This paper explores the issue of how vocational education and training (VET) is actually used in the labour market, in particular the match between what people study and the jobs they get. This match is pretty poor in most occupational groups with the exception of the trades. However, the paper concludes that the mismatch reflects the generic…

Large-scale assessment programs are becoming increasingly common throughout Canada and the United States. Given the emphasis on inclusive education in North America, special education students are largely expected to participate in these programs. However, several challenges exist for educators, policymakers, and psychometricians with respect to…

The sustainability of research-based innovations in schools is constrained not only by systemic institutional barriers and inherent contradictions between schooling and research, but also by the related issue of time. This case study suggests that relative timescales, e.g., the collective activity of schooling over decades versus the individual…

We examined how much agreement there was between scores from large-scale mandated assessments and report-card grades for 14,776 students in grades 3, 6, and 9 of a district in which conditions were conducive to alignment of assessments. We found significant mean differences between internal and external assessments: effect sizes were 0.29 to 0.63…

The National Study on Alternate Assessments (NSAA) was mandated by the Individuals With Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA). Specifically, the law called for a "Study on Ensuring Accountability for Students Who Are Held to Alternative Achievement Standards" to examine: (1) the criteria that states use to determine…

This paper describes a practical experience of adapting the teaching of a course in Computer Technology (CT) to the new demands of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). CT is a core course taught in the first year of the degree program Technical Engineering in Management Computing in the Faculty of Computer Science at the University of A…

Since 2002, the Center on Education Policy (CEP) has collected and reported data on state policies that require students to pass a state assessment in order to receive a high school diploma. The state policies associated with these assessments, also known as high school exit exams, have undergone a number of changes over the past ten years. For…

The Warren Institute is a multidisciplinary, collaborative venture to produce research, research-based policy prescriptions, and curricular innovation on issues of racial and ethnic justice in California and the nation. The Civil Rights Research Roundtable on Education is an initiative of the Warren Institute that convenes an ongoing learning…

This article reports the results of school budget simulations with 568 randomly selected California public school teachers, principals, and superintendents. Simulation participants were presented with the budget for a hypothetical school and asked to use that budget to employ the resources that would maximize the academic achievement of the…

Assessment of and for learning has occupied center stage in education reform, especially with the advent of the No Child Left Behind Federal legislation. This study examined the formative function of assessment--assessment for learning--recognizing that such assessment needs to be aligned, at least in part, with the summative function of…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the relative impact of different types of leadership on students' academic and nonacademic outcomes. Research Design: The methodology involved an analysis of findings from 27 published studies of the relationship between leadership and student outcomes. The first meta-analysis, including 22 of the…

The Office of Head Start/Region 11 serves nearly 23,000 American Indian/Alaska Native (AIAN) children in 26 States throughout the country: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina,…

Since 2002, the Center on Education Policy (CEP) at The George Washington University, a national advocate for public education and improving public schools, has been studying state high school exit examinations--tests students must pass to receive a high school diploma. This year marks the 11th year CEP has reported on exit exams in order to help…

The California Community Colleges are vital to closing the projected shortfall of Californians with a postsecondary credential and sustaining the state's economic competitiveness. Increasing the number of students who pursue and earn certificates and associate degrees in career technical education (CTE) fields is an important component of the…

Early learning standards--documents that outline what children should know and be able to do before kindergarten entry--are increasingly common in the United States. Data from a national survey are presented to illustrate trends in how states have developed and implemented early learning standards within the past four years. Results indicate that…