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A wealth of literature shows positive outcomes and experiences from arts learning, yet youth access to arts education has become significantly more inequitable over the past 30 years. Alongside the growing discourse around arts learning and equity issues, there is a recognized and persistent need for more research. We conducted a critical, qualitative study of out-of-school time (OST) arts organizations across the United States. Our primary research questions were: (1) How do community youth arts organizational leaders, teaching artists, and participants describe the leading ideas and practices in OST youth arts programming? (2) How can OST youth arts work center the cultural, historical, and geographic resources that artists and arts organizations bring to arts programming? We first developed a theoretical framework for understanding arts practices in education and summarize key learning outcomes associated with youth participation in the arts. We then talked with OST arts education experts across the United States to understand how their programs support and center youth in arts learning, particularly Black youth, Indigenous youth, and youth of color (BIPOC youth), youth from low-income backgrounds, and LGBTQIA+ youth. This report offers the concept of "cultural-regional scenes" to describe the critical, qualitative case studies we developed of OST youth arts practice. We describe four unique cultural-regional scenes--the Urban Midwest, the Bay Area, Texas-Mexico Border Towns, and the Indigenous Southwest--and provide examples of youth arts practice in each scene. We conclude with ideas that stretch across scenes and suggest that researchers and practitioners can take up this approach in the study of OST youth arts programs. [Written in collaboration with community artists and artist-leaders across the United States and Indigenous Nations.]

This study examines the emerging relationship between microcredentials and qualification systems. Information gathered through an online survey among European VET providers, national authorities, employee and employer organisations was complemented by in-depth country case studies and interviews with Cedefop's ReferNet network. Questions of whether and how microcredentials should be related to established qualification systems are at an early stage of consideration in most countries; the focus is on better defining and standardising their role within national qualifications systems. Existing trends towards modularisation and the recognition of prior learning provide potential avenues for realising the benefits of microcredentials in terms of flexibility and responsiveness, while also ensuring their quality for learners and employers. There is still significant debate over how to deal with microcredentials, and how to avoid potential negative effects, such as encouraging a shift away from holistic education towards short-duration learning based around reduced skill sets. Microcredentials are a complex phenomenon, particularly with regard to their relationship to qualifications. In recent years, there has been an acceleration in the availability and use of microcredentials in the labour market, raising questions about their relationship to VET and to qualification systems. The proliferation of microcredentials of different types across various sectors, occupations, education sectors and levels and countries, along with variations between countries in the nature of qualification systems -- which are undergoing change -- make this a complex landscape to research and analyse. To date there has been a lack of data at EU level informing decision-making in this area. This report aims to be a first step towards filling some key gaps in the knowledge around these topics, addressing three main research questions.

Online education can be leveraged to help current students complete their degrees and to attract new students. While online learning is not new, in recent years, it has been moving away from the periphery of higher education and becoming a central component of institutional strategies for increasing student enrollment, retention, and completion. Research regarding online learning has demonstrated that there is no significant difference between student outcomes in online versus face-to-face courses; with some studies showing that online learning can be more effective. Student learning outcomes assessment must be part of quality course design and instruction whether a course is delivered face-to-face or online; many best practices for face-to-face assessment also apply to online learning assessment. Yet, there are differences between the two modalities that must be taken into account when developing online courses. The first part of this paper will provide an in-depth discussion of the Open SUNY Course Quality Review Rubric (OSCQR)--an online course design rubric and process that is openly licensed for anyone to use and adapt. The aim of the OSCQR Rubric and Process is to assist online instructional designers and online faculty to improve the quality and accessibility of their online courses. OSCQR also provides a system-wide approach to collect data that informs faculty development and supports large scale online course design review and refresh efforts in a systematic and consistent way. This paper then explores general considerations of online teaching as they pertain to the assessment of student learning outcomes. Finally, specific examples will be given of how online course instructors and distance learning administrators have designed their courses and programs to ensure appropriate assessment of learning outcomes.

This discussion paper explores the possibilities and risks that data linkage presents for the vocational education and training (VET) sector. Along with a broad overview of the nature of data linkage, it highlights possible applications for data linkage in the VET sector and examines the key challenges associated with its use. A number of case studies are reviewed to illustrate the advantages data linkage can offer, as well as the challenges that may arise. In order to better understand the options for data linkage from an education and employment perspective, a 'map' of relevant Australian datasets is presented, along with a list of data sources that may be of use to VET research. As well as selected Australian datasets, the paper reviews some international datasets of potential interest for VET research in Australia. Using the insights gained from past data-linkage projects and taking into account the privacy and ethics concerns, the paper presents a set of six principles for data linkage. These principles provide researchers with basic steps for guidance when embarking upon a data-linkage project. Finally, future directions for data linkage in VET research are explored.

This working paper will share the experience of Ashta No Kai (ANK), a grassroots nonprofit the author founded in 1998 in 10 villages in Shirur County, Maharashtra state, India, to promote the empowerment and education of women and girls in rural areas. The paper will, at first, examine the state of education in India including the Indian government's policies and programs that are attempting to address the gender gap in girls' education. Next, the barriers that girls in rural areas face to access their right to an education will be discussed followed by an introduction of various holistic, need-based, and low-cost educational interventions that ANK has initiated to address some of these impediments. Findings will then be reported from quantitative and qualitative surveys conducted, as well as case studies to gauge the impact of these interventions. Finally, the paper will propose evidence-based recommendations of integrated and sustainable strategies and approaches as guidance to policy practitioners to help promote educational outcomes and enhanced agency for adolescent girls to better navigate their world.

In a highly competitive global landscape, occupations are transformed, new jobs are created and the skills needed for the labour market are constantly changing. European countries are looking at redefining VET [vocational education and training] to respond promptly to such challenges and take advantage of the opportunities ahead. They are reforming to modernise their VET systems and strengthen the relevance of their national qualifications in an international context. This publication explores national responses to globalisation in 15 countries and five economic sectors. It aims to understand how European and international initiatives help VET renewal across Europe. It shows how countries' reactions are embedded in their national traditions but also depend on their interactions with European, sectoral and multinational players that provide training and award qualifications. [The research was carried out by a consortium led by IBE Educational research institute and 3s Unternehmensberatung GmbH.]

This case study presents and discusses the English for Academic Study Telecollaboration (EAST) project, carried out between Science, Engineering, and Technology (SET) students from different higher education institutions. In this telecollaborative project, the students work across borders and cultures on real-life SET discipline-specific scenarios and develop a number of soft skills and attributes alongside. The paper shows how the telecollaborative exchange has been set up and what changes were required to adapt the existing course, particularly its assessment procedures, to ensure the project was well integrated into the curriculum. It also attempts to evaluate the project, taking into account the differing outcomes and learning experiences of the participants from the partnering institutions. It concludes that adding the telecollaborative project to the existing course resulted in a richer educational experience for the participants and development of a number of skills but points out imbalances in the treatment of the participants from the assessment point of view and suggests how these inequalities could be addressed in the future. [For the complete volume, "Assessing Virtual Exchange in Foreign Language Courses at Tertiary Level," see ED624433.]

ACECQA [Australian Children's Education and Care Quality Authority] has published its fifth occasional paper analysing Quality Area 7 -- Leadership and service management. This completes the suite of occasional papers that cover the four quality areas of the National Quality Standard that are comparatively challenging. Quality Area 7 recognises the importance of effective leadership and internal administrative systems in guiding and supporting educators, coordinators and staff members to deliver quality education and care programs. The paper highlights contemporary research and theory related to leadership and service management, describes the operational requirements of the National Law and National Regulations, and examines the distribution of quality ratings for Quality Area 7. It provides case studies of the Quality Area 7 elements, along with examples of evidence collected by authorised officers when assessing the elements. Future directions and the implications of the data and literature for service leadership and management are also examined. The paper will be of interest to people who deliver education and care services, people who provide training and professional development services to the sector, peak organisations, and officers in the state and territory regulatory authorities that regulate education and care services.

This paper documents the perceptions and experiences of faculty members in the midst of statewide reform efforts in Virginia and North Carolina to integrate developmental reading and writing courses. Using interview and focus group data from 161 faculty and administrators in both states (combined) as well as three detailed case studies of faculty teaching newly integrated courses, we describe how departments and faculty approached the task of course integration. Findings suggest that while instructors had a generally positive impression of integrating the two disciplines, implementing these new courses was not without challenges. A common approach to course design, which we term "additive," involved combining assignments and activities from the old standalone courses. We identify a range of factors associated with using the additive approach, including conceptions of literacy learning focused on the mastery of discrete skills, professional development aimed at exchanging activities and materials between reading and writing instructors, and lack of a clear framework for an integrated course design. Instructors using the additive approach reported that they could not cover all of the content/activities from the previous courses under the accelerated course structure, and worried they that they were not able to provide students the literacy skills they needed to be successful in college. Yet some faculty used or began to adopt what we call an "integrative" approach to course design in which few standalone components of the previously offered courses remained. Integrative course design tended to emphasize metacognition, extensive text-based writing, and embedded skills and strategy instruction, often offered in a "just-in-time" fashion. Faculty perceived that these more "integrative" course elements were associated with improved literacy learning. The findings presented have implications for creating support resources and professional development for departments and faculty who are new to teaching integrated reading and writing courses. The paper includes several curricular examples which can be adapted and used by faculty teaching integrated developmental courses.

This working paper is the first publication coming out of a project investigating the role of vocational education and training (VET) in developing digital skills in the Australian workforce, using two sectors as case studies--Transport and Logistics, and Public Safety and Correctional Services. The study employs a mixed method approach, combining both qualitative and quantitative analyses. It involves industry training package content analysis, content extraction and analysis from online job vacancy advertisements, and key industry interviews, as well as a quantitative employer survey. In the online job vacancy analysis, a total of 1,708 job advertisements covering 74 occupations/job titles were analysed to explore digital skills requirements. In addition, a detailed content analysis was conducted of 11 training packages, with a specific focus on the qualifications for these occupations. In this analysis, 758 units of competency were analysed to examine how and the extent to which digital skills provision is embedded into qualifications. Findings showed that only a small number mentioned digital skills as a requirement. The training packages for these industries contained significant digital training content but with the majority of these units of competency occurring as electives. These findings raise questions about whether employers are making assumptions about the digital skills of potential employees.

The employability of college students is one of postsecondary education's most pressing concerns in the United States and China, especially when it comes to the possible over-production of bachelor's trained students and "skills gaps" where jobs go unfilled due to inadequately prepared graduates. In response, policymakers are focusing on developing students' human capital, in the form of credentials and cognitive skills acquired in technical colleges, so that higher education becomes more aligned with workforce needs. However, the focus on completion and pathways overlooks the role that non-cognitive skills and contextual factors may play in student employability. In this exploratory study we use a cultural capital framework to examine how a group of technical college educators and employers in a large eastern Chinese city conceptualize skills, cultivate them via teaching and training, and utilize them when making hiring decisions. Inductive thematic analyses of interviews, classroom observation, and notes from factory tours with eight educators and two employers revealed the importance of a cultural perspective. Findings include a shared view that both cognitive and non-cognitive skills are essential, a cultural predisposition to lecturing but also a growing use of active learning techniques, and the importance of "cultural fit" during the hiring process. The data are used to advance a new cultural framework for conceptualizing college student employability, which indicates that improving students' prospects in the labor market requires integrating non-cognitive skills development in technical college classrooms, and advising students about the cultural underpinnings of the job search process. Finally, implications of different approaches to correcting "skills gaps" in China and the United States, particularly the varying emphases on structural and/or pedagogical reform strategies evident in each country, are considered in light of the need for all students to acquire both cognitive and non-cognitive skills for long-term success.

The acceptance of new growth theory relates, in part, to a number of highly touted regional success stories--or what I term "Knowledge Based Economic Areas" (KBEAs) in this and past essays. The United States, and California in particular, is viewed as perhaps the most robust creators of KBEAs, providing an influential model that is visited and revisited by business and government leaders, and other Flagship (or leading national) universities, that wish to replicate their strengths within their own cultural and political terms. While California has a number of unique characteristics, including a robust University of California system with a strong internal academic culture and devotion to public service, the story of its historical and contemporary success as an agent of economic development is closely linked to a number of key contextual factors. These relate to the internal culture, governance and management capacity of major universities in the United States, national investment patterns in R&D, the business environment, including the concentration of Knowledge Based Businesses, the acceptance of risk, and the availability of venture capital, legal variables related to Intellectual Property (IP) and tax policies, the quality of regional workforces, and quality of life factors that are important components for attracting and retaining talent. In most of these KBEAs variables, California has enjoyed an advantage that helps to partially explain the success of the University of California (UC) and other major research universities as agents of economic development. This study focuses on seven contextual variables common to all KBEAs in the United States and much of the world, and with particular attention to the UC system--a network of ten research-intensive campuses. General Principles for a University Governing Board Association of Governing Boards (AGB) are appended.

Asthma is the leading chronic health condition among children in the United States and a major cause of childhood disability. It also disproportionately affects low-income and racial and ethnic minorities. Although a wide range of interventions have been implemented to improve asthma-related outcomes among socioeconomically disadvantaged and minority children, disparities persist. This paper, which was commissioned by the JPB Foundation and conducted by MDRC in partnership with the National Academy for State Health Policy, standardizes and compares effects from rigorous evaluations across three main types of interventions: those that focus on improving education and self-management, those that focus on addressing remediation of the conditions that trigger asthma in the home environment, and those that focus on improving health care provider practice. While prior reviews have summarized findings for each intervention type, this review systematically compares findings across a range of outcomes and a spectrum of different approaches to addressing childhood asthma, drawing from about 30 independent studies and earlier published reviews. In addition, the paper includes case studies of various local programs and state-level policy initiatives to illuminate current efforts to address childhood asthma in low-income communities and barriers faced in sustaining asthma programs. Key findings include: (1) Providing education on how to manage asthma is fundamental to improving outcomes, but it may not be enough to alleviate disparities in asthma management; (2) Some local programs are clearly bridging informational gaps among low-income families and are helping them maintain a safe home environment for their children with asthma; (3) The health care benefits of interventions that go beyond education are unclear; (4) Barriers to medication management are complex and medication adherence is difficult to influence; and (5) The role of the state, and the Medicaid program in particular, is relevant for the financing and sustainability of asthma programs for low-income children. Although the long-run sustainability of some of the programs highlighted in this report is uncertain, what is clear is that combating the disparities in the prevalence of asthma among different populations will require more than an agreement on standard asthma management practices within the medical community. The following are appended: (1) Methodology for Literature Review; (2) Summaries of Asthma Studies; (3) Detailed Case Studies of Local Asthma Programs; and (4) Detailed State-Based Case Studies. [This working paper was written with Felicia Heider, Carrie Hanlon, and Taylor Kniffin.]

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 in-depth comparative case studies of six states: Tennessee, Colorado, Delaware, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Pennsylvania. For this paper the individuals interviewed in those states two years ago (or their replacements if necessary) were re-interviewed to understand how and why their efforts differ today. By analyzing state implementation efforts at two different points in time, the new study utilizes a longitudinal qualitative approach that can reveal the extent to which states are learning and adapting in this work over time. Rather than the detailed state case studies of State Education Agency (SEA) implementation work provided in the 2012 paper, this report uses a more thematic approach that will synthesize the lessons that have emerged from the field. This paper serves 2 purposes: (1) To provide a snapshot in time (Jan 2015) of SEA implementation efforts around new teacher evaluation systems; and (2) To contrast more recent implementation efforts with those two years earlier to understand the ways in which SEAs have (and have not) learned and adapted their implementation work over time. More specifically, the paper will address the following questions: What kinds of capacity--financial, personnel, technical--have SEAs added to support the implementation of new teacher evaluation systems? What kind of capacity is still lacking? How rapidly and how effectively are states implementing their new teacher evaluation systems? Why do some states appear to be having more success/smoother implementation than others? How are states approaching this implementation work differently from one another--do some approaches appear to be more or less effective than others? What challenges are emerging and how are states addressing these? What lessons can be learned from these "early adopter" states that can inform teacher evaluation reform in the rest of the country? How are states approaching the training of evaluators and the principals and teachers who are supposed to use the evaluations to improve personnel decisions and classroom instruction? How well are new teacher evaluation systems being aligned with other reforms such as the move to Common Core and new assessments? How are states dealing with the challenge of measuring student achievement in non-tested subjects? The following is appended: Interviews Conducted As Part of Research.

The narrative of the "skills gap," or the notion that the United States economy suffers because employers are not able to find job applicants with workplace-ready skills (e.g., American Society for Training and Development 2012), has become an influential rallying cry in higher education funding circles in recent years. It is with these gaps in mind that this paper uses a qualitative case study of STEM-related Wisconsin postsecondary institutions and businesses, based on interviews with employer and educator respondents, to explore the following questions: (1) What skills are most highly valued by employers and college educators?; and (2) According to respondents, what social, organizational, or other contextual factors, if any, influence the value and prevalence of these skills? The findings, which were conceptualized with a field theoretical framework from relational sociology (Bourdieu 1998; Martin 2003), suggest not only that employers value noncognitive competencies like work ethic and communication that students internalize through family, friends, education, and work experiences, but also that many postsecondary educators understand how such cultural currency can influence students' future success in a variety of social spheres. Furthermore, employers and educators often discussed these competencies not as singular, isolated "skills," but as multifaceted and situated "habits of mind," inextricably linked as dispositional practices and states of being.

This paper examines technology-mediated advising reform in order to contribute to the understanding of how colleges engage in transformative change to improve student outcomes. Conceptualizing such change as occurring along three interrelated dimensions of organizational functioning (structural, process, and attitudinal), we seek to understand the contexts that encourage or discourage transformation of advising and student support. We use in-depth pre/post data from six colleges deploying integrated planning and advising for student success (iPASS) to investigate the reform process. Three of the six colleges made steps toward transforming their student support delivery, shifting along all three dimensions. We identify four contextual features that appear to underpin colleges' likelihood of transformative reform. Technology and vendor relationships form an important foundation. Reform vision and rationale, leadership, and the college's orientation toward student success are important institutional influences. Our findings support the hypothesis put forth by Karp and Fletcher (2014) in their Readiness for Technology Adoption framework that technology is necessary but not sufficient for transformation, and that project-level and organizational factors are perhaps more important. Moreover, the findings demonstrate that technology can spur substantial institutional change, but only under certain circumstances.

Building from findings showing that undergraduate computer science continues to have the highest attrition rates proportionally for women within postsecondary science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines--a phenomenon that defies basic social equity goals in a high status field--this paper seeks to better understand how student experiences in local higher educational settings can influence persistence decisions, particulary for women. Updating and extending work in computer science, our qualitative analysis interprets this wider problem, first, by applying a field theory of practice to more clearly theorize how varying social realms and positions influence student experiences and feelings of belonging. Second, we use an in-depth comparative case study of two introductory or "gateway" computer science courses in two universities to detail how classroom, departmental, institutional, and extra-institutional characteristics, including instructional practices and popular stereotypes, may shape action for students in specific higher educational contexts. While previous studies have highlighted the significance of broader computer science cultural values, self-efficacy beliefs, and experience with computers to women's attrition, our findings provide a new theoretical lens to conceptualize the complex ways these and other factors connect in students' daily lives--through preening male students or "brogrammers," authentic or collaborative learning experiences, and uncomfortable social interactions due in part to women's underrepresentation. Our findings also point to differences in local interactions and social positions that can begin to mediate these factors, including opportunities in class to ask questions, collaborate, and work on real-world example problems; fuller access to instructors; and departmental and campus infrastructural supports that contribute to a more meaningful sense of belonging in computer science.

State takeovers were an infrequently applied strategy to address the problems of financially and academically troubled schools for many decades. Although 23 states had the right to take over individual schools and No Child Left Behind (NCLB) required states to address persistently low-achieving schools, only five states had exercised their power by 2005. By 2006, a new state takeover model had emerged in Louisiana. Following Hurricane Katrina's devastation of New Orleans, state legislation adopted in November 2005 brought the majority of the city's public schools under state Recovery School District (RSD) jurisdiction. Since 2006, the RSD has moved aggressively towards creating a portfolio management model by authorizing numerous charter management organizations (CMOs) to operate its schools. The opportunity for a more extensive state role in taking over troubled schools grew further with the announcement of the federal Race to the Top (RTTT) program in 2009. RTTT required states to develop plans to turn around their lowest achieving schools. In this report, the authors examine how Michigan and Tennessee have developed and implemented plans for school turnaround districts partly inspired by Louisiana's RSD. The comparative case studies focus on Michigan's policies and involvement in Detroit schools through the Education Achievement Authority (EAA) and Tennessee's policies and involvement in Memphis schools through the Achievement School District (ASD). Although state-level, philanthropic, and charter school leaders in both states initially drew upon the RSD model, Michigan and Tennessee have diverged from the RSD--and from one another--in many respects. These differences highlight some challenges to replicating the RSD in other contexts and, more generally, raise questions about school turnarounds primarily led by networks of outside actors. The authors examine divergence in state legislation and leadership, resources (federal and philanthropic), engagement with charter schools, and district-level leadership. The EAA and ASD have faced additional challenges due to their policy and political contexts, including a city-county merger in Memphis and an ongoing fiscal crisis in Detroit. Local school leaders in both cities have also developed their own reform plans, and may be reluctant to expend political capital on controversial state-led efforts. The analysis sheds light on whether outside investment and leadership can spur sustainable reforms in urban districts. A table comparing the ASD and EAA is appended.

In recent years many charter public schools in Massachusetts have increased the number of English language learners (ELLs) that they enroll. A 2010 amendment to the charter school law has made it easier for charter schools to recruit English language learners. The success that many charter schools have had with this subset of students defies critics who claim that charter schools "cream" students, attracting and retaining only those who are "easiest to teach." Case studies of high-achieving charter schools with large and sometimes culturally and linguistically diverse populations of English language learners reveal common best practices. These practices include but are not limited to: individually tailored curricula that emphasize inclusive teaching practices; intentional and continuous use of high-quality formative assessments; language-enriched learning environments; recruitment and retention of teachers with knowledge of the communities that the school serves; and efforts to engage parents and community that are attuned to relevant cultural and linguistic contexts. The following report highlights three high-performing charter schools, detailing the common best practices that they continue to use and refine and highlighting the subtle but important ways each school caters to its specific student population. The case studies make clear that the autonomies that these schools enjoy because of their charter status allow them to be nimble in serving a changing student population. The same autonomies also enable these schools to design and refine approaches to serving English language learners that enhance student learning and achievement.

Community colleges and broad-access four-year institutions have a crucial role to play in increasing educational equity in the United States. In order to fulfill this role, however, institutions must engage in organizational change to address their low completion rates. Drawing on qualitative case studies of six colleges, this study explores the influence of different types of leadership approaches on the implementation of a technology-mediated advising reform, and assesses which types of leadership are associated with transformative organizational change. Expanding on Heifetz's theory of adaptive change and Karp and Fletcher's Readiness for Technology Adoption framework, we find that transformative change requires multitiered leadership with a unified commitment to a shared vision for the reform and its goals.

The global competition and related international academic mobility in science and research is rising. Within this context, Europe faces quantitative skills shortages, including an estimate of between 800,000 and one million researchers. Within Europe skills imbalances and mismatches increase, with a growing divergence between countries and regions, in particular between the North and South, in terms of their ability to invest and attract human and financial capital for R&D. As a result intra-European mobility is not only on the rise, but may easily turn from an intended brain circulation into a brain drain--brain gain situation. From a qualitative perspective solutions to the skills shortages and imbalances relevant to science and innovation require the training of a broad mix of skills, which is currently provided to only in a minority of students in European higher education institutions and programmes. Will the intra-European flows of human and financial capital for R&D result in a further concentration of the minds in a limited number of regions or hubs in Europe? Is this (un)avoidable or (un)desirable? The further concentration of talent appears to be Europe's fate. These forces play out quite differently across the various disciplinary fields. In general the "STEM fields" (including engineering, natural, life and medical sciences) are already most internationalized and especially their experimental branches require the highest concentration of financial and human resources for large-scale and high-tech research infrastructure. The current combination of mobility and funding flows and trends seems to cause an increasing concentration of especially high-tech research capacity (in the natural and life sciences) in a limited number of regional hubs, which is likely to the detriment of the broad comprehensive profile of universities in certain weaker regions and countries in Europe. Those institutions may have to choose more specialized profiles, focusing more on less (human and financial) capital intensive fields in the social sciences and the humanities.

A common complaint from business and industry is that employees entering the workforce are not "job ready." They often lack the practical skills, maturity, and workplace experience to perform well in their roles, leaving employers to fill the gap by providing training either at their own expense or with public funding. In contrast, a new employee with previous experience as a volunteer in an emergency services organisation comes into the workplace with an understanding of teamwork, a demonstrated sense of community and responsibility, and an appreciation of the role of organisational culture, thus accelerating their emergence as an asset to their employer. This case study of the South Australia Country Fire Service (SA CFS) examined key factors in the resourcing and efficacy of training for volunteers. It was undertaken as a joint initiative of Government Skills Australia (GSA), the SA CFS and the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER). The SA CFS delivers nationally endorsed and non-endorsed training to their volunteers, all funded from the annual operational budget it receives from the South Australian Government. It maintains a training centre at Brukunga in the Adelaide Hills and several regional training resources across the state. The SA CFS is a registered training organisation. The research sought views through qualitative and quantitative sources, interviewing brigades, employers and key industry stakeholders--242 volunteers responded to the quantitative survey. The core hypothesis for this research was that SA CFS volunteers who trained under the Australian Qualifications Framework's (AQF) Public Safety Training Package are taking skills and knowledge gained in roles as firefighters, trainers and incident managers into their paid employment. Formal transferrable skills revealed in the case study included safety and first aid, truck driving, equipment use (e.g. using a chainsaw), training and assessment. Such skills have valuable alignment with jobs in Agriculture; Food and Forestry; Mining; Public Administration and Safety; and Health Care and Social Assistance industry areas. Other generic skills acquired informally are in management, leadership, communication and logistics. The SA CFS training model is not funded to recognise these latter skills. The data gathered also show that the SA CFS provides pathways for young people through its programs for cadets; the inclusion of SA CFS volunteering in the South Australian Certificate of Education for Years 11 and 12; and the provision of nationally accredited units in operational training. This is important given the need to recruit and retain new, younger volunteers in the emergency service sector. The findings indicate that volunteers are more strongly aware of the benefits of SA CFS training to the workplace than their employers. Their skills acquisition and transfer have multifaceted, multi-directional benefits: volunteers who are drawn from a broad range of industries bring professional skills to the brigade and transfer knowledge among the volunteer cohort; they also take skills imparted during their volunteer experience back to the workplace and to their communities. Greater recognition of this process is warranted, especially in order to elucidate the overall gains for both employers and the community from the activities of the SA CFS as a learning organisation. Appended are: (1) Survey Questions; and (2) Employer Telephone Interview Survey Script.

The two recently-filed New York lawsuits claiming that teacher tenure laws violate children's constitutional right to a "sound basic education" are finally dragging the long-obscure Section 3020-a of the state's Education Law into the spotlight. This attention is badly overdue because for decades § 3020-a has impeded efforts to ensure a minimum competence level among New York's teachers. Section 3020-a is a 3,000-word section of New York's Education Law, entitled "Disciplinary Procedures and Penalties," which mandates that tenured teachers can be dismissed only after just cause has been established through statutorily-prescribed administrative hearings. Teachers are evaluated in their schools under the Annual Professional Performance Review, the state's high-profile new evaluation system. But decisions on whether poorly-performing teachers stay or go are still made according to the decades-old § 3020-a law. This report presents analysis of the official decisions filed at the conclusion of § 3020-a hearings for New York City teachers from July 1, 1997 through June 30, 2007. It aims to shed light on the role and function of § 3020-a, to further public awareness of the law's impact on New York's schools, and to promote wider debate around how to fix it. The report presents Key findings, and concludes that while teachers are legally entitled to due process to protect them from unfair dismissal and unjustifiable accusations of inadequate performance, the current system goes far beyond that, prioritizing the rehabilitation of ineffective teachers over ensuring adequate teaching for children. Fixing the broken § 3020-a system is not "the" solution to fixing the schools, but it is a problem that urgently needs to be addressed. The report includes two appendices: (I) Obtaining § 3020-a Decisions and (II) Convictions & Penalties for § 3020-a Cases (July 1 1997-June 30, 2007).

A defining characteristic of current U.S. educational policy is the use of data to inform decisions about resource allocation, teacher hiring, and curriculum and instruction. Perhaps the biggest challenge to data-driven decision making (DDDM) is that data use alone does not automatically result in improved teaching and learning. Research indicates that translating raw data into useable information and actionable knowledge for teachers requires not only adequate technical and social supports, but also an awareness of how educators in real-world settings actually use information to make decisions. Yet, little is known about DDDM in higher education, in general, and how postsecondary faculty make sense of and use data in their instructional decision-making processes, in particular. In this paper, we use naturalistic decision-making theory to generate practice-based descriptions of how 59 STEM faculty at three large public research universities used data as part of their course planning. Interview transcripts and notes taken while observing planning meetings were analyzed using an inductive approach to content analysis. In practice, respondents used different types of data and other information obtained from, for example, student assessments, end-of-semester evaluations, and conversations with colleagues. Results indicate that faculty generally collect and analyze data in informal, ad hoc scenarios ungoverned by institutional policy. Exceptions include disciplines with accreditation pressures and team-taught courses where structured (and supported) opportunities exist for faculty to collect, analyze, and reflect upon data about student learning. Thus, while numeric data are clearly viewed by this population of faculty as the most rigorous, in practice, even those that use quantitative data also use other sources of information. These results suggest an opportunity for educational leaders to design policies and professional development initiatives that facilitate a more formal collection of and reflection on data by faculty. In pursuing such technical solutions, however, policymakers and educational leaders must carefully negotiate the tension between rigor and relevance, and learn from the challenges experienced in the K-12 sector regarding DDDM.

This paper reviews evidence on the interplay between professional standards for teachers, the content of teacher education and educational sciences, and provides three case studies to illustrate these interactions from Estonia, Australia and Singapore. In particular, it investigates what aligning teacher education programmes to standards really mean; and what conception of educational sciences is reflected in the standards and the curriculum. Analyses suggest that alignment, as an explicit, direct and consistent correspondence, is difficult to achieve, in part due to different conceptualisations of professional knowledge. However, this paper argues that the main value of standards as policy tools lies in their capacity to create mutual dialogue between different artefacts (standards' requirements, curriculum, course descriptions, accreditation standards, etc.), as well as among stakeholders. Regularly renegotiating the standards as a result of such dialogue and reflections should be a crucial part of the policy process.

Employers in every sector have emphasized the need for a well-rounded, highly skilled workforce. Recent survey data indicates that over 90% of business leaders think American workers are not as skilled as they need to be. 1 According to the Business Roundtable, CEOs around the country have noticed a particular gap in "employability skills" such as effective communication, critical thinking, teamwork, and problem-solving. 2 To address this gap, youth development leaders, including those in the afterschool sector, have worked to provide high quality skill-building experiences inside and outside of the classroom. 3 Afterschool programs provide opportunities for career exploration, exposure, and hands-on learning focused on the cultivation of many of the skills desired by employers. Similarly, the workforce sector has sought to narrow the gap by providing programs and services to help job seekers attain and demonstrate these skills. Importantly, both sectors aim to provide opportunities for skill development to individuals from low-income families and communities, who may not otherwise have opportunities for high-quality skill development and are often disproportionally left out of the labor market. The workforce sector's goal of developing a better-prepared and highly skilled workforce is well aligned with the mission of the youth development field: to prepare young people to succeed. Despite their shared interests, however, the youth development and workforce sectors often operate in isolation, failing to leverage the capacities of the other. Given that afterschool is centered around youth development and that youth development goals have significant overlap with workforce development goals, there is an important opportunity to more strategically and intentionally align these systems. This white paper explores the ways in which the workforce sector's goal of developing a better-prepared and highly skilled workforce is aligned with the mission of the youth development field: to prepare young people to succeed. Specifically, this paper discusses the need for and benefits of better alignment across afterschool and workforce systems. (A bibliography is included.)

This paper focuses on children with a migration background and conceptualises their migration experience as adversity. The paper adapts the resilience framework to understand how immigrant children can overcome adversity. The paper discusses policy models that can be derived from adopting a resilience approach to the measurement of immigrant students' integration prospects and proposes a policy analysis framework. The "CHARM" framework helps to assess the extent to which destination country policies and practices support the educational and socioemotional well-being of immigrant children. Namely, it evaluates whether policies to consider (1) Cumulative adversity; adopt a (2) Holistic approach; consider (3) Adjustment as a dynamic process; identify a (4) Relational development; and implement a (5) Multilevel approach. The paper finally applies the CHARM framework to the education policies of Ontario, Canada and underscores the relevance of applying the CHARM framework across countries and jurisdictions to evaluate education policies that can promote the resilience of immigrant children.

Student teaching has long been considered the most important component of an effective teacher education program. Recently, new research is finding links between these experiences and teacher candidates' future effectiveness, yet relatively little is known about the student teacher placement process and, in particular, the processes that lead to the matching of teacher candidates to the inservice teachers who supervise their student teaching ("cooperating teachers"). In this study, we examine the match process as well as the factors that influence these placement decisions. We also explore how, if at all, practices vary across teacher education programs (TEPs), districts, and schools. We find that, in broad terms, the process for matching student teachers to mentor teachers is similar across educational institutions, although TEPs and school systems sometimes face competing priorities when placing student teachers in classrooms. We also identify a problem of information asymmetry in the placement process, which leaves TEPs with questions about how cooperating teachers are selected and districts and schools with limited information with which to make thoughtful and intentional matches between candidates and cooperating teachers. Finally, we document the important role of social networks in placements and how they can advantage some TEPs, districts, and schools in this process.

This study was primarily undertaken by teachers for teachers, and focuses on the potential contribution of global learning and development education (DE) methodologies to a core aspect of curriculum provision, namely writing. The aim of the study is to explore whether using global learning and DE methodologies can have an impact on pupils' achievement within writing at the primary phase. We also want to show how a school can build its own understanding, knowledge and skill base in global learning and DE methodologies in order to embed this work within the curriculum in a sustainable way. The study uses an action research methodology in one Primary school. In 2013 the school had received an Ofsted Inspection rating as Requires Improvement (RI), with a particular need to improve pupils' writing. The project aimed to see if global learning and DE methodologies could support this. An outside facilitator was used to carry out interventions to support teachers' ability to use global learning and development education to support children's writing. As a result, teachers made changes to lesson planning, teaching and the classroom environments. Impacts can be seen through reviewing staff self-evaluations of CPD, lesson observations, pupils' work, topic evaluations and progress/attainment data in relation to national age related expectations. In 2015 the school was re-inspected by Ofsted and graded as Good. "Rapid school improvement" was noted and within writing the majority of pupils were judged to be making good progress. The Ofsted inspector noted: "the school uses global learning (global education themes) very effectively" with the result that learning was "more relevant and interesting" with "pupils able to apply their knowledge and skills to real-life problems" (Ofsted, 2015: 4, 6). The inspection also reaffirmed that the school "promotes pupils" spiritual, moral, social and cultural development and British Values well. Pupils are valued and supported as individuals, while also being helped to see themselves as part of a diverse community' (Ofsted, 2015: 4). Appended to the report are: (1) Session outlines for staff meetings; and (2) Topic plans.

Pension legacy costs can restrict the amount of resources available for current public education, potentially making it more difficult to attract and retain high-quality teachers. Oregon provides a useful case study in pension legacy costs because many school districts in the state are now reallocating General Fund expenditures to cover sizeable past pension promises. In this "Issue Brief," we describe how Oregon's past pension promises, compared with nearby Washington's, are affecting the level of resources available to compensate new teachers. We then assess potential impacts by examining how new teacher turnover differs in districts along the Oregon-Washington border and within Oregon across school districts. We find early career quit rates in school districts on the Oregon side of the Oregon-Washington border have exceeded those on the Washington side in recent years, and overall teacher experience on the Oregon side has fallen below that on the Washington side. Further, using district-level variation within Oregon, we find early career quit propensities are positively associated with the percentage of General Fund revenues allocated to Oregon's Public Employees Retirement System expenditures. These findings are consistent with the notion that Oregon's pension legacy costs are negatively impacting teacher retention.