This is the Phase I report for a needs assessment and accompanying study sponsored by the Oklahoma State Department of Education which was conducted during the 2010 calendar year. This report seeks to determine the importance of nine essential elements to being classified as a school in need of improvement. 61 schools are involved in this study…

This report is the culmination of the "Flexible Pedagogies: Preparing for the Future" series of reports which have considered flexible learning from a range of perspectives. The report proposes fifteen conditions of flexibility to inject new thinking and new practices into an emerging new age. Flexible provision has the potential to…

The PISA 2009 results in Serbia show a big improvement in reading literacy compared to 2006 -- the average score is 41 points higher, which is equal to the effect of a whole year of schooling in OECD countries and represents the second highest improvement ever recorded in a PISA study. In the present paper, we discuss potential reasons for such a…

This paper serves as the Colorado Department of Education's (CDE's) third annual update on the progress and plan for the implementation of the Colorado Achievement Plan for Kids (CAP4K). Enclosed within this report is a narrative that documents accomplishments to date with respect to key deliverables, as well as supporting appendices, including…

The Early Childhood Advisory Council (ECAC) in Minnesota makes recommendations to the Governor and Legislature, and is responsible for fulfilling the duties required by federal and state statutes. The Council was created in 2008 by the Governor's Executive Order 08-14. The ECAC consists of 18 members, including the State Director of the Head Start…

The debate about the performance of US students on international assessments of educational achievement routinely fails to account for one consistently stark result: US achievement is bifurcated between a group of high-performing Asian and white students and an exceptionally low-performing group of black and Hispanic students. By summarizing…

Each budget year, the Ministry of Education responds to concerns about chronic underfunding of public education by asserting that the ministry is providing its "highest funding ever" during a sustained period of declining student enrolment. This assertion of the "highest funding ever" continues in "Budget 2011,"…

Recognizing the association between self-determination and improved educational and postschool outcomes for children and youth with or at risk for emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD), increased attention has focused on efforts to promote the skills and attitudes that enhance self-determination. We conducted a comprehensive, systematic review…

This paper argues that it is timely for educational researchers in Asia, and Singapore in particular, to generate cultural- and empirical-knowledge bases in school leadership that will speak to the specific interests of Asian students, educators and practitioners. As economic and social development across Asia gathers momentum, the more advanced…

The report by the Stiglitz Commission on the Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress highlighted the idea that sustainability in essence is about quality of life. This paper discusses and elaborates this notion. It argues that sustainable development should be seen as a process which does not focus on economic development alone,…

This paper presents a novel collaborative tool--AWESOME Dissertation Environment (ADE)--which facilitates student learning through semantic social scaffolding: a new approach to dissertation writing challenges. These challenges revolve around three issues: timing of support; collective intelligence, and sense making strategies in tension with the…

This document covers the data terms used in the "Outcomes from the Productivity Places Program 2009" report and its associated data tables. The primary purpose of this document is to assist users of the report to understand the specific data terms used within it. Terms that appear in the report are listed in alphabetical order with the…

Whereas grading systems based on tacit knowledge may be the norm in practice, the recent trend toward educational accountability--from granting organizations, accreditation boards, journals on the teaching of psychology, and even tenure/promotion committees--suggests a real need for reliable, validated assessment measures that can be used to…

In 2005, the Library at UNSW began a comprehensive restructuring process that fundamentally changed the provision of services to its academic community. A primary aim of this process was to increase flexibility of service development and delivery and so to improve research support. The motivation for reformed services arose from considerations…

In this paper, I report on the work of a practitioner inquiry group that went awry when the sponsor refused to publish and disseminate the participants' final reports, stating that they were of poor quality and did not contribute to the knowledge base. I, the facilitator of the group, disagreed strongly with her. I suggest that the difference…