This study aimed to examine the relationship between student engagement and student retention of adult learners at community colleges. The relationship between student retention and the five Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE) student engagement benchmarks (active and collaborative learning, student effort, academic challenge,…

External referencing of assessment and students' achievement standards is a growing priority area within higher education, which is being pressured by government requirements to evidence outcome attainment. External referencing benefits stakeholders connected to higher education by helping to assure that assessments and standards within courses…

Digital solutions have substantially contributed to the growth and dissemination of education. The distance education modality has been presented as an opportunity for worldwide students in many types of courses. However, projects of digital educational platforms require different expertise including knowledge areas such as pedagogy, psychology,…

This paper provides a scan of the literature to expand the knowledge base for the field of online, blended, and competency-based education. Authors seek to integrate the core ideas of personalized learning, blended learning, competency education, and standards. The goal of the paper is to explain the nuances of key terms used across the field of…

The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) is a consortia of states that is developing a next-generation assessment system in English and math anchored in what it takes to be ready for college and careers. To accomplish this goal the consortia must determine whether individual students are college and career-ready,…

This "Practitioner's Guide to Growth Models," commissioned by the Technical Issues in Large-Scale Assessment (TILSA) and Accountability Systems & Reporting (ASR), collaboratives of the "Council of Chief State School Officers," describes different ways to calculate student academic growth and to make judgments about the…

The purpose of this study was to examine the alignment of the easyCBM[R] mathematics benchmark and progress monitoring measures to the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics "Curriculum Focal Points" (NCTM, 2006). Based on Webb's alignment model (1997, 2002), we collected expert judgments on individual math items across a sampling of forms…

This document is designed to establish consistency in the definition and format to be used in developing early literacy standards and benchmarks. It articulates a set of standards and benchmarks that is based on current national and state standards documents and that reflects the foundational knowledge and developmental differences representative…

Project 2061's first product, Science for All Americans, recommends the science, mathematics, and technology skills and knowledge that students should retain after high school graduation. Soon to appear are benchmarks for science literacy, and blocks, models, and blueprints for curriculum design. The project's basic premises: the ends come first,…

The purpose of this document is to provide more detailed guidance around early literacy instruction than afforded by currently available national and state standards documents. In particular, this document: (1) establishes consistent definitions for the terms "standard" and "benchmark"; (2) establishes a consistent format for early literacy…

As adults, today's students will have to deal with emerging problems societal changes are creating. Improving public education for all will require educational reform that better accommodates under-served American youth. This chapter discusses the educational standards movement, which assumes that virtually all learners can achieve educational…

Promising solutions to the failings of traditional comprehensive high schools were reviewed to identify basic principles and strategies for improving high schools nationwide. Selected research studies, policy documents, and promising high school programs were reviewed. The review revealed the following principles for helping high schools better…

This document contains 35 papers from the program development section of an international conference on vocational education and training (VET) for lifelong learning in the information era. The following are among the papers included: "Using Quality Indicators to Create World-Class Curricula: From Concept to Application" (Curtis Finch,…

This document contains 123 papers from an international conference on vocational education and training (VET) for lifelong learning in the information era. The papers focus on the following themes: (1) societal and ethical issues; (2) human resource development and personnel training; (3) international issues; (4) information technology in VET;…