A well-coordinated adult learning system will be essential to support the achievement of Slovenia's long-term development goals. The transformational effects of globalisation, technological progress and demographic change on life at work and outside of it amplify the importance of getting adults' skills right. OECD research shows that individuals,…

School performance frameworks (SPFs) are action-oriented information tools that provide information on school performance and quality across a variety of measures. SPFs have evolved as a solution for local communities to make sense of an array of student, school, and system performance data, and to support transparent and equitable decisions. SPFs…

Koretz, in his article published in this issue, provides compelling arguments that the high stakes currently associated with accountability testing lead to behavioral changes in students, teachers, and other stakeholders that often have negative consequences, such as inflated scores. Koretz goes on to argue that these negative consequences require…

The interest and effort in evaluation capacity building (ECB) continues to grow enormously among organizations, funders, and evaluators. Yet a research synthesis of the ECB literature (Labin, Duffy, Meyers, Wandersman, & Lesesne, 2012) revealed major limitations in the science and practice of ECB. This forum on ECB, which includes two past…

Educational policies such as Race to the Top in the USA affirm a central role for testing systems in government-driven reform efforts. Such reform policies are often referred to as the global education reform movement (GERM). Changes observed with the GERM style of testing demand socially engaged validity theories that include consequential…

In the last decade, Chile has focused on early childhood education and care (ECEC) as a key opportunity to increase student-learning outcomes and decrease socio-economic inequalities. The creation of Chile's Under-Secretariat of ECEC in 2015 highlights the relevance of this educational stage. The purpose of this study is to analyse the new law…

This dissertation consists of three essays using publicly reported internal control deficiencies to examine agency conflicts in the unique organizational setting provided by nonprofit charter schools. In my first essay, I find evidence that increased agency conflicts in nonprofit charter schools are "not" associated with increased…

The general problem observed is that even though PPhPs [public-philanthropic partnerships] are a way of relieving the fiscal burden of higher education, a lack of formal policies, standards or guidelines governing the inter-organizational relationship between philanthropic foundations and public educational institutions has led to governance…

In December 2015, the U.S. Congress passed the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and, with it, ushered in a new era of education policy in America. Leaving behind many of the most criticized aspects of its predecessor, No Child Left Behind (NCLB), this newest incarnation of the primary federal legislation guiding K-12 education provides state and…

State report cards should help families, educators, policymakers, and other critical stakeholders in various states understand and act on education information for schools, school districts, and states as a whole. While each state finds itself in a different place regarding its own progress in building state report cards with such an impact,…

Accountability agendas are influencing the secondary education sector in Australian schools. Analysis of student achievement, student feedback mechanisms and personal reflection are forming part of these agendas as methods of teacher evaluation. Additionally, and more recently, teacher evaluation through "peer review" is emerging as a…

This literature review begins with a description of the process used to conduct the literature review, parameters for the review, and the characterization of the literature. The body of this review consists of four sections: (1) Development and/or Adoption of State English Language Proficiency (ELP) Standards, (2) Design and Development of the ELP…

District and school leaders are uniquely poised to serve as collaborative, innovative leaders. However, the context of current challenges often detracts from implementation efforts. This case describes how district leadership works collaboratively with school administrators through targeted efforts related to professional development, articulation…

Returning more responsibility to states for making education policy was the central premise (and promise) of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). Shortly after the bill passed in December 2015, states set to work on plans for using ESSA to shape policy in their states. Their assumption was that the federal government would provide some…

The Rhode Island Education Governance Forum--organized and facilitated by the Annenberg Institute for School Reform (AISR) convened in November 2016 to engage local education stakeholders in learning and dialogue about governance issues in the state. Forum participants included teachers, school and district leaders, public officials, and leaders…