This presentation was prepared in response to a request from the European University Association for a brief comparative analysis of higher education internationalization in Europe and North America from a North American perspective. After adapting de Wit's four-category definition of internationalization (academic programs, technical assistance,…

"Lessons Learned" is a series of publications that are a brief recounting of actual school emergencies and crises. This "Lessons Learned" issue examines the incidence of student walkout demonstrations and the various ways in which administrators, school staff, law enforcement, and the community at large can help keep youths…

This edition of "Professional Standards" contains the revised unit standards and accreditation decisions approved by National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education's (NCATE's) Executive Board in 2007. All teacher preparation institutions with visits scheduled in fall 2008 and beyond will be reviewed under these standards, and…

Although afterschool programs for children have been operating for decades in some communities, the afterschool movement--the great national awakening to the opportunity afterschool offers--is just a few years old. As public demand for afterschool has grown, so has the demand for accountability. That is particularly true in afterschool programs…

Response to Intervention (RtI), a framework for providing high-quality instruction for all students, is a process gaining more and more national acceptance for managing differences in learning. This brief provides an overview of how IDEA, RtI, and the Schools Attuned Program fit together to provide students with opportunities to flourish in both…

Educators and policymakers can address gifted underachievement through changes in classroom and systemwide practices. This Issue Brief summarizes the issues underlying promising practices for supporting the gifted and talented. It also offers a series of questions to ask when planning schoolwide improvement efforts that address the needs of gifted…

A new book in the Knowledge Essential series, "School Success for Children with Special Needs" offers parents a guide for understanding and navigating the often-confusing special education system to ensure that their children get the best education possible. It tells them: (1) How to know if a child has physical, learning, or emotional…

Education researchers and teachers have long been interested in improving students' conceptual understanding and motivational levels to do academic work. Over the past decade and a half, there has been an increase in the number of studies investigating the effects of instructional games on students' academic performance and motivational levels.…

Contrary to popular hypothesis, recent research rejects the notion that most or even many children and youth are over-scheduled and are suffering as a result. In fact, less than one in ten could be described as over-scheduled. Moreover, research indicates that only six in ten children and youth participate in organized out-of-school activities at…

The purpose of this thesis was to create a lesson design to train parent/educators in the art of preparing lessons incorporating biblical reasoning throughout all subjects. It is an introductory seminar and not intended to provide complete training in this area. A sample group of parent educators were made available to pilot the program. Among…

This guide is designed for community colleges and community college state agencies that are interested in analyzing the labor market outcomes of their programs and identifying opportunities for improving employment outcomes of their students. Community college agencies in several states have expressed interest in conducting tipping point studies…

The mission of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) is to establish "high and rigorous standards for what teachers should know and be able to do, to certify teachers who meet those standards, and to advance other education reforms for the purpose of improving student learning in American schools." In response to…

Scale linking is the process of developing the connection between scales of two or more sets of parameter estimates obtained from separate test calibrations. It is the prerequisite for many applications of IRT, such as test equating and differential item functioning analysis. Unidimensional scale linking methods have been studied and applied…

User-centered design methodologies have gained increasing attention as a way to support the goals of small groups in a variety of use contexts. A central tenet of user-centered design is the direct participation of actual or potential users in the design process. As user participation becomes more prevalent, it becomes increasingly important to…

State digital libraries are manifestations of the diffusion of technology that has provided both "access to" and "delivery of" digital content. Whether the content is being accessed and used equitably in K-12 schools has not been assessed. Determining patterns of the diffusion of use across socioeconomic groups in K-12 schools…