Quality Matters (QM) is a peer review process designed to certify the quality of online courses and online components. It has generated widespread interest and received national recognition for its peer-based approach to quality assurance and continuous improvement in online education. While the entire QM online course design process is…

This research examines novice and experienced teacher perceptions of school-based professional development (PD). Using a qualitative research design, data were gathered by means of document analysis and semi-structured interviews with 10 novice and 10 experienced teachers from two case study schools (one rural and one urban). The major findings to…

This article synthesises the role of evaluation at the municipal, school, classroom and parental levels of governance, and discusses the results of the articles appearing in this special issue. The discussion concerns the role of evaluation in school governance, the value of evaluation for local school development, the constitutive effects of…

There is an emerging field in literacy research which acknowledges the potential variances in literacy practices valued by schools and families. This article reports on one instance where the rich literacy practices of a particular home environment were not recognized within the child's school context. The data explores the impact on the child as…

The information provided in this report shows how students perform when they repeat algebra I and how the level of improvement varies depending on initial course performance and the academic measure (course grades or CST scores). This information can help inform decisions and policies regarding whether and under what circumstances students should…

In this mixed-methods research study, the author investigated a group of first-year college students' responses to and uses of their teachers' written feedback on their draft writing in a First-Year Composition (FYC) course. The author also examined, through corpus analysis, these students' definitions of "useful written teacher…

Students at an eastern United States high school have experienced low pass rates on the High School Assessment Program for English Language Arts (HSAP ELA) for the past 5 consecutive years. The HSAP ELA test is 1 of 2 exams that students must pass to receive a high school diploma. Students who failed the HSAP ELA were provided remedial content and…

In this plenary I reflect on the research I have shared over the past many years of participating and presenting in PME and PME-NA conferences to identify three intellectual divides that continually challenge and motivate my scholarship. I discuss how these intellectual borders (mathematics/education; expert/novice; research/teaching) create…

This document records testimony from a hearing held to learn what actions the Department of Education intends to take to implement the Every Student Succeeds Act and to help ensure the department acts in a manner that strictly adheres to the letter and intent of the law. Under the new law, authority over accountability, teacher quality, and school…

The causes of low-performing schools are complicated, and the proposed solutions, from increasing school funding and alleviating poverty to replacing personnel and introducing school choice, are often politically contentious. The recent passage of the "Every Student Succeeds Act" (ESSA) requires states to identify struggling schools and…

This study is designed to give new researchers an understanding of the methodological principles and practices of living educational theory research as a tool for improving professional practice. It draws on Jack Whitehead and Jean McNiff's (2006) approach to living theory methodology to improve educational practice. The study was guided by the…

In recent years, instructional coaching has emerged as an important policy lever for districts to improve instructional practice. Yet, there is little conceptual agreement in educational research on the role of instructional coaches in the current policy environment. This article attempts to address this gap in the literature by synthesizing…

The United States is in an era of high-stakes evaluation of educators (i.e., teachers and principals), the results of which are used to inform human capital decision making (i.e., recruitment, hiring, retention, and dismissal), which in turn impacts school capacity and student learning. The present article describes the School System Improvement…

Policy makers' attempts to improve low-achieving schools through reform measures are not new to the 21st century. Research asserts that this policy churn has done little, if anything, to change student achievement levels. Based on the research, I assert that policy reforms such as teacher evaluations and test-based assessment, and school…

At the start of the New Year and the second Obama administration, a national dialogue about extending and improving the school year for "all" students--especially those students who face limited resources within and outside their schools--should be a national priority. Students from affluent families already make up for the short school…