In this study, we investigate the growth trajectory of 519 students in a vocational senior high school in Taiwan. The group-based trajectory model identifies 3 subgroups with distinct trajectories of academic achievement in Math and English. This study reveals baseline predictive factors associated with these trajectories as well as relationships…

Today's teachers and administrators are caught in a squeeze of conflicting demands. And evaluation guru Charlotte Danielson fears that teacher evaluation, as it's often implemented today, is making things worse. In schools where teacher evaluation has become simply a matter of numbers, ratings, and rankings, it may be undermining the very…

This article was written in response to concerns that have been expressed about the possible consequences of an increasing number of countries overtaking the United States in educational attainment. International statistics on educational attainment were analyzed, questions about comparability of data were discussed, and the impact of different…

Global university rankings currently attract considerable attention, and it is often assumed that such rankings may cause universities to prioritize activities and outcomes that will have a positive effect in their ranking position. A possible consequence of this could be the spread of a particular model of an "ideal" university. This…

The coming of "brand society" and the onset of mediatization spur universities to strategize their visual identity and pay particular attention to their icon. Resulting from branding initiatives, university icons are visual self-representations and material-cum-symbolic forms of organizational identity. In this work we ask: What identity…

As charter school authorizers and states have increased performance expectations and grown less hesitant to close failing schools, "authorizer shopping" has emerged as a growing threat to overall charter school quality. Authorizer shopping happens when a charter school chooses or changes its authorizer specifically to avoid…

This paper aims to explore educational markets literarily -- in situ -- at quite unique 'real' market places, where buyers and sellers of educational commodities meet and negotiate values and preferences. Thus, the place we chose for this study was some of the 'school fairs' held in huge exhibition halls all over Sweden every year. At these fairs…

We investigated how new ideas become accepted for Nobel laureates in science. Archival data were collected for 204 Nobel laureates from 1980 to 2009 in physics, chemistry, and medicine or physiology. Acceptance was evaluated for Nobel laureates by Prize area and three key publications in the Nobel laureates' publishing careers: (a) first…

Rankings work by comparing higher education institutions (HEIs) using a range of indicators, which are usually weighted according to priority. Rankings are used to inform student choice and stakeholder opinion, and to assess the performance of scientific-scholarly research. Research has shown that students, public opinion and government are the…

This paper aims to provide a fresh perspective on the predominantly negative discourse on schooling quality in low-income countries by focusing on the research questions: "How can one identify great schools and what makes them special?" Using a network-based perspective, I measure peer evaluations of quality in two districts in Nepal.…

We conducted a 14-week experimental study of 2 versions of a relatively comprehensive RC intervention that involved 50 classroom teachers, 15 tutors, and 116 children drawn in equal proportions from grades 3 and 5 in 13 schools in a large urban school district. Students were randomly assigned in equal numbers to the two tutoring conditions and a…

We conducted a 14-week experimental study of 2 versions of a relatively comprehensive RC intervention that involved 50 classroom teachers, 15 tutors, and 120 children drawn in equal proportions from grades 3 and 5 in 13 schools in a large urban school district. Students were randomly assigned in equal numbers to the 2 tutoring conditions and a…

Institutional accreditation is an important factor for U.S. institutions in determining if credit or degrees from another institution will be accepted. However, accreditation as we understand it does not often exist outside the United States. This 60-Second Survey, in partnership with the Association of International Credential Evaluators (AICE)…

The use of 'soft barriers' to deter students with special educational needs (SEN) from accessing some schools has been reported in the Irish media. This article investigates the influence of ethos and culture on access to and inclusive practice in mainstream schools in Ireland. Ethos and culture are nebulous concepts yet are integral to how…

This study elicited views of key stakeholders on the need for adolescent sex education and the appropriate model to adopt in Saudi Arabia. Semi-structured interviews were conducted in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with 28 stakeholders: policy-makers; social and healthcare providers; teachers and school staff; and religious scholars. Interviews were…