Higher education institutions face heightened accountability for student success. As such, higher education relies heavily on big data to predict student outcomes. This process is problematic because predictive models are developed on historical data, are deficit based, and are focused on student factors, neglecting institutional factors. The…

The establishment of national experimental teaching demonstration centers (NETDCs) in China has played an important role in improving the experimental teaching level in universities and colleges, promoting scientific research, and cultivating innovative talents for national- and region-level innovations. However, how to promote the sustainable…

Currently, there is a need to assess the impact of ICT educational policies in educational centres. In this study, the level of digital competence of students is proposed as an indicator of the impact of these policies. However, there is an international problem when it comes to measuring this competence due to its diversity and conceptual…

The purpose of this research project was to conduct an exploratory analysis of the 2016 Mississippi Statewide Accountability System (MSAS), which is the model by which all public schools in Mississippi are assessed, rated, and ranked, in an attempt to assess whether or not the system is an effective policy tool, especially in relation to the goals…

Ratings are present in many areas of assessment including peer review of research proposals and journal articles, teacher observations, university admissions and selection of new hires. One feature present in any rating process with multiple raters is that different raters often assign different scores to the same assessee, with the potential for…

A key question facing teacher evaluation systems is how to combine multiple measures of complex constructs into composite indicators of performance. We use data from the Measures of Effective Teaching (MET) study to investigate the measurement properties of composite indicators obtained under various conjunctive, disjunctive (or complementary),…

"The Integration Anomaly" explores a "puzzling divergence" between changes in metropolitan residential and school segregation. Based on a review of existing literature, it argues that the best way to address rising school segregation is to decouple school assignment from neighborhoods through universal school choice. The report…

There is something incalculable about teacher expertise and whether it can be observed, detected, quantified, and as per current educational policies, used as an accountability tool to hold America's public school teachers accountable for that which they do (or do not do well). In this commentary, authors (all of whom are former public school…

This Progressive Policy Institute report argues that charter schools should be expanded rapidly and exponentially. Citing exponential growth organizations, such as Starbucks and Apple, as well as the rapid growth of molds, viruses and cancers, the report advocates for similar growth models for charter schools. However, there is no explanation of…

The number of international students and the number of countries hosting these students are growing. The level of internationalization has also become an indication of the prestige of higher education institutions. Therefore, it is becoming increasingly important for countries--an indeed the European higher education area as a whole--to be…

Physical activity promotion in the academic classroom (PAPAC) is an effective means for increasing children's school-based physical activity. In the context of a South Carolina policy requiring elementary schools to provide children with 90 min of physical activity beyond physical education every week, the purpose of this study was to test a…

This study examined the intended and unintended consequences associated with the Education Value-Added Assessment System (EVAAS) as perceived and experienced by teachers in the Houston Independent School District (HISD). To evaluate teacher effectiveness, HISD is using EVAAS for high-stakes consequences more than any other district or state in the…

Despite questions about validity and reliability, the use of value-added estimation methods has moved beyond academic research into state accountability systems for teachers, schools, and teacher preparation programs (TPPs). Prior studies of value-added measurement for TPPs test the validity of researcher-designed models and find that measuring…

Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) programs are a recent and popular approach in developing countries to improve health and education prospects of poor families through conditional financial incentives. However. due to sub-optimal transfers and administrative difficulties in identifying needy families, many CCT programs suffer from incomplete…

The dynamic model of educational effectiveness defines school level factors associated with student outcomes. Emphasis is given to the two main aspects of policy, evaluation, and improvement in schools which affect quality of teaching and learning at both the level of teachers and students: a) teaching and b) school learning environment. Five…