This report examines two components of federal legislation to enhance teaching quality by improving the training of prospective teachers and the qualifications of current teachers. One component provides grants, and the other (the accountability provisions) requires collecting and reporting information the quality of teacher training programs and…

This digest assesses the human rights situation of poor and marginalized children in urban areas around the world, considering the range of problems that these children and their families face, drawing attention to the need for actions based on a knowledge of urban areas and potential urban advantages, and examining the capacity of competent,…

Based on the premise that Canada needs to collect, collate, analyze, and disseminate reliable data on early childhood education and care (ECEC) programs that are comparable across provinces/territories and that good data are fundamental for informing policy, research, and service delivery, the National Data Project was funded in 2000-2001 to…

The purpose of this study was to determine the significance of teaching phonological awareness directly in the classroom. Student samples were conducted of both special education and general education students. Teacher interviews and observations were also used in this process. This research was conducted in an elementary school with approximately…

This report serves as a progress report on the implementation of the Commission's longitudinal student data system. Recent data submission by the University of California and the California State University, along with the community college data already in-house, will make it possible for the Commission to conduct studies on time-to-degree,…

Building on two previous studies in 1997 and 1999, this study aimed to: (1) determine whether the Texas Academic Skills Program (TASP) has had a positive impact on students academic performance; (2) determine the perception of the TASP among key community, junior, and technical college personnel across Texas; and (3) determine the impact on…

This report summarizes current statistical programs of the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), including its major publications and plans for future work. In addition to updating the descriptions of long-standing data collections, such as the Common Core of Data, the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, and the National…

This paper presents a summary of the proceedings of a two-day policy forum on performance goals and indicators for special education. The conference was part of a larger project to research and analyze the impacts of accountability-based reforms on students with disabilities and special education. The forum focused on the feasibility and…

Data based instruction reflects the teachers implementation of a carefully planned system of instruction for a selected learner. The purpose is to provide documentation of the effect of instruction implemented for learner(s) with special needs; evaluate the effect of using specific instructional organization and delivery systems; perform an…

This paper examines the development of the mini-conference, a method for collecting qualitative data while promoting collegiality among participants. The mini-conference was developed for the purpose of obtaining the views of information and communication technology (ICT) educators from across Australia's universities as part of the ICT-Ed…

The study was designed to enhance teachers' understating of students' learning by using assessment tasks. Four third-grade teachers and the researcher collaboratively set up a school-based assessment team in the two-year Assessment Practices in Mathematics Classroom project that assisted teachers in implementing assessment as integral part of…

The external audit is a way of assessing the trustworthiness of a study, attesting to its dependability from a methodological standpoint and to its confirmability by reviewing the data, analysis, and interpretations and assessing whether the findings represent the data accurately. This paper discusses issues in the audit process, drawing on data…

In September 1993 the U.S. Department of Education (ED) released a handbook to assist school- and community-based practitioners in designing and conducting evaluations of drug- and violence-prevention programs funded under the Drug Free Schools and Communities Act (DFSCA). A study was undertaken to assess the level of customer satisfaction with…

Nearly all the states produce one or more accountability or indicator reports containing data reported at one or more levels of the education system as well as data from other sources. To inform discussion about what data are useful and appropriate to report, comparisons were made of state accountability and indicator reports. A list of 74…

The 1988 National Survey of Postsecondary Faculty (NSOPF-88), later named the National Study of Postsecondary Faculty, was the first comprehensive study of higher education instructional faculty conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics since 1963. This report provides a description of the 1993 NSOPF and the data generated by its…