Increasing attention is being paid to professional development as a way to improve outcomes for students but its promise has not always been realised. Broadly speaking, approaches to professional development have either focused on developing better prescriptions for teaching practice or on collaborative reflective inquiry into practice. Neither…

Information sharing is critical to an organization's competitiveness and requires a free flow of information among members if the organization is to remain competitive. A review of the literature on organizational structure and information sharing was conducted to examine the research in this area. A case example illustrates how a social network…

This thesis is about a design process for creating "educationally relevant" tools. I submit that the key to creating tools that are educationally relevant is to focus on ensuring a high degree of alignment between the designed tool and the broader educational context into which the tool will be integrated. The thesis presents methods and processes…

Educational research over the past 15 years shows that schools and school districts have, on a large scale, failed to translate reform goals into improved teacher practice and student learning. Although classroom teachers are central to successful school reform, research has rarely examined how teachers experience reform initiatives and how that…

The purpose of this study was to describe elementary teachers' attitudes and perceptions toward agriculture and its use as a context for teaching across the grade level content area standards. Further, this study sought to probe more deeply the stages of concern possessed by kindergarten through eighth grade teachers with respect to their use of…

New teachers need help. From day one, new teachers, largely on their own, are responsible for running a classroom and ensuring student learning, as well as fulfilling administrative requirements. Little wonder that 14% of new teachers leave by the end of their first year, 33% leave within three years, and almost 50% leave in five years (Ingersoll,…

This book presents a schoolwide model of instructional support designed to make the most of available time, resources, and personnel--one that is also fully compatible with other problem-solving models, such as response to intervention. The authors provide a comprehensive and cohesive framework for linking assessment and intervention. They show…

The Chief Information Officer (CIO) at the U.S. Department of Education (the Department) has primary responsibility to ensure that Information Technology (IT) is acquired and information resources are managed in a manner consistent with statutory, regulatory, and Departmental requirements and priorities. This Department Information Resources…

Data are most useful when they are transformed into actionable information that people are able to access, understand and use. Thanks to both state and federal leadership, political commitment and investment of financial resources, states have made tremendous progress in the building of statewide K-12 longitudinal data systems. However, to ensure…

Success within today's challenging economic environment mandates that senior student affairs officers in higher education possess a sophisticated financial and budgetary skill set. Limited research addresses avenues through which professionals might best acquire the financial acumen needed. To address this gap, 19 senior student affairs officers…

This paper presents a list of frequently asked questions about the 5th Edition GED (General Educational Development) Test. This paper answers the following questions: (1) With the announcement of altered plans for a 5th Edition GED Test release, will the current 2002 test series continue beyond January 1, 2012?; (2) What should I tell the public,…

In four articles adapted from the Educational Testing Service (ETS) Research Report Series, Issue 2 of ETS Research Spotlight provides a small taste of the range of assessment-related research capabilities of the ETS Research and Development Division. Those articles cover assessment-related research aimed at developing models of student learning,…

Researchers have noted divergent findings with respect to the relationships of practitioners' beliefs and their implementation of recommended practices. With Q-sort methods, this study examined practitioners' beliefs about practices in early intervention with samples of current practitioners (n = 211) and preservice students (n = 142). Findings…

The authors (a) discuss the importance of alignment for facilitating proper assessment and instruction, (b) describe the three most common methods for evaluating the alignment between state content standards and assessments, (c) discuss the relative strengths and limitations of these methods, and (d) discuss examples of applications of each…

In this study, the author explores elementary mathematics instruction in the context of standards-based reform and special education policy. Based on observation of inclusive classrooms and interviews with 12 teachers, the author finds that instructional practice was only somewhat consistent with the policy messages to include students with…