Two recent trends in education--increased technology and accountability--are driving efforts to define technology competencies and standards for teachers. The first lists of competencies from these efforts are just now being completed. While some of these competencies are linked to teacher certification and re-certification, others are developed…

This report summarizes the advantages and disadvantages of administering the Physical Education Assessment Report (PEAR) during its pilot year in Austin Independent School District (AISD).

The "Fiscal Year 2007 Illinois Community College System's Performance Report" contains summary information about state and common institutional outcome indicators. External comparative benchmarks are cited whenever possible using the latest available data (national reporting typically trails what is available at the state level).…

In 2003 the first nationally-comparable science assessment was designed, developed and carried out under the auspices of the national council of education ministers, the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA). In 2006 a second science assessment was conducted and, for the first time nationally, the…

This report presents seven case studies and discusses the role of continuous quality improvement (CQI) in college classroom effectiveness efforts, particularly specific institutions where sustained CQI programs have affected college classroom practice, their common features, and lingering doubts about CQI. An introduction discusses general…

A study was conducted to determine the status of Internet access and usage in selected rural schools of northeast Alabama, and to contribute to an ongoing database that describes Internet access and usage in rural schools as a benchmark for future study. A 28-item survey of 107 teachers and media specialists in 18 selected rural schools in…

A recent study of work skill competitiveness and overall national competitiveness worldwide revealed that 17 countries are more competitive than Australia. Some countries have a relative resource advantage and will be able to extend access to education and training more effectively than Australia will, and some countries have targeted education…

Introduction: Reports findings from research in progress investigating judgment and decision making during information seeking in the workplace, in particular, the assessment of enough information. Characteristics of this judgment and the role of context in shaping it are framed against theories of human judgment and decision making. Method:…

Online degree programs are continuing to gain popularity among institutions of higher education as indicated by "U.S. News" who recently listed 263 accredited online graduate degree programs on its Web site (U. S. News and World Report, U.S. News Online, n.d.) As the access afforded by distance education increases the number of students…

A team designing a Web-enhanced third-year medical education didactic curriculum based their course planning and evaluation activities on the Institute for Higher Education Policy's (2000) 24 benchmarks for online distance learning. The authors present the team's blueprint for planning and evaluating the Web-enhanced curriculum, which incorporates…

This annual report highlights the work of some grantees who are finding innovative ways to respond to today's new challenges based on a rigorous commitment by their leadership to gathering pertinent facts. These include cities that are planning wide-scale, lasting improvements in arts learning or out-of-school opportunities, basing their choices…

Properly conceived and implemented new initiatives are essential to improving schools and communities. Such new initiatives usually are pursued as projects, pilots, or demonstrations, with temporary funding and staffing. When the funding ends, more often than not much of what has been developed disappears. Sometimes this is appropriate (e.g., when…

This volume represents the work of the Mid-continent Regional Education Laboratory (McREL) in surveying and consolidating the national and state efforts to identify what students in kindergarten through grade 12 should know and be able to do in a variety of subject areas. McREL researchers consulted 116 national and state documents that address…

This document is intended to guide further education colleges and work-based learning providers through some of the commonly used tools, techniques, and theories of quality management. The following are among the topics discussed: (1) various ways of defining quality; methods used by organizations to achieve quality (quality control, quality…

A study of adult learning and neighborhood renewal examined how further education (FE) colleges and Local Education Authority (LEA) adult education services contribute to neighborhood renewal in deprived areas and considered how their strategic role might develop in this field. The study indicates that the policy framework for post-16 learning and…