Background/Context: Although the induction literature has traditionally recommended separating assistance and assessment, there has been growing recognition that assessment is integral to promoting and gauging teacher quality. This has led to increased interest in approaches to new teacher induction that meld support, development, assessment and…

Purpose: This paper aims to discuss why there is often a gulf of difference between policy rhetoric and reality. In particular, the paper seeks to explore issues with the policy rhetoric, implementation process and the lens through which reality is perceived, explaining why these issues can open up a policy rhetoric-reality gap. This article also…

The successful adoption of information and communication technology to enhance learning can be very challenging, requiring a complex blend of technological, pedagogical and organizational components, which may at times require the resolution of contradictory demands and conflicting needs. The research reported in this paper investigated and…

In the growing literature on the evaluation of program implementation, less has been said about evaluating program quality than about evaluating other aspects of program implementation. Furthermore, most articles and reports in the program-implementation evaluation literature have presented only brief descriptions of how implementation instruments…

Despite findings indicating the importance of non-parental adults in the lives of youth, there is little research on these relationships, including those that occur in the context of youth mentoring. Compounding this problem is a positive slant taken towards youth mentoring in the media, often unsubstantiated by empirical evidence. This article…

The pilot study in this article identified facilitators and barriers to implementing the Massachusetts Model for Comprehensive School Counseling Programs. The Concerns-Based Adoption Model served as a framework to understand how school counselors perceive the Massachusetts Model's impact on their professional roles, and how those perceptions…

In the last 20 years the health promoting schools movement has gained momentum internationally. Without strong national leadership and direction its development in New Zealand has been ad hoc and sporadic. However, as the evidence supporting the role of health promoting schools in contributing to students' health and academic outcomes becomes more…

This paper reports on an interview study of eight teachers engaged in the Sustainable Schools Programme (SSP) in New South Wales, Australia. Teacher views on key components of education for sustainability are compared with the underlying socially critical approach of the SSP and the NSW policy on environmental education. Their views on active…

This paper reports on the perceptions of teaching economists of the nature, implementation and result of outcomes assessment/assurance of learning (AOL) in higher education. The results reported in the paper are based on over eight hundred responses to a web-based survey of teaching economists. While there is little consensus among economists…

This paper addresses the use of computer-based testing in distance education, based on the experience of Universitas Terbuka (UT), Indonesia. Computer-based testing has been developed at UT for reasons of meeting the specific needs of distance students as the following: (1) students' inability to sit for the scheduled test; (2) conflicting test…

The purpose of this study was to use the "KSH analytic framework", a blend of the work of Kotter (1996), Senge (2006), and Heifetz (1994, 2002), as a tool to provide insight into the organizational change process that, when considered, might result in lasting and significant school change. Leadership, vision, teamwork, and action implementation…

The following study was conducted using a mixed-methodology study design. The purpose of this study was to determine if a focused school renewal plan would increase student achievement at Rural Elementary. In order to accomplish this goal, baseline research data was gathered using the What Works in Schools Online Survey (Marzano, 2003) to…

Ongoing, strategic family-school partnering (FSP) is an essential component of every educational community. FSP is a multi-dimensional process in which schools, families, and communities engage in shared actions to ensure a child's academic, social, and emotional success. With this text, the authors intend to offer a practical guide that…

Founded in 1966 as the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, Education Northwest works alongside educators, administrators, policymakers, and community members to transform teaching and learning. In the Northwest, educational priorities remain focused on closing the achievement gap. Through analysis of client requests, student assessment…

Over the past decade, school districts and states have made impressive advances in collecting and managing data used for accountability purposes. By the year 2011, all 50 states will have systems to track students from year to year. But in most states and districts, all the data generated by these systems flows only one way: up. This paper…