This handbook provides a global overview of the design, implementation and assessment of academic development centers within higher education institutions. The current nature of our complex, rapidly changing world makes it imperative that colleges and universities worldwide find ways to educate their students in new and better ways: this is…

The purpose of this study was to explore the association of NCLB/accountability with educational output and input for New York State, collectively. Focusing on ELA and Math achievement in 4th and 8th grades, this study demonstrated the association of accountability outcomes in three ways: "accountability design, school proficiency level, and…

The Indiana Choice Scholarship Program has the potential to be the largest school voucher program in the country. Though the authorizing legislation capped enrollment in the program at 7,500 for its first year (the 2011-12 school year), that cap was increased to 15,000 for this year, and will be removed for all subsequent years. With careful…

This guide is designed to help districts and schools evaluate reform efforts related to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), including School Improvement Grants. It includes practical, how-to tips for conducting program evaluations, whether one takes a "do-it-yourself" approach or seeks outside assistance to evaluate reform…

A perspective is given and recommendations are made for restructuring education personnel development with major emphasis on preservice teacher education. Issues facing teacher education are put in a socio-historical context. It is stated that teacher training has been largely separated from the public school system, and that training has been…

Describes the development and implementation of an educational administrative program in the Cheliabinsk Oblast region of post-Soviet Russia. The system attempted to assign appropriate responsibilities at the local level while maintaining a unified national system of education. Briefly discusses other problems concerning educational support and…

Lessons from the 18-year institutional experience of Alverno College in Milwaukee (Wisconsin) with assessment for the improvement and verification of student learning are summarized. Principles are described that should inform a national assessment system with the dual purposes of improvement and accountability by incorporating the following key…

This review of academic programming considers changes that have occurred as a reaction to real or perceived shifts in institutional and social conditions and values, program design, and program approval, review, and evaluation. Among the conditions influencing programming decisions in the late 1970s are open-access policies, affirmative-action…

This five-part volume presents a comprehensive collection of 24 accounts of campus assessment practices by the individuals who developed and implemented them. Part 1 presents the stories of five institutions in which assessment has effected a marked change in the way faculty and staff do their work. Part 2 describes some of the broad approaches to…

In 1980, the Ontario Ministry of education published "Issues and Directions," a set of initiatives drafted in response to the effects of declining school enrollments in Ontario. This publication is a retrospective report, looking back at the initiatives set out in "Issues and Directions" and reporting on their results as of…

Central Missouri State University instituted a Continuous Process Improvement (CPI) Model based on assessment-as-learning for postsecondary curricular and pedagogical reform. Overall the effort intended to create a paradigm shift from the course credit model to the assessment-as-learning model. The process used the Assessment-as-Learning model…