Purpose: This policy brief, the second AERI-NEPC eBrief in the series "Understanding validity issues around the world", focuses on validity as it applies to test-based models of evaluation employed for schools, instructional programs, and teachers around the world. It discusses validity issues that could arise when data from student…

This is the second "Profiles" report to examine nonprofit education management organizations (EMOs). This report is modeled after the 11 annual "Profiles" that cover for-profit EMOs. While the number of schools operated by for-profit EMOs grew rapidly in the 1990s and is now leveling off, the number of schools operated by nonprofit EMOs has been…

Increasing competitiveness in today's globalized and knowledge-based economy demands college-educated professionals. Creating an adequate number of college-educated professionals requires an investment in human capital, particularly in postsecondary education. In fact, six out of every 10 jobs in the United States involve advanced skills that can…

Community organizing for school reform is a growing national phenomenon, as young people, parents, neighborhood residents, and faith-based institutions struggle to improve the quality and equity of public schooling, particularly in urban school districts. Now a decade old, community organizing projects are influencing local public schools in…

Instructional quality is one of the most important factors in effective teaching. Without it, school reform is impossible. How can leaders develop and implement strategies to improve faculty quality and then manage the process of school reform in today's complex school environments? The authors answer this question through the study of a systemic…

Different groups have different ideas about how schools should be restructured. Although decision-making and control are increasingly shared with other groups, the principal remains most accountable. Innovative leadership styles, such as the inhouse critic and the master generalist, address issues of curriculum totality, function, and goals.…

Although works on specific restructuring initiatives are prevalent, few focus on meaning and organizational implications inherent in American restructuring efforts. Motivated by scarcity of conceptual literature, this article aims to provide researchers and practitioners with a framework for thinking about restructuring process in educational…

Educational policy continues to be of major concern. Policy debates about economic growth and national competitiveness, for example, commonly focus on the importance of human capital and a highly educated workforce. Defining the theoretical boundaries and methodological approaches of education policy research are the two primary themes of this…

In this book, eight contributors examine issues related to the likely effects of the decentralization of school governance on educational practice. Two major themes emerge in the book. The first (chapters 1 through 4) is that governance reforms in education may have little to do with what actually happens in schools, but have much to do with…

When studying different types of returns to education, educational reforms are commonly used in the economics literature as a source of exogenous variation in education. The Swedish compulsory school reform is one example; the reform extended compulsory education throughout the country, in different municipalities at different points in time. Such…

One goal of professional development is to improve student achievement through improved teacher practice. The middle school philosophy, which supports the rationale that student learning is inextricably interwoven into the fabric of an active learning environment, contains many promising practices that "mirror" what is often considered to be high…

Discusses difficulties in designing a curriculum for Soviet schools that will allow students to master subjects and develop their individual personalities. Describes specific problems in designing secondary research: formulation of specific teaching/learning goals, integration of content, and reflection of the tasks of upbringing. Maps out…

This landmark volume presents the work of the American Educational Research Association's Panel on Research and Teacher Education. It represents a systematic effort to apply a common set of scholarly lenses to a range of important topics in teacher education. The Panel's charge was twofold: (1) to create for the larger educational research…

Reports on a study that assessed the impact of school restructuring on academic achievement and student engagement among 11,794 10th-graders. Finds that students' gains in achievement and engagement were significantly higher in schools with restructuring practices and were associated with smaller high schools. (CFR)

Discusses results of studies comparing standards and student performance in Great Britain's comprehensive and secondary modern schools. Reports findings of higher examination results in fully selective schools than in a fully comprehensive system. Criticizes government and teacher training programs for failing to serve either teachers or students…