This biweekly newsletter contains news and information about school improvement in the United States. It is designed expressly for parents and families. This issue highlights an announcement, by U.S. Department of Education Secretary Rod Paige, of a contract to the National Institute of Statistical Sciences to convene a group of experts to review…

Many imputation techniques and imputation software packages have been developed over the years to deal with missing data. Different methods may work well under different circumstances, and it is advisable to conduct a sensitivity analysis when choosing an imputation method for a particular survey. This study reviewed about 30 imputation methods…

Along with its human resources, financial assets, and intellectual cache, space is a primary resource of an educational institution. Indeed, the dollar value (initial cost, replacement cost, or market value) of a postsecondary education institution's buildings sometimes exceeds its annual operating budget and endowment. Without information on how…

This handbook is designed to help beginning evaluators of teacher recruitment programs. It addresses the information and assessment needs of teacher recruitment programs. It takes a hands-on approach and includes worksheets and instructions for using them. After presenting tips for getting started, the handbook offers eight steps to successful…

This study: (1) examined the role of state policies and programs in facilitating and encouraging the use of data in decision-making at the school and district levels across the state of Wyoming; and (2) identifies ways in which the state can increase and improve the use of data-driven decision-making (DDDM) in districts and schools. The study…

This report demonstrates three applications of case-mix methods using regression analysis. The results are used to assess the relative effectiveness of substance abuse treatment providers. The report also examines the ability of providers to improve client employment outcomes, an outcome domain relatively unexamined in the assessment of provider…

This training guides is designed to teach educators how to use data for school improvement. There is an emphasis on student achievement data, because achievement is the "bottom line" in assessing schools and school systems, but other types of data necessary to measure school quality are also considered. The chapters are: (1)…

In this paper, the author maintains that there are two interrelated levels at which one can analyze data: the political and the psychological. By bringing together the language and concepts of critical theory and relational psychology, the author proposes a method of qualitative data analysis--a discourse-to- voice-centered method--which seeks to…

Using the same data, which could come from local databases or external sources, such as the Web, virtual museum designers can build different hyperspaces. It is possible that visitors would find some of them more useful than others. Virtual museums designers should be equipped with a tool by which various hyperspaces for virtual museums can be…

This book provides a resource for mathematics teachers to understanding the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics' (NCTM) standards and implementing these standards in their teaching. Five standards are overviewed: (1) number and operation; (2) algebra; (3) geometry; (4) measurement; and (5) data analysis and probability. Lesson plans are…

Arguably the biggest "buzz word" of the current year has been "learning or knowledge object". To understand the learning object and why it should be such a highly desirable commodity, it is necessary to unpack not only this concept but more importantly revisit some contributing concepts and constructs (more buzz words) that support the building of…

By analyzing the process of decentralization of education in Argentina, this paper complements the existing literature on decentralization and federalism in two ways: (1) it studies the impact of federal institutions on the origins and evolution of decentralization; and (2) it analyzes a case of decentralization of education that, in a way not…

Noting that conversation analysis (CA) has developed into one of the major methods of analyzing speech in the disciplines of communications, linguistics, anthropology and sociology, this book demonstrates in a practical way how to become a conversation analyst. As well as providing an overall introduction to the approach, it focuses on the…

This paper serves as an example of how one may approach the use of a large database for comparative education purposes. Considerations include determining three aspects about the databases, and one case study. The three aspects include the type of database that is used, the method in which the data were collected and errors, and the structure of…

The objectives of the Expert Group Consultation Meeting for Developing a Non-Formal Education and Literacy Database in the Asia-Pacific Region were: to exchange information and review the state-of-the-art in the field of data collection, analysis and indicators of non-formal education and literacy programs; to examine and review the set of…