The purpose of this study was to explore teacher leaders' and principals' perceptions of instructional leadership in a shared context. The multi-stage multiple-case study examined roles and relationships of teacher leaders and principal teams across four schools within a Midwestern urban school district engaging in what has been identified in…

This report by the Center on Education Policy (CEP) looks at how local educators perceive and act on state policies designed to help at-risk students and English language learners (ELLs) achieve the levels of proficiency needed to pass state high school exit examinations and graduate. Our findings are based on data from school observations and…

The research presented in this report examines the effect of prison-based postsecondary education (PSE) on offenders both while incarcerated and after release. Urban Institute researchers worked with the staff of four institutions in three states to conduct inmate focus groups and stakeholder interviews to explore the motivations for enrolling in…

The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine the use of interim assessments and the policy supports that promote their use to change instruction, focusing on elementary school mathematics. The authors use the term "interim assessments" to refer to assessments that: a) evaluate student knowledge and skills, typically within a…

The purpose of this study was to determine whether and how short-term study abroad programs transform college students' perspectives. The study examined attitudes about host country and international outlook, as well as intellectual, social and personal understandings. Short-term programs were defined as programs of less than a semester or a…

This article outlines a methodology for characterising features of programme-level assessment environments so that the relationship between features of the assessment environment and students' learning response can be studied. The methodology was developed through the detailed case study of nine undergraduate degree programmes: one in each of…

A new generation of faculty is entering the academic workforce and they are increasingly dissatisfied with current working environments. Institutions must begin to address the changing nature of this new generation. This article reports on a New Faculty Orientation program based on elements of the learner-centered pedagogy. The goal was to achieve…

Little is known about the kind of learning that occurs when teachers' professional development is situated at the intersection between university coursework, school practices and the lived realities of local communities. This study explores five years of data from a graduate seminar for inservice teachers, which examines how schools are situated…

A systemic approach was used to modify school climate in a study involving a boy with stereotypically feminine behaviors. School psychology students held a series of group counseling sessions on alternate weeks with a class of four 11-year-old fifth grade boys to promote the acceptance of diversity. At the beginning of the school year, a great…

Georgia conducted a multiphase, mixed methods study over three years (2003-2006) to determine whether credit-based transition programs facilitate college access and success for students who participate in them. The study, conducted in collaboration with, and funding from, the Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG) and with cooperation from the…

The current study sought to explore the relationship between personal school physical education (PE) experiences and current PE teaching practices of classroom teachers. Questionnaires were completed by 189 teachers from 38 randomly selected schools. Additionally, semi-structured interviews of 31 classroom teachers were conducted. The results…

The State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA) is the principal association representing the technology leadership in all fifty states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs. This is SETDA's ninth annual report on select educational technology activities. This year's report includes…

Math experts developed Formative Assessment Lessons that teachers can incorporate throughout the year's curriculum. Both tools target the "instructional core." A study by Research for Action (RFA) examining the first year of piloting the Literacy Design Collaborative (LDC) and Math Design Collaborative (MDC) tools (2010-11) found…

The American Association of Community Colleges' (AACC) Plus 50 Initiative is a three-year initiative launched in June 2008 and funded by The Atlantic Philanthropies. It was created to support a pilot group of two-year institutions to develop or expand campus programs that engage plus 50 learners. The initiative focuses on three types of…

The No Child Left Behind legislation has drawn a great deal of attention to the gap' that exists between the academic performance of Black and Hispanic students as compared to their White counterparts. While numerous reform efforts have been implemented to address this disparity, to date little research has been done to connect a teacher's sense…