With the goal of improving student success, the chancellor of the California State University (CSU) system issued an executive order that required all CSU campuses to eliminate remedial math courses as of Fall 2018 and place all first-year students into appropriate General Education (GE) mathematics/quantitative reasoning courses. The Mathematics…

A challenge that community colleges continue to face is how to strengthen the education they provide in ways that lead to increased college completion and equity in student outcomes. Information gleaned from the Center's survey research and student focus groups over nearly two decades has produced the awareness that substantial improvement in…

In Fall 2016, bilingual specialists were hired in the Austin Independent School District to provide support to campuses implementing the re-designed dual language program. This report summarizes the services provided by these specialists to administrators, campus staff, and teachers in Fall 2016.

This paper presents some of the major issues raised in Education International's preliminary analysis of the overall PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) 2009 study. Some of these issues are: (1) PISA has serious limitations. The study does not cover the full curriculum, focusing on a narrow set of subject areas, neglecting such…

Proposes a model for writing program administrators to use to assess the effectiveness of composition programs. Argues the need to consider local conditions, evaluate the internal coherence of programs, and consider the external relevance of programs. Describes how using this model led the Writing Center at Northern Arizona University to make…

The purpose of this chapter is to synthesize the results of the studies presented in this monograph and to discuss the implications of those results. The chapter is divided into four sections. In the first section state level assessment as a reform mechanism for high school physical education is discussed in terms of the South Carolina experience.…

Current changes observed in medical education include alterations in program intensity, length, and cost; a greater selection of teaching methods; clinical experience sites; institutional goals and objectives; student evaluation techniques; and teaching sites. Students are being challenged increasingly to become self-directed problem solvers.…

Describes the evolution of the Vermont state-mandated system of prospective teacher evaluation by portfolio and examines the Middlebury College (Vermont) portfolio design and its effect on restructuring of teacher preparation programs, the student teacher practicum, and professional relationships with cooperating teachers. (SM)

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 book considers critically the many issues surrounding competency-based education and training (CBE/T) and provides practical advice on its appropriateness and application to educational and training programs. Part A places the whole issue of CBE/T in its appropriate contexts. Chapters 1-3 examine the concept of competence and its articulation…

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…

The report of the Stanford Working Group on Federal Education Programs for Limited-English-Proficient (LEP) Students focuses primarily on federal legislation such as the Elementary and secondary Education Act, and secondarily on broader reform legislation concerning this population. It gives an overview of current legislation and reform ideas, and…

Selected papers from a 1992 seminar on innovations in language teacher education include: "Collaboration in Assessment: Empowering the Individual Course Member" (Leslie Dickinson); "An Approach to the Evaluation of ELT Preparation Programs" (Stephen J. Gaies); "Human Resources Development in the Management of English Language Programs: An…

This document reviews progress in vocational education and training (VET) reform in the candidate countries for accession to the European Union in light of developments in European policy on vocational training. The document consists of a cross-country overview and individual overviews of VET in 12 candidate countries: Bulgaria, the Czech…