The Center on Education Policy (CEP) report, "Has Progress Been Made in Raising Achievement for English Language Learners?", finds that some states have seen increases in the number of English language learners (ELLs) meeting proficiency standards under No Child Left Behind (NCLB), while others have seen decreases. The report notes some…

A substantial body of research indicates that positive school culture benchmarks are integrally tied to the success of school reform and change in general. Additionally, an emerging body of research suggests a similar role for school culture in effective implementation of school violence prevention and intervention efforts. However, little…

This essay explores the question of why sociology departments, compared to other university departments, are often viewed negatively by higher-level administrators (deans, provosts, chancellors and presidents). We are asked to consider, as sociologists, how departments are ranked and evaluated by administrators. The characteristics of any good…

"Classification" and "ranking" are tools for comparing colleges and universities, albeit for different purposes. Although "classification" focuses on identifying similarities rather than ordering institutions, it is closely intertwined with "ranking", whether directly through its content, structure, and…

This report describes a policy analysis project examining principal evaluation instruments, policies and processes in the fifty United States, the state of Missouri, and 15 Kansas City, Missouri area school districts. Since current research demonstrates that the principal plays a critical role in the success or failure of improvement initiatives,…

More than 200 colleges and universities call themselves Catholic. This affiliation contains surprising variability in its organizational and cultural manifestations, as well as its adherence to Church teachings and practices. Prospective students, parents, alumni, benefactors, accrediting agencies, and Church leaders all have an interest in…

Purpose: As a way of focusing curriculum development and learning outcomes universities have introduced graduate attributes, which their students should develop during their degree course. Some of these attributes are discipline-specific, others are generic to all professions. The development of these attributes can be promoted by the careful use…

This report compares important aspects of American and Chinese dance education through the lens of the "Chinese Leadership in Arts Education" workshops organized by Brigham Young University in response to requests from Chinese arts educators to observe American arts education in practice as a benchmark for assessing the direction of…

Current empirical evidence indicates poor learning trajectories for students with early literacy skill deficits. As such, reliable and valid detection of at-risk students through regular screening and progress monitoring is imperative. This study investigated the predictive validity of scores on the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy…

No Child Left Behind mandates have given teachers new responsibilities in data analysis and the implementation of strategies that meet individual student needs. Providing tools and methods for data collection, managing it, and then analyzing it is now a basic need for teachers. By aligning assessments for the specific purpose of addressing…

High-quality teaching is the most significant school-related factor in helping students make significant gains in learning or achievement. Students who have effective teachers year after year routinely make more progress than other students. This is why every child must experience great teaching every day. For this to occur, teachers must have…

The Early Communication Indicator (ECI) is a measure relevant to intervention decision making and progress monitoring for infants and toddlers. With increasing recognition of the importance of quality early childhood education and intervention for all children, measurement plays an important role in documenting children's progress and outcomes of…

Two complementary approaches to developing empirical benchmarks for achievement effect sizes in educational interventions are explored. The first approach characterizes the natural developmental progress in achievement made by students from one year to the next as effect sizes. Data for seven nationally standardized achievement tests show large…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to reflect on and inform about learning points from ECUANET, a two-year duration best practice action research and transnational networking project as it approaches its final stage. Design/methodology/approach: The paper explicates the key positive and obfuscating dynamics that the project team have had to,…

The increase in the adoption of Internet-related technologies for online learning has been accompanied by a parallel, but separate, demand for greater accountability in higher education. Measures of student engagement offer valuable indicators of educational quality, yet have been limited to use in on-campus settings. The authors used key…