The American public sees community colleges as high quality institutions, offering access to higher education and job training for everyone. Results from a new national survey confirmed Americans' strong endorsement of the opportunity provided by community colleges, indicating that the colleges are highly valued and integral in American society.…

This article presents the conclusion of a study that examines the discrepancies and correspondence between theory and practice in seven European countries. This article presents answers to the following research issues: (1) Discrepancies between existing quality concepts implied in the current international indicator publications and actual…

Considerable debate exists about the failure of the federal government and the states to fully fund the special education mandates that have been placed into law and further expanded by case law. Work in local school districts is increasingly affected by the deliberate decisions that have created legal requirements for districts to provide…

In few places is higher education so ingrained in a region's economic vitality as in New England. Students from all over the world enroll in New England's institutions of learning and research, bringing resources to finance their education and living expenses that reverberate throughout local and state economies. Human capital-based industries…

During 2003/4 a team from the University of Central England in Birmingham (now UCE Birmingham) undertook an evaluation of student perceptions of their music courses as part of the Birmingham and Solihull Learning and Skills Council review of music in the area. As well as identifying the wide range of courses available in the locality and students'…

The National Post School Outcomes Center (NPSO), in conjunction with the National Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASDSE), conducted a focus group with several state directors of special education to (a) discuss the collection of their post-school outcomes data and (b) share their experiences and suggestions with other state…

The 2004-05 Education Digest includes data on basic student charges, fall enrollments, residence of students, degrees conferred, and faculty and staff. Data is compiled from annual surveys of Pennsylvania colleges and universities. In 2004-05, Pennsylvania had 148 colleges and universities consisting of 33 public and 115 private institutions. In…

As an educational leader, in selecting a curriculum we must know our success as a knowledge-based economy will depend on how well schools equip young people with competencies the future will require, says Prof Geoff Masters. Within the school sector, efforts are being made at many levels--from classroom teachers to system managers--to enhance the…

This study of teacher staffing issues in the School District of Philadelphia, the third in a series, outlines the degree to which the district has succeeded in upgrading teachers' professional credentials, recruiting and retaining them, and equitably distributing experienced and credentialed teachers across all types of schools. Since the passage…

This is the seventh edition of the Brown Center Report on American Education. As in the past, the report consists of three sections. The first section examines the latest test score data on math and reading achievement. This year the analysis focuses primarily on results of the 2007 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), including a…

This report highlights distance delivery courses in Nebraska for the academic years 2004-2005 and 2005-2006. All six community colleges, the three state colleges, and the University of Nebraska campuses offer courses at distance; more than 40 degrees, endorsements and certificates are now offered completely by distance technology. The total number…

Successful discipline, improved school climates, and behavioral competence are integrally related to improving academic outcomes. This policy brief presents common discipline practices in schools and discuss current discipline data from Indiana. In addition, the report examines school-wide Positive Behavior Support (PBS), an alternative approach…

Since implementing NCLB (No Child Left Behind), raising of test scores and making AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress) have been paramount in the schools and the search has been on to find "THE" answer in the schools' quest to attain these goals. When hunting for appropriate methods to reach these objectives, needs assessments are often…

Participation in school-choice programs has been increasing across the country since the early 1990s. While some have examined the role that families play in the school-choice process, research has largely ignored the role of social contexts in determining where a student attends school. This article improves on previous research by modeling the…

In this article, the authors explore which conditions support the success of literacy coaches. Because the literacy coach position is a relatively new one, this article examines some of the questions related to designing and implementing the position of the literacy coach, and the potential influence of the position on student achievement. The…