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This qualitative study examines the information collected about applicants to mathematics or science teacher preparation programs (MSTPPs) and how university faculty perceive and value this information in admissions decisions. Based on document review and interviews with MSTPP faculty and admissions directors, we found that broad measures of mathematics and science content background (e.g., achievement test scores, past mathematics and science courses taken) were used more frequently than information on applicants' specific mathematics and science content knowledge and dispositions. In many cases, application components (such as interviews and personal essay statements) were perceived by faculty to be conducive to surfacing applicants' content knowledge and dispositions; however, they were not constructed or employed in a way that afforded the obtainment of this information. We highlight salient examples of MSTPPs' collection and use of information related to mathematics and science and discuss implications for TPP admissions processes.

The aim of the OECD Career Readiness project is to identify patterns of teenage attitudes and activities that are associated with better transitions into employment by analysing multiple national longitudinal datasets. This paper looks for further evidence of the link between teenage activities, experiences and career-related thinking and adult career outcomes by analysing 10 new datasets from eight countries. Overall, the results of this paper find further evidence that secondary school students who explore, experience and think about their futures in work frequently encounter lower levels of unemployment, receive higher wages and are happier in their careers as adults. The findings of this paper are analysed together with the evidence from the two previous working papers of the Career Readiness project, concluding that there is international evidence to support 11 out of the 14 potential indicators that were explored as indicators of career readiness.

This report presents the results of RTI International Education's study on teachers' guides across 13 countries and 19 projects. Using quantitative and qualitative methods, we examine how teachers' guides across the projects differ and find substantial variation in the design and structure of the documents. We develop a scripting index so that the scripting levels of the guides can be compared across projects. The impact results of the programs that use teachers' guides show significant impacts on learning outcomes, associated with approximately an additional half year of learning, showing that structured teachers' guides contribute to improved learning outcomes. During observations, we find that teachers make a variety of changes in their classroom instruction from how the guides are written, showing that the utilization of structured teachers' guides do not create robotic teachers unable to use their own professional skills to teach children. Unfortunately, many changes that teachers make reduce the amount of group work and interactivity that was described in the guides, suggesting that programs should encourage teachers to more heavily utilize the instructional routines designed in the guide. The report includes a set of research-based guidelines that material developers can use to develop teachers' guides that will support effective instructional practices and help improve learning outcomes. The key takeaway from the report is that structured teachers' guides improve learning outcomes, but that overly scripted teachers' guides are somewhat less effective than simplified teachers' guides that give specific guidance to the teacher but are not written word for word for each lesson in the guide.

Despite evidence that many schools and districts have considerable discretion when hiring teachers and the existence of an extensive literature on teacher quality, little is known about how best to hire teachers. This is, in part, because predicting teacher quality using readily-observable teacher characteristics has proven difficult and there is very little evidence linking information collected during the teacher hiring process to teachers' outcomes once they are hired. We contribute to this literature using data from a recently-adopted teacher screening system in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) that allows applicant records to be linked to student- and teacher-level data for those teachers who are subsequently employed in the district. We find that performance during screening, and especially performance on specific screening assessments, is significantly predictive of applicants' eventual employment in LAUSD and teachers' later contributions to student achievement, evaluation outcomes, and attendance, but not to teacher mobility or retention. However, applicants' performance on individual components of the screening process are differentially predictive of different teacher outcomes, highlighting potential trade-offs faced by districts during screening. In addition, we find suggestive evidence across time and between districts that the shift to the new teacher screening system improved hiring outcomes in LAUSD relative to other similar districts and schools.

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 paper focuses on the authors' experiences teaching on Ohio University's Learning Network (OULN), which uses interactive television and real-time face-to-face interaction as a distance-education (DE) delivery tool. One of the authors is a sociology professor, and the other is her former student and an experienced OULN system operator. The transition to DE from a traditional, less technological approach presents numerous challenges as well as opportunities. This paper compares the semester-long progress of two different sociology courses that used the OULN. It presents an analysis of each class's strengths and weaknesses, along with qualitative data based on interviews with each class's students, as recorded in a diary that the authors kept throughout the semester on the progress of each class. One class experienced more success than the other, which presented numerous teaching challenges. The paper concludes by offering guidance for integrating traditional teaching methods, including group work, into DE environments.

This paper describes a 2016 pilot study undertaken in Uganda to document the real repetition rate in Primary 1 classes and to examine the relationship between repetition in Primary 1 and attendance in pre-primary education. The study explored knowledge and practice about the age of entry for children into pre-primary education and Primary 1. It also documented parents' knowledge and expectations about participation in pre-primary education. The study was conducted in two purposefully selected districts in Uganda (a "high-risk" district--with higher rates of poverty and reported repetition--and a "low-risk" district--with lower rates of poverty and reported repetition) by RTI International, with support from the Development Research and Social Policy Analysis Center, a Ugandan data collection firm. In addition to answering research questions about early primary repetition and pre-primary attendance, the pilot aimed to test a methodology of triangulating information from the Education Management Information System, school records, and parents' reports. The study confirmed that it is possible to compare data from teacher and classroom records with data from parent and teacher interviews; parents or caregivers were invited to come to school for an interview, and a large percentage did. The study also showed that according to teachers and parents, repetition rates in Primary 1 are much higher than perceived by the system. Repetition rates in Primary 1, as perceived by parents and teachers, are quite high--roughly 30% to 40%, depending on source and location. In addition, parents reported that early entry into Primary 1 (and the possible resulting repetition) is being used as a substitute for pre-primary education due to the lack of pre-primary schooling options. Some parents send their children to school at an early age because they cannot afford pre-primary schooling, even though they realize the child might have to repeat the year or will learn less the first time through Primary 1. For children who attended pre-primary, the data demonstrate a strong "protective" effect on their chances of repeating Primary 1 (i.e., the children who attended pre-primary were less likely to repeat in Primary 1). Gender was not found to affect these issues to any significant degree. [For "Primary 1 Repetition and Pre-Primary Education in Uganda. Research Brief," see ED582360.]

While more women than ever now participate in the paid workforce, it still can be hard to find women in top leadership positions. To understand why so few women are in top leadership positions, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region, the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) set out to understand what factors help women achieve leadership positions, what factors prevent it, and how organizations could add more women to their leadership ranks. In this paper, the authors raise five key questions that women should reflect on as they consider their ambitions. They summarize five key lessons that came up repeatedly in conversations with women leaders who had worked their way into leadership positions. The authors also discuss some of the changes organizations can make to increase the number of women leaders. These include policies and changes in organizational culture. Research was conducted two phases. First, the authors surveyed 204 women leaders from Singapore, Australia, India, and Korea. The authors gave them a list of reasons that might contribute to the lack of women in leadership positions and asked them to select up to five items they most agreed with and five they most disagreed with. In phase two, the authors conducted 27 face-to-face interviews with women leaders working in Singapore. Women told their personal leadership stories, shared their perspective on women leaders' career enablers and blockers, and also completed the phase 1 survey. The authors learned that there is no single reason or simple solution. Increasing the number of women in leadership positions will require aspiring women leaders to develop themselves professionally and, in some cases, adopt new behaviors. But the organizational context that women work within is also important.

Does innovation matter? In a 2015 survey, the authors asked the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL®) clients about innovation. Not surprisingly, nearly all of them--94%--said that innovation is important. People are living in a time when technology is advancing at a blistering pace, creating new possibilities for individuals and organizations that could hardly have been imagined a generation ago. The global political and economic environment is also shifting faster than ever, often moving in unpredictable directions. It seems clear that innovation will be a defining trait--perhaps the defining trait--of those organizations that thrive over the next few decades. In this white paper, the authors lay out the essential leadership behaviors that are required to successfully lead innovation. To better understand those behaviors, the authors interviewed people on the front lines of innovation work and interviewed their bosses. The authors looked closely at the interactions between bosses and those responsible for driving innovation, investigating which boss behaviors encouraged their direct reports and which discouraged them. The interview subjects came from various industries, and all had been involved in multiple, successful initiative projects. From those interviews, the authors identified the critical leadership behaviors exhibited during successful innovation efforts, as well as behaviors that worked against innovation. The lessons from these interviews are broadly applicable to managers at multiple levels. But the authors are especially focused on the leaders charged with overseeing innovation projects--often in addition to other responsibilities--and those working on and directing innovation projects on a day-to-day basis. The actual job titles these individuals hold vary widely from one organization to the next, so for simplicity the authors are calling leaders who oversee innovation projects "leaders." Those working in and directing that innovation work on a day-to-day basis and reporting to those leaders are labeled as "innovation managers."

As postsecondary institutions increasingly integrate technology into developmental education, it becomes important to understand how technology is used in these programs, what challenges institutions have encountered relating to the technology, and what considerations institutional leaders take into account when deciding whether and how to integrate technology in developmental education. This study explores these questions drawing from semi-structured interviews with key personnel from 31 open-access two-year public colleges, 11 broad-access four-year public colleges, and 41 state-level organizations overseeing such colleges. We find that institutions are integrating a variety of instructional, course management, and student support technologies into developmental education. In doing so, institutions have encountered a number of challenges, particularly with regard to end-user difficulties with technology. We also find that evidence of effectiveness of technology for improving educational outcomes was considered by a number of organizations in our sample when making decisions about technology use in developmental education; however, other considerations--particularly those based on costs and resources--were also quite influential. Indeed, such economic considerations were described to us more often than evidence of effectiveness by respondents discussing reasons for using technology in developmental education.

In lower- and middle-income countries, including Ghana, students in rural areas dramatically underperform their urban peers. Rural schools struggle to attract and retain professionally trained teachers (GES 2012; World Bank 2012). We explore one potential solution to the problem of teacher recruitment: distance instruction. Through a cluster randomized controlled trial, we estimate the impact of a program that broadcasts live instruction via satellite to rural primary school students. The program equipped classrooms in 70 randomly selected Ghanaian schools with the technology required to connect to a studio in Accra. An additional 77 schools served as the control. Instructors in Accra provided math and English lessons to classrooms in the treatment group. The model is interactive, and students in satellite classes could communicate in real time with their remote teachers. We estimate significant gains (p<0.05) in rural students' numeracy and foundational literacy skills. We find no impact on attendance and classroom time-on-task (as measured through unannounced classroom observations), suggesting that these gains may result from improved instructional quality rather than from increased instruction time.

We investigate factors influencing student sign-ups for Washington State's College Bound Scholarship (CBS) program. We find a substantial share of eligible middle school students fail to sign the CBS, forgoing college financial aid. Student characteristics associated with signing the scholarship parallel characteristics of low-income students who attend 4-year colleges. Simulations suggest the program may address college enrollment gaps, increasing college-going by some disadvantaged groups, it also would reinforce inequalities in college-going that exist between sub-groups of low-income students. Finally, student sign-up rates are lower than has been previously reported. Importantly, we find a perception among program administrators that nearly all eligible students sign up, which shifts attention away from sign-ups to encouraging pledgees to follow through with program requirements. Principal/Guidance Counselor Interview Questions are appended.

The purpose of the Schooling in America Survey is to measure public opinion on, and in some cases awareness or knowledge of, a range of K-12 education topics and school choice policies. The annual snapshots consider the perceived direction of American K-12 education; views on education spending; grades and preferences for different types of schools; standardized testing; and school choice topics, such as charter schools, vouchers, education savings accounts, and tax-credit scholarships. The 2016 survey included two sets of questions with a special focus on actions parents have taken to support their child's K-12 education. The organization of this report has four main sections. The first, second, and third sections describe key findings and presents charts for additional context: (1) broad K-12 education issues and school type preferences; (2) school choice policies and reforms; and (3) parents' schooling experiences. The fourth section details the survey's methodology, summarizes response statistics, and provides additional technical information on call dispositions for landline and cell phone interviews and weighting.

The Kauffman School is a public charter school that serves students from low-income neighborhoods in Kansas City, Missouri. This paper used a matched comparison group design to estimate the impacts of the Kauffman School on student achievement, attendance, and suspensions. We found that the Kauffman School had positive and statistically significant impacts on student achievement in mathematics, reading, and science. This paper also used surveys, interviews, focus groups, and classroom observations to describe the hallmarks and operations of the Kauffman School and explore possible mechanisms for its effects, informing the literature on school effectiveness. We found evidence that the Kauffman School's hallmarks are largely being implemented faithfully, and that key stakeholders believe the Kauffman School's methods are having a positive influence on students' behavior, attitudes, and performance. The following are appended: (1) Data Preparation Details for Impact Analysis; (2) Data for Analysis of School Hallmarks; (3) Sample Selection for Impact Analysis; (4) Multiple Imputation Methodology; (5) Propensity-Score Matching Methodology; (6) Additional Attendance and Suspension Impact Estimates; and About the Series.

This occasional paper provides the views of 17 "thought leaders" in the Australian vocational education and training (VET) sector. Their insight and opinions were sought to inform a larger research project focused on the student entitlement reforms that were introduced into the national VET system from 2012. These individuals offered a variety of senior-level vantage points on the topics of: (1) Australia's national training system: why it has been developed, what its key elements are, and the aspects where consistency has been sought and the aspects where flexibility has been sought; (2) VET student training entitlements: why this initiative has been introduced and the implications of the agreed flexibility in approach to its implementation by jurisdictions, in terms of maintaining a functional national training system; and (3) the implications of the VET student entitlement initiative for future national VET reform. A particular emphasis has been on the implications of the reforms and the challenges faced in its implementation in the context of achieving a balance between national consistency and jurisdictional flexibility. The interviewees considered key elements of the national training system, namely: standards for VET products (training packages and materials); standards for VET providers; and a flexible training market. The interviewees commented on the consistency and flexibility sought in each of these key elements, highlighting where tensions exist, particularly in student training entitlements. The following are appended: (1) Project statement provided to interviewees about the project and Project protocols; and (2) Interview guide questions. Information about the NVETR Program funding is provided at the end of this paper.

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.

Health and education are reciprocally related, and research indicates that unhealthy students are poorly positioned to learn. Providing services that prevent health problems or help students cope with existing health concerns is one way that schools intervene in the relationship between student background and educational outcomes. Providing health services on campus is theorized to promote educational goals by increasing access to services, improving health, and enhancing opportunities to learn. However, existing empirical tests of this relationship are rare and have important limitations. This paper uses data from Add Health, which identifies numerous services provided by schools across the U.S. Multilevel models test how availability of preventive or physical health services relates to adolescents' academic performance as well as implications for racial and socioeconomic educational inequality. Analyses consistently demonstrate that school provision of preventive/physical health services is positively related to youths' educational outcomes--including a higher GPA, lower odds of failing courses, and higher odds of graduating from high school--but also little evidence of differing associations across student subgroups. Additional results mitigate concerns that these relationships are biased by selection and offer evidence that increased opportunities to learn are one mechanism for the positive role of health services.

The purpose of this paper was to conduct a scan of the current state of the evidence regarding what works in helping disconnected young people, defined as the population of young people ages 16 to 24 who are not connected to work or school. The following four main research questions were investigated: (1) What local, state, and federal policies have an impact on disconnected young people? What policies are helping improve services for this population? What policies are barriers to creating effective programs?; (2) What programs have been shown to be effective in serving disconnected young people? What evaluations in process have the potential to contribute to the evidence base?; (3) What is known about the effectiveness of system-level approaches, also called "collective impact approaches?"; and (4) Where are there gaps in services or knowledge? What programs or practices should be targeted for further research or expansion? MDRC conducted a literature review of relevant policies and programs. The literature reviewed included writing on impact, quasi-experimental, and implementation studies. MDRC also conducted reviews of numerous websites to learn about current policy trends and evaluations in process. To supplement what was learned from written materials, MDRC interviewed a number of practitioners in the field, including representatives from foundations, coalitions, and research organizations. The main findings included: (1) Policies affecting disconnected young people span a range of systems, including public schools; adult basic and secondary education; and the juvenile justice, foster care, and mental health systems. As a result services, funding, and research are often uncoordinated and fragmented, though collective impact or system-level approaches are attempting to combat these challenges; (2) Though program impacts may be modest or short-lived, successful programs share some common features. These include: opportunities for paid work and the use of financial incentives; strong links among education, training, and the job market; the use of youth development approaches; comprehensive support services; and support after programs end; (3) Programs share some common implementation challenges, including: outreach and enrollment practices that may limit the populations they serve; difficulties keeping young people engaged in a program long enough to benefit from it; staff turnover; and difficulties addressing young people's barriers to participation, particularly their lack of transportation and child care; (4) The field's understanding of what works in serving disconnected young people could advance significantly in the coming years, as more than a dozen evaluations of programs are currently under way, including evaluations of collective impact approaches; and (5) There are gaps in the existing services available: There are not enough programs for young people who are not motivated to reconnect to education or the job market on their own, nor for young people who have low basic skills, especially those who have aged out of the public school system. The areas where there are gaps in services also tend to be areas where there is little evidence regarding what works. Selected Evaluations of Programs for Disconnected Young People is appended.

The purpose of the "Indiana K-12 & School Choice Survey" is to measure public opinion on, and in some cases awareness or knowledge of, a range of K-12 education topics and school choice reforms. The Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice developed this project in partnership with Braun Research, Inc., who conducted the live phone call interviews, collected the survey data, and provided data quality control. This report describes and compares response levels, margins, and intensities for the statewide sample and observed demographic groups. A total of 1,845 telephone interviews were completed from November 11 to December 1, 2015, by means of both landline and cell phone. A randomly selected and statistically representative statewide sample of registered voters in Indiana responded to more than 30 substantive items in live phone interviews. Statistical results have been weighted to correct for known demographic discrepancies. The margin of sampling error for the statewide sample is ± 3.1 percentage points. During field work, an initial statewide sample that included 1,002 interviews with registered voters was established. Researchers then continued phone interviews by oversampling five regions to achieve at least 300 completed interviews for regional subgroups: (1) Indianapolis Metro (n = 400); (2) Northeast (n = 403); (3) Northwest (n = 301); (4) Southeast (n = 300); and (5) Southwest (n = 300). The Friedman Foundation conducted a shorter survey in Indiana five years ago. Comparing results between 2010 and 2015, and saw remarkably similar findings on five common questions. Average voter mood about K-12 education remains negative. Researchers detect some decreased support for general definitions of public charter schools and school vouchers. However, the fundamental message remains the same: Hoosiers in late 2015 were still roughly "twice as likely to be favorable toward these reform concepts rather than opposed". The organization of this paper has two sections. The first section describes key findings and presents charts for additional context. The second section details the survey's methodology, summarizes response statistics, and provides additional technical information on call dispositions for landline and cell phone interviews and weighting.

The purpose of the "Colorado K-12 & School Choice Survey" is to measure public opinion on, and in some cases awareness or knowledge of, a range of K-12 education topics and school choice reforms. A total of 601 telephone interviews were completed from August 29 to September 16, 2015, with questions on the direction of K-12 education, statewide performance, education spending, grades and preferences for different types of schools, charter schools, school vouchers, education savings accounts, and tax-credit scholarships. The organization of this paper has three sections. The first section describes key findings and presents charts for additional context. The second section details the survey's methodology, summarizes response statistics, and provides additional technical information on call dispositions for landline and cell phone interviews and weighting. The third section lists the survey questions and results, allowing the reader to follow the survey interview as it was conducted with respect to item wording and ordering.

This paper reports findings from a researcher-practitioner partnership that assessed the readiness for postsecondary reading and writing demands of 211 students in developmental reading and English courses in two community colleges. An assessment battery was designed for the study, comprising two standardized tests and five projectdeveloped tasks. The project-developed measures were two text-based writing tasks similar to those typically assigned in college classrooms (a summarization task and a persuasive essay), a self-efficacy scale, a teacher judgment questionnaire, and a qualitative student retrospective report. The text-based writing measures were keyed to high-enrollment, introductory-level general education courses that had significant literacy demands. The results pointed to areas where students needed improvement in order to be ready for literacy tasks at the introductory postsecondary level. There was a discrepancy between the relatively low reading and writing skills as assessed through performance tasks and relatively high student self-efficacy ratings and teacher judgments. This finding suggests the possibility of an unrealistic amount of confidence in students' ability to perform college-level reading and writing tasks. Correlations between assessment measures tended to be moderate, suggesting that the measures were tapping different skills. A series of hierarchical regressions modeling the text-based writing skills suggested that improvement in text-based summarization may require particular attention to reading comprehension skills, while improvement in text-based persuasive essay writing may depend more on developing general writing skills. Students' retrospective reports indicated that although participants had some difficulty stating the requirements of the summarization task, they described appropriate strategies to complete it. Overall, the study's findings point to the need to examine approaches to instruction, curriculum, course structure, and placement policy that may improve students' college readiness. The following are appended: (1) Examples of Student Writing; and (2) Student Self-Efficacy Ratings and Teacher Judgments.

In 2001, the National Institute for Technology in Liberal Education (NITLE) was created to "stimulate collaboration between selected liberal arts colleges and to act as a catalyst for the effective integration of emerging and newer digital technologies into teaching, learning, scholarship, and information management." In July 2015, NITLE migrated its operations from Southwestern University to the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR). In conjunction with this migration, CLIR initiated a rigorous analysis of NITLE's current condition and the needs of its constituents. CLIR's assessment of NITLE comprises three interrelated activities: (1) composing a history of NITLE and setting it in the larger context of organizations devoted to technology in liberal education; (2) conducting interviews with key stakeholders in NITLE's past, present, and potential future; (3) and designing, administering, and analyzing a survey of current and former NITLE members and interested parties. These activities resulted in a rich, textured picture of the organization and the many ways in which it engaged with its members over the years. Based on the analysis performed for this report, the authors believe that a future organization seeking to serve constituents similar to those served by NITLE should: (1) Maintain a liberal arts college focus; (2) Perform market research to determine how a future organization should support members at the local and/or national level; (3) Clearly articulate the organization's mission, primary audience, and value proposition; (4) Ensure that membership fees are in line with members' perceived return on investment; (5) Develop a culture of ongoing assessment; (6) Regularly communicate with members; and (7) Distinguish the organization from others with similar audience or mission. The following are appended: (1) NITLE Competitors 1997-2015: Audiences, Value Propositions, and Business Models; (2) NITLE Assessment Project: Interview Protocol; (3) Survey Questions; and (4) Organizational Acronyms. (References and Selected Bibliography are included.)

Drawing on insights from culturally responsive K-12 education frameworks and dual process theory, this qualitative study explores the situated nature of reflective practice among postsecondary faculty and calls for increased critical awareness and institutional support. Through interviews with 21 California research university faculty, this study found that instructors drew on both numeric and non-numeric data forms to engage in reflective practice. This tendency indicates a need for a more holistic, multi-disciplinary, and critical understanding of "data" than what the current accountability movement has imagined. This study's findings also show that although faculty consistently engaged in reflective practice, the outcomes of this reflection were severely limited by both individual bias and institutional constraints. Thus, while we recognize the current budgetary struggles many universities face, we argue that in order to better serve postsecondary students, particularly those from historically underrepresented groups, more institutional support is needed. Postsecondary institutions can play a significant role in facilitating critical examination by providing faculty the necessary space, time, and guidance to engage in critical reflection as well as the appropriate institutional mechanisms to voice concerns and enact change.

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.

This white paper reports on a study exploring the views of chief fundraising executives at private colleges and universities about the relationship between public relations and fundraising. The research focused on how fundraising executives define public relations and use public relations tactics and strategies within their institutions' fundraising operations. In addition, fundraising executives were asked about what essential skills and training or academic degrees a fundraiser would need to be successful. The study was designed to explore how strategic public relations is at the core of successful fundraising operations and whether future fundraisers should consider selecting an academic path in public relations to prepare for the profession. The research also focused on the fundraising profession overall and whether having an identified academic base deeply linked in related theories and methodologies would aid the profession in terms of its reputation and credibility. the interview questionnaire is appended.

As scholarship has become increasingly narrow and disconnected from public life, Kettering research has documented an intense sense of malaise in higher education, what Harry Boyte has called a loss of civic agency. Surprisingly, however, faculty at a few campuses have begun to self-organize to integrate civic work into their teaching and research. This study, by Blase Scarnati and Romand Coles, documents such efforts at Northern Arizona University. Rather than making civic engagement a specific project of one or two faculty, what makes this campus special is that civic engagement has taken hold across the university. Building on research by KerryAnn O'Meara, this working paper shows that civic engagement is not only fulfilling to faculty at an individual level but is starting to impact the civic culture of their institutions.

Policymakers and educators alike increasing focus on faculty adoption of interactive teaching techniques as a way to improve undergraduate education. Yet, little empirical research exists that examines the processes whereby faculty make decisions about curriculum design and classroom teaching in real-world situations. In this study, I use the idea of the "problem space" from cognitive science to foreground the importance of actor-situation dynamics in shaping instructional decision making. Using data from a freelisting exercise and retrospective recall interviews, I describe the perceived affordances, planning strategies, and both the planned and enacted curricular artifacts for a group of 58 STEM faculty. Then, to examine these processes as they unfold in practice, I examine the cases of two physics instructors as they planned and taught specific classes. Results indicate the primacy of fixed affordances such as time, course content, and class size, and the influence of time constraints that lead to the dominant planning strategy of recycling and fine-tuning old lecture notes and PowerPoint slides. The paper also delves into the importance of these artifacts as cultural tools that mediate practice. The paper contributes a new approach to the study of instructional decision making while also providing actionable insights to improve practice. In particular, I recommend instituting departmental policies that require faculty to engage in brief, post-class and post-course reflection that results in minor updates to their curricular artifacts and will not require a significant time commitment.

This white paper was prepared at the request of the Advisory Committee to the Athletic Study Center as a result of their concern over poor graduation rates in football as released by the NCAA in 2012. The paper received extensive review by the members of that committee as well as several other knowledgeable faculty and senior administrators before it was forwarded to the University Athletics Board in late May, 2013. It is based on a larger project being conducted with the Regional Oral History Office at the Bancroft Library. The purpose of the research is to explore the history of the management of Intercollegiate Athletics at UC Berkeley from the 1960s to the present. The project began in 2009 and will include, when completed, approximately 70 oral history interviews of individuals who played key roles in the management of intercollegiate athletics over that period of time--Chancellors, Athletic Directors, senior administrators, Faculty Athletic Representatives, other key faculty members, directors of the Recreational Sports Program, alumni/donors, administrators in the Athletic Study Center and others. The interviews were conducted by John Cummins, Associate Chancellor-Chief of Staff, Emeritus who worked under Chancellors Heyman, Tien, Berdahl and Birgeneau from 1984-2008. Intercollegiate Athletics reported to him from 2004-2006. A publication of the results is underway and will be co-authored by Cummins and Kirsten Hextrum, a PhD student in the Graduate School of Education, a member and two-time national champion of Cal Women's Crew from 2003-2007, and a tutor/adviser in the Athletic Study Center since 2009. This paper addresses administrative and management issues that typically concern those responsible for the conduct of a Division I-A intercollegiate athletics program. It assumes that such a program will continue for many years to come and that it provides important benefits for the Cal community. Its focus is principally with the market driven, multi-billion dollar phenomenon of the big-time sports of Men's football and basketball, their development over time and their intersection with the academic world. The Olympic or non-revenue sports at UC Berkeley more closely resemble the amateur intercollegiate ideal with high graduation rates and successful programs. Even these sports programs, however, are gradually being pulled into the more highly commercialized model. Appended are: (1) Federal Graduation Rates for the Entering Cohorts 1999-2005; (2) Timeline of the History of Intercollegiate Athletics; and (3) Executive Summary.

This paper explores the impact of test-taking conditions on the quality of the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) assessment. Interviewers record information about the room of assessment and interruptions that occurred during each interview. These observations, along with information on interviewer assignment size and a careful look at interviewer effects, provide insights into the quality of the assessment. This working paper first describes the variations in test-taking conditions among participating countries. Second, it examines interviewer assignment sizes and the frequency of interruptions, finding that both vary markedly among countries (contrary to the room of assessment). The paper then looks at the relationship between these variations and response rates and engagement measures. While neither the room of assessment nor the recorded interruptions impact quality differences among countries, interviewer assignment size and interviewer effects may have a mild impact on results.

We investigate if there is a causal link between education and health knowledge using data from the 1984/85 and 1991/92 waves of the UK Health and Lifestyle Survey (HALS). Uniquely, the survey asks respondents what they think are the main causes of ten common health conditions, and we compare these answers to those given by medical professionals to form an index of health knowledge. For causal identification we use increases in the UK minimum school leaving age in 1947 (from 14 to 15)and 1972 (from 15 to 16) to provide exogenous variation in education. These reforms predominantly induced adolescents who would have left school to stay for one additionally mandated year. OLS estimates suggest that education significantly increases health knowledge, with a one-year increase in schooling increasing the health knowledge index by 15% of a standard deviation. In contrast, estimates from instrumental-variable models show that increased schooling due to the education reforms did not significantly affect health knowledge. This main result is robust to numerous specification tests and alternative formulations of the health knowledge index. Further research is required to determine whether there is also no causal link between higher levels of education--such as post-school qualifications--and health knowledge. An appendix entitled, "Sensitivity of results to alternative definitions of health knowledge index," is included. [This paper was produced as part of the Centre's Education Programme. The Centre for Economic Performance is financed by the Economic and Social Research Council.]

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.

A student assignment designed for a business French course is described. The assignment, a student research paper, is intended to promote both active learning and integration of skills. It is short and completed early in the course. Students are assigned topics and must research, organize, and summarize in French. It is expected that each student will produce multiple drafts, with teacher supervision; only the final draft is graded. The paper is allotted 20 percent of the course grade. A copy of each paper is distributed to all students so they may use them as personal resources. Potential topics and topic areas include possible careers and job opportunities, the general importance of French language to business, job search methods and job interviews, further educational opportunities, and original topics based on business-related events or processes. Other related activities that can be used in the classroom include proficiency-oriented exercises, use of authentic French documents, and role-playing. Students are encouraged to invite visitors they have met during their research. Contacts with French firms may also result in internship opportunities. The research paper assignment handout, which includes notes on 13 potential topics, is appended. Contains 75 references and 14 notes. (MSE)

Informal science education institutions have been identified as critical participants in helping students succeed in science by working in collaboration with school systems across the country. The results of one such collaboration, the Urban Advantage (UA) program found that participation in UA improved student achievement, on average, by 0.6 standard deviations on the 8th grade New York State Intermediate Level Science exam. However, while some UA schools performed exceedingly well, others performed well below expectations. In the current study, we explore the heterogeneity in the results and look deeper into what may be the cause of this variation, focusing closely on the school-level factors that may help or hinder success. After identifying a set of high and low-performing UA schools, we use qualitative research methods to uncover the ways in which successful schools are implementing UA, as well as other school-level factors that may influence the degree to which the school is able to benefit from the UA program. Identifying these best practices across different school contexts may help UA program staff develop strategies to support UA schools having more limited success. Additionally, findings from this study may aid UA staff in the school selection process, for example choosing schools they previously may not have based on their school-level characteristics. The following is appended: Teacher Interview Protocol.

This study addresses qualifications at level 5 of the European qualifications framework (EQF) in 15 countries (Belgium (Flanders), the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Ireland, France, Croatia, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, the United Kingdom (EWNI and Scotland) that had linked their national qualification levels to the EQF by June 2012. EQF level 5 qualifications play an important role in providing access to employment and career advancement as well as enabling further learning and progression to higher education. This double function makes them attractive to learners and employers. Although the extent to which countries use qualifications at EQF level 5 differs, their importance is growing in all countries investigated for several reasons. First, they are developed as response to increased needs for advanced technical and/or management skills. Second, they seem to be especially attractive to students with VET background and those already in employment. They also contribute to lifelong learning by being accessible and attractive for adults and non-traditional learners. The following are appended: (1) List of working definitions; (2) List of interviewees; (3) Available data on EQF level 5 qualifications; (4) Key purposes and functions of qualifications; (5) Further material on learning outcome descriptions of qualifications; and (6) Duration and mode of delivery. A bibliography is also included. [The research was carried out by Panteia in consortium with 3S under Cedefop service contract AO/ECVL/JBSPEV/Qualifications_EQF_level_5/001/12.]

Charter schools have generated support from politicians in both major American political parties, while stimulating intense debate among interest groups. We investigate whether and how public attitudes come to mirror interest group polarization or politician consensus in order to understand what drives public attitudes as policy debates mature and citizens learn information that drives advocates to opposite sides. Using survey experiments, we assess how views change in response to policy cues. Mirroring debates among advocates, we assess whether the role of private companies and non-union teachers polarize opinion. We find that the public responds to cues linked to unions and polarizes based on liberal and conservative ideology as well as attitudes toward unions. This helps to explain how ideological polarization can grow even in the absence of strong partisan sorting among top political leaders. The report includes a bibliography.

This report analyses how learning supports labour market transitions and career changes of adult workers across five countries (Denmark, Germany, Spain, France and Italy). To make the most of career and labour market opportunities, individuals have to rely on their own resources and their agency but also know how to navigate the institutional context. To make successful labour market transitions, individuals need to have a sense of direction, they need to learn about opportunities, and they need to learn skills. Education and training has a special role in supporting adult workers in their careers, providing them with the competences, qualifications and, in some cases, with the self-confidence needed for successful transition. Guidance services tailored to individual needs can help individuals find appropriate career trajectories in their search for suitable job opportunities, and can foster relational, emotional, cognitive and practical learning. [This report is the result of a team effort. Cedefop is grateful to Alan Brown, Jenny Bimrose and Barbara Merrill from the University of Warwick (Institute for Employment Research and Centre for Lifelong Learning) for coordinating the research teams and contributing to and editing project reports. The interviews were carried out and the country reports prepared by country teams: Massimo Tomassini from the Faculty of Education Science, University of Roma Tre and Silvia Zanazzi from the Faculty of Education Science, University of Roma La Sapienza (Italy); Rie Thomsen, Ida Juul and Pia Cort from Aarhus University (Denmark); Esther Oliver and Lena de Botton from the University of Barcelona and Itxaso Tellado from University of Vic (Spain); M'Hamed Dif from the University of Strasbourg (BETA-Céreq Alsace), Rachel Mulvey from the University of East London and Sophie Perdrix from the University of Lausanne (France); as well as Simone Haasler and Barbara Rinken from the University of Bremen (Germany). Cedefop experts Antje Barabasch and Giovanni Russo coordinated the study, under the supervision of the Head of Area Pascaline Descy, with a valuable contribution from Pedro Moreno Da Fonseca who reviewed this publication. The work was carried out under Cedefop's service contract No AO/RPA/GRUSSO-ABARA/Narrative learning transitions/015/11.]

The Nebraska Early Childhood Coach (ECC) training was a 3 day (8 hours) professional development event sponsored by the Nebraska Department of Education, Office of Child Development in 2009-2010. Sixty-five early childhood teachers and related service providers participated for the purpose of learning the basic principles and behaviors associated with current or proposed job responsibilities as a "coach" to parents, care providers or preschool teachers. The purpose of this training was to advance/enhance the early childhood professionals' ability to support individuals they may be coaching, mentoring, and/or supervising. Held in Omaha, Nebraska in the eastern part of the state, the ECC training participants included practitioners from across the state representing both rural and urban communities. Participants represented different agencies serving young children under age 5 and their families. An independent evaluation of the ECC training outcomes was completed and a final report addressing the major evaluation questions was submitted to Nebraska Department of Education in October 2011. The Early Childhood Coach training evaluation focused on the fidelity with which coach participants implemented the coaching model on which they received training and evaluated the coach training efforts. Furthermore, the evaluation included information on the current state of coaching in Nebraska, as described by subsets of coach participants who attended the ECC coach training. This Technical Report provides a more detailed description of those findings and summarizes additional analyses of data collected from survey, interview and direct observations of participants. The Technical Report is divided into two parts. Volume 1 summarizes the findings related to survey data from 35 participants. Volume 2 summarizes the data from videotaped observations of 21 coaches' interactions with coachees on the job. [For Volume 2, see ED565482.]

This report summarizes findings from one component of the Consortium for Policy Research in Education's (CPRE) evaluation of the General Electric Foundation's (GEF) "Developing Futures"™ in Education program in Stamford Public Schools (SPS). The purpose was to closely analyze district capacity to support system-wide instructional improvement. Specifically, this phase focused on a single, overarching question: to what extent has the district central office adopted and institutionalized the core principles of "Developing Futures"™? To answer this question, this evaluation assesses the Stamford Public School District's progress in scaling up and institutionalizing seven core elements of "Developing Futures"™: (1) Internal constituency engagement: The district engages stakeholders at all levels of the system, and establishes common vision and buy-in for improvement efforts; (2) External constituency engagement: The district engages partner organizations and institutions, parents and the community; and effectively communicates about reform efforts; (3) Curriculum and instruction: The district communicates and supports a system­-wide vision for instructional improvement; (4) Professional development for instruction: The district delivers high-­quality professional development on curriculum, instruction, standards, and assessment; (5) Professional development for leadership: The district delivers high-quality professional development on leadership or management; (6) Management capacity: The district collects and uses data, attracts and develops talent, and evaluates staff performance; and (7) Evaluation: The district monitors and evaluates reform efforts. These seven reform elements were identified through a review of GEF program materials and documentation, and through a close analyses of each districts' reform trajectory over the life of the grant. Based on a thorough review of the research and evaluation literature, a set of indicators was constructed to allow the research team to determine the extent to which there was evidence of effective practice in each of these seven areas. Each area was decomposed into a set of more specific, observable characteristics. Research instruments were designed to elicit evidence of these characteristics in descriptions of central office processes, functions, or overall capacity. Ratings were then assigned to each characteristic based on the prevalence of available evidence using a three-point scale. This report provides ratings for SPS for each indicator and its component characteristics, along with qualitative and survey evidence illustrating and supporting the ratings. Overall, SPS implemented strategies to address each of the indicators discussed in this report: Internal Constituency Engagement, External Constituency Engagement, Curriculum & Instruction, Professional Development-Instructional, Professional Development-Leadership, Management Capacity, and Evaluation. Progress in each of these indicators varied, with the district meeting with greater success in some areas than in others.

This report summarizes findings from one component of the Consortium for Policy Research in Education's (CPRE) evaluation of the General Electric Foundation's (GEF) "Developing Futures"™ in Education program in Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS). As described in the CPRE proposal and research design, the purpose was to closely analyze district capacity to support system-­wide instructional improvement. Specifically, this phase focused on a single, overarching question: to what extent has the district central office adopted and institutionalized the core principles of "Developing Futures"™? To answer this question, this evaluation assesses the Jefferson County Public School District's progress in scaling up and institutionalizing seven core elements of "Developing Futures"™. They are: (1) Internal constituency engagement; (2) External constituency engagement; (3) Curriculum and instruction; (4) Professional development for instruction; (5) Professional development for leadership; (6) Management capacity; (7) Evaluation. Based on a thorough review of the research and evaluation literature, a set of indicators was constructed to allow the research team to determine the extent to which there was evidence of effective practice in each of these seven areas. Results indicate that JCPS has made significant progress in curriculum standardization instructional vision setting and formative assessment.

This report summarizes findings from one component of the Consortium for Policy Research in Education's (CPRE) evaluation of the General Electric Foundation's (GEF) "Developing Futures" ™ in Education program in Erie Public Schools (EPS). As described in the CPRE proposal and research design, the purpose was to closely analyze district capacity to support system-wide instructional improvement. Specifically, this phase focused on a single, overarching question: to what extent has the district central office adopted and institutionalized the core principles of "Developing Futures"™? To answer this question, this evaluation assesses the Erie Public School District's progress in scaling up and institutionalizing seven core elements of "Developing Futures" ™. They include: (1) Internal constituency engagement. The district engages stakeholders at all levels of the system, and establishes common vision and buy-­in for improvement efforts. (2) External constituency engagement. The district engages partner organizations and institutions, parents and the community; and effectively communicates about reform efforts. (3) Curriculum and instruction. The district communicates and supports a system-­wide vision for instructional improvement. (4) Professional development for instruction. The district delivers high-quality professional development on curriculum, instruction, standards or assessment. (5) Professional development for leadership. The district delivers high-­quality professional development on leadership or management. (6) Management capacity. The district collects and uses data, attracts and develops talent, and evaluates staff performance. (7) Evaluation. The district monitors and evaluates reform efforts. These seven reform elements were identified through a review of GEF program materials and documentation, and through a close analyses of each districts' reform trajectory over the life of the grant. Based on a thorough review of the research and evaluation literature, a set of indicators was constructed to allow the research team to determine the extent to which there was evidence of effective practice in each of these seven areas.

This report summarizes findings from one component of the Consortium for Policy Research in Education's (CPRE) evaluation of the General Electric Foundation's (GEF) "Developing Futures"™ in Education program in Cincinnati Public Schools (CPS). The purpose was to closely analyze district capacity to support system-wide instructional improvement. Specifically, this phase focused on a single, overarching question: to what extent has the district central office adopted and institutionalized the core principles of "Developing Futures"™? To answer this question, this evaluation assesses the Cincinnati Public School District's progress in scaling up and institutionalizing seven core elements of "Developing Futures"™: (1) Internal constituency engagement; (2) External constituency engagement; (3) Curriculum and instruction; (4) Professional development for instruction; (5) Professional development for leadership; (6) Management capacity; and (7) Evaluation. These seven reform elements were identified through a review of GEF program materials and documentation, and through a close analyses of each districts' reform trajectory over the life of the grant. Based on a thorough review of the research and evaluation literature, a set of indicators was constructed to allow the research team to determine the extent to which there was evidence of effective practice in each of these seven areas. Each area was decomposed into a set of more specific, observable characteristics. Research instruments were designed to elicit evidence of these characteristics in descriptions of central office processes, functions, or overall capacity. Ratings were then assigned to each characteristic based on the prevalence of available evidence using a three-point scale: (1) Strong implementation; (2) Moderate implementation; and (3) Weak implementation. This report provides ratings for CPS for each indicator and its component characteristics, along with qualitative and survey evidence illustrating and supporting the ratings. Overall, CPS has made significant progress in building system-­wide capacity for instructional improvement by facilitating collaboration, involving all stakeholders in planning and decision-­making, clarifying instructional expectations, and building a robust professional development system. The evidence suggests that instructional practice remains inconsistent in some cases, and that shifting standards and summative assessments pose a challenge for alignment and coherence.

Building a stronger teacher workforce requires the thoughtful orchestration of multiple processes working together in a human capital system. This white paper presents a framework that can be used to take stock of current efforts to enhance the teacher workforce in school districts or educational organizations, as well as their underlying theories of how the teacher workforce improves over time. The paper refines and provides evidentiary support for a human capital system framework composed of four subsystems that ideally work together to build a stronger teacher workforce: (1) getting the right teachers in the right positions on time (Acquire); (2) supporting professional growth in school-based learning communities (Develop); (3) nurturing, rewarding, and challenging high-performing teachers (Sustain); and (4) informing evidence-based personnel decisions (Evaluate). Attention to this framework will engender a corps of teachers with the capacity and expertise to collectively facilitate enhanced educational outcomes.