Results from large-scale evaluation studies form the foundation of evidence-based policy. The randomized experiment is often considered the gold standard among study designs because the causal impact of a treatment or intervention can be assessed without threats of confounding from external variables. Policy-makers have become increasingly…

Chinese and Russian universities are increasingly drawn into center-periphery repositioning, as they compete for symbolic, financial, and intellectual resources locally and globally. However, their strategies on national and institutional linkages differ with regards to the individual scientist's powers in knowledge production. As global…

Purpose: Agreement across methods for identifying students as inadequate responders or as learning disabled is often poor. We report (1) an empirical examination of final status (postintervention benchmarks) and dual-discrepancy growth methods based on growth during the intervention and final status for assessing response to intervention and (2) a…

This study examines key school reform policies and outcomes of the USA and Korea over the past three decades from comparative perspectives. Since the two nations' unique educational problems brought divergent educational reform paths--standardization versus differentiation, high-stakes testing versus individualized assessment, and centralization…

The SAT is a national college entrance examination offered by the College Board and consists of three parts: Mathematics, Critical Reading, and Writing. The top score for each part is 800, for a total possible score of 2400. Colleges use SAT scores, in conjunction with other tools, to measure students' potential for success at the postsecondary…

The role of state education agencies (SEAs) has shifted significantly from low-profile, compliance activities like managing federal grants to engaging in more complex and politically charged tasks like setting curriculum standards, developing accountability systems, and creating new teacher evaluation systems. The move from compliance-monitoring…

The purpose of this single-subject longitudinal study was to examine the Spanish and English biliterate development of U.S. Latino Spanish/English speaking students, who we call emerging bilingual students, as they participated in an innovative biliteracy instructional program titled Literacy Squared®. Findings indicate that across the three years…

This paper intends to construct an analytical framework for understanding quality assurance in international joint programmes and to test it in a case analysis of a European--Chinese joint doctoral degree programme. The development of a quality assurance system for an international joint programme is understood as an institutionalization process…

Singapore's strong performance in international benchmarking studies--Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA)--poses a conundrum to researchers who view Singapore's pedagogy as characterized by the teaching of facts and procedures, and lacking in constructivist…

Consistent with quality enhancement, we report on how we used a continuous improvement cycle to formalise and embed an academic development and support programme for our School's sessional staff. Key factors in establishing and maintaining the programme included: local change agents supported initially by institutional project funding; School…

The quality of Education in Chile is a controversial topic that has been in the public debate in the last several years. To ensure quality in graduate programs, accreditation is compulsory. The current article presents a model to improve the process of self-regulation. The main objective was to design a Model of Quality Assurance for Postgraduate…

Using the BEAR assessment system, the author set up a hypothetical reading competence (RC) developmental continuum and sketched the RC assessment standards, established RC measurement tasks, and described outputs. The author collected real RC evidence based on the cross-sectional study models, then adjusted the developmental continuum and RC…

The demand for STEM college graduates is increasing. However, recent studies show there are not enough STEM majors to fulfill this need. This deficiency can be partially attributed to a gender discrepancy in the number of female STEM graduates and to the high rate of attrition of STEM majors. As STEM attrition has been associated with students…

On the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) assessments, the attainment of performance level 4 is intended to indicate college readiness or being "on track" to college and career readiness. Students who achieve Level 4 should have a 0.75 probability of attaining at least a C in entry-level,…

State education agencies (SEAs) are reframing their work to be more coordinated and strategic but talent in most SEAs continues to be in large part defined by federal programs and oriented toward the routines of compliance. Existing talent pipelines in SEAs are rooted in the historic functions of administering federal programs and doing little…