This paper's title summarizes the authors' two main aims. For a number of years, the authors have been helping high schools and districts that are attempting to create or improve career academies. Their assistance includes developing the schools' own capacity to keep track of results for students, relying mainly on information that is ordinarily…

There is a general agreement that academic standards in Papua New Guinea high schools are below those in many other countries. This paper will examine this problem generally and also in relation to the teaching of mathematics and science. At Goroka Teachers' College, which is the only teacher training college for secondary school teachers in Papua…

Early childhood education has received an increasing amount of attention in the last two decades in the United States and in other countries. There is now a strong consensus on the many benefits of preschool. Studies have shown that attending a high-quality preschool program not only increases children's readiness for kindergarten, but also causes…

This study examines the fiscal impact of a proposal to create a personal tax credit for educational expenses and a tax-credit scholarship program in Kentucky. It finds that the actual fiscal impact of the program would be much less than its nominal dollar size, due to the reduced public school costs resulting from migration of students from public…

There has been a serious decline in academic achievement in both the general and special populations and what we have found is that these students are not doing as well as they should be. Less than one-third of American students are doing well in reading, writing, math, science, and other important subjects. The National Assessment of Education…

Since the inception of the School-to-Work Project in 1998, networks members have increasingly viewed credible evidence as critical to both their approaches to program improvement and their strategies for winning and sustaining support and resources. This issue brief: (1) Describes the activities Network members have pursued together during…

Parents are the central source of emotional, financial and social support for their children. Many young people also have the benefit of relationships with adults other than parents--including teachers, coaches, grandparents, older siblings, neighbors and employers--who serve as informal mentors. These relationships provide youth with extra…

This study examines the fiscal impact of model legislation that would create Education Access Grants in Minnesota. The legislation would provide grants for low-income students to attend private schools. Specifically, this study examines the effect of implementing Education Access Grants in Minneapolis, the state's largest metropolitan area. It…

What difference are we making? How do we know? How can we show it? These questions about program performance are asked by adult literacy and English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) teachers, program administrators, and funders. This guide is designed to be used by local adult education programs to facilitate a systematic inquiry process…

Beginning in September, 2001 when the Portland Public Schools received funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) through the Urban Systemic Program (USP) initiative, the district focused, accelerated and strengthened its efforts to improve mathematics and science education K-12. Since its inception the authors at Inverness Research…

Regardless of how well your students are scoring on standardized math tests, test scores can't tell you which aspects of your program are moving students from proficient to advanced and why some students are falling behind. To get a total picture of math learning, hundreds of schools in urban, suburban, and rural districts use the detailed,…

The overall goal of this project is to better understand the types of youth programs available that may influence the health measures presented in the U.S. Chartbook where American adolescents fare differently--sometimes better, sometimes worse--than their counterparts in other countries. In an effort to do so, the authors reviewed the existing…

How can teachers and administrators steer students toward graduation and away from dropping out? What determining factors contribute to a student's choice to drop out? Why is high school graduation such an important issue in society today? Effective prevention and intervention programs for the most vulnerable students are key to improving…

This study investigated the interactive effects between students' opportunity to learn (OTL) in the classroom, two language-related testing accommodations, and English language learner (ELL) students and other students of varying language proficiency, and how these variables impact mathematics performance. Hierarchical linear modeling was employed…

The National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO) has for the past four years conducted research on large-scale assessment and instructional issues for English language learners (ELLs) with disabilities, but neither NCEO's research nor any other research study has yet described large-scale assessment experiences at the local school level for…