The Framework for School Leaders, an architecture derived from the Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium (ISLLC) Standards, is utilized in the design of the Principal Internship Mentor's Assessment (PIMA). PIMA outcomes are reported for average scores for each standard and investigated as a measure of ISLLC Standards achievement and for…

Measuring a teacher's effectiveness in quantifiable ways is a logical step in a society driven by the SMART goals (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely objectives) that pervade modern management. The idea of using student performance on standardized tests to judge a teacher's effectiveness picked up steam after the Obama…

Thousands of educators, parent activists, and others are expected to convene in the heat and humidity of Washington next month for a march protesting the current thrust of education policy in the United States, especially the strong emphasis on test-based accountability. Organizers of the Washington say U.S. policymakers are moving in the wrong…

As the profession of teaching continues to get more attention given recent events, a growing number of school districts from New York to California are adopting "value-added" measures of teaching quality to award bonuses or even tenure. And two competitive federal grants are spurring them on. The Teacher Incentive Fund has awarded 95…

In large-scale assessments, it usually does not occur that every item of the applicable item pool is administered to every examinee. Within item response theory (IRT), in particular the Rasch model (1960), this is not really a problem because item calibration works nevertheless. The different test booklets only need to be conceptualized according…

This report describes the Achieve 180 Program in Year 2. The 53 participating schools received Texas Education Agency campus accountability ratings of "Improvement Required" (IR), "Not Rated," or "Former Improvement Required" at the end of the 2017-2018 school year. The 2018-2019 Achieve 180 Program's centralized…

Tennessee began its movement toward Middle Level Licensure during the 2002-2003 school year. Only 14 years later, in 2016, Middle Level Licensure in Tennessee will change. In this article, the background and experiences of seven middle level education teacher candidates at the University of Memphis who were the first candidates to complete the…

This study is aimed at ensuring the validity of the Practical English Certification Test (PECT) of the Chung-nam Office of Education (COE) in Korea. Motivated by the demand for a developing localized English test to empower English learning in public education, the COE conducted the PECT for 38,544 students of elementary, middle and high schools…

The article summarizes the results of the comparative study of Reading comprehension texts used in B2 level tests: Unified (Russia) State Exam in English (EGE) and Cambridge First Certificate in English (FCE). The research conducted was mainly focused on six parameters measured with the Coh-Metrix, a computational tool producing indices of the…

In South Africa, the Department of Basic Education and Training (DBE) is responsible for primary and secondary education (Grades R-12). In an effort to improve educational standards in literacy, numeracy and mathematics, especially in the Foundation Phase (FP) levels of education, the DBE has developed several initiatives and campaigns. To monitor…

This study explored learning competency based on the Indonesian National Examination focusing especially on chemistry performance and the circumstances of senior high school students and teachers in rural areas of Simeulue Island, Indonesia. The National Examination total score and chemistry score for students in rural areas were consistently…

The purpose of this study was to explore middle grade mathematics students' uses of scaffolding and its effectiveness in helping students solve non-routine problems. Students were given two different types of scaffolds to support their learning of sixth grade geometry concepts. First, students solved a math task by using a four square graphic…

The present study examines whether the recognition of stereotypes undermines the academic performance of Hispanic students, a phenomenon known as "stereotype threat." With regard to race, stereotype threat has been examined predominately between African American and White students, yet limited research has investigated how Hispanic…

This paper examines whether a literacy intervention involving generic and content area literacy components can improve both achievement on a standardized reading test and the attainment of secondary school qualifications, and whether the intervention can be implemented by teachers in their regular classroom settings. We report on a design-based…

The short-term emphasis engendered by No Child Left Behind (NCLB) has focused research predominantly on unraveling the complexities and uncertainties in assessing short-term results, rather than developing methods and assessing results over the longer term. In this paper we focus on estimating long-term gains and address questions important to…