The federal government is the lender for the current student loan system, but replacing it with a system that harnesses the advantages of a marketplace of private lending would save $212 billion over the next 10 years while also benefiting students by helping them avoid risky educational choices. Due to ongoing court cases and upcoming regulatory…

When uncertain, medical trainees often seek to co-regulate their learning with supervisors and peers. Evidence suggests they may enact self-regulated learning (SRL) strategies differently when engaged in self- versus co-regulated learning (Co-RL). We compared the impacts of SRL and Co-RL on trainees' acquisition, retention, and preparation for…

This article presents a conceptual framework for trust in standardised assessments. Standardised assessments play an important role in many education systems as they inform decisions about students' future schooling career or entry to the labour market. Also, standardised assessments are often used for teacher performance reviews and school…

Higher education scholars often investigate the policy mechanisms of external accountability, but rarely explore institutional mechanisms of internal accountability. This chapter, which reports select findings from an in-depth case study of institutional budgeting at an American public research university, examines an underexplored mechanism of…

Effective measures of the quality of services provide transparent and accountable standards to examine and illustrate high-quality care and contributions to client outcomes. They identify priorities for professional development action planning and allow practitioners to detect gaps in knowledge. Drawn from the need to measure and articulate…

Community colleges serve as crucial gateways to social and economic prosperity for millions of Americans, providing opportunities for career stability and social advancement. The success of this educational pathway hinges on the seamless alignment of a college's mission and goals, creating an environment conducive to faculty excellence in…

The systemic changes in the education policy landscape in England under the academies reform movement have nurtured a growing prevalence of educational organisations such as Multi-Academy Trusts (MATs) operating as meso-level institutional actors that shape the implementation of policies and mediate between social structures and individual…

The simple average of student growth scores is often used in accountability systems, but it can be problematic for decision making. When computed using a small/moderate number of students, it can be sensitive to the sample, resulting in inaccurate representations of growth of the students, low year-to-year stability, and inequities for…

Accreditation holds a place within accountability systems as a mechanism to evaluate quality that leads to the practices that certify credentials. In K-12 school district these credentials manifest in curriculum, instruction, standards, and ultimately the certifying of credits that lead to receipt of a diploma. School district leadership would…

In an effort to best support student learning, school districts are seeking the most effective means of improving instruction while effectively addressing student inequities. As the focus on accountability intensifies, the use of data is paramount. Access to data alone, does not ensure quality, data-driven instruction. The lack of teacher…

In the final phase of the federal grant project called The School Librarian Investigation--Decline of Evolution? (SLIDE), a qualitative study of interviews of K-12 school leaders was conducted. The purpose was to learn the factors, experiences, and priorities that caused school administrators to either increase or to decrease librarian positions.…

Principals are confronted with an exceptional degree of difficult decisions. One of the key challenges that school principals are facing in many parts of the world today is how to maintain a balance between professional discretion and accountability with the legislative and policy framework in which they must perform their duties. Every judgement…

In an era of test-based accountability, school inspections can offer a more nuanced understanding of why schools fail. Yet, we have limited knowledge of how inspectors arrive at their decisions on school quality. Analyzing inspectors' decision-making can reveal the underlying views regarding school accountability and open opportunities for school…

Since 1999, Indigenous scholars across the world have recentered research on Indigenous ways of knowing and doing. This radical change marks the decolonization of research. This new paradigm is based on the validity of Indigenous epistemologies, ontologies, and methodologies to conduct research. To appraise the recent evolution of this shifting…

Contemporary research on preservice teachers' data use opportunities, coursework, and interventions typically focuses on preservice teachers' perceptions about data use comfort, confidence, and preparedness. Despite the contribution of such research to understanding the efficacy of approaches to teacher preparation, understanding preservice…