For decades a substantial body of research on teacher reflection and action has been conducted. This research contains a wealth of information on teachers' thinking about their daily work in classrooms. But what do these studies tell us about the linkage between thought and action in actual teaching? How do they contribute to our understanding, or…

Multilevel analysis is a useful technique for analyzing longitudinal data. To describe a person's development across time, the quality of the estimates of the random coefficients, which relate time to individual changes in a relevant dependent variable, is of importance. The present study compares three estimators of the random coefficients: the…

We respond to the comments of Batsche, Kavale, and Kovaleski (this issue), on Response To Intervention (RTI) and learning disabilities. Historically, discrepancy between IQ and achievement has been used by many as a criterion for identification of learning disabilities. Recently, RTI is considered as a practice for identifying consistent and…

Virtual libraries are becoming more and more common. Most states have a virtual library. A growing number of public libraries have a virtual presence on the Web. Virtual libraries are a growing addition to school library media collections. The next logical step would be personal virtual libraries. A personal virtual library (PVL) is a collection…

This is a study of the practices utilized by four school districts, two with high and two with low retention rates of teachers, to examine how similarities and differences in selected human resources practices relate to the successful retention of teachers in these districts. The factors studied that may impact teacher retention included…

In the present study we call attention to the close connection between languages and globalization, and we also emphasize the importance of the Internet and online websites in foreign language teaching and learning as unavoidable elements of computer assisted language learning (CALL). We prepared a checklist by which we investigated 28 foreign…

Based on the pondering over the establishment of a large educational concept, the implementation of "two-certificate" system, the training of "Double-Professional title teacher staff and some other issues in the development of the vocational and technical education personnel training mode, this paper discusses the issues about their…

Patterns of classes, grades, and test scores were studied in 3 successive graduating classes of a mid-western suburban high school. Descriptive statistics indicate that the prestigious college group had the highest mean scores on 23 variables. Descriptive discriminant analysis revealed the most influential variables were cumulative grade point…

In "Characteristics and Determinants of Teacher-Designed Pay for Performance Plans: Evidence from Texas' Governor's Educator Excellence Grant (GEEG) Program"--a paper presented at the February 2008 National Center on Performance Incentives research to policy conference--Lori Taylor, Matthew Springer, and Mark Ehlert describe the teacher…

This research report points to a "major misalignment" between the standards set by the state ISAT tests in elementary school and the college-readiness standards expected of all juniors in Illinois high schools as measured by the ACT, which is part of the state's PSAE exams. CCSR authors John Easton, Stephen Ponisciak and Stuart Luppescu…

The Indiana General Assembly passed charter school enabling legislation in 2001, and the first charter schools opened their doors for the 2002-03 school year. As of fall 2008, 49 charter schools are operating in Indiana. A total of 17 of these schools are sponsored by the City of Indianapolis, Office of the Mayor, 29 schools are sponsored by…

"The Condition of Education" summarizes leading developments and trends in education using the latest available data. The report, which is required by law, is an indicator report intended for a general audience of readers who are interested in education. The indicators represent a consensus of professional judgment on the most…

In 2007, the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges amended its Title 5 Regulations to grant conditional approval to proposals for educational centers if certain criteria were met at the time of submission. Among other requirements, a district would need to demonstrate that a proposed center would serve at least 500 full-time…

A feature of globalisation is encouragement of universities to become more businesslike, including adoption of the type of accounting routines and regulations used by businesses. The question debated in higher education policy research is whether this focus on being businesslike is compatible with the statutory public benefit obligations of…

The purpose of this study is to determine the extent to which cognitive and non-cognitive measures predict academic success for conditionally-admitted students enrolled in a comprehensive public university. Stepwise multiple regression analyses reveal that one cognitive variable (high school grade point average) and two non-cognitive measures…