Locally controlled public schools are one of the cornerstones of our nation's democracy, yet many schools are not preparing students for success. Far too many students are not graduating, and many of those who do graduate are woefully unprepared for college or a meaningful career. Successfully initiating and sustaining meaningful improvements in…

This report, one of six state-of-the-field reports, details how educational leaders access data, the meaning they assign to it, and how the use data to improve teaching and learning. The report recognizes that data does not provide leaders a clear direction for action; rather that data used in educational settings is complex and indefinite. These…

This study aimed to describe, compare, and analyze the use of specific types of data utilized in decision-making by administrators of more and less effective community colleges. The study utilized a modified version of Kim Cameron's "Assessment of Organizational Effectiveness on Higher Education" to measure and rank community college…

A study provided a systematic review of employment demand studies in agriculture and agribusiness in the United States during the past 22 years and generated recommendations for the development of a consistent reporting format for use in future employment demand studies. Researchers examined 29 studies with respect to the following areas:…

This report concerns the governance of the structure of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), especially the law and the role of the Assessment Policy Committee (APC). The major sources of evidence include interviews with APC members and National Institute of Education (NIE) staff, minutes of APC meetings and historical documents…

A study reviewed the measurement problems that would confront a study team performing a national cost-benefit analysis of vocational education and presented alternative strategies to overcome these measurement problems and to provide input into assessing the feasibility of conducting a national cost-benefit study. To meet these objectives,…

The issues of equity, equal opportunities, gender, and organization performance in the health care sector worldwide was examined. Information was gathered from the available literature and from individuals in 17 countries. The analysis highlighted the facts that employment equity debates and policies refer largely to high-income countries and…

This report, which is based primarily on figures released by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), reviews the indicators available for international comparisons of vocational education and training (VET) to clarify the following issues: the kinds of comparability problems that exit, their extent and severity, their…

Midlife and older women are at an economic disadvantage relative to their male counterparts and younger women. Older women should be served by the nation's employment, training, and vocational programs. Interviews with participants and operators of employment and training programs identified six program components needed to serve older women: (1)…

This document, which draws heavily on lessons learned during 11 years of the Southern Regional Education Board's High Schools That Work initiative, is intended to help state leaders review their existing system for assessing accountability in vocational education or plan such a system. The document begins with a discussion of the purpose of…

The internships and cooperative education experiences offered at Michigan's 15 public universities were examined. The study focused on the following items: the organization of internships and cooperative education experiences on university campuses; ways employers and students access such work-based learning opportunities; the numbers of students…