Surprisingly, the debate over +/- grade systems seems to occur, largely, at the college and university level. Few middle and high schools seem to have taken on the issue, at least in any way that appears in the public literature. Other opinions suggest that it is the discriminating quality of plus/minus grading systems that make them useful. A…

Using computers to evaluate teachers based on student test scores is more difficult than it seems. Value-added modeling is a genuinely serious attempt to grapple with the difficulties. Value-added modeling carries the promise of measuring teacher quality automatically and objectively, and improving school systems at minimal cost. The essence of…

There is agreement that teaching practices should be responsive to the cultural identities of their students, but less clarity regarding both the specifics of culturally responsive pedagogies and effective strategies for implementing them in classrooms across the curriculum. A mixed-methods research approach evaluated the impact of teacher…

History courses at The University of Auckland are typically assessed at two or three moments during a semester. The methods used normally employ two essays and a written examination answering questions set by the lecturer. This study describes an assessment innovation in 2008 that expanded both the frequency and variety of activities completed by…

This article describes how to design program assessment for mathematics departments, in two-year and four-year colleges across the Midwest, based on a set of components that was generated from a Delphi survey. An example is provided to illustrate how this was done at a small four-year college. There is an alignment between these components and a…

Federal educational policy, "No Child Left Behind Act of 2001", focused attention on America's education with conspicuous results. One aspect, "highly qualified classroom teacher" and "principal" (HQ), was taxing since states established individual accountability structures. The HQ impact and use of data-informed…

Summarizes the Holmes and Carnegie reports and examines their major recommendations. The analysis points out the contradictory nature of the reforms, their conservative implications, and the lack of scholarly arguments to support such assertions. (DH)

Offers an overview of significant changes proposed by the Holmes and Carnegie reports. Criticizes the reports for assuming that means are separate from ends and form from content. Contends the reports ignore available scholarship, leaving unchallenged thinking and practices in teaching and teacher education. (DH)

The Comprehensive School Reform Demonstration (CSRD) network forums were convened by McREL to share CSRD implementation strategies, discuss issues relative to technical assistance needs and CSRD model implementation support, and strengthen communication and collaborative links between the SEAs and regional providers for coordinated service…

This paper examines collaborative action research in order to clarify the arguments and research base that either support or oppose the process. Proponents who advocate the institutionalization of collaborative action research point to its theoretical rationale, a growing research base that documents the value and outcomes of the process, and…

To alleviate the time lag between the conception and the implementation of educational innovation, the Unit for Dissemination has been formed by the Kentucky Department of Education. Within the goals of fostering awareness and interest in innovation and of spreading innovation from field test to ultimate user, the Unit has defined objectives which…

Action research, which, broadly defined, was one of the activities in which educators following in the footsteps of John Dewey engaged, emerged as a systematic approach for improving educational practice in the two decades following World War II. Action research then passed into relative obscurity. It has recently re-emerged in the educational…

In the third volume of this 10-volume report, 3 causal models of the school improvement process are presented and are used to identify outcomes of implementation and the factors influencing success. The first model predicts individual-level outcomes as a function of the magnitude of expected changes in instructional practice and the time spent on…

Argues that, without changes in methods of teaching social studies, curriculum reform can only provide an illusion of educational change. Observes that little has been published in 25 years of "Theory and Research in Social Education" on methods. Discusses three historical meanings that "method" has had since the 1880s. (DSK)

This is a one-semester case study of the perceptions of five preservice teachers and their mathematics professor as participants in a reform-style mathematics classroom under the Maryland Collaborative for Teacher Preparation (MCTP) program. Researchers interviewed the professor and the teacher candidates throughout the semester, gathering data to…