This quasi-experimental study seeks to improve the conceptual quality of summary essays by comparing two conditions, essay prompts with or without a list of 13 broad concepts, the concepts were selected across a continuum of the 100 most frequent words in the lesson materials. It is anticipated that only the most central concepts will be used as…

The Scorecard 2023 provides a full comparative analysis of the state of play of university autonomy in 35 higher education systems in Europe. With findings across four dimensions of university autonomy -- organisational, financial, staffing, academic - the Scorecard supports an evidence-based dialogue on this crucial topic. This allows concrete…

When education initiatives set out to help those who have been "historically disadvantaged or historically marginalized," they perfectly describe students with disabilities. Yet too often, these students have been excluded from conversations about equity in education. Congress opened public school doors for millions of children with…

Prompted by Taiwanese university students' increasing demand for English proficiency assessment, the absence of a test designed specifically for this demographic subgroup, and the lack of a localized and freely-accessible proficiency measure, this project set out to develop and validate a computerized adaptive English proficiency testing (E-CAT)…

The purpose of this study was to examine the relations among phonological skills, reading fluency, and reading comprehension across reading modality (oral and silent) for a sample of students (N = 121) in grades 2-5 who have been diagnosed with dyslexia. Participants were administered text-level oral and silent reading fluency and comprehension…

International higher education is facing increasing competition and pressure from new market entrants, who are introducing disruptive models of delivering more affordable education on scale. Higher education is definitely more than ever at a crossroads in terms of securing its future existence, which is why it becomes essential for academic…

The concept of effect size plays a crucial role in assessment, institutional research, and scholarly inquiry, where it is common with large sample sizes to find small relationships that are statistically significant. This study examines the distribution of effect sizes from institutions that participated in the National Survey of Student…

This study compares the literacy and numeracy proficiencies of higher education (HE) degree holders in 21 OECD countries based on primary analysis of the national data sets collected via the OECD's Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) 2012 study. The differences in the graduates' average literacy and numeracy…

The literature proposes numerous so-called pseudo-R[superscript 2] measures for evaluating "goodness of fit" in regression models with categorical dependent variables. Unlike ordinary least square-R[superscript 2], log-likelihood-based pseudo-R[superscript 2]s do not represent the proportion of explained variance but rather the…

We investigate the main question of whether higher education institutions are able to increase their performance due to mergers, takeovers, or organizational restructuring. The problem of measuring performance when there are several "output" and "input" indicators can currently be solved by recourse to a proven data analysis…

This paper derives efficiency scores for around 8,500 schools in 30 countries, using Programme for International Student Assessment 2012 data and a nonparametric approach called data envelopment analysis as method. On average, achievement scores of schools can be increased by 27%, holding inputs constant. Efficiency scores vary considerably both…

There is widespread skepticism about civic competence. Some question if citizens are informed enough to make considered decisions. Others doubt citizens' ability to rationally evaluate relevant evidence and update their opinions even when they have necessary information. The purpose of my dissertation is to critically evaluate this literature and…

This study outlines a comprehensive benchmarking strategy used for comparing policies, processes and strategies across national borders. Comparative benchmarking can empower nation states in the global South to review education systems, discover hidden sources of inequity, and establish comparative benchmarks for system reform. The utility of the…

In the context of best practices consultation with high needs teachers, we examined (a) relations between teachers' appropriate response to student rule violations and rates of rule violations, and (b) rates of student misbehavior among teachers who do and do not achieve various benchmarks of integrity and/or growth in skills. Participants were 48…

This report provides information on degree productivity for certain undergraduate student populations at Maryland's four-year public institutions. The data address trends from 2014 to 2018 using the measure Degrees per All (DpAll), which is a derivative of the measure degrees per 100 students. DpAll incorporates identifiable characteristics, such…