This report presents current research findings on teacher preparation and effectiveness. While some critics question the role of teacher preparation as a key to teacher effectiveness, this report contends that available research supports the importance of high quality teacher preparation. Well prepared teachers outperform those who are not…

Debates about the future of school mathematics in the United States often center on whether standards-based instruction is improving or undermining students' achievement. Critical for making progress in these debates is information about the actual nature of classroom practice in U.S. classrooms. This article focuses on one key element of…

The way in which professional knowledge is presented in initial teacher education (ITE) in England and Wales is significant. Not only is it emblematic of the way teaching itself is conceived, but it is likely to influence the way that students engage with their development. The following analysis therefore describes and critiques the kinds of…

The Third International Mathematics and Science Survey (TIMSS) has tested large and representative samples of students from around the world to measure their math and science knowledge and skills. The results place U.S. 8th grade students below the international average in mathematics, with 20 countries scoring significantly higher than the U.S.…

Canada's school-to-work transition efforts have failed too many youth and adults because there has not been a framework for essential life and work skills for all to learn. These skills are needed to complement the academic and technical skills now required for completion of formal education and training. The Blueprint for Life and Work Design,…

This report describes a study to provide a picture of the stage of development, level, and nature of the debate on nonformal learning in Greece. It describes the national debate on questions of identification, assessment, and recognition of nonformal learning, including means, motives, and areas of agreement and conflict. Then, it describes…

Students who learn more geography have a dual payoff: intellectual challenge through the introduction of new, stimulating information about people, places, and regions; and exposure to career possibilities that did not exist even five years ago. The 18 national geography standards stress a spatial world view, places and regions, physical and human…

Oregon's statewide social-studies assessment (a randomized, multiple-choice maze) is part of a "democratic" national standards movement that threatens good teaching and multicultural studies. If multiculturalism's key goal is accounting for historical influences on current social realities, then Oregon's standards and tests earn a…

Performance assessment can help educators develop ways to reveal individual students' distinctive features and secure information about learning. These opportunities will be wasted unless the public's attitudes and expectations toward schooling are changed. Attitudes cannot change without revising policies inhibiting school children's educational…

The British Columbia (BC) English as a Second Language (ESL) Articulation Committee's Canadian Language Benchmarks project was precipitated by ESL instructors' desire to address transfer difficulties of ESL students within the BC transfer system and to respond to the recognition that the Canadian Language Benchmarks, a descriptive scale of ESL…

This study investigated the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards' (NBPTS) assessment process in order to identify, quantify, and substantiate learning outcomes from the participants. One hundred and twenty candidates for the Adolescent and Young Adult Science (AYA Science) Certificate were studied over a two-year period using the…

This report provides updated information on major national activities related to the development and assessment of educational outcomes of students with disabilities who are receiving special education services. The report reviews major initiatives in the areas of the national education goals (Goals 2000), standards, and national testing. The…

The Merck Institute for Science Education (MISE) was founded in 1993 to demonstrate that virtually all students could reach high levels of scientific literacy. MISE formed partnerships with four public school districts where Merck has major facilities and a history of providing employee volunteers and supporting local science education…

This report, the second in a series published by the National Council on Teacher Quality, examines states' progress in meeting the new federal requirement that by the end of the 2005-2006 school year there will be a "highly qualified teacher" in every classroom in the nation. This new requirement has led to some discomfort in more than a…

An evaluation of the "Discovering Democracy" program, launched by the Commonwealth government in May 1997 to provide civics and citizenship education in schools across Australia, recommended developing a Web site to disseminate curriculum resources. This paper defines a prototype by examining the features of Web sites established by…