This paper presents the annual report of the Association for Children of New Jersey (ACNJ) for 2008. In 2008, ACNJ wrote a better ending for children by: (1) Advancing universal health care for children. ACNJ's assistant director chaired a state task force charged with getting more uninsured children enrolled in New Jersey's child health insurance…

Active transportation to and from school (ATS) is a viable strategy to help increase physical activity among youth. ATS can be challenging because initiatives require transdisciplinary collaboration, are influenced by the built environment and are affected by numerous policies. The purpose of this study is to identify policies and factors that…

As practitioners of Catholic Social Teaching, Catholic nongovernmental organizations are excellent resources for Catholic colleges and universities seeking to integrate social justice into educational programs and institutional practices. In this article, the partnership between Catholic Relief Services and Cabrini College is presented as a case…

This study examined differences in the awareness, use, and perceived impact of educators, employers, and workforce training providers toward skills standards implementation in the State of Illinois. Group differences were revealed on the use of skills standards, with educators displaying significantly higher levels of use than employers or…

In the past three decades, program evaluation has sought to more fully engage stakeholders in the evaluative process. But little information has been gathered from stakeholders about how they share in evaluation tasks and whether role sharing leads to confusion or tensions between the evaluator and the stakeholders. This article reports findings…

In 2008, due to increasing stakeholder dissatisfaction with assessment results and school report cards, South Carolina revised its 1998 Educational Accountability Act and required public engagement with stakeholders including parents/guardians, educators, business and community leaders, and taxpayers. The legislation created partnerships between…

This policy analysis explains the need for a system approach to educator talent management. The report analyzes how state policies in the Midwest support the development of effective teachers and leaders throughout their career. The report focuses on state policies in teacher preparation including certification and licensure, recruitment and…

The Title II-D grant program, "Enhancing Education Through Technology," (EETT) provides financial assistance to higher poverty school districts that have the greatest need for technology support or have been identified as being in need of improvement. In 2009, the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) provided an additional $650…

E-learning in the European Higher Education Area has stampeded its way to the foreground of the Quality Assurance (QA) forum, and has become a key issue among quality assurance agencies and institutions in the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). Because internet-based learning is currently such a relevant topic, there is a dire need for the…

Across the country, cities and regions have used community-wide partnerships to improve the educational attainment of their citizens. The most established of these partnerships have seen substantial education gains during their tenure. The community of Louisville, Kentucky has embarked on a similar effort to improve educational attainment. Nearly…

This report is a product of an European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA) Workshop "Assessing educational quality: Knowledge production and the role of experts" hosted by the Norwegian Agency for Quality Assurance in Education (NOKUT) in Oslo in February, 2008. The workshop gathered representatives from higher…

Currently, in the United States, 75% of school buildings are in need of repair or renovation. The current physical condition of those school buildings and the effect they have on educational achievement has been a major topic of concern among policymakers, community members, parents, taxpayers, and educators. Just to bring the United States'…

The Australian Government established the Office for Youth (the Office) in September 2008 in an effort to engage with the young people of Australia. The Office will work with other government agencies to help young people reach their full potential; make effective transitions to adulthood as they continue to learn, start work, make decisions that…

For the past nine years, the Speak Up National Research Project has endeavored to stimulate new discussions around how technology tools and services can transform education and to provide a context to help educators, parents, and policy and business leaders think beyond today and envision tomorrow. In last year's report, "The New 3E's of…

The New Zealand technology curriculum requires children to solve problems to meet people's needs. So who are these people? Are they the users of the product, people who are affected by the product or someone else? This article investigates the confusion and limitations that exists in the New Zealand curriculum about the terms society, community,…