We use data from a large-scale, school-level randomized experiment conducted in 2010-2011 in public schools in Indiana. Our sample includes more than 30,000 students in 70 schools. We examine the impact of two interim assessment programs (i.e., mCLASS in Grades K-2 and Acuity in Grades 3--8) on mathematics and reading achievement. Two-level models…

Being an expert involves explaining how things are supposed to work, and, perhaps more important, why things might not work as supposed. In this study, researchers surveyed scholars with expertise in value-added models (VAMs) to solicit their opinions about the uses and potential of VAMs for teacher-level accountability purposes (for example, in…

One salient aspect of authentic leadership is the possibility that it can be developed (Walumbwa, Avolio, Gardner, Wernsing, & Peterson, 2008). However, the relative paucity of research on authentic leadership as a dependent variable needs to be addressed. The purpose of this cross-sectional quantitative study is to examine the three factors…

This paper is about memory, the elusive process of remembering and of an encounter between a researcher and a participant who after five years reunited to remember. The object under study is a high school social justice curriculum with a central focus on the development of social action projects. Grounded in Pitt and Britzman's work on difficult…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to trace the development of school autonomy and accountability and related multiple changes and impacts in key areas of school education in Hong Kong since implementing school-based management (SBM) from 1990s. Design/methodology/approach: To explore the evolution and the uniqueness of autonomy and…

The history of the forced conversion to sponsored academy status of Castle Primary School in south Somerset is a tale of broken promises, lies, and a blatant breach of statutory procedures. Yet the Department for Education, the local Member of Parliament (and schools minister) and the local authority stood by--sometimes participated--while a small…

Calls for evidence-based policy often fail to recognise the fundamentally political nature of policy making. Policy makers must identify, evaluate and utilise evidence to solve policy problems in the face of competing priorities and political agendas. Evidence should inform but cannot determine policy choices. This paper draws on theories of…

The 1992 National Adult Literacy Survey revealed that 90 million adults performed at the two lowest levels of literacy (U.S. Department of Education, 2003). As legislation advances the mandate for greater accountability in adult education programs, it is paramount that research is conducted that identifies programs that align with the federal…

By all measures, KIPP Comienza Community Prep, an elementary school in Huntington Park, California, is a wildly successful school. And yet, toward the end of the 2015-16 school year, as KIPP Comienza Principal Shirley Appleman and her staff reviewed the school's literacy assessment data, they were troubled: Many students did not demonstrate…

The Civics Education Initiative is a project of the Joe Foss Institute, an organization dedicated to shaping "young Americans for civic engagement as voters and informed members of their community." The initiative, which launched in 2015, has three goals: (1) To ensure students graduate with the tools they need to become informed and…

This "Ask the CCRS Center Brief" provides an overview of the accountability measures used by states and districts to assess the college and career readiness of students who are educated in alternative programs and schools (defined hereafter as "alternative settings"). Alternative settings are designed to serve at-risk students…

Education reformers are calling for increased accountability for the nation's public schools. Teacher evaluation has experienced a shift in focus from what teachers do to accomplish the task of teaching to student growth as a result of what teachers do in the classroom (Achieve, Inc., 2007). Additionally, a connection between teacher job…

A phenomenographic analysis explored 18 teachers' conceptions of feedback and how they were enacted. Five hierarchically ordered categories of feedback were seen as aligning with three major functions; that is, (1) satisfying stakeholder expectations (Category 1), maintaining student psycho-social well-being (Category 2), and supporting learning…

Based on literature arguing that risk encourages conservative leadership that supports existing routines and strategies rather than innovations and proactive behaviors, this study focuses on the connection among leadership styles, perceived school productivity, and leaders' perceived risk. Results testify to the moderate levels of role risk that…

To whom should higher education institutions provide data, and what is the impact of transparency on institutions?