"Why Rural Matters" is the fourth in a series of biennial reports analyzing the importance of rural education in each of the 50 states and calling attention to the urgency with which policymakers in each state should address rural education issues. The researchers framed this report around five gauges measuring: (1) the importance of…

The purpose of this study was to identify the factors which help successful equity initiatives that had been seeded in technical and further education (TAFE) institutes through short-term funding to take root and spread. The report concludes that many equity programs remain stuck in the seeding stage and fail to thrive and grow. It suggests that…

The turnaround recommendations and framework in "The Turnaround Challenge" grew out of both new research and synthesis of extensive existing research, as carried out by Mass Insight Education & Research Institute and its partners since September 2005. If the main report is the tip of the proverbial iceberg, this supplement represents…

The "No Child Left Behind Act of 2001" is one of the most important legislative acts signed into law. The goals of this Act are clear; each state, school, and local education agency must make specific progress towards student achievement results each year until every child is 100 percent proficient by the year 2014. The goal of this…

Current educational policies show a growing tendency towards giving schools more autonomy and internal quality control. Accurate and comparable data on school performances are thus needed. In Flanders, PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) and TIMSS-R (Third International Mathematics and Science Study-Repeat) have provided…

The use of data from student surveys has become a common element of universities' and governments' strategies to assure the quality of university teaching. With the introduction of a new government policy in Australia in 2005, these survey-derived teaching performance indicators now determine the distribution of many millions of dollars of funding…

District administrators, principals and teachers need "leading indicators" that provide a framework for intervention, can be used to guide school policy and practice, and can help staff identify issues relevant to particular students or groups of students. In this article, the authors describe "Tell Them From Me", an assessment…

This paper presents the Superintendent's 20th Annual Report, a comprehensive overview of Hawaii's public schools for school year 2008-09. This report contains essential progress indicators and measures, as well as highlights and comparisons of core educational data presented in a concise and user-friendly format. Appended are: (1) Glossary; (2)…

This paper focuses on transition programs for youth to postsecondary education, broadly considered. It addresses the following questions: (1) What models or programs of transition exist? (2) On what basis can we say one transition program is more effective than another? In other words, how is successful transition defined? (3) How are…

The "Core Indicators of Effectiveness Report" delineates the performance of Wyoming's community colleges as measured by the 14 indicators set forth by the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) and adopted by the seven Wyoming community colleges and the Wyoming Community College Commission. These indicators, while providing…

This study is the sixth in a series of studies conducted by the American Association of School Administrators on the impact of the economic downturn on schools. AASA launched the series in fall 2008 in response to state budget shortfalls, federal buy-outs and interventions, and a series of additional events characterizing a slowing, stagnant…

The National Dropout Prevention Center for Students with Disabilities (NDPC-SD) was assigned the task of compiling, analyzing and summarizing the data for Indicator 1--Graduation--from the 2007- 08 Annual Performance Reports (APRs) and amended State Performance Plans (SPPs), which were submitted by states to the Office of Special Education…

The Secretary of Education (Secretary) establishes requirements, definitions, and approval criteria for the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund (Stabilization or SFSF) program. The Secretary may use one or more of these requirements, definitions, and approval criteria in awarding funds under this program in fiscal year (FY) 2010. These requirements,…

This document presents a model of school completion outcomes and the indicators of these outcomes for all students, including students with disabilities. School completion is defined in a number of ways, including Grade 12, end of school, and time of "aging out" of eligibility for educational services. The document includes a conceptual…

This evaluation of compensatory education programs in the Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) Public Schools, funded under Chapter 1 of the Education Consolidation and Improvement Act of 1981, uses an indicator-based multiple-year approach to chart changes between 1985-86 and 1988-89. An educational indicator is a number that provides useful information…