The officially reported impressive rises in standards in mathematics and English in primary schools since 1995 are challenged. The article looks at the increases from four different perspectives. First, the general pattern of change is considered. Secondly, the statutory test data are compared with the results from several different studies. These…

This article describes a research and development project the objective of which was to develop a means to produce standardized statewide usage data made available from the Texas State Library and Archives Commission. Using a range of data collection and evaluation methods, the project staff determined that there were significant problems in…

Sadly, technical support doesn't come cheap. One money-saving strategy that's gained popularity among school technicians is equipment and software standardization. When it works, standardization can be very effective. However, standardization has its drawbacks. This article discusses the advantages and disadvantages of standardization.

The 1996 American Evaluation Association conference in Atlanta featured a session on strategies to promote monitoring and evaluation (M&E) in international nongovernmental organizations (INGOs). At that time, there was a lengthy list of proposed initiatives to be undertaken in CARE. With the perspective of hindsight and reviewing the…

We know how to address individual learning, but what are the characteristics of organizational learning? How can you tell if your organization is adaptable and changing? Ten characteristics describe organizations that are learning, and examples show each characteristic in practice.

When setting standards, administrators of small-scale OSCEs often face several challenges, including a lack of resources, a lack of available expertise in statistics, and difficulty in recruiting judges. The Modified Borderline-Group Method is a standard setting procedure that compensates for these challenges by using physician examiners and is…

One can chart the shifting cultures of colleges and subsequent changing roles of the further education (FE) professional from the late 1980s through to the present day with some degree of accuracy. Up to around 1992 a paternalistic model of management prevailed, one which saw lecturers working to the NATFHE "silver book" conditions of employment,…

What do the National Staff Development Council's standards look like in practice for teachers, principals, central office staff, superintendents, and board members? Newly developed Innovation Configurations help everyone on the list understand where they fall along the continuum of effective practices aligned to the standards.

Posters are commonly used as tools for disseminating information at scientific meetings, but many students lack an understanding of "good" poster characteristics. We present a set of characteristics for use in constructing posters for scientific meetings and classroom presentations along with tips on critiquing posters to enhance their…

Effective school leadership is key to students' academic success. But the development of effective school leadership has been seriously hampered by the lack of technically sound tools to assess and monitor leaders' performance. With support from The Wallace Foundation, a team from Vanderbilt has been developing such an assessment system, and this…

Nebraska, like most states in the U.S., is facing a critical shortage of skilled and employable workers. Business and industry want to grow in Nebraska and realize the road to ensuring success is a workforce possessing updated knowledge and skills that support the use of new technologies, as well as a necessary work ethic to be a dependable and…

While a large body of research has focused on the effects of teachers' educational standards and/or expectations of different types of pupils related to pupils' ability, race/ethnicity, gender, and/or social class, there has been much less research on how such standards/expectations are formed by teachers' institutional structure. Previous…

This research aimed at developing a methodological framework to investigate the alignment of the Lebanese national math exam tests with the curriculum at the middle school level, during the transitory period of a major curricular reform. The focus is on exploring the characteristics of an "assessment culture" set by the national exams…

Using John Kingdon's (2003) multiple streams approach to agenda setting, I analyze how key actors within the state of Wisconsin understood the need to construct and implement the state's No Social Promotion statutes to improve students' academic performance. Policymakers within the state focused their standards-based reforms on the issue of…

For students to compete in the 21st-century global economy, knowledge of and proficiency in mathematics are critical. Whether headed to college or to the workforce, today's high school graduates need solid mathematics skill. The National Mathematics Advisory Panel was created in 2006 and charged with reviewing the best available scientific…