Charter schools exist under the umbrella of public education, but are not subject to the same level of public oversight or accountability measures as traditional public schools in North Carolina and many other states (BiFulco and Ladd, 2006, Bettinger, 2004). There is a lack of easily accessible efficiency data on charter schools. The primary aim…

Since the early 2000s, we have seen an increase in the need for graduates in various STEM fields. The Professional Science Master's (PSM) program was created in 2001 to address this increased demand. While research has shown the benefits these programs may provide, there is limited research examining the current state of PSM programs. The current…

This study examined the effects of the recently implemented North Carolina Educator Evaluator System (NCEES) on teaching practices and teacher leadership in a mostly rural county in the Piedmont region of North Carolina. NCEES is designed to improve teaching practices and teacher leadership through performance-based standards. This…

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools' (CMS) Parent University is an innovative, collaborative initiative designed to engage parents in their children's education. Working with community partners, Parent University offers unique courses and workshops such as Parenting Awareness, Helping Your Child Learn in the 21st Century, Health and Wellness, and…

The Pittsburgh Promise is a scholarship program that provides $5,000 per year toward college tuition for public high school graduates in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania who earned a 2.5 GPA and a 90% attendance record. This study used a difference-in-difference design to assess whether the introduction of the Promise scholarship program directly…

First year students, like all students at a university, comprise a diverse mixture of personal traits, backgrounds, experiences, and assorted learning styles. Each of these unique student characteristics can either enhance or inhibit successful integration to the campus community. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the impact of various…

The Early Learning Challenge (ELC) program awarded more than $1 billion in four-year grants to 20 States to implement comprehensive and cohesive high-quality early learning systems that support young children with high needs and their families. A key lever in making these improvements was the enhancement of States' Quality Rating and Improvement…

This article describes IMPACT V, a grant-funded preparation partnership among a community of institutions, and then considers whether such a partnership is a viable way to cultivate transformational and transformative sensibilities in building leaders. Methods included content analysis of baseline and summative student artifacts. Findings suggest…

Purpose/Objectives: The purpose of this study is to report the impact of the three-year middle school-based HEALTHY study on intervention school vending machine offerings. There were two goals for the vending machines: serve only dessert/snack foods with 200 kilocalories or less per single serving package, and eliminate 100% fruit juice and…

This paper investigates the impact of a two-year professional development program on teacher self-efficacy for inquiry-based instruction. The program utilizes scientist-teacher partnerships to develop content knowledge, inquiry-based instruction, and leadership skills for in-service STEM teachers. Participating teachers are administered a survey…

The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of public school leaders about principal leadership for special education in ten leadership categories: understanding law and policy, using data to improve teacher performance, using data to improve student performance, creating an inclusive culture, collaborating with families,…

The Critical Success Factors Report is the North Carolina Community College System's major accountability document. This annual performance report is based on data compiled from the previous year and serves to inform colleges and the public on the performance of North Carolina's 58 community colleges. In 1993, the State Board of Community Colleges…

This study examines what specific data college faculty and administrators use in their jobs and the extent to which they use data analysis to design and improve the impact of programs and services. The study is based on a survey on the use of student data by faculty and administrators at 41 community colleges participating in Achieving the Dream:…

Using student-level data from Durham, North Carolina, we examine the potential impact of school choice programs on the peer environments of students who remain in their geographically assigned schools. We examine whether the likelihood of opting out of one's geographically assigned school differs across groups and compare the actual peer…

High-quality formative assessment data are critical to the successful application of any problem-solving model (e.g., response to intervention). Formative data available for a wide variety of outcomes (academic, behavior) and targets (individual, class, school) facilitate effective decisions about needed intervention supports and responsiveness to…