As performance-based contracting in social welfare services continues to expand, concerns about potential unintended effects are also growing. We analyze the incentive effects of high-powered, performance-based contracts and their implications for program outcomes using panel data on Dutch cohorts of unemployed and disabled workers that were…

Students are doing less hand-raising and more clicking as online classes become increasingly popular in K12 instruction, both in combination with brick-and-mortar classrooms and in independent full-time virtual schools. With online instruction comes a change in the nature of teaching, communicating with, and assessing students. As schools move to…

At many of the colleges and universities that attract the most applicants, the high-school course of study is a critical component of the evaluation. Many schools advise their candidates that they must take the most difficult course of study available at their high schools to have a chance of earning admission. Students can feel intense pressure…

The study investigated a school district's implementation of a Response to Instruction (RtI) Program, mandated by the state to address early intervention of academically struggling students. This study examined benefits of program implementation and the factors that facilitated and hindered program success from the perspective of the Tier III…

Due in part to the growing popularity of the Advanced Placement program, an increasingly large percentage of entering college students are enrolling in calculus courses having already taken calculus in high school. Many students do not score high enough on the AP calculus examination to place out of Calculus I, and many do not take the…

This paper outlines a set of ideas for improving teacher quality in America's schools. In it, the author proposes a combination of incremental steps and ambitious ones, designed to stimulate policymakers, practitioners, and the public to accelerate efforts to develop high-quality teachers. The paper has four main sections. First, the author…

The Department for Education is running a three-year school exclusion trial, which started in autumn 2011 and continues until July 2014. The trial sees schools taking on responsibility for placing permanently excluded pupils in alternative provision and funding the placements from money devolved from.

As schools develop inclusive practices to maximize student placement in their least restrictive environment (Individuals With Disabilities Education Act, 2004), students with problem behavior are increasingly educated in general education settings. As a result, general and special education teachers must be prepared to work with students with…

There is a growing body of research suggesting that schools need to respond to changing social and economic dynamics by prioritising "21st-century skills". Proponents of this view, who have been termed "the 21st century skills movement", have called for greater emphasis on cognitive and non-cognitive skills development,…

Eighty children with early autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnoses (under 36 months) were identified using a chart abstraction protocol applied to early intervention charts. Parents filled out questionnaires by mail when the children were school-aged (ages 6-16 years). Similar to previous studies, approximately 20 % no longer had ASD diagnoses;…

This article analyses the impact of a constructivist approach to learning in Jordan, where a traditional context of passive/receptive philosophy of teaching prevails. Student teachers were introduced to journal writing. It was expected that their experiences with journal writing would afford them a better understanding of how it would affect their…

The emergence of large longitudinal data sets linking students to teachers has led to rapid growth in the study of teacher effects on student outcomes by economists over the past decade. One large literature has documented wide variation in teacher effectiveness that is not well explained by observable student or teacher characteristics. A second…

Evidence is mounting that the vast majority of students who are currently placed into prerequisite remedial education could be successful in gateway college-­level courses if they receive additional academic support as a corequisite. Recent research on college placement exams reveals that the exams are unreliable at predicting college success, and…

Paraeducators provide important supports and services to students, particularly those who struggle academically and/or behaviorally. This study sought to determine the professional development needs of paraeducators in the participating school, how job-embedded and personalized supports could aid in the development of instructional skills, and the…

"Thriving in Our Digital World" is a technology-enhanced dual enrollment course introducing high school students to computer science through project- and problem-based learning. This article describes the evolution of the course and five lessons learned during the design, development, implementation, and iteration of the course from its…