The purpose of this manuscript is to share the work of a collaboration between professional development providers and university faculty as they created, implemented and refined a professional development series focused on supporting primary teachers' use of data-based decision making in reading. Using a formative and design-based approach,…

This chapter provides a conceptual model that academic leaders can use to navigate the complex, and often contentious, organizational terrain of academic program development. The model includes concepts related to the institution's external environment, as well as internal organizational structures, cultures, and politics. Drawing from the…

Emphasis on improving student learning has brought increased attention to the execution of schoolwide instructional reforms in general and the use of data by teacher teams in particular as an expected element of a school's instructional reform strategy. With this in mind, the purpose of this article is to focus important attention on the work…

Continuing and professional education units are faced with the constant need to keep pace with dynamic labor markets when assessing program offerings and content. Real-time labor-market data derived from detailed analysis of online job postings offers a new tool for more easily aligning programs to local labor-market demand. The authors describe a…

This study used both focus groups (qualitative) and survey data (quantitative) to develop and expand an instruction program for GIS services. It examined the needs and preferences faculty and graduate students have for learning about GIS applications for teaching and research. While faculty preferred in person workshops and graduate students…

When the author and his colleagues last left Chicago Public Schools (CPS) and Texas' Plano Independent School District in April 2008, both school districts were immersed in the long and labored advance toward becoming a fully matured data-driven operation, one that uses sophisticated technologies to gather data, sort and interpret it, and…

Teacher preparation programs nationwide struggle to meet rigorous national standards, particularly as they relate to the assessment standard of the National Council of Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE). There are many issues which make decisions about program improvement complex, often confusing and frustrating faculty. These include the…

UK universities are accepting increasing numbers of students whose L1 is not English on a wide range of programmes at all levels. These students require additional support and training in English, focussing on their academic disciplines. Corpora have been used in EAP since the 1980s, mainly for research, but a growing number of researchers and…

In responding to internal and external pressures for accountability in higher education, especially in the areas of improved learning outcomes and student success, IT leaders may soon become critical partners with academic and student affairs. IT can help answer this call for accountability through "academic analytics," which is emerging…