and April, 1998. Although the Tool Kit was designed specifically for health libraries, the content and approach are useful to other types of libraries as well. Used to its full potential, benchmarking can provide a common measuring stick to…