The universal foundation of all Catholic Schools is passing on the faith and ensuring high quality academic instruction is provided by qualified Catholic educators. This directive was affirmed in a document entitled, "Renewing our Commitment to Catholic Elementary and Secondary Schools in the Third Millennium," writing, "All…

This paper discusses the process of analysing online discussion and argues for the merits of mixed methods. Much research of online participation and e-learning has been either message focused or person focused analysis. The former covers methodologies such as content and discourse analysis, the latter interviewing and surveys. The paper discusses…

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the degree to which the Selective Abandonment budget process objectives were achieved by analyzing stakeholder perceptions. Use of this evaluation may enable the district to become more effective, efficient, and more fiscally responsible when developing future program budgeting plans. Program evaluation was…

During the transition period between the use of exclusively old SAT® scores and the use of exclusively new SAT scores, college admission offices will be receiving both types of scores from students. Making an admission decision based on new SAT scores can be challenging at first because institutions have methods, procedures, and models based on…

With the advent of the newly developed Common Core State Standards and the Next Generation Science Standards, innovative assessments, including technology-enhanced items and tasks, will be needed to meet the challenges of developing valid and reliable assessments in a world of computer-based testing. In a recent critique of the next generation…

This manuscript builds on the previous reviews of professional learning communities (PLCs), using 10 empirical international research studies to present the impact of PLCs on teacher practice and student learning. The results showed that PLC studies that embrace collaboration and focus on student learning reported improved teacher practice and…

Value-added models are a class of growth models used in education to assign responsibility for student growth to teachers or schools. For value-added models to be used fairly, sufficient statistical precision is necessary for accurate teacher classification. Previous research indicated precision below practical limits. An alternative approach has…

All Florida schools teach the Florida Standards, and students' knowledge of these standards is assessed through the statewide Florida Standards Assessments (FSA). Student performance on the FSA provides important information to parents, teachers, policy makers, and the general public regarding how well students are learning the Florida Standards.…

Formative assessment policies and self-regulation theories argue that student self-assessment of their own work and processes are useful for raising academic performance and self-regulatory skills. However, research into student self-evaluation raises serious doubts about the quality of self-assessment as an assessment process and identifies…

Effective classroom assessment techniques are directly linked to course objectives and proposed outcomes. Results within formative and summative assessments have been studied in the online learning environment as educators seek to meet objectives with respect to student success in the non-traditional setting. Online classroom assessment techniques…

Many studies on evidence-based policy are still clinging to a linear model. Instead, we propose to understand expertise and evidence as "socially embedded" in authority relations and cultural contexts. Policy-relevant facts are the result of an intensive and complex struggle for political and epistemic authority. This is especially true…

Value-added models are considered one of the best alternatives not only for accountability purposes but also to improve the school system itself. The estimates provided by these models measure the contribution of schools to students' academic progress, once the effect of other factors outside school control are eliminated. The functional form for…

This article critically reviews the methodologies and methods that have been used for the evaluation of physical learning environments. To contextualize discussion about the evaluation of learning spaces, we initially chart the development of post-occupancy evaluation (POE) for non-domestic buildings. We then discuss the recent evolution of POE…

Bridging a twenty-year gap in their practice, Elizabeth Carr and Christine Counsell bring out the similarities in their use of timelines in their planning, teaching and assessment. What they also have in common is the fact that their experimentation with timelines as a way of strengthening cumulative knowledge emerged in remarkably similar policy…

The use of behavioral skills training (BST) to educate 3 adolescent boys on the risks of lighters and fire setting was evaluated using in situ assessment in a school setting. Two participants had a history of fire setting. After training, all participants adhered to established rules: (a) avoid a deactivated lighter, (b) leave the training area,…