This volume presents indicators of important developments and trends in American education in 2003. Recurrent themes underscored by the indicators include participation and persistence in education, student performance and other outcomes, the environment for learning, and societal support for education. In addition, this volume contains a special…

This collection of papers describes exemplary programs in teacher education that attempt to address issues of diversity and the achievement gap between different groups of students. After "Introduction: Teacher Preparation for Diverse Settings," (Dennis M. McInerney and Shawn Van Etten), the 10 papers are: (1) "Can Teacher Education…

In the assessment literature, a general recommendation has been to disaggregate scores and other data for students with limited English proficiency (LEP). This has rarely been done for most non-English language background (NELB) students in the United States, with the partial exception of Spanish speakers. Nationwide Spanish speakers make up the…

Research on quality assurance (QA) in vocational education and training (VET) in Australia over the past 6 years was reviewed. Three factors responsible for growing interest in QA were identified: close connections with industry sectors that have gained from the introduction of QA measures; the more competitive training market that has been…

This project described the characteristics and teaching behaviors of those successfully teaching AP® Calculus AB and AP English Literature and Composition to underrepresented minority students. Its purpose was to assist educators in improving the participation and performance of underrepresented minority students in AP classes. Study results…

In 1999 Ministers responsible for school education agreed to the new set of "National Goals for Schooling in the Twenty-First Century," with the aim of providing high quality schooling in Australia which would secure for students the necessary knowledge, understanding, skills and values for a productive and rewarding life. As a…

Although students have been taking the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) Science test for a few years, the State has only recently set the achievement-level standards for the Science test. Science will be included in the school grade calculations for the first time in 2006-07. In addition, although no official guidelines exist…

Describes curricular standards that concern teachers and teacher educators. Argues that reforms are based on changing images of good teaching, aimed at undetermined and uncertain aspects of teaching, and that little theory exists concerning how new teachers learn to teach. Proposes several areas of investigation as teacher education programs are…

Ranking of 160 best liberal arts colleges provides data on academic reputation, student selectivity, faculty resources, financial resources, retention, alumni giving, college entrance examination scores, freshmen's high school rank, acceptance and yield rates, student/faculty ratio, expenditures per student, class size, alumni giving, freshman…

In this article, the authors describe various rationales for accountability testing programs over the past century. This history forms the backdrop for current test-driven reforms, including Public Law 107-110, the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), which was signed into law in January 2002. The goals of the authors are first, to illustrate…

The ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education) Standards have put technology integration "on the map" for teacher educators, creating a useful reference point for guiding new teachers toward appropriate technology uses. The authors reflect on their work at a progressive teacher education college, assessing the strengths and…

The primary aim of this article is to identify and interrogate the lay theories of contemporary student teachers and to indicate and illustrate the manner in which these "theories" manifest both continuity and change when contrasted with teaching archetypes and previously articulated lay theories of student teachers in the setting. It is…

Education in both England and the United States has undergone a profound change over the last two decades as part of neo-liberal and neoconservative political reforms. The reforms have been characterized by efforts to standardize the curriculum, to implement standardized tests in order to hold students, teachers, and schools accountable, to…

The purpose of this article is two-fold. First, it reports on a study of the distribution of reform-oriented instructional practices among Black, White and Hispanic students, and the relationship between those practices and student achievement. The study identified many similarities in instruction across student groups, but there were some…

Few learning experiences give students immediate feedback on ethical and unethical behaviors and provide opportunities to repeatedly practice effective behaviors. This article describes how the authors have used challenge course activities to stimulate students to observe their own and others' ethical and unethical behaviors. Specifically, these…