This paper draws on data and experiences observing and analyzing school lotteries from the National Evaluation of Charter School Impacts (Gleason et al., 2010) to describe the challenges associated with lottery-based research. In that study, covering 36 charter middle schools in 15 states, we found that charter schools did not affect student…

In the context of "academic momentum," a longitudinal study of university students (N = 904) showed high school achievement and ongoing university achievement predicted subsequent achievement through university. However, the impact of high school achievement diminished, while additive effects of ongoing university achievement continued.…

The prevailing assumption by some that deep processing promotes stronger learning outcomes while surface processing promotes weaker learning outcomes has been called into question by the inconsistency and ambiguity of results in investigations of the relation between levels of processing and performance. The purpose of this literature review is to…

ePortfolio has become ubiquitous in higher education over the course of the last decade, with faculty and institutions devoting both time and monetary resources to its use. Given this trend, the purpose of this study was to investigate the landscape of ePortfolio research to determine what evidence exists for ePortfolio's impact on student…

This is a dissertation in three essays. The first essay traces changes over time in three factors that drive students' sensitivity to changes in tuition prices and presents an argument that these factors have changed differently for access to higher education and choice among alternative institutions. The essay explores the application of a…

"Gateways to the Principalship: State Power to Improve the Quality of School Leaders" proposes state policies for improving principal effectiveness and student achievement. It uses policy examples from eight "lagging" and eight "leading" states as a means of advocating for a wide range of policy actions aimed at influencing principal preparation,…

For more than four decades the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) has tracked the achievement of U.S. students in major academic subjects. This national resource is the only assessment that states and now many urban districts can look to as an objective yardstick of their performance over time, relative to national benchmarks, and…

The research problem addressed in this study was the lack of trust between faculty-principal, faculty-client, and faculty-colleague in U.S. secondary schools. The purpose of the study was to determine the relationship between communicator styles and perceptions of trust. Organizational trust theory served as the theoretical foundation. A…

Background: Students' instructional experiences--that is, their experiences working with subject matter during classroom instruction--are a major determinant of how they learn. Given the importance of classroom instruction, valid, generalizable evidence is needed by policymakers, researchers, and practitioners. Over the past two decades, a wealth…

Doctoral graduate research performance (DRP) is recognized as one of the most critical indices for evaluation of the success of doctoral education. Doctoral graduates with high research performance directly reflect a higher ability in academic research and academic achievement. Consequently, identifying which factors influence DRP is potentially…

This study addresses several methodological problems that have confronted prior research on the effect of class size on student achievement. Unlike previous studies, this analysis accounts for the hierarchical data structure of student achievement, where grades are nested within classes and students, and considers a wide range of class sizes…

During the past decade, the percentage of proficient students (PPS) has become the primary indicator of school performance. Educators use the PPS to monitor changes in performance over time, compare performance across groups, and assess trends in achievement gaps. The PPS is relatively new, first used with the National Assessment of Educational…

This fifth and final paper in the Fordham Institute's series examining digital learning policy is "Overcoming the Governance Challenge in K-12 Online Learning". The purpose of this report is to outline the steps required to move the governance of K-12 online learning from the local district level to the less restrictive state level and to create a…

This report misrepresents and then criticizes recommendations from the Minnesota Department of Education, a think tank and two independent study groups, each of which recently encouraged particular voluntary efforts to reduce concentrated poverty and achieve racial and socioeconomic integration in schools and housing in Minnesota. In building its…

Promotion of diversity based on ethnic and racial identity of both students and faculty has become a central tenet in U.S. higher education, permeating everything from curricular development to student and faculty recruitment, and from campus infrastructural planning to articulation of an institution's strategic mission. References to diversity on…