Digital footprints (DF) offer relevant information about educational activities and processes related to strategies of academic assessment, identification of skills and psychological traits of students, and permanence and dropout trends, etc. This study analyzes scientific evidence on the use of DF in education, and shows the results of a…

This paper aims to extend existing theorisations around the notion of public narratives by analysing their regulatory effects under intensified market conditions. My analysis suggests that public narratives constitute a liminal space, one that it is not exclusively real or imaginary, factual or normative, but that simultaneously affects and is…

Adult learning policies, like any other policies, need to be effective: they need to reach their objectives and attain the desired impacts, which should be carefully defined. Understanding the performance of policies allows policy makers to change and improve them. A growing body of research and statistics provides important insights into how…

The purpose of this report is to develop a strategy for improving both national and state forecasts of future attrition rates. A theory of teacher attrition is developed that attempts to account for the disparate reasons for attrition, and to explain the patterns of attrition unique to each life cycle and career stage. Existing literature on…

Reviews present difficulties in the way that states report the participation of students with disabilities in their testing programs. Recommendations for policymakers include the following: identify students with disabilities in statewide assessment programs, standardize procedures for calculating participation rates, and improve lines of…

Recent trends indicate increased interest in the education and training of the labor force. However, information in the extent of on-the-job training (OJT) is complicated by conceptual difficulties, such as the informal nature of much OJT, lack of reliable cost data on formal training, and the fact that many studies based on stratified samples…

Discusses a study conducted by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) which examined the federally funded research system and the role of data for decision making in research policy. Highlights include data needs; research expenditures and personnel; the research process; measuring the outcomes of research; and the research evaluation process.…

Explores current and future challenges to children in Europe. Social trends and the impact on European family life are analyzed, including having smaller families and delaying childbearing. Discusses the need to collect data on children in the European Union and to establish pan-European child protection policies. (CR)

Should private employers have a right of access to criminal history record information in order to make employment decisions about applicants and employees? This book addresses both legal and operational questions relating to the use of criminal justice data for private employment and decision-making purposes. The informative, non-prescriptive…

This study analyzed the demographic and scholastic characteristic differences between a nontraditional and traditional student cohort (total n=11,878) at Ferris State University (FSU) in Michigan, identified (through literature reviews) successful recruiting and retention activities for nontraditional students at other postsecondary educational…

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…

This publication presents four major research papers on college campus substance abuse prevention and research with reviews of the papers by practitioners in the substance abuse prevention field. Following a Preface and Introduction, the first paper is "Theories, Dominant Models, and the Need for Applied Research" by Gerardo M. Gonzalez.…