This article provides a conceptual framework for considering both the theoretical and methodological factors that underpin the successful validation of a competency framework. Drawing on educational assessment literature, this article argues that a valid competency framework relates to an interpretive judgement of the credibility of the claims…

The Private School Universe Survey (PSS) is conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) on behalf of the U.S. Department of Education to collect basic information on American private elementary and secondary schools. PSS is currently designed to generate biennial data on the total number of private schools, teachers, and…

At the local and state level, some data collection takes place around access to devices and broadband, but little alignment across these collections exists to paint an accurate picture of how and where digital equity gaps persist nationwide. Dell Technologies and the State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA) collaborated to assess…

School closures in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic led to kids asking pertinent questions about why they were not in school, especially some students suffering financial hardship. Virtual classrooms became the mundane venues for students to piece together the pandemic puzzle and unpack unseen inequities. This article examines disparities that…

In this paper, we consider a minimalistic and behavioristic view of AIS to enable a standardizable mapping of both the behavior of the system and of the learner. In this model, the "learners" interact with the learning "resources" in a given learning "environment" following preset steps of learning…

This report sets out the results of work undertaken by Learning and Work Institute (L&W) in 2017/18 to develop and test the use of social metrics in Adult Community Learning provision to capture a range of wider outcomes of learning. The report highlights lessons learned, examples of effective practice and suggests ways in which the use of…

Building on the inaugural survey conducted three years prior, the 2015 CASE Community College Alumni Relations survey collected additional insightful data on staffing, structure, communications, engagement, and fundraising. This white paper features key data on alumni relations programs at community colleges across the United States. The paper…

The Certification Data Exchange Project (CDEP) was launched in 2012 to provide a model for sharing industry-recognized credential attainment data. Increasingly, employers and education leaders are recognizing the value of industry credentials to verify the knowledge, skills and abilities that students bring to the workforce. As states take steps…

The "Quality Practice Project" (QPP) is the National Association of Charter School Authorizers' (NACSA's) multi-year research initiative to identify what high-performing authorizers do to achieve stellar student and public interest outcomes. Participants and researchers collaboratively investigated the perspectives and practices of…

The Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) launched the volunteer-led Asia-Pacific Alumni Relations Survey in 2014 to provide a resource for alumni relations professionals to benchmark performance internally and against fellow institutions of higher education. That was the first survey CASE has done on alumni relations programmes…

Since 2010, the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association (SHEEO) has periodically administered the "Strong Foundations" survey, which documents the content, structure, and effective use of state postsecondary student unit record systems (PSURSs). This report highlights the results of the fourth administration of the survey,…

K-12 education resources are often allocated non-strategically, with schools spending time and money on activities that have little relationship to student outcomes. Most of these decisions take place within districts, rooted in the processes of setting schedules, staffing levels, and assignments, and creating final budgets. Local Education…

In 2011, CASE founded the Center for Community College Advancement to provide training and resources to help community colleges build and sustain effective fundraising, alumni relations and communications and marketing programs. This white paper summarizes the results of a groundbreaking survey on alumni relations programs at community colleges…

This report presents findings on crime and violence in U.S. public schools, using data from the 2015-16 School Survey on Crime and Safety (SSOCS:2016). First administered in school year 1999-2000 and repeated in school years 2003-04, 2005-06, 2007-08, 2009-10, and 2015-16, SSOCS provides information on school crime-related topics from the…

This report addresses two key questions about postsecondary student unit record data systems (PSURSs): (1) What data are collected by various parties; and (2) how do these entities use the data to inform policy decisions? This 2016 report is both a follow-up and a redesign of two previous "Strong Foundations" reports by SHEEO (2010 and…