Post-secondary institutions within the European Higher Education Area have been adapting quality assurance mechanisms for course design, delivery, and evaluation following a learner-centered approach. The purpose of this exploratory study was to delineate the teaching practices in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics at the…

During the last 25 years international mobility has become paramount in higher education. International and national authorities and higher education institutions have set-up effective structures to facilitate and implement this process. It has become part of a higher education modernization process which obtained a serious push with the start and…

As innovation increasingly fuels economic growth, higher education institutions and systems face the challenge of equipping students with the skills required by innovative economies. Using two international surveys of tertiary education graduates five years after their graduation, we show that the innovative, tertiary-educated workforce comprises…

Although standards-based IEP goals have been mandated in many states for almost a decade, their effectiveness is unknown. Standards-based IEP goals were first created to meet the requirements of No Child Left Behind and Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act, which increased accountability for all students as well as those with…

This issue brief is intended to assist state policymakers in better understanding strategies to prepare students with disabilities and special needs for college and career. The brief provides context and background on the numbers of students with disabilities who are college and career ready; examines issues related to preparation and readiness…

Since its first assessment in 1969, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) has made a unique contribution to our understanding of American education. It is the only national source of information on the educational achievement of U.S. students, and it is the only vehicle by which states can compare the progress of their students…

This qualitative study examined the issue of history education and its failure to understand and implement the most effective teaching and learning strategies for the discipline. It did this by conducting interviews, observations, and a focus group with a group of history teachers in a suburban high school in New England. While aiming to explain…

"Welcome to Conversions Rock" is a new math program designed to build and reinforce the important skills of converting fractions, decimals, and percents for students in grades 6-8. Developed by The Actuarial Foundation, this program seeks to provide skill-building, real-world math to help students become successful in the classroom and beyond. [A…

The purpose of this issue brief is to provide a comprehensive overview of the policies behind the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and to outline some of the initiatives now in place to address the needs of English language learners (ELLs) in relation to the CCSS. This issue brief contains the appendices: (1) Assessment Consortia Time Lines; and…

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to examine the perceptions of Texas public Montessori school principals as instructional leaders in science. Twelve public Montessori school principals were interviewed for this study. Two research questions were used: How do public Montessori principals perceive Texas science standards in public…

In 1999, a declaration formalizing "the European process" was signed at and informally named for Europe's oldest university: Bologna. "The Bologna Process" has transformed higher education in Europe. This book is essential reading for anyone concerned about the ability of America's higher education system to position the…

We have investigated chemistry faculty's cognitive expectations about learning chemistry and their influence upon the construction of exam questions in a general chemistry curriculum. Faculty cognitive expectations for learning chemistry were measured using QUIMX. Learning objectives and exam questions for a year-long general chemistry sequence…

Culminating projects offer a sharp contrast to predominant practice in civics education. Although many schools require students to volunteer for a certain numbers of hours, most leave it up to the student to find a broadly defined "community application" of their learning, and students seldom inform their action with rigorous research.…

On June 1, 2009, the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) issued a press release stating that 49 states and territories had joined the Common Core State Standards Initiative (CCSS). That initiative proposed that all states voluntarily adopt the same set of…

This article describes the Bologna Process, an effort by a consortium of nearly 50 European countries trying to standardize the higher education system in Europe. Starting from a nonbinding agreement (the 1999 Bologna Declaration), the Bologna Process involves a voluntary joint venture for the construction of a European higher education area…