Each of the 12 issues of this 1999 publication contains 1 or more analyses of postsecondary educational opportunities. Titles of the individual analyses are: (1) Parental Educational Attainment and Higher Educational Opportunity (number 79); (2) Refinancing Higher Education, 1952 to 1997 (number 79); (3) State Outreach Efforts to Students from Low…

This 5-year study of 2 instructors teaching a master's level instructional design course used developmental research to systematically examine a reflective teaching approach. The reflexive teaching model is described. Eight data sources across six deliveries of the course were analyzed in terms of design decisions (the teaching model), model…

In this paper we draw on data from a large mathematics competition, for the years 1987 to 2000 and use two different but closely related measures to investigate possible gender differences in performance. Our analyses revealed that small gender differences in favour of males persisted but had decreased over time. Consistent with reports from…

This paper provides an analysis of a teacher development experiment (cf. Simon, 2000) designed to support teachers' understandings of statistical data analysis. The experiment was conducted as part of collaborative efforts between the author and a cohort of middle-school mathematics teachers during the 2000-2001 academic year. Analysis of the…

The majority of learning that occurs in the workplace is informal, however, little is known about how such learning is best supported and nurtured. A qualitative case study was recently conducted to explore the contextual factors that may shape informal workplace learning. Fifteen in-depth interviews were conducted and constant comparative…

This report describes the methods and procedures used for the 1996 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS:96). NPSAS:96, which surveyed over 830 postsecondary education institutions and over 34,000 students and parents, included important changes from previous NPSAS studies conducted in 1987, 1990, and 1993 in its sample design and data…

The National Postsecondary Education Cooperative has sponsored two working groups on student outcomes, one exploring the issue from a policy perspective and the other, from a data perspective. This report presents the results of the data perspective case studies, discusses the strengths and weaknesses of the "state of the art" in student…

This report presents an investigation by the American College Testing Program (ACT) of an alternative design for the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The proposed design greatly simplifies the data collection and analysis procedures needed to produce assessment results and has the potential to produce results that are more…

This document presents synthesized estimates of the rates of level 1 literacy by congressional district in the 50 states and District of Columbia. The estimates are extrapolations of the National Adult Literacy Survey (NALS) that were based on the findings of approximately 26,000 interviews. The document begins with an introduction containing the…

This study investigated whether or not students apply educational theory to practical situations when they are involved in a learning process that starts from their own educational experiences and "Gestalts," the holistic unity of knowledge, feelings, values, and meanings linked to concrete situations encountered before, and colored by…

School districts strongly influence the strategic choices that schools make to improve teaching and learning. Districts act as gatekeepers for federal and state policy by translating, interpreting, supporting, or blocking actions on their schools' behalf. The efforts of districts to build the capacity of students, teachers, and schools are often…

This document presents the content standards for mathematics in Arkansas. These standards are organized into five strands: (1) number sense, properties, and operations; (2) geometry and spatial sense; (3) measurement; (4) data analysis, statistics, and probability; and (5) patterns, algebra, and functions. Each of these strands is subdivided into…

The purpose of this study was to test a methodology that will help Santa Barbara City College (SBCC), California, to validate the course prerequisites that fall under the category of highest level of scrutiny--data collection and analysis--as defined by the Chancellor's Office. This study gathered data for the validation of prerequisites for three…

This document consists of tables and figures detailing the status of and projections for public and private institutions of higher education in the state of Washington. The report considers university/college characteristics, access and participation rates, service level and student flow, off-campus programs, and special institutional goals and…

The Health Sciences and Technology Academy (HSTA), administered through West Virginia University, provides professional development to science teachers who partner with higher education faculty in a science and math enrichment program for financially disadvantaged African American students. This program focuses on human nutrition and has…