bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Centralized Goal Formation and Systemic Reform
Authors: Strike Kenneth A.
Published: March 2015

This paper asks whether there are reasonable concerns about liberty raised by standards driven systemic reform. Part I explores three kinds of concerns, students' interests in autonomy and authenticity, academic freedom, and pluralism. Part II explores two ways of conceptualizing the balance between liberty and various public interests, neo-classical economics and contemporary conservative thought. The paper draws two major conclusions about standards driven systemic reform: (1) This picture of reform raises serious questions about liberty. It may be inconsistent with some liberty interests of students. It is likely to pose serious questions about academic freedom and about pluralism. These concerns should make us cautious about systemic reform and should motivate us to a broader discussion of its assumptions and consequences. (2) The best defense of public sector reform efforts against their market oriented competition is one that emphasizes the importance of political goods such as citizenship. However, standards driven reform needs to avoid linkage with any nationalistic form of communitarianism. In order to do this it needs to seek ways to balance the demands for centralized goals and an educational system with an equal concern for local democracy, pluralism and community. A view of standards and accountability that is narrowly focused on clear public interests is crucial. The paper concludes with an argument that we need to focus attention on the question of what makes for good educational communities, a discussion that is not abetted by debating issues of reform in a framework that poses choices between public sector and market approaches.
Evaluation and Policy Analysis: A Communicative Framework
Authors: Wallat Cynthia , Piazza Carolyn
Published: March 2015

A major challenge for the next generation of students of human development is to help shape the paradigms by which we analyze and evaluate public policies for children and families. Advocates of building research and policy connections point to health care and stress experiences across home, school, and community as critical policy issues that expand the scope of contexts and outcomes studied. At a minimum, development researchers and practitioners will need to be well versed in available methods of inquiry; they will need to be "methodologically multilingual" when conducting evaluation and policy analysis, producing reports, and reporting their interpretations to consumer and policy audiences. This article suggests how traditional approaches to policy inquiry can be reconsidered in light of these research inquiry and communicative skills needed by all policy researchers. A fifteen year review of both policy and discourse processes research is presented to suggest ways to conduct policy studies within a communicative framework.
Staffing Up and Dropping Out
Authors: Fetler Mark
Published: March 2015

Growing public school enrollment and the need to maintain or improve service to students has increased the demand for teachers, perhaps more rapidly than existing sources can accommodate. While some schools recruit well qualified teachers by offering higher salaries or better working conditions, others may satisfy their need for staff by relaxing hiring standards or assigning novice teachers to difficult classrooms. Schools' hiring policies have consequences for student success. Dropout rates tend to be higher where faculties include a greater percentage of minimally educated teachers or teachers with little experience. The relationship between dropout rate and teacher qualifications is independent of student poverty, school size, and location. A proposed strategy to reduce dropout rates is to encourage higher preparation and employment standards, and to provide appropriate classroom assignments, mentoring, and support for new teachers.
Administrative Use of Student Evaluation of Faculty
Authors: Haskell Robert E.
Published: March 2015

In three previous papers, it was noted that while a controversial history of research on the reliability and validity of student evaluation of faculty (SEF) exists, it has not been typically viewed as an infringement on academic freedom. As a consequence, legal aspects of SEF are neither readily apparent, nor available. Moreover, SEF has not been generally seen as an infringement on, and detriment to, academic standards and quality instruction. The article is a review of SEF legal rulings analyzed in terms of their implications for academic freedom and quality of instruction in higher education.
Testing Writing on Computers
Authors: Russell Michael , Haney Walt
Published: March 2015

Computer use has grown rapidly during the past decade. Within the educational community, interest in authentic assessment has also increased. To enhance the authenticity of tests of writing, as well as of other knowledge and skills, some assessments require students to respond in written form via paper-and-pencil. However, as increasing numbers of students grow accustomed to writing on computers, these assessments may yield underestimates of students' writing abilities. This article presents the findings of a small study examining the effect that mode of administration -- computer versus paper-and-pencil -- has on middle school students' performance on multiple-choice and written test questions. Findings show that, though multiple-choice test results do not differ much by mode of administration, for students accustomed to writing on computer, responses written on computer are substantially higher than those written by hand (effect size of 0.9 and relative success rates of 67% versus 30%). Implications are discussed in terms of both future research and test validity.
Review of Howley, Howley & Pendarvis
Authors: Clifford Pat
Published: March 2015

Howley, Craig B., Howley, Aimee & Pendarvis, Edwina D. (1995). Out of Our Minds: Anti-Intellectualism and Talent Development in American Schooling NY, NY: Teachers College Press. Pp. 265; $24.95 (Paper)
ROTC Policy Regarding Homosexuals
Authors: Duemer Lee S.
Published: March 2015

This is a policy analysis, in a historical context, of how Association of American University institutions responded to Reserve Officer Training Corps policy excluding homosexuals. The time period for this study is 1982 to 1992. Qualitative methods are used to analyze data and arrive at conclusions. Secondary data provide additional depth and background. This study reveals seven different positions institutions have taken in response to ROTC policy, these include: supporting ROTC policy, neutrality, collective action, barring military recruiters from campus, distancing the institution from ROTC, and changing the campus climate. This includes examples taken from AAU institutions and rationales behind making policy decisions.
The Political Legacy of School Accountability Systems
Authors: Dorn Sherman
Published: March 2015

The recent battle reported from Washington about proposed national testing program does not tell the most important political story about high stakes tests. Politically popular school accountability systems in many states already revolve around statistical results of testing with high-stakes environments. The future of high stakes tests thus does not depend on what happens on Capitol Hill. Rather, the existence of tests depends largely on the political culture of published test results. Most critics of high-stakes testing do not talk about that culture, however. They typically focus on the practice legacy of testing, the ways in which testing creates perverse incentives against good teaching. More important may be the political legacy, or how testing defines legitimate discussion about school politics. The consequence of statistical accountability systems will be the narrowing of purpose for schools, impatience with reform, and the continuing erosion of political support for publicly funded schools. Dissent from the high-stakes accountability regime that has developed around standardized testing, including proposals for professionalism and performance assessment, commonly fails to consider these political legacies. Alternatives to standardized testing which do not also connect schooling with the public at large will not be politically viable.
Criticizing the Schools, Then and Now
Authors: Levin Benjamin
Published: March 2015

Schools in many countries are facing intense and elevated levels of criticism, with much debate over whether the criticism is merited. Much of the criticism embodies a view that things used to be better years ago, when schools were not prey to the many defects they are alleged to show today. Recollections of the past may hide a mixed reality. In this article, criticisms of education from 1957 are compared with contemporary criticisms. Some issues have remained important across forty years, while a few new issues have emerged. Criticisms of forty years ago centered on the dominance of "professional educationists," progressivism, the life adjustment movement, the waning "spirit of competition," lax discipline, the lack of emphasis on classical and modern foreign languages, avoidance of science and math, the neglect of gifted children, the lack of training of children in moral and spiritual values, and low academic standards. Today's debates introduce the alleged test score declines, poor performance on international achievement comparisons, the supposed enormous increase in funding without positive results, the problem of high dropout rates, and the need to connect schooling and work. In addition, modern critics point to economic concerns, whether in terms of funding for education or in regard to the contribution of schooling to economic development.
Performance Indicators
Authors: Hackett E. Raymond , Carrigan Sarah D.
Published: March 2015

Measures of overall institutional performance were explored from a decision support perspective with twenty similar Carnegie Classification Baccalaureate II institutions. The study examined the usefulness of performance indicators in campus decision making following both a hypothesis testing and case study approach. Two conclusions were reached: first, that the performance measures most commonly cited in the literature as measures of institutional financial viability are of limited use for institution specific policy development; and second, that performance indicators are most effectively used within an institution specific, whole system framework.
Review of Arons's
Authors: Glenn Charles L.
Published: March 2015

Stephen Arons, author of Compelling Belief: The Culture of American Schooling (Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1986), is one of the most articulate and influential critics of the educational Establishment from the secular Left. In his new book, he takes on the Clinton Administration's efforts to establish national outcome standards--Goals 2000--which he describes as "comprehensive, centralizing, and insensitive to the diversity of goals that students, families, and communities bring to education. Through the use of federal grants and state regulations, it aims to bring every school in every school district in every state into conformity with politically prescribed standards of what should be learned by every child" (page 4). Arons warns that "[o]nce accepted by the public, Goals 2000 will change the balance of power in schoolhouses and courtrooms in a way unlikely ever to be undone. That change in schooling will very likely undermine the freedom of intellect and spirit that has been so essential to the American experience" (page 98).
Investigation of Education in Latin America
Authors: Akkari Abdeljalil , Pérez Soledad
Published: March 2015

We consider Narodowski's reaction (1999) published by Education Policy Analysis Archives as Volume 7 Number 2 to be an invitation to a fruitful debate on education in Latin America. We want first to call attention to the fact that our original article—EPAA 6(7)—was not exhaustive; we never attempted to present all aspects of educational research in Latin America, an effort that would require the attention of several teams of researchers and numerous written works. Our objective, modest as it is, is to take a closer look at the evolution of educational research and to launch the debate on those aspects that seem to us high-priority for the region.
Educational Selection Between Public School and Private School in Galicia
Authors: Freire Prof. María Jesús , Salcines Prof. José Venancio
Published: March 2015

Este trabajo tiene como objeto analizar la elección educativa entre escuela pública y escuela privada para los siguientes niveles educativos: infantil, primaria y secundaria en el contexto de los hogares de Galicia (España). Este artículo también analiza en que medida está relacionado el tipo de centro educativo al que asisten los niños con la renta familiar y, la educación recibida por los padres; de esta forma, esperamos aprender algo mas acerca de la desigualdad que existe entre los dos sistemas educativos.
A Statist Political Economy and High Demand for Education in South Korea
Authors: Kim Ki Su
Published: March 2015

In the 1998 academic year, 84 percent of South Korea's high school "leavers" entered a university or college while almost all children went up to high schools. This is to say, South Korea is now moving into a new age of universal higher education. Even so, competition for university entrance remains intense. What is here interesting is South Koreans' unusually high demand for education. In this article, I criticize the existing cultural and socio-economic interpretations of the phenomenon. Instead, I explore a new interpretation by critically referring to the recent political economy debate on South Korea's state-society/market relationship. In my interpretation, the unusually high demand for education is largely due to the powerful South Korean state's losing flexibility in the management of its "developmental" policies. For this, I blame the traditional "personalist ethic" which still prevails as the
Academic Program Approval and Review Practices
Authors: Creamer Don G. , Janosik Steven M.
Published: March 2015

This report outlines general and specific processes for both program approval and program review practices found in 50 states and eight foreign countries and regions.  Models that depict these procedures are defined and the strengths and weakness of each are discussed.  Alternatives to current practice by state agencies in the U.S. are described that might provide for greater decentralization of these practices while maintaining institutional accountability.
Children's Rights and Education in Argentina, Chile and Spain
Authors: Poveda David , Gómez Viviana , Messina Claudia
Published: March 2015

This article is a first attempt to relate the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child to education policy. It compares three countries, Argentina, Chile and Spain in an attempt to both present particular problems that are of pressing concern in each and to propose a framework that might reveal some possible obstacles to the implementation of children's rights. The article is divided into three sections. In the first section, a comparative review of the formal dispositions and legislative changes in the three countries is presented. Some of the most notable contrasts are briefly contextualized in the history of each nation-state. In the second section, particular problems in each nation are reassessed through the lens of the Convention. Three cases are examined: in Argentina, the funding and organization of public compulsory education; in Chile, an instance of international cooperation in education; in Spain, the relations between public and private education and ethnic segregation. Finally, a general framework is discussed using these three cases as examples.
College Students' Use of the Internet
Authors: McFadden Anna C.
Published: March 2015

Over the last several years there has been mounting concern about children being exposed to sex-related material on the Internet. Concern about pornography and obscenity is widespread and this concern has spawned a host of products to block or filter content. The notorious Time magazine article (July 3, 1995) "Cyberporn"--which Time later acknowledged had doubtful credibility (July 24, 1995)--undoubtedly inflamed this trend. The article, which asserted that much of traffic on the Internet dealt with pornography, was based on the largely discredited research of a Carnegie Mellon undergraduate student who examined 32 alt.binaries newsgroups on Usenet, not the Internet. Nonetheless, the article was fodder for the Communications Decency Act of 1996. While the Supreme Court struck down the Act, pending bills such as the "Safe Schools Internet Act" (H.R. 3177) would require all public libraries and schools that receive federal funds for Internet access to install blocking software to restrict minors' access to "inappropriate" material. Other pending bills would punish commercial online distributors for access to material they do not directly control and require service providers to offer blocking software to customers. While most students who use computers in university computer labs are legally adults, many are not. If laws restrict access to minors, there will be a host of technical problems to provide access to scholars and adult students. Labs are open spaces where students come and go, using computers for many purposes but only part of the time for Internet access. Determining policies and creating procedures to implement and monitor policies will entail considerable resources for something that may not be a serious problem and something that cannot be effectively controlled with filtering software. It could require students to present identification to prove they are adults in order to access certain computer resources, not to mention the procedures that would be used to restrict access to those who are minors. There is no way to verify age on the Internet, so the responsibility would fall to the school staff. For the time being, most universities have policies that limit computer use to legitimate educational purposes, and students in most universities have mainly unrestricted access. There is little or no information about how the Internet is used in such settings.
Relationship Between Reliability and Cost of Performance Assessment
Authors: Parkes Jay
Published: March 2015

Performance assessments have come upon two major roadblocks: low reliability coefficients and high cost. Recent speculation has posited that the two are directly related such that cost must rise in order to increase reliability. This understanding may be an oversimplification of the relationship. Two empirical demonstrations are offered to show that more than one combination of sources of error may result in a desired generalizability coefficient and that it is possible to increase the number of observations while also decreasing cost.
Bridging the Gap between Testing and Technology in Schools
Authors: Russell Michael , Haney Walt
Published: March 2015

The widening gap between the increased use of technology in schools and the absence of computers in state-level testing programs raises important implications for policies related to the use of both technology and testing in schools. In this article, we summarize recent developments in the use of technology in schools and in state level testing programs. We then describe two studies indicating that written tests administered on paper underestimate the achievement of students accustomed to working on computers. We conclude by discussing four approaches to bridging the gap between technology and testing in U.S. schools.
America Y2K: The Obsolescence of Educational Reforms
Authors: Dorn Sherman
Published: March 2015

The passing of the deadline for fulfillment of the national education goals in the United States (the beginning of 2000) reflects the frequently hyperbolic statements of objectives and the manic pace of school reform efforts over the past two decades. The domination by schools of child and family life has combined with a longstanding reliance on schools to solve social problems to make school reform a politically opportune as well as visible issue. Thus, even if the phrasing of national education goals in the U.S. changes to reflect the passing of the nominal deadline, those pressures will remain.
Governance and Financing of Chinese Higher Education
Authors: Wang Chengzhi
Published: March 2015

With an introduction to the overall underdevelopment of higher education in China compared with the American counterpart, this article briefly examines the main trends of over two decades of development of the governance and financing systems of China's higher education sector. This article analyzes the resource allocation from governments and revenue generation in institutions under the reform policies of administrative decentralization and financing diversification. The new "Great Leap Forward" in higher education in 1999 and beyond, i.e., the radical and, to a certain extent, desperate mass higher education policy and practice of expanding enrollments in order to spur domestic consumption, is critically analyzed. By examining the ongoing institutional merging and "co-building" and the most recent enrollment expansion, the writer points out the economic significance for higher education of overcoming diseconomies of scale and inefficiencies. However, the long-range outcomes of the seemingly exciting investment in and consumption of mass higher education are difficult to predict.
Distance Learning: The Case of Political Science
Authors: Schmidt Steffen , Shelley Mark C. , Van Wart Monty , Clayton Jane , Schreck Erin
Published: March 2015

This article reports the results from a national survey directed to the department chairs of political science to assess the current and future state of distance learning in that discipline. The insights of this research are relevant to all social science fields and offer important insights to other academic disciplines as well. Key findings of the study include the low utilization of distance learning courses, a low degree of importance currently attributed to distance learning and modest expectations of future growth, ambivalent acceptance of a future role for distance learning, the common use of Internet-related technologies, low levels of faculty knowledge and interest about distance learning, limited institutional support, and serious doubts about the appropriateness and quality of instruction at a distance. We propose a model of the size and scope of distance learning as a function of three factors: the capacity of distance learning technologies, market demand, and faculty and university interest in distance learning. The article concludes with suggestions of critical areas for future research in this dynamic, fluid post-secondary environment.
Social Science Research Findings and Educational Policy Dilemmas
Authors: Miller Steven I. , Fredericks Marcel
Published: March 2015

The article attempts to raise several distinctions regarding the presumed relationship of social science research findings to social policy making. The distinctions are made using Glymour's critique of the Bell Curve. An argument is made that (1) social science models and research findings are largely irrelevant to the actual concerns of policy makers and (2) what is relevant, but overlooked by Glymour, is how ideological factors mediate the process. The forms that ideological mediation may take are indicated.
State Standards & Opportunity to Learn in New Jersey
Authors: Firestone et al William A. , Camili Gregory , Yurecko Michelle , Monfils Lora , Mayrowetz David
Published: March 2015

A survey of 245 New Jersey teachers provides a baseline for examining how the introduction of state standards and assessments affects the teaching of math and science in the 4th grade. These policies are promoting teaching of additional topics in both areas. The changes in the delivery of professional development have not yet been sufficient to lead to substantial changes in instructional practice. While inequities in access to material that characterized the state in the early 1990s have diminished, we find a pattern of inquiry-oriented science teaching more prevalent in wealthy districts and teaching to the test more prevalent in poorer ones. We also note some areas where middle-income districts appear disadvantaged.
Texas Gains on NAEP: Points of Light?
Authors: Camilli Gregory
Published: March 2015

The 1992-1996 gain in mathematics scores on NAEP from 4th to 8th grades in Texas is placed in perspective. The "miracle" in Texas looks much like the median elsewhere. Of 35 states and two districts (Guam and D.C.), the 52-point gain of Texas was good enough to earn Texas a rank of 17th or about the 46th percentile. Taking into consideration the wealth of states, Texas stands in the middle of the packno worse than most other states in delivering educational services to students.
Should Achievement Tests be Used to Judge School Quality?
Authors: Bauer Scott C.
Published: March 2015

This study provides empirical evidence to answer the question whether student scores on standardized achievement tests represent reasonable measures of instructional quality. Using a research protocol designed by Popham and the local study directors, individual test items from a nationally-marketed standardized achievement test were rated by educators and parents to determine the degree to which raters felt that the items reflect important content that is actually taught in schools, and the degree to which raters felt that students' answers to the questions would be likely to be unduly influenced by confounded causality. Three research questions are addressed: What percentage of test items are considered suspect by raters as indicators of school instructional quality? Do educators and parents of school-age children differ in their ratings of the appropriateness of test items? Do educators and parents feel that standardized achievement test scores should be used as an indicator of school instructional quality? Descriptive statistics show that on average, raters felt that the content reflected in test questions measured material that is important for students to know. However, for reading and language arts questions, between about 20% to 40% of the items were viewed as suspect in terms of the other criteria.
Teacher Supply and Demand: Surprises from Primary Research
Authors: Wayne Andrew J.
Published: March 2015

An investigation of primary research studies on public school teacher supply and demand revealed four surprises. Projections show that enrollments are leveling off. Relatedly, annual hiring increases should be only about two or three percent over the next few years. Results from studies of teacher attrition also yield unexpected results. Excluding retirements, only about one in 20 teachers leaves each year, and the novice teachers who quit mainly cite personal and family reasons, not job dissatisfaction. Each of these findings broadens policy makers' options for teacher supply.
Findings from the Teaching, Learning, and Computing Survey
Authors: Becker Henry Jay
Published: March 2015

Cuban (1986; 2000) has argued that computers are largely incompatible with the requirements of teaching, and that, for the most part, teachers will continue to reject their use as instruments of student work during class. Using data from a nationally representative survey of 4th through 12th grade teachers, this paper demonstrates that although Cuban correctly characterizes frequent use of computers in academic subject classes as a teaching practice of a small and distinct minority, certain conditions make a big difference in the likelihood of a teacher having her students use computers frequently during class time. In particular, academic subject-matter teachers who have at least five computers present in their classroom, who have at least average levels of technical expertise in their use, and who are in the top quartile on a reliable and extensive measure of constructivist teaching philosophy are very likely to have students make regular use of computers during class. More than 3/4 of such teachers have students use word processing programs regularly during class and a majority are regular users of at least one other type of software besides skill-based games. In addition, other factors-such as an orientation towards depth rather than breadth in their teaching(perhaps caused by limited pressures to cover large amounts of content) and block scheduling structures that provide for long class periods-are also associated with greater use of computers by students during class. Finally, the paper provides evidence that certain approaches to using computers result in students taking greater initiative in using computers outside of class time-approaches consistent with a constructivist teaching philosophy, rather than a standards- based, accountability-oriented approach to teaching. Thus, despite their clear minority status as a primary resource in academic subject classroom teaching, computers are playing a major role in at least one major direction of current instructional reform efforts.
Higher Education Finance Reform in the Czech Republic
Authors: McMullen Matthew S.
Published: March 2015

Throughout Europe and especially the former communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe, universities and governments are evaluating ways to finance higher education other than the current dominant model of almost total government support. With government pressure to use limited funds in other areas (e.g., health care, environment, and the like) higher education institutions are being encouraged to become more economically self-sufficient. Some of these reforms have included establishing closer ties with regional businesses and introducing tuition and user fees to offset some of the costs of university operations. The particular focus of this report is on the new methods of financing higher education in the Czech Republic.
Indications of the Implementation in the Process of Educational Reform in Uruguay
Authors: Sarasola Marcos R.
Published: March 2015

In this paper the author investigates, from a qualitative perspective, the problems associated with implementing educational innovations. He studies the recent case of the Basic Cycle reform in Uruguay. Based on the concepts of van der Vegt and Vandenberghe (1992), he analyzes the "functions guides" exercised by the director in order to be able to regulate the internal flow of the implementation. The first of these is "conceptual clarity", which has to do with providing the professors with a clear vision of what will take place within the implementation, and with specifying that vision in terms of the professional knowledge and abilities of the faculty as well. The second of these is "directional pressure," which refers to an operational level of the implementation; that is to say, how daily activities mesh with the objectives of the reform. Next, "function of support" refers to the support offered by the director for the management of resources (material, emotional, technical, and administrative resources), so that the resources may then effectively support the work in the center. Finally is "definition of latitude," that is, the degree of educational autonomy that the faculty have with respect to the external objectives of the reform.
Affirmative Action at Work
Authors: McKillip Jack
Published: March 2015

IMGIP and ICEOP are minority graduate fellowship programs sponsored by the State of Illinois in order to increase the number of minority faculty and professional staff at Illinois institutions of higher education through graduate fellowships, networking and mentoring support. Nearly 850 fellowships have been awarded since 1986. A performance audit examined immediate (areas of graduate study, ethnicity of awards), intermediate (graduation areas and rates), and long-range results (academic job placement). The primary source for the audit was the database maintained by the programs' administrative office. These data were compared with data sets maintained by the Illinois Board of Higher Education and with national benchmarks (NSF and Ford Foundation Minority Graduate Fellowships). Findings revealed: (a) the IMGIP and ICEOP programs led to major diversification of minority doctoral study in Illinois; (b) a high percentage of all fellows graduated, both absolutely and in relation to national benchmarks, and fellows made up a large percentage of doctoral degrees awarded to minorities by Illinois institutions (e.g., 46% of doctorates in the hard sciences awarded to African Americans from 1988-1998); and (c) fellows made up an important proportion of all minority faculty in Illinois (9%). Most ICEOP doctoral fellows and many other fellows have taken academic positions. The audit revealed outcomes-based evidence of a successful affirmative action program in higher educationevidence that is not otherwise available.
Comment on Ng's "Wealth Redistribution, Race & Southern Public Schools, 1880-1910"
Authors: Dorn Sherman
Published: March 2015

Wherein the author raises criticisms and advances qualifications to the conclusions reached by Kenneth Ng is his article "Wealth Redistribution, Race and Southern Public Schools, 1880-1910.
One University's Experience with Foreign-trained Teachers
Authors: Flores Belinda Bustos
Published: March 2015

Texas like many states is facing a teacher shortage. The author suggests that the teacher shortage should be considered in light of the diverse school population. Across states there is a need for well-prepared teachers to work with linguistically and culturally diverse school populations. Thus, areas such as bilingual education continue to be critical shortage areas. While different attempts are currently underway to increase the number of preservice bilingual educators, another way districts have addressed this issue is to employ foreign-trained teachers as paraprofessionals or as teachers. Recently, Texas passed a regulation that would allow legally residing foreign-trained teachers to become certified Texas teachers upon passing the appropriate teacher competency exams and demonstrating English proficiency. The passing of this "fast-track" regulation appears to demonstrate that the state board is thinking out of the box by tapping into a community's resources and acknowledging that immigrants can offer the community services beyond menial tasks. However, the researcher cautions that such actions may not increase the number of teachers and may not assure teacher quality. To support this notion, the researcher offers an analysis of a university's experience with the integration of legally residing foreign-trained Mexican teachers in their bilingual education teacher preparation program. The researcher posits that increasing the number of qualified teachers does require for entities to think out of the box, such as tapping into a community's natural resources; nevertheless, any plan of action should be critically examined and deliberated.
The Participation of National Minorities in Pre-Modern Educational Systems
Authors: Ruano Carlos R.
Published: March 2015

This article presents the results of research carried out on the linguistic and educational needs of Guatemala's national minorities and the responses given to those needs by Guatemala's central government. Specifically, the case of the Garífuna population on the Atlantic Coast is studied with a view to understanding the educational policy dynamics underlying Pre-Modern States towards the multicultural groups' lack of participation and incorporation into the national polity. Lastly, the specific educational claims of the Garífunas are studied, particularly in relation to Guatemala's other linguistic blocks, namely, Mayan and Spanish language speakers.
Occupational Trends and Program Priorities
Authors: Rosenthal Dan , Collier Kitty C.
Published: March 2015

Institutions of higher education that respond to the economic base in their region will remain competitive and be better positioned to obtain public funds and donor support. In addition to mandated program viability standards based on measures such as graduation rate, individual institutions and state coordinating boards can use ten-year occupational trend data to assess future program viability. We used an occupational demand model to determine whether academic programs can meet projected statewide needs for high demand and high growth occupations. For example, computer engineering, the highest growth rate occupation in Alabama, is projected to have 365 annual average job openings, with 93.6% total growth over ten years. But only 46 computer engineering majors graduate annually from all Alabama institutions of higher education. We recommend using an occupational demand model as a planning tool, decision-making tool, and catalyst for collaborative initiatives.
International Patterns of Teacher Discontent
Authors: Scott Catherine , Stone Barbara , Dinham Steve
Published: March 2015

This article reports the results of research into the career motivation and satisfaction of a sample of over 3,000 teachers and school administrators in four countries: Australia, New Zealand, England, and the USA. Using the participants' own words, we explore the effects on educators of recent international educational change, understood here as a subcategory of more general social trends. Bourdieu's concepts of the Right and Left Hands of the state are used to interpret the experience of teaching in a climate where, while more is expected and demanded of schools, and schools and teachers are scrutinised as never before, educational resources have become scarcer, and the status and image of teaching as a profession has declined.
Impact of U.S. Overseas Schools in Latin America on Values
Authors: Ketterer John J. , Marsh George E.
Published: March 2015

This study focuses on the attitudinal outcomes of schooling in American Overseas Schools in Latin America with respect to democracy and citizenship, the formation of views about the United States, and student attitudes about the American international school.
Finding Resources to Reduce Class-size
Authors: Odden Allan , Archibald Sarah
Published: March 2015

This article discusses how a medium-sized school district in Wisconsin was able to reallocate resources to reduce class sizes in grades K-5 without spending more money or increasing its tax rate. Previous research on resource reallocation found that the bulk of reallocated resources were those supporting categorical program services. This district was able to use a different strategy. As a growing district, its marginal costs of adding an extra class of students were much less than its average expenditures per pupil, which were reimbursed by the state school finance formula. As the district grew, therefore, it acquired excess revenues. Also, by implementing full-day kindergarten, the district acquired more excess revenues because this added (0.5 pupil) X (Number of kindergartners) to its current enrollment, and the cost of educating these students was less than the amount they received from the state funding formula. It then used these revenues to reduce class sizes to between 15 and 20 in all Kindergarten through grade 3 classrooms and to between 15 and 22 for grades 4-5.
Autonomy and Accountability in Standards-Based Reform
Authors: Watson Susan , Supovitz Jonathan
Published: March 2015

In this article we discuss the effects of one urban school district's efforts to increase the autonomy and accountability of schools and teams of teachers through a standards-based reform known as team- based schooling. Team-based schooling is designed to devolve decision-making authority down to the school level by increasing teachers' autonomy to make decisions. Increased accountability is enacted in the form of a state-level standards-based initiative. Based on our evaluation over a two-year period involving extensive fieldwork and quantitative analysis, we describe the ways that teachers, teams and school administrators responded to the implementation of team-based schooling. What are the effects of increasing school-level autonomy and accountability in the context of standards- based reform? Our analysis highlights several issues: the "lived reality" of teaming as it interacts with the existing culture within schools, the ways that teachers respond to the pressures created by increased internal and external accountability, and the effects of resource constraints on the effectiveness of implementation. We conclude by using our findings to consider more broadly the trade-off between increased autonomy and accountability on which standards-based reforms like team-based schooling are based.
Teachers Who Grow As Collaborative Leaders
Authors: Sawyer Richard D.
Published: March 2015

The following narratives examine three teachers over a course of ten years as they first entered teaching and began to collaborate with other teachers on curriculum. Specifically, the study examines how the teachers 1) developed as collaborators and 2) perceived elements of support from both within and outside the classroom for their collaborative efforts. The article argues that the successful collaborative efforts helped deepen their sense of agency and initiative within their teaching and, to a lesser degree, stimulated reform and change within their schools. In turn and to varying degrees, the process of collaboration supported their personal renewal in their work. The article suggests that structural support for these teachers that connected to their emerging personal practical knowledge was crucial for their development as teacher collaborators. The article concludes by suggesting how schools may be restructured to start to become sites of authentic leadership that build on the talents, meaning, voice, and knowledge of teachers.
High School Size, Achievement Equity, and Cost
Authors: Bickel Robert , Howley Craig , Williams Tony , Glascock Catherine H.
Published: March 2015

The past decade has occasioned a dramatic increase in research on relationships between school size and a variety of outcomes, including measured achievement, high school completion rates, and postsecondary enrollment rates. An interesting interaction effect which has been found in replications across seven very different states is that as school size increases, the "achievement test score costs" associated with the proportion of economically disadvantaged students enrolled in a school also increase. In short, as schools get larger, average achievement among schools enrolling larger proportions of low socioeconomic-status students suffers. A traditional argument against smaller schools, however, is that they are simply
Progress on Addressing Contingent Work Issues in Academia
Authors: Jacoby Daniel
Published: March 2015

Higher education workers in Washington State are challenging the use of contingent academic labor. This article examines data and policies relevant to the state's reliance upon part-time faculty in community colleges. Data from the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges is juxtaposed with results from a survey completed by 20% of the part-time faculty in 14 community colleges to show that most do not work part-time by choice. The quantitative analysis underlies a subsequent examination of legislative and court solutions pursued in Washington State. Despite significant spending constraints, the state shows signs of being in the national vanguard as it addresses contingent academic labor issues.
How the Internet Will Help Large-Scale Assessment Reinvent Itself
Authors: Bennett Randy Elliot
Published: March 2015

Large-scale assessment in the United States is undergoing enormous pressure to change. That pressure stems from many causes. Depending upon the type of test, the issues precipitating change include an outmoded cognitive-scientific basis for test design; a mismatch with curriculum; the differential performance of population groups; a lack of information to help individuals improve; and inefficiency. These issues provide a strong motivation to reconceptualize both the substance and the business of large-scale assessment. At the same time, advances in technology, measurement, and cognitive science are providing the means to make that reconceptualization a reality. The thesis of this paper is that the largest facilitating factor will be technological, in particular the Internet. In the same way that it is already helping to revolutionize commerce, education, and even social interaction, the Internet will help revolutionize the business and substance of large-scale assessment.
Teacher Test Accountability.
Authors: Ludlow Larry H.
Published: March 2015

Given the high stakes of teacher testing, there is no doubt that every teacher test should meet the industry guidelines set forth in the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing. Unfortunately, however, there is no public or private business or governmental agency that serves to certify or in any other formal way declare that any teacher test does, in fact, meet the psychometric recommendations stipulated in the Standards. Consequently, there are no legislated penalties for faulty products (tests) nor are there opportunities for test takers simply to raise questions about a test and to have their questions taken seriously by an impartial panel. The purpose of this article is to highlight some of the psychometric results reported by National Evaluation Systems (NES) in their 1999 Massachusetts Educator Certification Test (MECT) Technical Report, and more specifically, to identify those technical characteristics of the MECT that are inconsistent with the Standards. A second purpose of this article is to call for the establishment of a standing test auditing organization with investigation and sanctioning power. The significance of the present analysis is twofold: a) psychometric results for the MECT are similar in nature to psychometric results presented as evidence of test development flaws in an Alabama class-action lawsuit dealing with teacher certification (an NES-designed testing system); and b) there was no impartial enforcement agency to whom complaints about the Alabama tests could be brought, other than the court, nor is there any such agency to whom complaints about the Massachusetts tests can be brought. I begin by reviewing NES's role in Allen v. Alabama State Board of Education, 81-697-N. Next I explain the purpose and interpretation of standard item analysis procedures and statistics. Finally, I present results taken directly from the 1999 MECT Technical Report and compare them to procedures, results, and consequences of procedures followed by NES in Alabama.
Critique of "An Evaluation of the Florida A-Plus Accountability Program"
Authors: Camilli Gregory , Bulkley Katrina
Published: March 2015

In 1999, Florida adopted the "A-Plus" accountability system, which included a provision that allowed students in certain low-performing schools to receive school vouchers. In a recently released report, An Evaluation of the Florida A-Plus Accountability and School Choice Program (Greene, 2001a), the author argued that early evidence from this program strongly implies that the program has led to significant improvement on test scores in schools threatened with vouchers. However, a careful analysis of Greene's findings and the Florida data suggests that these strong effects may be largely due to sample selection, regression to the mean, and problems related to the aggregation of test score results.
Effects of Vouchers:Another Look at the Florida Data
Authors: Kupermintz Haggai
Published: March 2015

This report re-analyzes test score data from Florida public schools. In response to a recent report from the Manhattan Institute, it offers a different perspective and an alternative explanation for the pattern of test score improvements among low scoring schools in Florida.