The Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) is a study of comparisons. Subjects, 15-year-old students from 32 participating countries, were compared in their abilities to "use literacy knowledge and skills to meet real-life challenges," as assessed on a two-hour, paper-and-pencil test. Students also responded to a…

This document contains the four issues of Northwest Education published during the 2002-03 school year. Issue themes are: (1) "Closing the Gap: How Northwest Schools Are Raising Minority Achievement"; (2) "Focus on Writing"; (3) "The Hidden Disability: When Bright Children Struggle To Learn"; and (4) "Discoveries…

This document summarizes a national study of how U.S. community colleges evaluate tenured professors. The report begins with an introduction to the current status of post-tenure evaluation and outlines the common arguments that frame the debate on the purpose and necessity of evaluating tenured faculty. The authors describe current assessment…

Achieving the kind of balance that encourages all children to learn, work, and contribute to their fullest potential has been a continuing challenge as the world grows more complex and our communities more fragmented. Aspects of education that have been referred to as character education, service learning, citizenship education, and emotional…

This paper starts from the premise that to be effective, e-education has to be intrinsically motivating. However, in contrast to much of the literature in the field, which focuses almost exclusively on the needs of students, the paper discusses three groups of stake holders whose concerns and motivation have to be considered: students,…

This practice-oriented book brings together research and evaluation approaches and supporting case studies from educational researchers and teachers. The emphasis is on changing practice in higher education and the research that underpins desirable development. Following an introduction, chapter 1 presents Educational Development Changing Practice…

When the Bosnian Serb army besieged and occupied Grbavica, carving the dividing line right through the tissue of cohesive inner city communities, the teachers and students of Sarajevo schools were first among those who crossed the line of danger, going out of their shelters and back to work and study. Treca Gimnazija, a high school in central…

Although much of the advice and training for educators derived from various interpretations of brain research findings has been useful, much is simplistic and misleading. This book draws on recent research to offer information about brain growth and neurological development and about the relationship between environment and brain development; the…

This conference proceedings compile presentations from a 1998 meeting of the American Montessori International of the United States, focusing on the importance of grace and courtesy in children's lives and in Montessori education. The papers presented are: (1) "Grace--The Felicity of Being" (Renilde Montessori); (2) "A Montessori…

This book recounts how American schools undertook reform after reform, based on unproven and unworkable theories, resulting in attention being diverted from the schools' essential purpose: the intellectual development of every child. American educators have committed three historical errors. First, they tried to turn the school into a vehicle for…

This report describes ongoing research investigating the use of teachers' assignments as an indicator of classroom practice. The purpose of this work is to develop a measure of students' learning environments that potentially could be used to help monitor the influence of school reform efforts on the quality of the classroom learning environment…

This booklet is one architectural firm's presentation of understanding and applying the latest educational research in real-world settings. It asserts that achitects can make significant contributions to education by designing schools that uniquely facilitate improvements in organizational structure, learning methods, or both. It presents lessons…

This paper discusses the education of people with blindness in China and India prior to the establishment of formal schools for the blind. Key people who advanced the education of people with blindness are highlighted, such as missionary teacher Mary Gutzlaff, who integrated Chinese orphan girls with blindness into her school at Macau. One of the…

The General Accounting Office reviewed the Department of Defense's distance education (DE) initiatives. Data were gathered through meetings of service officials responsible for the military services' training plans and strategies and a review of services' training plans and related documents. It was discovered that the services have begun…

This paper identifies research findings from a study on researcher and practitioner views of the relative effects of policies and practices on learning and the degree to which the implementation of what they view as important policy and practice influences on learning can be assessed and can serve as a basis for educational reform. It was designed…