This multi-case study examines the Performance funding (PF) policies in four Midwestern states to explore how PF metrics and weights address racial diversity in higher education. Performance funding policies in Illinois, Kansas, Ohio, and Minnesota were examined using both document analysis and semi-structured interviews with state level actors…

Adult learning policies, like any other policies, need to be effective: they need to reach their objectives and attain the desired impacts, which should be carefully defined. Understanding the performance of policies allows policy makers to change and improve them. A growing body of research and statistics provides important insights into how…

This dissertation considers the effects of national rankings, specifically the 2010 National Research Council (NRC)'s Data-Based Assessment of Research-Doctorate Programs, on higher education institutions' behavior. National research studies of graduate education require significant resources and data, yet it is uncertain how universities make…

Purpose: The expansion of alternative education, globally, has coincided with a shift towards greater accountability for ensuring educational access and opportunity, high academic standards and increased graduation rates. While studies suggest the pervasive influence of accountability may be redefining how school leaders provide meaningful…

The research project is a case study focussing on the use of a virtual learning environment (VLE) implemented to increase the use of information and communication technology (ICT) by university teachers in Jazan University, Saudi Arabia. The study aims to investigate the effect of the VLE as the vehicle for a training course in ICT designed to…

During the post-World War II era, most U.S. colleges and universities began to promote diversity and internationalization ideals. However, the extent to which U.S. higher education institutions have been successful in achieving diversity, especially in relation to stimulating diverse social interactions between the international and American…

This article discusses the results of a qualitative case study that examined how school district language policies impact humanizing practices in a high school ESL program. The theoretical framework builds on Paulo Freire's concept of humanizing pedagogy to explore policy and instruction in a secondary ESL program. Participants of this study…

Throughout the Western world, there appears to be a consensus that schools have failed to prepare children for the challenges of the emerging information age. Many high schools that start out as innovative or "break-the-mold" lose their momentum and experience an "attrition of change." They end up becoming like any other…

The United States Department of Education's National Diffusion Network (NDN) has selected a number of science education programs to make available to schools across the country. The Life Lab Science Program (LLSP) is one such program. LLSP is a garden-based science and nutrition curriculum designed to raise students' level of science knowledge,…

Presents the case study of a second-year middle school science teacher's beliefs about science and science teaching, and the influence of these beliefs upon classroom instruction. Discusses the teacher's struggle to reconcile conflicting beliefs affecting strategies and outcomes, and the conflict between classroom needs and roles resulting from…

This Policy Research Brief explores the strengths of qualitative research and the types of information it can make available to policymakers concerned with issues affecting persons with disabilities. The naturalistic methodology employed in qualitative research is described. Three specific studies using qualitative methodology are excerpted and…

Noting that the growing popularity of year-round schools (extended calendar without increasing the number of school days) has coincided with an increase in school accountability, this report provides a descriptive case study on one year-round school located within a large elementary school district in central Virginia. An optional year-round…

In this theme issue of The "OSSC Bulletin" educators speak out about what they think their schools are doing right. The project goal was to select schools with varied socioeconomic backgrounds from different parts of the state, as well as to include at least one rural school and one innercity school. The two elementary schools, two…