Professional development becomes relevant and effective when teachers are actively involved, collaborate, and when it is linked to teachers' daily school practice (Hunzicker in "Prof Dev Educ" 37:177-179, 2011). Preparation of teachers for a curriculum implementation such as the new subject Nature, Life, and Technology can be done…

This study compared Chinese kindergarten teachers' values and perceptions of program quality with trained raters' assessments of quality in order to gain insights into effective professional development for improving teacher quality. A total of 284 Chinese kindergarten teachers self-assessed the quality of their classroom teaching and rated their…

This article explores changes in teachers' beliefs and practice concerning assessment after participating in a project for improving assessment practices in Norwegian schools. The project was initiated by the Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training in 2008, and included a total of 77 schools, more than 600 teachers and a sample of their…

Radical acceleration from middle school to university is an unusual option in the United States. The Early Entrance Program and the University of Washington (UW) Academy for Young Scholars housed in the Halbert and Nancy Robinson Center for Young Scholars are two of only 21 early university entrance programs offered in the United States. Due to…

The study investigated the relationships between assessment for learning (AfL) and attributes of two school-related contexts--the classroom assessment culture (CAC) in which AfL is embedded, and the larger context in which CAC is nested, namely the school-based professional learning community (SBPLC). The research design comprised two…

This paper presents the results of an investigation into the attitudes of School Administrators to the relationship between formal school registration and school improvement. It concerns a mandatory inspection-type registration process for all Non-Government Schools in Western Australia. Part of the aim of this registration process was to help…

The number of schools that have access to computers and the Internet has increased rapidly since the beginning of the 1990s. However, evidence of their effectiveness as pedagogical tools to acquire reading and math skills is still the object of debate. We use repeated cross-section data from Brazil to evaluate the effect of the availability of a…

In this article the authors analyze the effect of private voucher education on student academic performance using new data on Chilean students and a novel identification strategy. Most schools in Chile provide either primary or secondary education. The authors analyze the effect of private voucher education on students who are forced to enroll at…

This article discusses the findings of a survey of centres using the "Twenty First Century Science" suite of GCSE courses, focusing on the impact of its introduction on the number of students beginning AS-level courses in the sciences. The data indicate increases of 24% to 38% in the numbers beginning AS-level courses in the three main…

Critical thinking is a skill that school systems are trying to develop in their student populations. Numerous studies have been conducted on developing critical thinking skills such as self-regulation, interpretation, and analysis. However, available data on the use of learning management systems (LMS) as a means to develop critical-thinking…

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 purpose of this study is to determine the degree of instructor' assessment practices in the realization of the learning-teaching process in its various stages, in the identification of expected outcomes and various other practices in the same context by taking student views into account. The study was undertaken with 243 students attending…

Adoption of cost sharing policy in education has witnessed the return to communities and parents a substantial proportion of financial responsibility for schooling. With increased poverty levels, many parents and communities have not been able to meet the cost requirements under cost sharing policy. Thus their investment in education and support…

The conceptual categories that underlie the business analysis of intellectual capital are relevant to providing an explanation of school performance. By gathering data on student learning, this research provides empirical evidence for the use of school results as an accurate indicator of the effectiveness of the management of public education.…

This article describes the Ethics and Citizenship Program, a moral education project developed by the Brazilian government to promote education in ethics and citizenship in Brazilian fundamental and middle schools through four key themes: ethics, democratic coexistence, human rights and social inclusion. Some findings from a research project that…