Policy makers at the federal level have embraced an educator effectiveness agenda, which in turn has driven many states across the country to rapidly develop and implement new and more complex teacher evaluation systems. It is increasingly clear that the success of these nascent teacher evaluation systems partly depends on the will, skill, and…

English education has recently experienced radical policy reform in the areas of school autonomy and accountability. The key focus of this paper is on how schools might best navigate through these policy moves. It highlights how these moves have constructed schools, teachers and students in problematic ways but also how they are offering…

This is the first of a two-part article that aims to chart the contemporary landscape of research on teacher preparation and certification. It is based on a review of more than 1,500 studies published between 2000 and 2012. Part 1 provides information about how the review was conducted and describes the theoretical/analytic framework the authors…

In this article, I propose an index, called the Social Index of Educational Effectiveness (SIEE), which allows the establishment of an objective criterion to define the school's profile concerning the promotion of educational equity. It makes it possible to differentiate schools with an "inclusionary profile," (SIEE>0), from those…

This article analyses quality assurance (QA) policies of 30 countries in civic and citizenship education (CCE) by using fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA). The main aim is to find combinations of institutional and contextual factors that are systematically associated with a high achievement in citizenship education. Based on fsQCA,…

This paper deals with a crucial topic: which factors influence the sustainability and scale-up of a professional development programme's impact? Theoretical models and empirical findings from impact research (e.g. Zehetmeier and Krainer, "ZDM Int J Math" 43(6/7):875-887, 2011) and innovation research (e.g. Cobb and Smith,…

The Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education adopts final requirements for the School Improvement Grants (SIG) program, authorized under section 1003(g) of title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended (ESEA). These final requirements make changes to the current SIG program requirements and implement…

Leading Charlotte foundations formed a funding collaborative to support a five-year district turnaround initiative to dramatically improve educational outcomes for students in the West Charlotte High School corridor, one of the city's lowest-performing feeder zones. The "Project L.I.F.T." initiative involves four areas of education…

In 2009 the Los Angeles Unified School District passed the Public School Choice Initiative, which aimed to give students in the lowest performing schools educational options. LA Pilot Schools are one option students and their families have when choosing a school in LAUSD. These schools boast small size, autonomy, greater accountability,…

The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) passed the Public School Choice Initiative in 2009, with the aim of providing students in the lowest performing schools educational options. LA Pilot Schools represent one alternative students and their families have when choosing a school within LAUSD. The mission of LA Pilot Schools is to provide a…

The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) passed the Public School Choice Initiative in 2009, with the aim of providing students in the lowest performing schools educational options. LA Pilot Schools represent one alternative students and their families have when choosing a school within LAUSD. The mission of LA Pilot Schools is to provide a…

Standardized accountability represents the use of numbers culled from standardized assessments and devoid of cultural or social context in an effort to "grade" a school's educational efforts. To integrate this accountability, organizations such as the Texas Education Agency (TEA) have developed a set of teachable objectives for schools…

In the United States and elsewhere, the term 'accountability' is a buzzword in the discourses on initial teacher preparation. Various accountability measures which are believed to reinforce the integrity and effectiveness of initial teacher education programmes and to serve as evidence of the pre-service teachers' competences are in place in…

The Cognitively Based Assessment of, for, and as Learning ("CBAL"™) research initiative is aimed at developing an innovative approach to K-12 assessment based on cognitive competency models. Because the choice of scoring and equating approaches depends on test dimensionality, the dimensional structure of CBAL tests must be understood.…

The implementation of test-based accountability policies around the world has increased the pressure placed on students to perform well on state achievement tests. Educational researchers have begun taking a closer look at the reciprocal effects of test anxiety and high-stakes testing. However, existing test anxiety assessments lack efficiency and…