The American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) has released "What Will They Learn? 2012-13," the fourth edition, evaluating the general education requirements at 1,070 colleges and universities. Unlike other college rankings, ACTA does not consider an institution's wealth, prestige, or popularity. Rather, ACTA rates institutions…

What does it mean to be a college graduate? One knows about the time and ever-increasing amount of money that a diploma demands. But when it comes down to what matters--the skills and knowledge acquired--what does a college degree mean? That is the question the American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) answers in this book. Inside one will…

From the inception of public education, the curricula of schools have been debated. As early as 1893, higher education and governmental committees sought to establish what, when, and how cognitive level curricula would be taught. In times of national need, as when the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the educational system was called upon to help…

Introduction: This study examined the everyday work of eight teachers of students with visual impairments at governmental primary and secondary schools in Queensland, Australia. The small-scale study aimed to capture the scope and complexity of the activities of these teachers and the regular challenges they face in their expected everyday roles.…

The flow of venture capital into the K-12 education market has exploded over the past year, reaching its highest transaction values in a decade in 2011, industry observers say. They attribute that rise to such factors as a heightened interest in educational technology; the decreasing cost of electronic devices such as tablet computers, laptops,…

This report provides the Nebraska Legislature with comparative statistics to monitor and evaluate progress toward achieving "three key priorities" for Nebraska's postsecondary education system: (1) Increase the number of students who enter postsecondary education in Nebraska; (2) Increase the percentage of students who enroll and…

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of four different design layouts of the New York State elementary science learning standards on user processing time and preference. Three newly developed layouts contained the same information as the standards core curriculum. In this study, the layout of the core guide is referred to as Book.…

The Carnegie Learning Cognitive Tutor curricula are based on cognitive models, which include a representation of the learner's thinking, strategies, and misconceptions. The Cognitive Tutor curricula typically speed up learning and yield greater learning as compared to traditional math curricula (Morgan & Ritter, 2002; Sarkis, 2004; Koedinger,…

The purpose of this study was to obtain the attitudes and beliefs of mathematics teachers in the School District of Philadelphia regarding an eighth grade middle school mathematics core curriculum. This study explored the attitudes and beliefs of teachers in the reform of an eighth grade math "Core Curriculum, Math In Context" (School…

This study examines the problem of inconsistent achievement in social studies on the Delaware State Testing Program (DSTP) at a high school in Delaware. Since 2002, the district began an initiative to create common assessments for all core content areas that were meant to align with the state standards. In social studies, that initiative was the…

In order to ensure that middle school youth are on a path toward higher education and careers, an early introduction to the importance of continuing education past high school is necessary. The middle school years are a vital time to teach the importance of college and career readiness and the linkages to success in life. This issue brief…

"Straight A's: Public Education Policy and Progress" is a biweekly newsletter that focuses on education news and events both in Washington, DC and around the country. The following articles are included in this issue: (1) State of the Union Preview: In Email to Supporters, Obama Highlights Economy and Jobs, Education, Deficit Reduction, and…

The WICHE Interstate Passport Initiative, launched in October 2011, is a pilot project that addresses interstate student transfer. When students transfer from one postsecondary institution to another--both within and out of state--they may be required to repeat courses, which can add to the time and cost of completing their education. Although…

Aim of the project: Curriculum development is a time-consuming process and often interminable. Pursuing the idea of creating a nationwide core curriculum is one opportunity to develop a curriculum in library and information science (LIS). It can be supposed that a project like this can be the initial point stimulating and encouraging the widest…

This cross-case study utilizes the publically available data of three urban low-performing, low-socioeconomic-status districts designated as "districts in need of improvement" under No Child Left Behind legislation. Despite multiple interventions aimed at improving student learning, these and other districts remain in corrective action.…