The U.S.'s education system has been in a state of crisis for decades. Reform attempts addressed with each administration, such as "A Nation at Risk" during the Reagan campaign, "No Child Left Behind" during the Bush administration, and the most recent, Obama's "Race to the Top" initiative, elucidate America's…

As the most-studied form of leadership across disciplines in both Western and Chinese contexts, transformational school leadership has the potential to suit diverse national and cultural contexts. Given the growing evidence showing the positive effects of transformational leadership on various school outcomes as it relates to school environment,…

In November 2015, a group of researchers met to discuss the role of large-scale international studies to inform social studies research and practice. The conversation focused on published analyses of the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) 1999 Civic Education study (CIVED) of 14 year olds in 28 countries,…

Teacher education is the environment for the learning and instruction of prospective teachers. Its structure, components, and contents shape the development of relevant competences which enable prospective teachers to be effective in the classroom. But its relevance is questioned because respective research, characterised by inconclusive results,…

Professional development for teachers has been a substantial issue in contemporary educational research and policy. Yet, opportunities for professional development activities have been very limited in Turkey. In this study, we examined Turkish teachers' involvement in professional development activities by comparing their participation with the…

We estimated the invariance of educational achievement (EA) and learning attitudes (LA) measures across nations. A multi-group confirmatory factor analysis was used to estimate the invariance of educational achievement and learning attitudes across 55 nations (Programme for International Student Assessment [PISA] 2006 data, N = 354,203). The…

This article analyses educational inequalities related to socioeconomic status (SES) in 12 Eastern European countries that participated in the International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) 2006. Economies and educational systems of these countries have undergone critical transformations since the fall of communism. The authors' analyses, using data…

Several current international comparative large-scale assessments of educational achievement (ICLSA) make use of "Rasch models", to address functions essential for valid cross-cultural comparisons. From a historical perspective, ICLSA and Georg Rasch's "models for measurement" emerged at about the same time, half a century ago. However, the…

The 2003 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study data from 46 countries showed that, although the national level of teacher quality in the United States was similar to the international average, the opportunity gap in students' access to qualified teachers between students of high and low socioeconomic status (SES) was among the…

Reports discrepancies between published outcomes from two international tests of science achievement: (1) Second International Assessment of Educational Progress (IAEP) administered in 1991; and (2) Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) administered in 1995. States initial comparisons suggested outcome inconsistencies for 11…

Educational policy around the world has increasingly focused on improving aggregate student achievement as a means to increase economic growth. In the last two decades, attention has focused especially on the importance of achievement in science and mathematics. Yet, the policy commitments involved have not been based on research evidence. The…

Preschool education has often been acclaimed as an important influence on educational achievement capable of offsetting or even compensating for social, economic and educational disadvantages. However, studies done in America and Britain suggest that its effects are not as important as might be desired. (Editor)

This report compares the influences of educational practices of the British Isles and the United States on secondary pupil achievement in the basic subject matter areas at each successive grade level. The objective of the study is to test the hypotheses that: (1) significant differences will be found between students' mean achievements in the…

Attempts to explain the basis for criticisms of comparative education and to demonstrate some valuable progress toward meeting them. Describes the efforts of the I.E.A. project to compare educational achievement in different countries. (Author/RK)

Outlines the aims of the IEA Science Project, an international study which investigated the relationships between science achievement and attitudes of students, and various home, student, school and teacher factors. Discusses the main results which illustrate the level of science education in Australia compared to other developed countries. (JR)