This article is the product of the writer's deliberations about the impact of Poland's 1990 Bill on Schools of Higher Education using an information technology theoretical model consisting of three parts: (1) participation; (2) feedback; and (3) partnership. The main findings of the investigation revealed that: (1) there is wide participation in…

The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001 created the Early Reading First (ERF) program to enhance teacher practices, instructional content, and classroom environments in preschools and to help ensure that young children start school with the skills needed for academic success. This report to Congress describes the impacts of the Early Reading…

This Occasional Paper uses historical and recent concerns about mathematics and science content standards to demonstrate conflict and tensions that surround the process of setting standards. The tension between flexible and specific standards is analyzed. No simple recipe will resolve differing viewpoints, but this Occasional Paper analyzes key…

Three Oaks Elementary School in Fort Myers, Florida, was the first school to adopt Core Knowledge, an articulated K-6 curriculum promoted by E.D. Hirsch, author of "Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know" (1987). Hirsch feels that emphasizing skills over knowledge unintentionally injures disadvantaged students. Program…

U.S. foreign language education encompasses many languages, cultures, and perspectives. The ACTFL "Proficiency Guidelines" and National Standards/Assessments provide common measures and goals that enhance students' language progress as they enter higher education. NCATE Teacher certification guidelines and organizational communication…

The Center for Children and Families at the Education Development Center, Inc., is working with Harvard University on the Home-School Study. By following 60 children over a 10-year period, they are identifying the types of environments and teaching practices that stimulate language and literacy development. The amount of writing children did in…

To emphasize the belief that parents are a child's first teachers, the National Parent Teacher Association has developed new guidelines that support family involvement in schools. To improve family involvement, educators should create an action team, examine current practice, develop an improvement plan, develop a written family/parent involvement…

Shifting priorities and modernist notions of self-expression had pushed art to the fringes of the curriculum. New influences, including national goals and standards, discipline-based art education, postmodernism, constructivist teaching, and new technologies, are bringing art education back to the heart of the curriculum. (Contains 16 references.)…

Since its creation in 1987, the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) has implemented a national voluntary system to assess and certify teachers who meet rigorous teaching standards. Testimony from over 16,000 NBPTS certified teachers has revealed that the journey toward certification is often difficult, time-consuming, and…

An evaluation of the National Healthy School Standard (NHSS) was undertaken by the authors on behalf of the Department of Health and the Department for Education and Skills. One part of the evaluation involved gaining access to a number of datasets derived from previous research and analysing the health-related outcomes of schools which had…

"Credit" has an increasingly important role to play in recording student achievement and also for providing support for students and their progression both into and within the education system. It is a key tool for promoting lifelong learning. Credit can serve a number of purposes but is fundamentally a tool for assessing the equivalence…

This position paper has been produced in order to inform some of the current debates on National Curriculum Assessment in England. The Education and Skills Committee of the House of Commons has announced an inquiry into Testing and Assessment. In part this will examine testing and assessment in primary and secondary education as a key issue.…

University-based teacher education programs and all of their components, including the content disciplines such as mathematics and science, are undergoing an unprecedented degree of scrutiny and challenge. Today, the entire concept of university-based teacher preparation is being questioned, mostly by critics outside the academy, and it is no…

A random convenience sample was compiled using 430 undergraduate students enrolled at a large northeastern university. Reported contact with school counselors in the three ASCA domains (academic, career, personal/social) and effectiveness ratings were examined. Female students reported significantly more contact only on career topics than males.…

In this article, the author provides a review and critique of key provisions in the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) and documents some major effects of the law, which have not been positive for arts education and other subjects not formally tested under the law. Because NCLB is scheduled for reauthorization in 2007 or 2008, the author offers a…