This article presents and discusses the results of a national survey of social work PhD students, faculty, and administrators (n = 416), conducted by the Group for the Advancement of Doctoral Education in Social Work (GADE), in December 2012. The survey was undertaken to inform the updating of GADE's 2003 "Guidelines for Quality in Social…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the evolution of "folk" understandings of quality in higher hospitality education and the consequent implications of these understandings for current quality concerns in the field. Design/methodology/approach: The paper combines a historical survey of the stated topic…

In 1983, the National Commission on Excellence in Education released its now famous report, "A Nation at Risk," which warned of "a rising tide of mediocrity" in American schooling. Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education but largely written by a group of prominent academics, "A Nation at Risk" invoked a crisis…

Research finds that small high schools deliver better outcomes than large high schools for urban students. An important outstanding question is whether this better performance is gained at the expense of losses elsewhere: Does small school reform lift the whole district? We explore New York City's small high school reform in which hundreds of new…

England's performance in international tests of student achievement continues to be disappointing. Further improvement is essential not only for students' themselves but also for economic growth. This briefing considers the impact of Academies, school spending and teacher quality. Research evidence suggests that it is right to protect school…

Only about one-third of children attending school in the United States can read proficiently at fourth grade, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, known as "the nation's report card." If that is not dismaying enough, consider the outcomes for the nation's most vulnerable students. The first eight years of…

STEM Schools purport to prepare students to learn and work in the 21st Century by providing students with innovative learning experiences through the interdisciplinary integration of science, technology, engineering, and math (Tsupros, 2009). Advocates of STEM and innovative school models argue that the traditional school system does not and…

Year after year, in every state and community in our nation, students from low-income families are less likely than other students to reach advanced levels of academic performance, even when demonstrating the potential to do so. These income-based "excellence gaps" appear in elementary school and continue through high school. It is a…

This paper sets out to reclaim rights-based thinking on for the current proposals for the education Sustainable Development Goal (SDG). The proposed indicators are intended to contribute to a broad and bold agenda for education quality compatible with the targets set out in two proposals for a post-2015 education goals -- the Muscat Agreement…

This report provides an update of Cedefop's statistical overview of vocational education and training (VET) and lifelong learning in European countries. It illustrates progress on 33 indicators selected for their policy relevance and contribution to Europe 2020 objectives. These also provide a review of progress in key areas of education and…

Over the course of developing Consolidated State Plans, states have spent time evaluating their accountability systems. Many of the accountability requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, such as the inclusion of academic measures of students' proficiency on annual assessments, graduation rates, and English learners' progress toward…

In little more than a decade, Michigan has gone from being a fairly average state, to among the nation's bottom ten states in essential measures for student learning. It's a devastating fall, and students of color and low-income students--long poorly served by the state--are suffering the most from the system's terribly low performance. Governor…

A new framework from the CRIS initiative provides guidance for schools and districts to implement a system of indicators and supports for students who are off track for post-secondary success. The CRIS framework is intended as a tool to help districts and schools implement the conditions, processes, and supports needed to increase the number of…

Accountability for student learning and successful progression through each grade level has been a top priority concern for federal, state, and local educators. Studies have revealed several variables affecting student achievement, with much attentiveness on student attendance. (Barrington & Hendricks, 1989, Borland & Howsen 1998, Coutts,…

Interim assessments are increasingly common in U.S. schools. We use high-quality data from a large-scale school-level cluster randomized experiment to examine the impact of two well-known commercial interim assessment programs on mathematics and reading achievement in Indiana. Results indicate that the treatment effects are positive but not…