In a 2012 paper for the Center for American Progress, "The State of Evaluation Reform," Patrick McGuinn (Drew University) identified the opportunities and challenges facing education agencies in Race to the Top (RTTT) grant-winning states as they prepared for the implementation of new teacher evaluation systems. The 2012 study undertook…

The Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) is working to respond to increased interest in the use of growth models for school accountability. Growth models are based on tracking change in individual student achievement scores over multiple years. While growth models have been used for decades in academic research and program evaluation, a…

The article addresses the effective use of full-time and part-time faculty in transforming an institutionalized marginalized professional studies unit into an academic unit with greater academic credibility, as perceived by traditional colleagues and accreditors. Recommendations are supported by a case study narrative from the experiences of the…

It is our belief that the story of how the composition faculty convinced administration to move from a rubric-based assessment model to a more qualitative model is both interesting and beneficial for others facing similar challenges. In the following five articles, Katie discusses how the experience of such assessment affected the faculty, Jeff…

The content standards reform movement and the accountability movement that have occurred over the past 10 to 20 years have received much attention among educational professionals and the general public. The federal government legislated accountability measures with the implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2000. The Pennsylvania…

With the passage of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act, classrooms are now mandated to employ behavioral methods to address target behaviors. These relevant behavioral strategies have long been advanced and disseminated by the field of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). Notwithstanding this capability, proponents of the…

This paper offers a list of questions and corresponding answers about the 4-year cohort graduation rate. Answers to the following questions are presented: (1) Why don't GED (General Educational Development) students count as graduates?; (2) How does a district code students who have moved out of state? How should a district code a student who…

Considers the position of the subject area supervisor. Reports on a survey of the characteristics of these positions as they are found in the school districts of Pennsylvania. Assesses the potential for the continuation of the positions in the districts surveyed. (HB)

Calls for Composition Studies to move beyond the "universal requirement" of first-year writing, and toward "a sequenced curriculum of courses that introduce students to discipline-specific principles and practices" have been partially realized by the growing number of writing majors. Public descriptions of these programs have…

During the National Association of State Directors of Special Education's (NASDSE) 2005 annual meeting, a panel of youth representatives challenged states to do a better job of including youth with disabilities in state-level decision making (e.g., as members of state advisory panels [SAPs] and/or transition councils). State directors of special…

Historically, it's been an unavoidable truth: IT people and library people have not been inclined to come to the concept of service with the same view. For IT, it's been all about keeping the servers and systems up, the websites going, and the help desk calls and their turnaround times to a minimum. For library professionals, service has meant…

This report presents the number of high school graduates, the Averaged Freshman Graduation Rate (AFGR), and dropout data for grades 9 through 12 for public schools in school year 2006-07. The counts of graduates, dropouts, and enrollments by grade (which serve as the denominators for the graduation and dropout rates) are from the National Center…

In this report the National Institute for Health Care Management Foundation (NIHCM) and the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) focus on selective, exemplary collaborations between state health agencies and health plans to reduce overweight and obesity in children. The idea of collaboration is simple. Partner A agrees to…

Though most interactions between parents and school personnel about students with disabilities are positive and productive, disagreements can arise. Disputes may range in intensity from minor miscommunications to significant conflicts that trigger the use of procedural safeguards available under federal law. The Individuals with Disabilities…

An interview with the nonacademic head of a State department of education who views himself as the department's ambassador to the outside world. (Author)