Using a unique dataset, this dissertation analyzes the relationship between observable teacher characteristics and teacher effectiveness. Effectiveness is measured as a teacher's ability to improve student achievement on a standardized test. This analysis focuses on teachers of math and science at the elementary and middle school levels, as well…

Schools serving low-income students struggle to attract effective teachers, particularly in science and math. In response to these staffing difficulties, states have tried to lower the barriers to becoming a teacher by establishing "alternative routes to certification." These routes enable teachers to begin teaching before completing all…

In this paper we consider the challenges involved in evaluating teacher preparation programs when controlling for school contextual bias. Including school fixed effects in the achievement models used to estimate preparation program effects controls for school environment by relying on differences among student outcomes within the same schools to…

As of January 2012, more than 850,000 active foreign students were in the United States enrolled at over 10,000 U.S. schools. ICE, within DHS, is responsible for managing SEVP and certifying schools to accept foreign students. GAO was asked to review ICE's fraud prevention and detection procedures for SEVP. This report examines the extent to which…

Two well-known major frameworks to measure teacher performance and determine what a teacher should know and be able to do are undoubtedly the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards and Charlotte Danielson's Framework for teaching. Charlotte Danielson has four major domains and National Board Certification (NBPTS) has five major core…

This report was written by the Task Force on Educator Preparation and Entry into the Profession. The task force is made up of current and former chiefs who are members of the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) with input from partners at the National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE) and the National Governors…

Since the language used by people has the potential to signal a membership in a discourse community, it is significant that prospective teachers speak the appropriate social language to be able to claim a strong membership in the community of teachers. This qualitative study explores a group of pre-service teachers' professional language use and…

Four converging trends are undermining land-based campuses as the preeminent source of knowledge acquisition and certification. The emergence of the learning sciences, the wikification of knowledge, the unbundling of faculty roles, and the migration of learning online are driving fundamental institutional change toward location-independent…

This descriptive study examines the current status of online education in massage therapy with respect to the development of web based curriculums. Participants are drawn from the public listing of the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork (NCBTMB). The Online Curriculum Survey in Massage Therapy is used as an…

The nation relies on both 2- and 4-year institutions of higher education for the majority of its registered nurses (RNs), who are authorized to practice as RNs after achieving either an associate or bachelor's-level nursing degree and passing a national licensure exam. Due to job growth and retirements, the nation is projected to need more than 1…

The Commission on Rehabilitation Counselor Certification (CRCC) has taken a proactive stance on perceived test inequities of the Certified Rehabilitation Counselor (CRC) exam as it relates to people who are prelingually deaf and hard of hearing. This article describes the process developed and implemented by the CRCC to help maximize test equity…

Introduction: Although the family day care workforce has changed over the past decade in response to evolving childcare regulations and accreditation requirements, there is little research on family day care educators in Australia. The aim of this study was to describe characteristics of Australian family day care educators, including their…

Policy shapes practice, and the increasingly important realm of professional development is no exception. To identify effective professional development policies and strategies, a Stanford University research team examined the policy frameworks supporting high levels of professional development activity in four states--(1) Colorado; (2) Missouri;…

The alignment of the teacher quality provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and the transparency of low achievement of students who have disabilities under the testing mandates of NCLB have converged to create substantial renewed interest and activity in collaborative programs…

The national completion agenda--manifested in President Obama's challenge to double the number of degree and certificate holders in the U.S. by 2020, and in the quest for employable skills by displaced workers in the current economic crisis--is having a transformative effect on America's community colleges. Calls from politicians, policy makers,…