The purpose of this study was to investigate the frequency of the best teaching practices (Small Group, Reading as Thinking, Representing to Learn, Classroom Workshop, Authentic Experiences, Reflective Assessment, and Integrative Units) and compare the difference between the structures and demographic variables (program size, student-teacher…

This report provides a portrait of children who entered Head Start for the first time in fall 2009 and completed a year in the program in spring 2010. It also describes their family backgrounds and the classrooms and programs that serve them. Data are drawn from the 2009 cohort of the Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES), a…

Competency-based assessment and an emphasis on obtaining higher-level outcomes that reflect physicians' ability to demonstrate their skills has created a need for more advanced assessment practices. Simulation-based assessments provide medical education planners with tools to better evaluate the 6 Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical…

In this article, the author discusses the issue of credentials in reply to one of the correspondents who is confused about the credentials she needs to teach at a community college. Generally speaking, to teach in programs that award associate of arts or associate of science degrees--i.e., to teach at a community college--faculty members are…

A new professional credential, the Nationally Certified Educational Diagnostician (NCED), was established in 2006 for assessment specialists known as educational diagnosticians. The first cohort of 511 diagnosticians from 11 states received NCED certificates in January 2008. Discussed in this article are several issues of concern related to…

The need to dramatically increase the number of young people who gain the credentials and skills necessary to succeed in 21st century America has never been clearer. One of the most promising ideas for achieving this goal is to establish "multiple pathways" for learners that lead to a variety of high-quality postsecondary options. As New England…

While many school leaders are enticed by the benefits international teachers bring to their schools, some find the process of attracting and hiring educators from other countries to be daunting. Many of the challenges relate to visas. Procuring them can be costly and time-consuming. Additionally, the No Child Left Behind definition of a highly…

The purpose of this study was to examine teachers' perceptions of moral education, to what extent teacher education, both pre-service and in-service, prepared teachers to deal with morality and moral education in their professional classrooms through a cross-sectional survey research design. The data were collected through a questionnaire that…

This article describes one assessment that provides a college- and career-ready individual for employers. In Illinois, workNet is the state's primary online workforce development Web site and resource for Workforce Investment Act services. With help from NOCTI, workNet offers assessments that identify the skills and interests of participants,…

The doctorate in Counselor Education and Supervision is the terminal degree in the field of counselor education within the U.S. The authors surveyed CACREP-accredited doctoral programs to assess department characteristics, clinical experience and credentials, research experience, and the admission, retention, and evaluation of students. Results…

The first page of this report sets forth starkly the imperative for states to increase substantially the numbers of postsecondary education degrees and certificates earned each year by their residents: By 2018, the United States will fall far short of the number of new college degrees needed for an emerging economy that increasingly depends on…

This document covers the data terms used in the Apprentices and trainees December quarter 2009 report and its associated data tables. The primary purpose of this document is to assist users of the report to understand the specific data terms used within it. Terms that appear in the report are listed in alphabetical order with the following…

Despite the United States' long-standing public commitment to postsecondary education and the growing importance of college degrees for individual and national prosperity, today many Americans fail to achieve these valuable academic credentials. To be able to tackle this problem policymakers require a comprehensive understanding of college…

Educational credentials are clearly linked to economic success, but the reasons for this link are not clear. Common theoretical approaches provide explanations but lack direct employer perspectives on credentials' meaning and the context in which employers make sense of credentials. In this study, I used an alternative perspective based in Meyer's…

This article introduces a framework designed to improve students' awareness of the need to critically evaluate websites as sources of information and to improve their skill at doing so. The framework, called the WWWDOT framework, encourages students to think about at least six dimensions when evaluating a website: (1) Who wrote this and what…