The U.S. is in the midst of an effort to intensify middle school mathematics curricula by enrolling more 8th graders in Algebra. California is at the forefront of this effort, and in 2008 the state moved to make Algebra the accountability benchmark test for 8th grade mathematics. This paper takes advantage of this unevenly-implemented policy to…

High-stakes testing is not a new phenomenon in education. It has become part of the education system in many countries. These tests affect the school systems, teachers, students, politicians and parents, whether that is in a positive or negative sense. High-stakes testing is associated with concepts such as a school's accountability, funding and…

Quality and accountability mandates require institutions to monitor online instruction in a uniform and complete manner. In many institutions, instructor training is sparse and faculty evaluation occurs only through end-of-course student evaluations that may or may not yield adequate information on how the instructor performs online. Consequently,…

Comparing the nation's populations health problems with high school graduation rates may seem like a stretch, but just as obesity poses a real threat to the nation's future, so does the inability to graduate students who are career and college ready. Reversing the trend of obesity will take time and so will the goal of graduating all students from…

Adult Basic Education (ABE) prison and community based literacy programs, are under close scrutiny to report accurate data to the National Reporting System (NRS). Delaware community based ABE programs are administered by the states' vocational school districts in New Castle, Kent and Sussex County. The NRS is the federal accountability program for…

This study investigated selected elementary school teachers' perceptions of principals' leadership. Ten South Carolina schools were selected based on the criterion of 50% or higher poverty index. Five schools included the feature of recognition by the state for academic success for one year or more over the 2003-2006 timeframe. One hundred three…

This study was implemented to investigate how three Texas high school campuses improved their campus accountability ratings using the High School Allotment (HSA) funding. Three high schools were selected based on criteria, including campus size, ethnic breakdown of student population, use of HSA finding, and improvement in the campus…

Standardized-test scores are increasingly important indicators of school success. But how robust are school-performance ratings when they are based on measures derived from these scores? In my thesis, using data from Houston Independent School District (HISD) and New York State (NYS), I examined the robustness of school-performance ratings across…

In one of the first large-scale analyses of urban trends on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), the Council of the Great City Schools and the American Institutes for Research identified urban school systems that demonstrated high achievement or significant achievement gains on the NAEP, and examined possible factors behind…

Building on Strunk, McEachin, and Westover (2011), the authors examine whether or not District Assistance and Intervention Teams (DAITs) have a differential impact on student performance across school and student characteristics. They use a quasi-experimental design to examine the impacts of DAITs on student achievement on math and English…

The concordat to support research integrity sets out five commitments that will provide assurances to government, the wider public and the international community that research in the UK continues to be underpinned by the highest standards of rigour and integrity. Developed in collaboration with the funding and research councils, the Wellcome…

As a part of growing and strengthening response to environmental and sustainability education initiatives, schoolyard gardens have emerged across the nation and globe. Though the concept of schoolyard gardens has received widespread support and ignited the public imagination, it is increasingly evident that there is an emergent need for…

The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001 forced school districts to become more accountable by requiring all students to read on grade level by the year 2014. However, President Obama's educational policy shift is allowing states to develop their own accountability and improvement system. This study examined fourth and eighth grade math…

The purpose of this research was to examine the relationship between high-stakes tests and stress with secondary teachers. Furthermore, this study investigated whether veteran teachers experience more stress than novice teachers and whether or not self-efficacy, gender, accountability status, and years of experience influence teacher stress as it…

Given the current focus on student outcomes, use of the problem-solving model to plan interventions is one method by which school psychologists can hold themselves accountable for implementing counseling interventions that have a positive impact on student behavioral outcomes and mental health. This study surveyed school psychologists about their…