The 2015 Australian College of Educators (ACE) National Conference theme is "Educators on the Edge: Big Ideas for Change and Innovation." ACE presented an opportunity for all education professionals to gather, discuss, and share cutting-edge, creative and innovative practices, nationally and globally at the conference held on September…

This report is made up of seven chapters relating to Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) performance level setting (PLS). Chapter one describes the goals of the PARCC program, content standards measured by PARCC, PARCC performance levels, and components of the PARCC system. Chapter two discusses the goals of…

This report is in response to the requirement of RCW 28A.150.550 that the State Board of Education, with assistance from the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI), the Workforce Training and Education Coordinating Board (WTECB), the Educational Opportunity Gap Oversight and Accountability Committee (EOGOAC), and the Washington…

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the numbers of children identified with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) continues to rise. In North Dakota, the percentage of students identified with an ASD has increased from 1.9% of the total population of students with disabilities in 2004 to 6.2% of that same group in 2013-14.…

The assessment cycle of "evidence-centered design" (ECD) provides a framework for treating an educational video game or simulation as an assessment. One of the main steps in the assessment cycle of ECD is the identification of the key features of student performance. While this process is relatively simple for multiple choice tests, when…

On 9/13/12, the Workshop on Developing Assessments to Meet the Goals of the 2012 Framework for K-12 Science Education was held at the National Academies of Science. The workshop was organized and led by the NRC Committee on Developing Assessments of Science Proficiency in K-12 (co-chaired by James Pellegrino and Mark Wilson) and targeted to state…

The expansion of publicly-funded preschool education is currently the focus of a prominent debate. At present, 42% of 4-year-olds attend publicly funded preschool (28% attend public prekindergarten programs, 11% Head Start, and 3% special education preschool programs). A vigorous debate about the merits of preschool education is underway, although…

Findings from a meta-analysis of studies investigating the use of five different assistive technology devices (switch interfaces, powered mobility, computers, augmentative communication, weighted/pressure vests) with young children with disabilities are reported. One hundred and nine studies including 1,342 infants, toddlers, and preschoolers were…

This strategic plan provides the Department of Defense Education Activity's (DoDEA's) formal agenda for becoming one of the Nation's best unified school systems. Where Volume I establishes the enduring elements of the plan--DoDEA's mission and vision, core values, and strategic goals--Volume II provides the initial strategic way forward for…

New Zealand schools increasingly use inquiry to understand and address complex and persistent issues. This requires schools to have committed Lead Teachers with deep knowledge about inquiry. The collection of studies in this book have been compiled by the research team at the Woolf Fisher Research Centre, University of Auckland, to illustrate the…

Despite alarming rates and negative consequences associated with urban teacher attrition, mentoring programs often fail to target the strongest predictors of attrition: "effectiveness" around classroom management and engaging learners; and "connectedness" to colleagues. Using a mixed-method iterative development framework, we…

Evidence-based practice, according to authoritative statements by the founders of this approach to health care, involves using the "best available" evidence in addition to clinical expertise and patient preferences to make decisions on the care of patients. However, many systematic reviewers interpret "best available" as…

This report on the second year of the annual Association for Authentic, Experiential, & Evidenced-Based Learning (AAEEBL) survey provides insights into the landscape of ePortfolio adoption and use within academic settings in the United States and abroad from the perspective of a self-selected sample of the organization's members. This report…

The main focus of the present paper is to answer two different questions: From the perspective of Austrian education policy, which core areas of schooling are linked to the demand for equal opportunity? Can these reform efforts sustain the current state of research, and what are the consequences for schooling? The paper draws on an analysis by…

This volume presents the latest research from internationally recognized researchers and practitioners on language, literacy and numeracy, cognition, and social and emotional development of deaf learners. In their contributions, authors sketch the backgrounds and contexts of their research, take interdisciplinary perspectives in merging their own…