In this study, the effects of school policies and practices on math achievement growth, as students transitioned from middle to high school, were examined while controlling for school contextual variables. A pattern of accelerated growth in mathematics achievement from grades 8 to 12 occurred, in which higher achieving students in mathematics at…

Research is increasingly highlighting the influence of school contexts on school processes and student achievement. This article reviews a range of social justice rationales for taking school contexts into better account, and highlights the challenges contextualisation currently poses for practice and for policy. It notes important constraints on…

While preparing a previous ERS Report, Employee Absenteeism: A Summary of Research, Educational Research Service found relatively few published studies on school support staff compared to the immense literature on absenteeism in business and industry. ERS found no nationwide data relating specifically to either teacher or school support staff…

This study examines the relationship between high-stakes school accountability and its effects upon student test scores and school policies. The authors seek to understand the extent to which accountability sanctions and incentives for the poorest-performing schools in Florida explain subsequent changes in school practices and policies as well as…

Well-designed and effectively implemented school health policies and programs can improve students' health-related behaviors and outcomes, as well as their educational outcomes. Health promotion programs in the school setting are guided and constrained by myriad federal, state, and local laws and policies. Knowledge and understanding of the legal…

Background: In June 2002, the State of Connecticut General Assembly (CGA) passed Public Act 02-119, An Act Concerning Bullying Behavior in Schools and Concerning the Pledge of Allegiance. Section 1 mandated that each local and regional board of education (school district) develop a policy to address bullying in its schools. Conn. Gen. Statute…

This annual report provides detailed information concerning tuition and mandatory fees at public higher institutions in the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education's (WICHE's) 15-state region, including an institution-by-institution historical review of tuition changes from year to year as well as a 10-year average. Also included are…

This article contains the transcript of a session one mother ran in her child's class. The aim of the session was to give class members a better understanding of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in general and of her son in particular. The effectiveness of her approach is evident in the follow-up stories children wrote and in the experiences this…

We explore immigrant students' experience of schooling focusing on Yang Yang and his family. We present insights into immigrant Chinese educational experience in Canada and bring forward a narrative-inquiry framework for the study of student experience. We find that--contrary to some of the expectations of Chinese immigrants--family relations,…

This paper discusses the process for developing a campus-wide computer ethics policy at Illinois Wesleyan University. As a part of a campus-wide computerization planning effort, the university realized it would be necessary to set in place rules of conduct, methods of monitoring conduct, and penalties for transgressions of these policies. The need…

The guidelines in this resource book allow school divisions in Virginia to create policies that involve the entire community in alcohol and drug use prevention. The guidelines also attempt to discourage students and staff from using alcohol and other drugs while helping those already involved with such substances. Topics in this document include:…

This book examines faculty performance appraisal especially in light of ethical and legal issues involved in the appraisal process. Part 1 contains three chapters concerned with the structure and ethics of evaluation. These chapters provide a frame of reference for the next two chapters that deal with criteria used in performance appraisals and…

Recent battles over proposed national testing programs do not tell the important political story about high-stakes tests. An overview of the politics of school-accountability systems is offered in this World Wide Web journal article. Politically popular, school-accountability systems in many states already revolve around statistical results of…

This guide is published by the Ministry of Education and the Ministry Responsible for Multiculturalism and Human Rights in British Columbia for use in the schools. It is divided into three main sections: Part I--selection of learning resources on both the provincial and local levels; Part II--challenges to and complaints about recommended…

This report draws from a study being conducted by William Massy and Andrea Wilger for the Consortium for Policy Research in Education (CPRE). The study examines how academic departments work in order to identify organizational incentives that can improve productivity. The brief offers some definitions of productivity in higher education and…