State education agencies play critically important roles in promoting research use in education. They influence policy design and implementation, collect data about schools and districts, and can use their statewide reach to advance research use within the state agency and in districts. As Carrie Conaway explains, the states that have done the…

The paper investigates quality management in teaching and learning in higher education institutions from a principal-agent perspective. Based on data gained from semi-structured interviews and from a nation-wide survey with quality managers of German higher education institutions, the study shows how quality managers position themselves in…

Studies revealed that college readiness promotes college success and higher education student learning outcomes. This study opted to 1) analyze the total effect and the conditional effect of college readiness on college success by university generations and departments; 2) analyze the differences in the probability of college success across…

The role of the Heads of Departments (HoDs) in the school structure is to provide middle leadership. They assist the principals on the day to day leadership of the schools. They are responsible for ensuring the achievement of their departmental and school vision and mission. This study sought to explore the nature of the challenges faced by the…

This state spotlight focuses on Texas's implementation effort to improve teacher practice and student outcomes, by embedding and sustaining an effective coaching framework across the state. Of critical importance for Texas Education Agency (TEA) was to take a strategic approach to implementing aligned coaching across several schools, districts,…

Although many institutions and government agencies count degrees as the sole measure of determining departmental or program viability, this method fails to consider other factors such as how many students who are within programs are present to replace students who graduated from those programs or how many credit hours were generated in the area.…

A conflict exists because all South Carolinian students are held to the same college- and career-readiness expectations, yet upstate school districts have opted to implement different grading policies. While the three Research Districts featured in this study employed varied forms of 50 as a minimum grade, other districts have no such mathematical…

While university department heads are integral to the operation and culture of higher education institutions, they often experience little training or support to fulfill their complex and multifaceted role. At the same time, there is limited research on how heads come to understand their work or how such understandings shape their behavior. In…

The purpose of this study is to understand the professional skill development of student employees in a leadership position through a theoretical lens and applied lens. Research suggests that a deficit of professional skills exist in today's college graduates. In higher education, many colleges and universities use a student employment model to…

A key responsibility of state education agencies (SEAs) under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is to monitor local education agency (LEA) implementation of the law (34 C.F.R. § 300.600-604). This Fast Five details five principles (plus one!) that we recommend SEAs incorporate as part of their LEA monitoring.

The Council of Higher Education (CoHE) switched to distance education with digital tools in all universities as of March 23, 2020. The relevant decision was put into effect by the universities. Since this date, distance education has been utilized in almost all programs in universities. COVID-19 Pandemic period was finished, and face-to-face…

This study applies Clark and Estes's (2008) gap analysis model to understand how a state education agency's decision making, during reform policy implementation, impacts the success of the initiative. Specifically, the purpose of this study was to assess the effect of the Texas Education Agency's (TEA) decision making, during the policy design and…

This qualitative case study explored how grading can be used to support learning by analyzing the implementation of a skills-based grading system in a high school English department. Black and Wiliam's (2018) model for assessment in relation to pedagogy was used as a lens through which to examine the relationship between the grading system and…

This secondary research study used quantitative research methods to gather and analyze statistical data on specific factors that have been demonstrated to impact teacher retention and assessed their relative importance in impacting teacher turnover. The data utilized for this study were peer-reviewed, publicly available, government data collected…

Higher levels of student achievement are required to meet the needs of a changing workforce. The effect increases in education spending have on student learning gains among algebra students in Florida was unknown. Most research on per-pupil funding and student achievement is qualitative and measures opinions on the long-term effects of increased…