Elite athletes and their academic achievement in higher education have long been subject to considerable debate within North American scholarship. This interest proliferated especially after the release of the Knight Report (2001), which, amongst other findings, revealed a clear negative link between elite athletes and their academic achievement.…

Veterinary medical research traditionally focuses on animal health and wellness; however, research activities at veterinary colleges extend beyond these traditional areas. In this study, we analyzed eleven years of Web of Knowledge-indexed peer-reviewed articles from researchers at the twenty-eight United States American Veterinary Medical…

In Portugal, as in other European countries, gypsy children remain largely at the margins of the educational system. Their underachievement and the associated dropout rates from school are serious educational issues and factors contributing to their marginalization in society. However, there is limited research qualitatively examining the…

"Game-Based Assessments: A Promising Way to Create Idiographic Perspectives" (Adrienne Walker and George Englehard) comments on: "How Task Features Impact Evidence from Assessments Embedded in Simulations and Games" by Russell G. Almond, Yoon Jeon Kim, Gertrudes Velasquez, and Valerie J. Shute. Here, Walker and Englehard write…

In this article, the authors use a large, recent, and accessible data set to examine the effect of economics major on individual earnings. They find a significant positive earnings gain for economics majors relative to other majors, and this advantage increases with the level of education. Their findings are consistent with Black, Sanders, and…

International comparative testing, such as the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), has considerable impact on policy-makers, the media and the general public. A central assumption underlying PISA is that global variation in students' academic performance is attributable to national educational structures and policies. The…

This study adds to the research on the problem of disproportionality of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CLD) students in special education (SE) in four districts and 13 elementary campuses in south Texas. Data was disaggregated and analyzed at the state, district and campus level when possible utilizing the composition index (Donovan &…

Many studies have demonstrated a positive association between familial activities (e.g. reading to the child) and children's development in different domains. It is also well-known that social and ethnic differences exist regarding the frequencies of such activities. However, the mechanism behind these differences is less clear. This article…

Engaging students in active learning can enhance their understanding and appreciation of a subject such as statistics. Classroom activities and projects help to engage students and further promote the learning process. In this paper, an activity investigating the influence of population size and wealth on the medal counts from the 2012 London…

In this paper, we explore the usefulness of three different approaches to facilitating reflexivity and a critical awareness of emerging academic identities for doctoral students. This paper stems from a longitudinal research project entitled "The Next Generation of Social Scientists", which was conducted across three research-intensive…

This issue of "Assessment Update" presents the following articles: (1) Expanding Assessment Perspectives: The Importance of Student Leadership in Student Learning Outcomes Assessment (Abraham J. Lauer and Jamie R. Korin); (2) Empowering Faculty and Students with Assessment Data (Jane M. Souza); (3) Including Faculty in Accreditation…

The purpose of this study was to describe how states in the REL Central Region (Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming) evaluate teacher preparation programs and planned changes for evaluation. Publicly available documents were reviewed and interviews were conducted with state education agency representatives…

Improving the college search process by making college costs more transparent to potential students and their families has been a primary focus of recent higher education policy efforts. But the importance of this information does not end at the university gates. In order to make prudent decisions about what to study, how many courses to take, and…

Private loans are one of the riskiest ways to finance a college education. Like credit cards, they typically have variable interest rates. Both variable and fixed rates are higher for those who can least afford them--as high as 13% in June 2014. Private loans are not eligible for the important deferment, income-based repayment, or loan forgiveness…

The Data Quality Campaign and the National School Boards Association's Center for Public Education prepared this document to help school board members respond to questions about education data, explain its importance to improving school and student performance, and understand how boards can help ensure student privacy.