In 2011, the Board of Regents (BoR), through the development and implementation of the Master Plan, advanced its vision for the future of postsecondary education by adopting the following three broad goals: (1) Increase the educational attainment of the State's adult population to the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) States' average by…

As educators are increasingly called on to use data to inform improvement initiatives (and are being held accountable for doing so), there is a corresponding need for program leaders to monitor progress. Program monitoring--the systematic and continual observation and recording of key program aspects--can provide leaders with realistic assessments…

It has been said that while history shapes the hand a state is dealt, public policy determines how the hand is played. State policy for K-12 education--and, by extension, for arts education--is shaped through the actions of various state governmental entities--governors, legislatures, courts, and commissioners and boards of education--in response…

In 1993, the Kettering Foundation and Public Agenda released a report titled "Divided Within, Besieged Without: The Politics of Education in Four American School Districts." The study's attention to communities was distinct from the conventional focus on the technical issues of school administration and funding, and it reported on what…

As of September 2013 about $94 billion--over 11 percent of federal student loan volume in repayment--was in default. Loan rehabilitation allows borrowers who make nine on-time monthly payments within 10 months to have the default removed from their credit reports. Department of Education (Education) contracts with collection agencies to assist…

Meta-analyses are syntheses of effect-size estimates obtained from a collection of studies to summarize a particular field or topic (Hedges, 1992; Lipsey & Wilson, 2001). These reviews are used to integrate knowledge that can inform both scientific inquiry and public policy, therefore it is important to ensure that the estimates of the effect…

With the infusion of technology into the learning environment, the teacher evaluation process has been affected (Whale, 2006). Consequently, the International Society of Technology in Education developed technology standards for students, teachers, and administrators known as the National Educational Technology Standards, or NETS (Morphew, 2012).…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the connections between state education finance distribution models and student achievement. To date, lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of state finance systems have been heard in 45 states; the judicial interpretation of the requirement to provide equality of educational opportunity has…

Given increasing emphasis on assessment and accountability across the globe in higher education, it is clear that individual institutions must take action and provide evidence in response to these concerns. This article provides an example of how one university has developed a central office for assessment, facilitated the development of an…

In this era of hyper-accountability, teachers are under ever-increasing pressure to demonstrate their worth--often using evidence that is far removed from what seems to be in the best interests of the students. Terms such as "value-added," "evidence-based," and "data-driven" dominate discussions about teaching…

This article examines the new National Curriculum for primary schools that has been recently announced by the Secretary of State for Education. The article discusses some of the implications of that curriculum for children and teachers and ends with ideas for how we can effectively campaign against it.

The American experiment with charter schools advanced on dual impulses of increasing opportunities for disadvantaged students and unleashing market competition. While critics see these independently managed schools as a form of privatisation, proponents contend that they are public schools because of funding and accountability arrangements and…

This paper focuses on Stephen Ball's article, "The teacher's soul and the terrors of performativity", since it is here that he analyses the issue of how neoliberal education policies shape teacher identities that I also wish to explore. I begin by providing a summary of the 2003 piece, noting how it locates teachers and their…

Concerns about the professional development of teachers have a political dimension as governments around the world engage in the discourse on global standards and want to improve the quality of their school education. Increasingly, teachers are feeling the pressure of securing high achievement scores and large-scale assessments of student learning…

Henry A. Giroux claims this to be the "worst of times" for US public education. Not alone in this judgment, numerous other scholars stand in agreement with him. These thinkers view the current corporate/accountability/testing movement, with its iron grip on public school policies, as disfiguring and disparaging the US system of public…