This article addresses three questions: Does reduced class size cause higher academic achievement in reading, mathematics, listening, and word recognition skills? If it does, how large are these effects? Does the magnitude of such effects vary significantly across schools? The authors analyze data from Tennessee's Student/Teacher Achievement Ratio…

Transfer students are of recognized importance to postsecondary education and every year feed thousands of students into natural resources programs across America. This influx of students can have a sustaining effect on many academic programs, including fisheries and wildlife programs, which are suffering from a nation-wide decrease in interest…

The general pedagogical knowledge of teachers is not often investigated in comparison to content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge. In this article, a more comprehensive outlook on teachers' skills and knowledge without regard to subject-specific nuances is discussed in relation to classroom management strategies, the organization of…

The purpose of this research was to examine the relation between students' personality traits and the extent of their engagement and facilitation in peer-led literature circle discussions. The research was guided by two questions. To what extent do reading ability, gender, and personality traits predict the quality of verbal engagement in…

This policy brief revisits the long and storied literature on whether money matters in providing a quality education. Increasingly, political rhetoric adheres to the unfounded certainty that money doesn't make a difference in education, and that reduced funding is unlikely to harm educational quality. Such proclamations have even been used to…

With the passage of a state constitutional amendment in 2002, Florida school districts faced the challenge of meeting class size mandates in core subjects, such as mathematics, English, and science by the 2010-2011 school year, or face financial penalties. Underpinning the amendment's goals was the argument that smaller classes are more effective…

University classes in marketing are often large and therefore require teams of teachers to cover all of the necessary activities. A major problem with teaching teams is the inconsistency that results from myriad individuals offering subjective opinions (Preston 1997). This innovation uses the latest moderation techniques along with Audience…

The 2015 edition of the "Annual Condition of Education Report" includes a rich set of information about the status of Iowa's K-12 education system. The report provides valuable feedback about Iowa's students, educators and school districts across a number of statewide measures. They include changes in student populations and…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between District Performance Scores (DPS) in Louisiana and (a) socio-economic status of students, (b) academic achievement using average ACT scores, (c) percentage of certified teachers, (d) district class size, (e) per pupil expenditure, and (f) percentage of minority students in…

Research in education finance and policy has flourished over the past twenty years as No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and a wide range of school reform efforts spurred demand for scientific evidence identifying "what works." Research funding has been generous, buoyed by both favorable economic conditions and the sense that research will…

The rapid growth in the student population observed in higher education over the past 10-15 years in some countries has coincided with an increased recognition of student engagement and its value in developing knowledge. Active learning approaches have the potential to promote student engagement with lectures, but this becomes more challenging as…

An increase in teacher hiring in recent years has led some observers to posit a link to the waves of pink slips districts are now sending across the U.S. Between the 1999-2000 and the 2007-08 school years, the teacher force increased at more than double the rate of K-12 student enrollments. Hiring teachers to reduce class sizes remains a…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the reliability and validity of a newly developed survey instrument, the "Primary Practices Questionnaire" ("PPQ"), designed to measure first, second, and third grade teachers' perceived use of developmentally appropriate practices. The initial item pool was reviewed for content…

This qualitative study focused on the experiences of eight male first-generation college students attending Kenmont College (pseudonym), a highly selective, residential liberal arts college located in the Midwestern United States. While first-generation college students have been studied in various contexts, very little is known about what…

Two diverse universities--one large public metropolitan and one small independent-- participate in the Carnegie Project on the Education Doctorate (CPED) the purpose of which is to clearly distinguish between the Ph. D. and the Ed. D. and their unique intended outcomes. These universities (re)designed and implemented the professional doctorate…