In a 2012 paper for the Center for American Progress, "The State of Evaluation Reform," Patrick McGuinn (Drew University) identified the opportunities and challenges facing education agencies in Race to the Top (RTTT) grant-winning states as they prepared for the implementation of new teacher evaluation systems. The 2012 study undertook…

This publication is a global, country-by-country, inventory of National Qualifications Frameworks (NQFs). It is a copublication, prepared by two EU agencies, the European Training Foundation (ETF) and the Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop); and UNESCO's Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL) and the Section for TVET at…

The National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC), in collaboration with the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC), and the Association for the Gifted (CEC-TAG), has developed national standards for teacher preparation programs in gifted and talented education. Typically, these programs are at the masters level, but they may also be endorsement…

The National Science Education Standards encourage teachers to go on their own special path to professional development. Whether your budget and personal schedule allow real travel or vicarious adventure, summer is a great time to take a book along. So, once again this year, the reviewers of "NSTA Recommends" have come up with suggestions for your…

This paper reports on a study of the current state of the art in teaching assessment. The major goal of the study was to examine a sample of assessment systems and then develop a specification for a state-of the art performance assessment system to be used for human capital management functions. The authors hope was that this specification would…

"Preparing for Work," developed by Equipped for the Future at the Center for Literacy Studies, University of Tennessee, is a skills-based course designed for implementation in organizations and agencies involved in preparing their clients and students for entry level work. Each of the instructional modules that comprise the…

The design of the national qualifications framework (NQF) in Lithuania started in 2006. The NQF was officially approved by the government decree in May 2010. This article explores the influence of the processes of institutional change on the reform of the national system of qualifications in Lithuania through the implementation of the NQF, looking…

Attempts to reform higher education in Russia are experiencing confusion and contradictions when it comes to establishing outcomes and student competencies. A lack of clarity and unnecessarily complicated agendas are combined with lack of resources and adequately prepared instructors to create a situation of uncertainty. The result will be a…

This article provides an overview of the background and recent developments leading to the current reshaping of teacher education in Scotland, starting with the developments emanating in the past decade from the McCrone Report and finishing with the recent Donaldson Report, "Teaching Scotland's Future." It documents the key features of…

Although the common-core standards are calibrated to ensure that students leave K-12 schools ready for work and college, they are also posing challenges for the educators who work with children just starting out their school careers. As 46 states and the District of Columbia work this year to put the new curricular guidelines in place, preschool…

This study examines how the contemporary European policy debate addresses the further development of the quality of teacher educators. A classification framework based on the literature on professionalism was used to compare European and Member State policy actions and measures on the quality of teacher educators through an analysis of seven…

This study examines the impact of standards-based professional development on teacher efficacy and instructional practice of elementary and middle school science teachers. Professional development activities were conducted over a period of 3 years and included content courses as well as teacher involvement in professional learning communities.…

Learning about foreign language (FL) cultures is becoming an important objective in the FL curricula and national standards of different countries throughout the world. The purposes of the study were to examine the effects of the cultural portfolio project on (1) students' specific aspects of development of cultural knowledge and change in…

Australia needs to more effectively attract, train, support, retain, recognize, and reward quality teachers throughout their careers. After a slow start and decades of debate, the pieces of the quality teaching puzzle are now coming together. Increased federal government intervention and financial support, along with state and territorial support…

This article introduces The RULER Approach ("RULER") to social and emotional learning, with a particular focus on its Feeling Words Curriculum. Through this curriculum, RULER contributes to the ultimate goals of an English language arts education--preparing students to achieve personal, social, and academic goals and to be engaged and contributing…