This article reports on the collaboration of six states to study how simulation-based science assessments can become transformative components of multi-level, balanced state science assessment systems. The project studied the psychometric quality, feasibility, and utility of simulation-based science assessments designed to serve formative purposes…

For many years, England has been the epitome of high-stakes accountability, often playing leapfrog with the USA. It represents an extreme of centralized surveillance, with schools organized as a quasi-market and supervised through a punitive combination of external inspection, the use of test data to name and shame schools, and ultimately closure…

This paper presents the results of a study investigating the short- and long-term effects of secondary schools upon student academic success and development. A questionnaire was administered to a randomly selected sample of 15% of Cypriot students who graduated in June 2004 and June 2005 from secondary schools. A good response rate (i.e., 66%) was…

This paper argues that all learners need teachers who are not only professionally qualified but also culturally competent. This is particularly so with teachers of indigenous students, who face the conflicting expectations of schools and those of their home cultures. References to Pacific students will be used to illustrate some of the conflicts…

Over the past 2 years, educational policy makers have focused much of their attention on issues related to teacher effectiveness. The Obama Administration has made teacher evaluation and teacher quality a central feature of many of its educational policies, including Race to the Top (RTTT), Investing in Innovation (i3), and the Teacher Incentive…

This investigation examined the Praxis I perceptions of Black undergraduate Education majors seeking admission into the Teacher Education Program at a historically Black university. Participants were 52 students conveniently selected from an Introduction to Teacher Education course where preparation for the Praxis I is emphasized. Academic…

Thirteen years ago, 276 bachelor's-granting colleges and universities inaugurated a new approach to assessing college quality by participating in the first national administration of the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE). This report summarizes what was learned over the NSSE's first 13 years, why the survey is being updated, and new…

The purpose of this study was to investigate, through quantitative research, effective middle school characteristics that predict student achievement, as measured by the school-wide California API score. Characteristics were determined using an instrument developed by the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI), which asked middle…

With the voluntary Common Core State Standards (CCSS), states have sought to establish clear, high expectations that are consistent across participating states and that signal what K-12 students should learn in mathematics and English language arts (ELA) to be prepared for college and careers. As of July 2013, the CCSS have been adopted by 45…

In K-12 environments in the US, classroom tests are a central means by which teachers assess English Language Learner (ELL) content knowledge. Performance on routine classroom assessments is often a contributing criterion for school based decision-making and can affect decisions relating to academic tracking, retention, and access to academic…

An educated workforce is one of the bedrocks not just of a strong American middle class, but also of a strong U.S. economy. To ensure that America has the most competitive global workforce, President Barack Obama articulated a goal that, by 2020, every American should continue their educational training after high school so that the United States…

California, Florida, Illinois, New York, and Texas enroll close to 40 percent of the nation's public school students. The importance of these "Mega-States" goes beyond the sheer size of their population. They now serve more than half of the nation's English language learners (ELL), as well as some of the largest concentrations of…

This ninth report on teacher quality presents information states reported to the U.S. Department of Education (Department) in October 2011. Title II of the "Higher Education Act of 1965" (HEA), as amended in 2008 by the "Higher Education Opportunity Act" (HEOA), requires states to report annually on key elements of their…

This dissertation comprises three papers that propose, discuss, and illustrate models to make improved inferences about research questions regarding student achievement in education. Addressing the types of questions common in educational research today requires three different "extensions" to traditional educational assessment: (1)…

In this article, the authors argue that educational technology is chiefly and increasingly being used as a tool for the privatization of education and the commodification of people by way of top down evaluative structures put in place by governments in collusion with neoliberal interests. This analysis began as a study that sought to illuminate…