This paper uses a newly discovered data set on examination results by gender from 1913 to 1986 to show that the gender gap in examinations at the University of Oxford has existed for over a century. We show that after declining for almost 70 years the gender gap in Firsts increased significantly after the introduction of coresidence -- the…

The paper utilises the method of hermeneutic interpretation to examine the sense and meaning of Jaroslav Foglar's first and most famous long-term stage game and its motto 'Alvarez needs only the brave and the strong!'. The historical impact (nearly 80 years since the game was introduced) and the motivational, programmatic and ethical elements of…

This paper describes progress, challenges and opportunities of using policy to advance educational equity and excellence at scale in the United States. It begins with a look-back that examines two key elements of the standards-based education (SBE) era: First, it traces policy shifts and implementation challenges of the SBE era. Second, it…

Colleges and universities have become increasingly concerned that requiring standardized test scores for admission is an impediment to campus diversity, and these objections have grown with the recent focus on societal inequities. In addition, the pandemic led to the cancellation of test administrations, which, in turn, caused many institutions to…

The International Large-Scale Assessment (ILSA) is a rapidly growing field in education which has gained considerable attention of stakeholders across the globe. Historically, ILSA emerged from the developed context which has drifted to the developing contexts in a short span of time due to globalisation. Pakistan has participated in ILSA (i.e.,…

For the past 12 years, the Cowen Institute has published the "State of Public Education in New Orleans" ("SPENO") on a near annual basis. During that time, the purpose, content, and audience of the report have evolved. This edition of the report is a snapshot of public education in the current academic year using aggregated…

"Charter Schools at the Crossroads" offers a frank and nuanced analysis of the successes and shortcomings of the charter movement, and outlines possible directions for the future. Few observers present at the creation of the first charter schools a quarter-century ago could have predicted how rapidly this movement would spread or how…

In this commentary the authors open with the assertion that contemporary education policy, whatever else it may or may not have accomplished, has narrowed the school curriculum by holding schools accountable primarily for their student scores in math and reading. They pursue this argument by pointing out that in surveys, the American public,…

In this paper, I theorize fantasies of idealization at work in narratives of educational research. I take as an example one of the very first psychoanalytically oriented studies in the field: Marion Milner's, "The Human Problem in Schools," published in 1938. Evidence is drawn from Milner's published book as well as from the historical…

This historical critique of high-stakes testing in reading focuses on selected events from three historical movements: 1) the history of standardized testing, 2) the history of standardized reading tests, and 3) the history of high-stakes testing. These three interrelated histories have produced the high-stakes, standardized reading tests used in…

To understand and evaluate a university's effectiveness requires a lot of information. But rarely is that information brought together in one place. This report compiles publicly available data about the University of North Carolina system. It illustrates key characteristics of the 16 campuses and how they have changed over the past decade. This…

Research has demonstrated that many children have learning problems related to deficits in specific cognitive processes that are not adequately represented by a single IQ score. The administration of cognitive measures that include narrow abilities is useful in understanding specific learning problems and developing effective interventions.…

We need to come together as a team and become one system of total quality improvement regarding the education of our nation's children. In order to achieve a gold standard in the education of our nation's children, leadership has to be willing to go against the status quo and build bridges for long-term sustainable change. In order to survive,…

This paper estimates the impact of private education on the academic achievement of low-income students in Chile. To deal with selection bias, we use propensity score matching to compare the test scores of reduced-fee paying, low-income students in private voucher schools to those of similar students in public schools and free private voucher…

Since the passage of Lyndon Johnson's 1965 Elementary and Secondary Education Act, standards-based testing has become a government initiative and part of a massive educational reform throughout the country. By January 8 2002, President Bush signed "No Child Left Behind" into law as the latest iteration of Johnson's early educational…