Today's teacher candidates frequently exhibit confusion and express discouragement while navigating the expectations of their educational journeys and career goals. Characteristically, many candidates tend to be first-generation college students limited in universal knowledge, global travels, diverse experiences, and multiple perspectives.…

With decentralisation becoming increasingly widespread across Europe, evaluation and accountability are becoming key issues in ensuring quality provision for all (Altrichter & Maag Merki, 2010; Eurydice, 2004). In Europe, the dominant arrangement for educational accountability is school inspections. The purpose of this research is to identify…

As readers of "Assessment Update" know, the call for assessment is sweeping over the globe, so much so that faculty and administrators are finding it difficult to ignore it--though many may wish they could. Unfortunately, awareness does not lead to an increase in assessment implementation because fear of assessment is still widespread. The push…

This article reports the findings from a case study of urban school district effectiveness taken from a larger, multistate study. The case study district, Galena Park Independent School District in Galena Park, Texas, was chosen for inclusion in the study based on quantitative analysis of student achievement data in Texas. An education production…

What is transformative professional development for educators? Ideally, teachers and school leaders are given multiple opportunities to revisit schemas about themselves and their learning communities, with the intent to transform practice, the school environment, and even themselves. In practice, three cohorts of teachers and school leaders…

Federal officials plan to overhaul the reporting requirements for higher education-based teacher preparation in favor of leaner, outcome-based indicators of program quality, according to plans outlined in the president's fiscal 2012 budget request. To bolster the overhaul, the budget also proposes a $185 million new formula grant program, dubbed…

As part of the evaluation of the Strategic School Funding for Results (SSFR) project, American Institutes for Research (AIR) conducted surveys of principals, teachers, and members of School Site Councils (SSCs) to gather information on the attitudes and perspectives regarding the implementation of key components of the SSFR model in Twin Rivers…

The Head Start National Reporting System (NRS) exemplified an assessment system where significant ambiguity existed regarding its purpose(s). This article considers the perceived purposes of the NRS from a local program perspective through observations and interviews with staff members during the 2004-2005 school year. This study found that a…

The purpose of this study was to determine how elementary school administrators in a large U.S. state perceived the overall effects of testing on education in general and, more specifically, on their instructional leadership responsibilities. We surveyed 325 Florida principals and assistant principals, many of whom viewed the testing program…

The author considers one section of a document (Everyone's Favorite Solution in "The Reserve Army of the Underemployed") by James O'Toole to be an attack on vocational education in which seven charges are made. The charges are rebutted with the intention of illustrating the positive contributions that vocational education can make to the goals of…

This paper reviews the concept of performance funding (PF) in governmental and higher education budgeting at the state level, reports the results of a recent national study of state-level PF for higher education, and assesses the likelihood that PF will become a permanent fixture in most states' approaches to budgeting for higher education. The…

The Adult Basic Education (ABE) program conducted by the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands was evaluated. Data were collected via staff interviews and record reviews during site visits at ABE facilities located in five of six district comprising the Trust Territory. Focus of the evaluation activities was on program administration,…

Work experience programs in secondary schools were examined to determine the costs and benefits associated with them. Data on students in these programs were compared with data on students with nonschool-supervised jobs and students with no jobs. Characteristics and experiences of current and former students were compared. A random sample was…

This study discusses the contention that since vocational education costs more per pupil on the average than academic or general education, it should yield greater benefits to its students. Focus is on examining pitfalls inherent in this approach/contention and synthesizing recent research materials which reflect the benefits of vocational…