A group of states has joined forces to arrange the purchase of an unusually comprehensive set of educational-technology devices and services, in a compact that could foreshadow other cooperative efforts by state and local governments attempting to turn the digital-procurement process to their advantage. The initial partners in the multistate…

If one has three sticks (lengths), when can you make a triangle with the sticks? As long as any two of the lengths sum to a value strictly larger than the third length one can make a triangle. Perhaps surprisingly, if one is given 6 sticks (lengths) there is no simple way of telling if one can build a tetrahedron with the sticks. In fact, even…

This policy brief outlines the Common Core implementation plans for 15 states, including the professional development and resources/tools--such as instructional materials, toolkits, frameworks, crosswalks, and curriculum guides--that each state is providing. The authors suggest that supplemental resources like McREL's Common Core…

As more and more cities and states diversify the educational options available to parents and students, creating magnet, open-enrollment, small school, career and technical, charter, and private school opportunities, educational choice markets need to become a part of the regulation conversation. In this report, Mike McShane examines the…

This Statistics in Brief adds to existing research on early-career teachers by presenting findings on their preparation and supports from data from the 2011-12 Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS). This brief, like past research, investigates several specific areas of preparation and types of support. For the purposes of this brief, early-career…

The notion that embedded meanings exist within media, and are informed by particular ideologies, is far from new. Analyses of curriculum, however, rarely examine empirically the role of these ideologies or the context of production. Instead, the ideologies are attributed to a "producer" representing particular power relationships or…

As the higher education landscape continues to diversify, intercultural effectiveness comes to the forefront among important outcomes for students. Service learning is one programmatic tool that institutions of higher education can use to foster the development of intercultural effectiveness. This study provides evidence that service learning is…

This article focuses on the role of training managers (TMs) in UK participation in WorldSkills Competitions (WSC). The TM role is outlined, according to the perceptions of the TMs, and there is analysis of the benefits to them of participation, as well as the barriers they face, and the benefits and barriers available to participating further…

Globalization and Ukraine association with EU imply including Ukrainian universities into the world scientific space. The aim of this article is to analyze the problem of drawing standards teaching, based on the experience of Ivano-Frankivsk National Technical University of Oil and Gas (Ukraine) and to summarize the experience of post Soviet…

This article draws upon research in one school in Queensland, Australia, to explore how the push to data influences teacher work and subsequent student learning. This "rise of data," often oriented towards "external" and performative processes of accountability, exhibits itself in many ways, but is particularly evident in…

Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) science and engineering practices are ways of eliciting the reasoning and applying foundational ideas in science. As research has revealed barriers to states and schools adopting the NGSS, this mixed-methods study attempts to identify characteristics of professional development (PD) that will support NGSS…

Mathematical modeling, in which students use mathematics to explain or interpret physical, social, or scientific phenomena, is an essential component of the high school curriculum. The Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM) classify modeling as a K-12 standard for mathematical practice and as a conceptual category for high school…

In too many K-12 schools, notes Hoachlander, science, math, and technology are still taught in isolation from one another--and engineering is barely taught at all. Even when STEM content and skills are presented in an integrated fashion, they are rarely linked to the rest of the academic subjects or to real-world work in STEM fields. Hoachlander…

Over the years attempts have been made to standardize sign languages. This form of language planning has been tackled by a variety of agents, most notably teachers of Deaf students, social workers, government agencies, and occasionally groups of Deaf people themselves. Their efforts have most often involved the development of sign language books…

One of the core priorities of the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE), articulated in its most recent strategic plan, focuses on educator capacity. In 2012, BESE passed new program approval standards for educator preparation programs across the state. The standards ushered in new expectations for the 80 sponsoring…