Two forms of assessment, summative and formative, are the primary means by which teachers determine student progress and achievement. Summative assessments help teachers determine what students have learned at the end of a unit of instruction. They are often used to help teachers determine whether their instruction was effective or to grade…

In recent years major changes have been introduced into the system of higher education in the common European Higher Educational Area (EHEA). On account of the Bologna Process the EHEA is leading to greater compatibility and comparability of the systems of higher education and is making it easier for learners to be mobile and for institutions to…

States are grappling with a federal requirement that is forcing them to use a new, more uniform method of calculating high school graduation rates--a method that, in some states, is yielding rates that are 20 percentage points lower than those states have reported in the past. Under a 2008 update to federal education rules, the states were…

Citizenship education, defined as learning to live together, requires agreement on certain common principles. One central purpose of a state education system is the transmission of common normative standards such as the human rights and fundamental freedoms that underpin liberal democratic societies. The paper identifies the conceptual roots of…

In 2007, the Health Resources Services Administration introduced new mandates that raised the standards on program evaluation for Geriatric Education Centers. Described in this article are the primary and secondary evaluation efforts undertaken for one program within the Rhode Island Geriatric Education Center (RIGEC), the findings from these…

The authors challenge educators to speculate on how to address local issues in a world that is increasingly diverse and global. This Research and Policy section emphasizes the seemingly paradoxical importance of both local and global literacy, illuminating the tension between the preservation of local literacy and a global standardization of…

The "World Report on Disability" was requested by the World Health Assembly, the governing body of the World Health Organization (WHO). Because disability is broader than health, WHO partnered with the World Bank. The "World Report" was published in 2011 and provides a comprehensive scientific analysis on the global situation…

This concept paper identifies issues and provides guidance to states as they develop, revise, and utilize early educator competencies in the context of inclusion. Key issues include ensuring that early educator competencies reflect knowledge, skills and emerging research on effective practices for working in inclusive settings with children with…

The pursuit of common educational expectations, or standards, among the states has long been a conversation met with strong opinions--for and against. However, it seems clear that high standards and consistency are both critical characteristics to have in educational programs. The task to achieve such is certainly not expected to be easy. Using…

The introduction of the Excellence in Research for Australia scheme has heightened debate amongst research institutions over the use of metrics such as citations, especially given the ready availability of citation data. An analysis is presented of the citation performance of nine Australian universities and the Commonwealth Scientific, Industrial…

A central element of the Every Child Matters reforms in England are measures which aim at improving information sharing. Amongst these are the children's database and the Common Assessment Framework, both representing technological solutions to long-standing concerns about information sharing in child welfare. This article reports some findings…

The concordat to support research integrity sets out five commitments that will provide assurances to government, the wider public and the international community that research in the UK continues to be underpinned by the highest standards of rigour and integrity. Developed in collaboration with the funding and research councils, the Wellcome…

As out-of-school programs--and the expectations for them--grow, the field is struggling to identify the kind of training staff members need to meet those expectations. A variety of efforts have sprung up across the country to define and improve the quality of after-school staff, some of which bear resemblance to the quest to improve the…

By the 1970s a fundamental shift had taken place in German science education. This was a shift away from the learning of more-or-less isolated facts and facets in Biology, Chemistry, and Physics towards a restructuring of science teaching along the general principles of the respective science domains. The changes included also the addition of…

Educators need to know the professional standards in their field to maintain high levels of professional competence. This article focuses on four sets of teacher preparation standards in gifted education. They address initial and advanced preparation of educators who teach students with gifts and talents. Initial preparation standards include the…