The perspectives of graduates offer a valuable source of understanding for educators and policy-makers on how to ensure high quality educational pathways that prepare all students for work and college. Based on in-depth interviews with graduates from three Boston Public Schools with well-established performance-based assessment systems, the study…

This study explored how teachers and school administrators connect large-scale assessment results with school improvement planning. Using a semi-structured format, 20 teachers and 17 administrators were interviewed from two school districts in southern Ontario, Canada. The interview protocol contained a range of questions related to teaching and…

There are numerous components of the No Child Left Behind Act (2001) and the Individuals with Disabilities Improvement Act (2004) that could directly affect the responsibilities of general physical educators (GPE). The purpose of this article is to address each of the components related to (1) the application of the response-to-intervention (RTI)…

Despite their apparent popularity among those seeking degrees and credentials, today's colleges and universities face several interrelated public criticisms and concerns. When these competing concerns about student success, productivity, cost, and educational effectiveness all collide at the campus level, they create an array of campus tensions…

This article presents Kentucky's education finance and governance profile. Kentucky is home to approximately 4,241,474 people according to 2007 U.S. Census Bureau estimates. This represents 1.41% of the entire U.S. population. In terms of education spending, for the 2007-08 school year, Kentucky spent an average of $8,839 per pupil. Overall…

This article describes the use of assessment in the design and implementation stages of launching online courses and programs. While use of assessment for improving student engagement in both face-to-face and online courses has been commonly used, the authors augmented the strategic planning of programs to include assessment as a tool for…

In 1999, the Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) began the Outcome Project which re-focused program accreditation decisions. Six competency areas detailed new standards, calling for programs to measure and provide evidence of learner's acquisition of the knowledge and skills for independent practice in a specific specialty.…

The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) requires that all students be assessed academically in mathematics and reading, and for purposes of adequate yearly progress (AYP), participation rates in statewide assessments must be 95 percent for all students. Federal law requires states to have at least one alternate assessment to evaluate the performance…

This paper examines the differences that exist between the traditional face-to-face classroom and the online courseroom. Instructors should begin by identifying the epistemological foundation for the course conversion process. During the instructional design phase, courses can be developed from a team approach or by the instructor alone. Issues of…

Federal policy directed to teaching and teachers is the subject of this review, which is organized around: (1) recruitment; (2) training; (3) accountability; (4) incentives; (5) qualifications; (6) class size reduction; (teacher working conditions; and (8) human resource management and the overall coordination of teacher policy. For each theme,…

The development of the horse and buggy was a necessary first step toward the development of the automobile; in fact, the first cars were built by putting engines on buggies. So it is with school accountability. The failure of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) to measure school performance is well known among researchers and, to some degree, among…

The watchword of this year's Brown Center Report is caution--caution in linking state tests to international assessments--"benchmarking" is the term--caution in proceeding with a policy of "algebra for all eighth graders," caution in gleaning policy lessons from the recent progress made by urban schools. State and local budget…

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is a survey mandated by the U.S. Congress to collect and report information about student achievement in various academic subjects, such as mathematics, science, reading, writing, history, geography, and civics. The National Assessment Governing Board sets policy and the overall dimensions…

An interactive Web site was developed and investigated to determine whether interaction on the site among college and high school teachers of writing could result in the formation of an interpretative community. An interpretative community is one in which meanings are stable (Fish, 1980), and which adjudicates student writing with a high degree of…

This researcher examined the continuum of the Jones-Zimmermann Academic Mentoring Program (J-ZAMP) after its initial three years and its sustainability of the first cohort at the high school level. I addressed the academic mentoring program's long and short term goals by identifying the first cohort of mentees, their present status in high school,…