The purpose of the National Center's studies and reports, including "Measuring Up, 2006," is to stimulate public policies that will improve the effectiveness and accessibility of higher education. This document is the fourth national report card on higher education in the United States. As in earlier editions, the 2006 report card…

This report presents results from a national survey, conducted in 2005, that examined the educational experiences of American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) students in grades 4 and 8, with particular emphasis on the integration of native language and culture into school and classroom activities. Students, teachers, and school principals all…

The purpose of this report is to provide the Center for Excellence (CfE) in Early Childhood Development with a set of recommendations regarding how to measure school readiness in Ventura County. This report defines school readiness according to the National Education Goals Panel (NEGP) which identified the following three important components of…

Idealistic federal legislation that invokes excellence and fairness, such as the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001, may actually leave many rural communities behind as rural schools seeking to meet the federal mandates collide with state budget deficits of historical proportion. Drawing on the literature, public opinion polls, and the…

Researchers analyzed 500 never-before-analyzed interviews from a study conducted by Norbert Elias and other researchers at University of Leicester in 1962, which was one of the first studies of the transition from school to work. The Elias study explored how young people in England experienced work and adjusted their lives to the work role. All of…

In the wake of intense national interest in very young children, this volume presents an examination of the findings of the Commonwealth Survey of Parents with Young Children, as analyzed by scholars from diverse disciplines. What emerges from this analysis is a picture of the complex forces that influence families and child rearing in the…

Noting the need for middle school educators to learn directly from their students how they view the world, school, and their own learning, this book details findings from a study that used a quasi-ethnographic approach to examine the perceptions of young adolescents. Participating in the study were 2,000 adolescents, 10- to 15-year-olds. Subjects…

The tenth annual Kids Count data book provides information on measures of child well-being for the state of Missouri, its 114 counties, and the city of St. Louis. This statistical portrait is based on trends in 10 indicators of child well-being: (1) enrollment in free/reduced lunch; (2) births to mothers without high school diplomas; (3) low…

Studies of nearly a dozen welfare programs were reviewed to determine the effects of welfare policies on children and youth and to identify issues requiring consideration during reauthorization of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program. The following were among the key findings: (1) the school achievement of elementary school-age…

A study conducted qualitative interviews with 12 newly qualified pedagogues from 3 different training colleges in 3 different locations in Denmark. The project was launched because the formerly more specialized training program was being replaced by one standard education program that would be a general education in which students would gain a…

A study explored learning and assessment experiences of Australian apprentices and trainees (A&Ts) using focus groups of 66 stakeholders in every state and territory; case study analyses of 20 diverse sites; and a national questionnaire of 595 A&Ts in motor mechanics and hospitality work. Stakeholders viewed apprenticeships and…

This report is a summary of the evaluation of the Nevada School-to-Careers (STC) Year 4 (1999-2000) implementation and the extent to which implementation supported eight messages STC is intended to send. Results from three surveys are included: Quantitative Benchmark Survey, School Implementation Profile, and Student Exit Survey. All regional…

Skill supply chains apply a chain strategy to human resources to make the labor market more efficient. They link the multiple skill levels in a given labor market within a network of recruitment pathways for employers and advancement pathways for workers. Skill supply chains are based on employers' actual skill needs and on the principle that…

Data for the Y95 cohort (first interviewed in 1995 when in Year 9) of the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth were used to analyze the vocational education and training (VET) activities and experiences of Australian noncompleters of year 12 in their initial postschool years. Approximately 37% of the noncompleters had undertaken some type of…

"The Metropolitan Life Survey of the American Teacher, 2000: Are We Preparing Students for the 21st Century?" examines teachers', students', and parents' views on where students are headed and how prepared they will be to reach their future goals. This report is part of an annual series of national surveys conducted since 1984 for MetLife by…