Value-added modeling (VAM) to estimate school and teacher effects is currently of considerable interest to researchers and policymakers. Recent reports suggest that VAM demonstrates the importance of teachers as a source of variance in student outcomes. Policymakers see VAM as a possible component of education reform through improved teacher…

The 2003 Sloan Survey of Online Learning polled academic leaders and was weighted to allow for inferences about all degree-granting institutions open to the public. When asked to compare the online learning outcomes with those of face-to-face instruction a majority said they are equal. Two out of every three also responded that online learning is…

The national contributions contained in this paper and on the Eurydice website formed the basis for the comparative study on the integration at school of immigrant children in Europe. Each contribution has exactly the same structure with four main sections entitled as follows: (1) National definitions and demographic context of immigration; (2)…

A national conference of city supervisors of home economics was called by the U.S. Commissioner of Education, and attended by representatives from 20 States and the District of Columbia, plus one representative from New Zealand. The three-day conference was convened in Washington, D.C., to: (1) bring together supervisors, teachers of home…

Because of the individual authority of each State for its own educational program, practices and policies differ widely among them in many respects. Yet in the midst of differences there are also common elements of development. The U. S. Office of Education, in presenting this series of monographs, has attempted to point out those common elements,…

This bulletin is the third in a series of annual publications issued by the Cooperative Research Program of the Office of Education. Its purpose is to provide practitioners, researchers, and others interested in education with information concerning research projects that are being supported under the Cooperative Research Program. A brief…

In September of 1958, the 85th Congress passed Public Law 85-864, the National Defense Education Act. The step had not been taken lightly. For months congressional committees had been studying alternative bills. Widespread discussion had occurred in circles where educators and the educated were represented. Many proposals had been examined and…

Profiles the extraordinary World War II public support efforts conducted by school children and teachers across the United States. Encouraged by the Roosevelt administration, teachers and pupils mobilized support for war bond sales and salvage collection drives. Many children raised "Victory Gardens" producing food to help the war…

In spite of ten campuses spread over four islands, access to higher education at the University of Hawai'i (UH) is unevenly distributed across the state. In an effort to address the problem of access, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation has funded the University of Hawai'i to develop online courses and programs. In this article, the author describes…

A taxonomy of potential values conflicts in evaluations is presented. Basis is the distinction of types of conflict (aims vs. means conflicts; qualitative vs. quantitative conflicts). Six areas of values are discussed: the ethical, methodical, social and interactive, legal, economic, and personal values. The taxonomy of conflicts between these…

The United Kingdom and other governments have demonstrated faith in information and communications technology (ICT) as a means of achieving a participative and inclusive society through various high-profile initiatives. It is also claimed that ICT or e-learning can bring about new patterns of power and participation for excluded learners. In this…

France is one of the most modern countries in the world and is a leading force in Europe. A highly literate and well-educated society, France's education statistics for 2003 show 12.1 million French children in primary and secondary education and 2.2 million students in tertiary education. The concept of education as a market commodity--long since…

This article is based on the Keynote Address to the European Conference on Educational Research (ECER), Crete, Greece, 21-25 September 2004. One of the most consistent results in sociology of education research has been the existence of inequalities in school results and educational trajectories related to social factors. Despite an important…

Over the last several years the author conducted 126 interviews and held four focus groups with academic staff, administrators and others associated with Australian universities, about the problems and challenges they believed faced the system of tertiary education. Widespread concern and pessimism pervaded the interviews about the future of…

The purpose of this article is to present a case of national achievement assessment at the primary level within a formative approach. Many countries experience an increasing obligation to attach high stakes to national assessments, which results in greater pressure on teachers and schools. The author's view is that this kind of approach is…