"Engineering Criteria 2000" (EC 2000), the recently revised set of accreditation criteria for engineering programs in the USA, places considerable stress on outcomes assessments. EC 2000 requires the assessment results to be used to identify program improvements and for such usage and the resulting improvements to be documented. While…

The Performance Assessment for California Teachers (PACT) was developed in response to a California State mandate (SB 2042), requiring teacher preparation programs to use performance assessments as one measure in making credentialing decisions. In this article, results are examined from statewide implementation of the PACT assessments during the…

Objective: To describe how content analysis of the news assists media advocates. Methods: A description of how findings from the Berkeley Media Studies Group's research on how 2 public health issues have been portrayed in the news has informed media advocacy. Results: For media advocates, the research suggests they make themselves available to…

A school or district's technology education program consists of a series of courses that address standards. Recent trends (e.g., No Child Left Behind), administrative pressures to increase student achievement, or the school's desire to align with standards, challenge the technology education teacher to implement new courses into the technology…

This study is a mixed-methods case study of Antelope Valley High School (AVHS). AVHS was one of the first six schools in California to receive academic sanctions since the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. It was also the first high school to receive a State Trustee who was embedded at the school every day for two school years. AVHS…

What happens when teams from 57 cities building afterschool systems gather to discuss two key system responsibilities--improving afterschool programs and using data for informed decision-making? Lots of rich discussion. This report covers a national afterschool conference held in February 2013. It details what mayors, program providers, system…

Using data from Achieving the Dream: Community College Count, this issue of "Data Notes" looks at the percentage of students referred to developmental education and, of those referred, the percentage that attempted and completed at least one developmental education course in their first and second terms. The data show that more than 80…

The National Remodelling Team (NRT) was established in April 2003 by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) and hosted within the National College for School Leadership (NCSL). The role of the NRT was to work with local education authorities (LEAs) to support schools in the implementation of the changes to teachers' contracts introduced by…

The initiation of the educational records and reports study by the Office of Education in 1951 marked a turning point in the Federal State teamwork approach toward providing a basis for complete, accurate, and comparable educational information. In cooperation with State education agencies and professional groups, three major handbooks of standard…

Women continue to be underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields and in STEM leadership positions. According to the most recent data available from the National Science Foundation, in academia only 31% of full-time STEM faculty and 27% of STEM deans and department heads are women. By comparison at Stevenson…

This article is based on the perceptions of California State University administrators and provides a comparative study of the challenges and benefits resulting from the implementation of the teaching performance assessment requirement of SB 2042 standards 19-21 on the California State University (CSU) campuses. With 23 campuses and almost 450,000…

This report details five principles for creating powerful classrooms and offers a new vision for professional development: (1) High Structure; (2) High Challenge; (3) Intensity; (4) Intentionality and Learning How to Learn; and (5) Inquiry and Making Learning Visible. Included are recommendations drawn from the work of the 11 community college…

Policymakers, practitioners, and researchers have long understood that teacher quality is the most important variable for the success of students. The context in which educators work is critical to their success and satisfaction; however, identifying and addressing the conditions that teachers want and need is difficult. Assessing context is not…

With a focus on the use of technology when evaluating programs for Aboriginal people, this article explores the possibility of using visual and oral computer technology to enhance the incorporation of Aboriginal worldviews in program evaluation. The author situates Aboriginal worldviews, including methods of communication and transmission of…

We examine the history of VMI's use of the Major Field Test as an assessment tool for its Department of Economics and Business. Further, we chronicle how the information gathered from a decade and a half of use has shaped the curriculum, faculty composition and policies within the Department. There is evidence that the policies surrounding how and…