Work-based learning faces significant changes in delivery in the face of a global pandemic that has severely limited physical access to schools and businesses. These changes have forced school leaders and employers to acknowledge pre-existing inequities that perpetuate historical barriers and racial discrimination and keep marginalized learner…

This brief presents a review of research and current state practices as they relate to measures that Iowa might consider for its federal accountability indicator of school quality or student success--specifically, for inclusion within a composite index of postsecondary readiness. Section 1 of this brief introduces a framework for evaluating and…

NIET [National Institute for Excellence in Teaching] continually evaluates the impact of TAP: The System for Teacher and Student Advancement on raising student achievement, improving instruction and increasing the ability of high-need schools to recruit, retain and support effective teachers. In addition to national results in student achievement…

Improving teacher preparation is critical to long-term improvement in teacher quality. More than 200,000 new teachers enter classrooms each year. Increasing student enrollment, the retirement of baby boom generation teachers, and high attrition in their first five years (between 40 and 50 percent of new teachers leave the profession) have…

Educational improvement through data-based decision-making using high-quality data is a longstanding goal of policymakers and practitioners, and ensuring the quality of the evidence available to inform such decisions is a key part of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. The evidence-based education that such initiatives promote involves the…

Implementation of quality indicators in the evaluation of adult education programs of 49 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico was examined. The study focused on development of measures and standards for the indicators and the impact of quality indicators on state accountability systems and program quality. Most states had completed…

This document presents the strategic plan of Iowa's Board of Regents for the state's three institutions of higher education (and two special schools) for the next five years. Introductory information includes a statement of the document's purpose and overview, and the Board's mission statement, responsibilities statement, vision statement, and…

This two-volume report examines the planning needed in order that Iowa's higher education system can keep pace with, as well as anticipate, the state's future societal changes and educational needs. The report opens with a review of where Iowa and its education system now stand and looks at the expected shape of the state's economic and social…

This report identifies issues and offers recommendations concerning the development of all three sectors of Iowa's higher education community (community colleges, independent colleges and universities, and regent colleges and universities). The report first outlines the educational environment within Iowa in terms of demographic, educational,…

In June 1991 the Iowa State Board of Education established a task force to conduct a comprehensive review of vocational-technical education in the state. The 10-member task force was asked to develop a vision for vocational-technical education in Iowa, including the roles and relationships between secondary and postsecondary education…

This document presents and examines Iowa's adult basic education (ABE) program benchmarks, which have been designed as criteria for evaluating the following aspects of the performance of ABE programs in Iowa's community colleges: educational gains; program planning; curriculum/instruction; staff development; support services; and…