The Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) has created an open-access classroom observation tool based on research conducted for the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade's (DFAT) Teacher Development Multi-Year Study Series, which studied teaching practices in Timor-Leste, Vanuatu and Lao PDR (see…

"Improving Mathematics in the Early Years and Key Stage 1" reviews the best available evidence to offer five recommendations for developing the maths skills of 3-7-year olds. Recommendations include integrating maths into different activities throughout the day -- for example, at registration and snack time -- to familiarise children…

Purpose: This policy brief, the second AERI-NEPC eBrief in the series "Understanding validity issues around the world", focuses on validity as it applies to test-based models of evaluation employed for schools, instructional programs, and teachers around the world. It discusses validity issues that could arise when data from student…

Higher education today is a complex, demanding, and competitive reality. Its constituents--students, administrators, faculty, and public--are drawn from diverse sectors of society. Its 'arena' comprises institutions that receive decreased funding, are hounded with increased demands for accountability, and experience declining public support,…

This paper aims to inspire stakeholders working with quality of higher education (such as members of study boards, study programme directors, curriculum developers and teachers) to critically consider their evaluation methods in relation to a focus on student learning. We argue that many of the existing methods of evaluation in higher education…

In the comprehension approach to second language instruction, the major procedure is to provide students with comprehensible input, which it is the students' responsibility to understand. The aim is to encourage nucleation of the target language, that is the crystallization of the rule system. Teaching procedures focus on strategies for implicit…

Considers the problem of defining quality in English language teacher education, given the diversity of interests and stakeholders in this field and the range of definitions of teaching. Ultimately, quality can be achieved and sustained by attending to process rather than product in training and by developing professional skills and judgment…

This paper suggests: (1) how to increase the amount of practice that an athlete can work in during the day; and (2) ways to enhance practice for maximum performance gains. Research information about both physical and mental forms of practice are synthesized. (PP)

The qualities and characteristics of excellent faculty at Miami-Dade Community College (MDCC) are described in this paper. First, an underlying set of assumptions is presented, stressing that the qualities identified as representative of faculty excellence apply equally to classroom teachers, librarians, counselors, and other non-teaching faculty,…

Good teaching will help people learn to speak and listen in the community of truth, to understand that truth is not in the conclusions so much as the process of conversation itself. Fear of public conflict is a major barrier to creating spaces where the community of truth can be practiced. (MLW)

Criticizes the current notion of defining students as "consumers" of education. Argues that this metaphor encourages a passive sense of entitlement in place of the hard work, discipline, and engagement that is necessary for learning to occur. Maintains that student are "producers" of their own knowledge. (MJP)

Translating William Glasser's quality school ideas and Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences into simple language and practical ideas, this book contains 21 activities or strategies designed to help students in developing and organizing some new learning behaviors. The book is divided into three parts. Part 1, entitled "Paving the…