This timely report focuses on accountability -- the current lingua franca of higher education -- and the question of the public trust as a reflection of the respect and confidence of the people that are served by the nation's colleges and universities. Designed to assist policymakers and educational leaders, the report identifies the components of…

Enhancing the early literacy of the nation's children is now a goal shared by parents, educators, and policymakers alike. Fundamental to this goal is a workforce of early childhood educators who are themselves literate: able to become well-informed about child development, to organize learning strategies for young children, to assess children's…

This paper falls into two main sections: (1) an overview of contemporary research on effective professional learning for practicing educators; and (2) recommendations for action to promote effective learning for practicing educators. Three central questions guide the paper: (1) When does professional learning lead to improved learning outcomes for…

This document provides an introduction to the New Teacher Initiative (NTI), a special effort of the National Writing Project, aimed at learning how Writing Project sites can best support the large numbers of new teachers now populating U.S. schools. The specific purpose of the initiative is to help the National Writing Project (NWP) learn how to…

Indicators of school-level achievement, such as the percentage of students who are proficient in a particular content area, are subject to random year-to-year variation in much the same way that the results of an opinion poll will vary from one random sample to another. This random variation, which is more pronounced for a small school, should be…

This document summarizes important developments and trends in education using the latest available data. The report presents 40 indicators on the status and condition of education and a special analysis of the mobility of elementary and secondary school teachers. The indicators represent a consensus of professional judgment on the most significant…

As part of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development project on international educational indicators, four networks were formed to represent different domains. This collection contains background papers that were prepared to deal with some of the fundamental questions about process indicators examined by Network "C," the…

This paper explores the development of a set of indicators devoted exclusively to the school to work transition. The indicators described are directed at monitoring a geographical area as a whole, whether it is the nation, state, or a local community. Developing a set of indicators is linked to making judgments about the impact we expect new…

This report presents information across states on a number of education indicators. It offers state profile information about students and their achievement, teachers, and standards for student learning. It also includes special data about the education of children in poverty and the assistance they receive toward achieving state standards through…

This publication is the fifth issue of "Report Card" in a series that provides information about how well North Carolina schools are serving the youth of the state. The "Report Card" presents information related primarily to the outcomes of education based on student achievement. Statewide performance results are presented…

This study describes the importance of rural education in each of the 50 states, and suggests the urgency with which state policymakers should address the needs of rural schools and communities. The study compared states on two gauges of concern for their rural schools and communities. The rural importance gauge examines how important it is to the…

On January 8, 2002, President Bush signed into law the re-authorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, commonly known as No Child Left Behind ("NCLB"). This law dramatically affects how all schools, including charter schools, are held accountable for the academic performance of their students. Since the passage of NCLB,…

The topic of this newsletter is Student Transitions Project Research Question #2: What is the nature and distribution of the transition of students from the kindergarten to Grade 12 (K-12) education system into B.C. public post-secondary institutions over a multi-year period? (For secondary school graduates of 2001/02 to 2003/04 and post-secondary…

In this article, the author draws attention to the fact that in school evaluations, students will improve on state-mandated tests, but the improved scores will not influence a school's adequate yearly progress (AYP) status because those students' scores do not cross the proficiency point. A state's proficiency point on each of its standardized…

This paper is the second part of a longitudinal study on the reliability of and access to ICT technologies in remote schools in north Western Australia [WA]. Part One was featured in the last issue of "AEC" ["Australian Educational Computing"]. It was an investigation into the access and practicalities of online opportunities…