While the CPA exam is uniform for all jurisdictions, individual jurisdictions are allowed to set the requirements to sit for the exam. These requirements vary by jurisdiction, with some being more restrictive than others. We analyze the decision process of international candidates to proxy for candidates that can choose jurisdictions with less…

A relevant learning space for academics, especially junior researchers, is the academic conference. While conference participation has long been associated with personal attendance at the conference venue, virtual participation is becoming increasingly important. This study investigates the perceived value of a purely virtual academic conference…

Two key measures to determine the quality of higher education are the performance of students and the accreditation of a programme's quality. We analyse the difference in the distributions of the student's scores in a standardised test of economics knowledge between accredited and non-accredited undergraduate economics programmes in a…

Secretary of Education Duncan (2010) lamented the state of U.S. education in 2010 after the release of the results from the 2009 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). He wrote: "Unfortunately, the 2009 PISA results show that American students are poorly prepared to compete in today's knowledge economy. President Obama has…

College completion rates in the U.S. are stubbornly low despite the large and rising returns to a college degree. Efforts to increase student success in college have largely ignored a potentially key factor: the instruction that students receive in the sequence of courses that add up to a college education. Improving the quality of instruction may…

The purpose of this study was to examine learning strategies accounted for mathematics achievement across Turkey and neighboring countries. Turkey, Bulgaria, Greece, Azerbaijan, Russian Federation, Israel, Serbia, Romania and Jordan were involved in Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA 2009) study. Since other neighbors of Turkey…

Changes in certification requirements and examinee characteristics are likely to influence the validity of the evidence associated with interpretations made based on test data. We examined whether changes in Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) certification requirements over time were associated with changes in internal…

The aim of the study is to determine the status of Turkey among OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) members and candidate countries through cluster and discriminant analyses according to PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) 2009 results. The study includes 475460 fifteen year-old students from 65…

The ranking of the United States in major international tests such as the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), and Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) is used as the driving force and rationale for the current educational reforms in the United…

This research study was designed to provide a formal evaluation of the academic achievement of homeschooled students compared to traditionally schooled students attending a Catholic university located in South Florida. In addition, this study offers empirical data for all those interested in the academic success of homeschooled students in higher…

The Michigan Context and Performance Report Card measures school performance by adjusting standardized test scores to account for student background. Comparing schools using unadjusted test scores ignores the significant relationship between academic performance and student socioeconomic background--a dynamic outside a school's control. The…

This research investigates similarities and differences in young children's early numeracy skills related to age, nationality and gender. The participants were five- to seven-year-old children from Finland and Iran. Early numeracy was investigated by using tasks measuring number-related relational skills (e.g. comparison, one-to-one…

The 2014 Michigan Public High School Context and Performance Report Card is the Mackinac Center's second effort to measure high school performance. The first high school assessment was published in 2012, followed by the Center's 2013 elementary and middle school report card, which used a similar methodology to evaluate school performance. The…

In 1997 the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) partnered with countries around the world to design the ambitious and innovative Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). Beginning in 2000, and every three years since, OECD/PISA has assessed 15-year-old students in participating countries to gauge the extent…

One of the main features of globalization is the increasing mobility of population. As an immigrant society, Hong Kong has witnessed waves of Mainland Chinese arrivals and assimilation into her mainstream, particularly around the change of sovereignty period. School-aged children constitute a substantial fraction of the new population. Given their…