Background/Context: Blended learning--a learning model in which online learning is combined with faceto- face instruction to provide a more personalized learning experience for students--has shown enormous growth in recent years. Though many policymakers and educators are optimistic about the potential of blended learning to provide the type of…

This qualitative case study explored how a novice language teacher negotiated her pedagogical beliefs and practices during her socialization into a foreign cultural and educational context. The focal participant was an Uzbek language teacher at a university in the USA. Using a language socialization theoretical framework, data were drawn from…

There has been a sea change in teacher evaluation over the past eight years. Inspired in part by President Barack Obama's policies, schools have instituted teacher evaluation systems that include multiple measures of teacher impact. Model systems are aligned to systems of continuous improvement, helping teachers identify areas of weakness in their…

Researchers have become increasingly interested in programs' main and interaction effects of two variables (A and B, e.g., two treatment variables or one treatment variable and one moderator) on outcomes. A challenge for estimating main and interaction effects is to eliminate selection bias across A-by-B groups. I introduce Rubin's causal model to…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the differences of Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) scores between fourth-grade African American male students who were enrolled in single-sex classrooms and their counterparts who were enrolled in coeducational classrooms. The research provided descriptive data concerning one Title I school in rural…

The top priority for the U.S. Department of Education's new Race to the Top-District (RTT-D) competition is to create personalized-learning environments to bolster student achievement: "Absolute Priority 1: Personalized Learning Environments. To meet this priority, an applicant must coherently and comprehensively address how it will build on…

Early education has been a growing priority for the Obama administration, and its competitive funding is spurring innovation in this field around the country. In 2013, early education journalist Paul Nyhan, author of this report, conducted case studies of four competitive grant programs that are triggering changes in early education: "Race to…

Public-private partnerships done right are a powerful tool for development, providing enduring solutions to some of the greatest challenges. To help familiarize readers with the art of alliance building, the Global Development Alliance (GDA) office has created a series of practical guides that highlight proven practices in partnerships,…

Public-private partnerships done right are a powerful tool for development, providing enduring solutions to some of the greatest challenges. To help familiarize readers with the art of alliance building, the Global Development Alliance (GDA) office has created a series of practical guides that highlight proven practices in partnerships,…

This dissertation explores the private-public sector partnership between CVS/pharmacy and the federal/state workforce development system in Minnesota. The study describes how CVS creates partnerships with the federal/state system of one-stop career centers and other partners in the workforce development arena such as community or faith-based…

This brief describes collaboration and cost-sharing among agencies and Federal programs to improve transition supports for youth with disabilities. The brief reviews suggested activities for forming collaborations and pooling resources, and provides examples of programs that have "blended" or "braided" funds provided by partner agencies. It also…

This article provides a critical review of the quality of 12 recent large federal program evaluations. The review focused on elements of the evaluation design, inclusion of evaluation expertise among those who have oversight of the evaluation, and evaluation dissemination. Overall, the process analyses from these evaluations provide good models…

The purpose of this mixed method, Case Study research was to explore the teacher's perceptions, efficacy, and belief systems. The researcher using a primary survey and a collection of secondary extant data endeavored to uncover the teachers' responses for efficacy, beliefs and perceptions of student achievement. The Effective Schools (Edmonds,…

President George W. Bush signed into legislation one of the most influential and controversial educational reforms--the 2001 "No Child Left Behind Act" (NCLB). The purpose of the NCLB is to "ensure that all children have a fair, equal, and significant opportunity to obtain a high-quality education and reach, at a minimum,…

This conference report presents the position taken by large cities in evaluating projects under ESEA Title I. Since this was the first educational legislation in history to call for evaluation at the local level of programs generated by Federal funds, most districts had little time to design project evaluation and to obtain adequate research…