The system office for community college institutional research (SOCCIR) plays a role in the drama of higher education that states must orchestrate to help community college systems operate effectively and efficiently over the long term. But how exactly does the SOCCIR enable a state to accomplish what the separate institutional research (IR)…

Nearly half the states have adopted a new set of common academic standards, barely a month after their final release and, in most cases, with little opposition. As of July 9, 23 states had decided to replace their mathematics and English/language arts standards with the common set. Another flurry of adoptions is expected by Aug. 2, since the $4…

This Report to Congress is required by Section 658L of the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) Act as amended. The report provides information about the role of the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF), which is authorized under the CCDBG Act, in improving access to high-quality child care in states, territories, and tribes. The data…

For a school improvement initiative to succeed, education leaders must do more than adopt a new program and train staff. This issue of "SEDL Insights" explores steps that leaders can take to ensure the successful implementation of a new program or practice.

States are in various stages of reforming how they evaluate their educators, all striving for a new system that can assess a range of abilities and practices over long periods of time and capture the full nature of an educator's performance. The strongest systems look at teaching in a more comprehensive way than evaluations have done in the past,…

In an effort to address social imbalances and equity in Ghana's education delivery and to achieve her Education for All (EFA) agenda, some pro-poor programmes have been introduced. Among these is the Ghana School Feeding Programme (GSFP) that aims among others, at providing safety nets for the poor, increasing school enrolment in addition to…

Ninth grade often is considered a make-or-break year in determining whether students will be successful in high school and beyond. The Texas Education Agency (TEA) created the Texas Ninth Grade Transition and Intervention Program to ease the transition of at-risk students into high school and increase the likelihood that they graduate on time and…

Kentucky is no stranger to education reform, having worked for the better part of 20 years on raising standards to improve student achievement. In 2009, the Kentucky General Assembly called for more rigorous standards to address high school graduates' college and career readiness. So when the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief…

The education system in the United States continues to grapple with adapting to change, especially when it comes to integrating technology in the curriculum. The United States needs to use its resources to stay competitive in the increasingly technological world, particularly in the classroom. Lefebvre, Deaudelin, and Loiselle (2006) posit that…

Researchers in career and technical education often ignore more effective ways of reporting and treating missing data and instead implement traditional, but ineffective, missing data methods (Gemici, Rojewski, & Lee, 2012). The recent methodological, and even the non-methodological, literature has increasingly emphasized the importance of…

The use of therapy-dog teams in programs for children with disabilities is becoming increasingly popular in school and therapeutic settings and has been shown to provide physical, social, and emotional benefits for the children. This article describes the basic steps for implementing therapy dog-assisted activities in physical activity programs…

Sexual assault and other forms of sexual misconduct are all too common on university campuses. The US Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights reports that 19 percent of female and 6.1 percent of male college students reported being victims of completed or attempted sexual assaults since entering college. The degree to which Penn State's…

The role of the Common Core English Language Arts Standards in grades K-5 literacy instruction is the focus of the article. The authors begin by raising four questions: (1) What is the essential philosophy of the Common Core State Standards?; (2) What do educators need to know to use the College and Career Readiness Standards and Common Core State…

This article describes the successful stories of the Early Mathematics Education Project at Erikson Institute in Chicago. It intends to address three questions related to the project's work: What is the purpose and scope of the program? How does the program work to enhance the mathematical competence of early childhood teachers? What are the…

The number of refugees and asylum seekers admitted to the United States has grown, with significant numbers arriving from sub-Saharan Africa. Given this reality, it is important that mental health professionals are equipped to provide culturally relevant services. This article describes the development and implementation of a group treatment model…