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From 2010 onwards, most US states have aligned their education standards by adopting the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for math and English Language Arts. The CCSS did not target other subjects such as science and social studies. We estimate spillovers of the CCSS on student achievement in non-targeted subjects in models with state and year fixed effects. Using student achievement data from the NAEP, we show that the CCSS had a negative effect on student achievement in non-targeted subjects. This negative effect is largest for underprivileged students, exacerbating racial and socioeconomic student achievement gaps. Using teacher surveys, we show that the CCSS caused a reduction in instructional focus on nontargeted subjects. [Financial support was provided by DAAD and the Leibniz Competition.]

The experimental evaluation of the "Tools of the Mind Pre-K Curriculum" described in this report was designed to examine the effectiveness of the "Tools of the Mind" ("Tools") curriculum for enhancing children's self-regulation skills and their academic preparation for kindergarten when compared to the usual prekindergarten curricula in use in the school system. In order to assess the long-term impacts of "Tools" on student academic achievement and self-regulation outcomes, students were followed into kindergarten and first grade. Participating classrooms were also observed three times during the prekindergarten year using multiple measures designed to capture implementation fidelity as well as child and teacher behaviors in the classroom. The project was fortunate to have participants from Franklin Special School District, Lebanon Special School District, Wilson County School District, and Cannon County School District in Tennessee as well as Guilford County Schools and Alamance-Burlington School System in North Carolina. The evaluation involved two cohorts of children. Cohort 1 (2010-2011) included the four Tennessee school systems and Guilford County Schools in North Carolina and involved children from 60 classrooms ("Tools" = 32) in 45 schools ("Tools" = 25). Cohort 2 (2011-2012) included Alamance-Burlington School System in North Carolina with children from 20 classrooms ("Tools" = 10) in 12 schools ("Tools" = 5). The research design investigated the effectiveness of "Tools," by conducting a longitudinal cluster-randomized experiment to address the questions: (1) Do children in "Tools of the Mind" classrooms improve more in literacy, math, social skills, and exhibit reduced behavior problems during the preschool year than children in "business as usual" comparison classrooms? (2) Do children in "Tools of the Mind" classrooms show greater gains in learning-related self-regulation than children in the comparison classrooms? (3) Are there differential effects of "Tools of the Mind" associated with characteristics of the children? And, (4) Do the effects of participating in a "Tools of the Mind" classroom sustain into kindergarten and first grade? In addition, an extensive battery of observational measures was employed to examine implementation fidelity and other classroom processes that might have mediated the curriculum effects. Overall, the authors found no significant effects of the "Tools of the Mind" curriculum on literacy, language or mathematics achievement when compared to business as usual classrooms whose teachers used a variety of curricular approaches. Similarly, they found no effects on Self-Regulation. Gains in achievement and self-regulation were correlated, r = 0.35. Additional outcomes and future directions are recommended. (Contains 53 tables.) [For "Experimental Evaluation of the Tools of the Mind Pre-K Curriculum. Fidelity of Implementation Technical Report," see ED574843.]

The "Experimental Evaluation of the Tools of the Mind Pre-K Curriculum" study was designed to compare the effectiveness of the "Tools of the Mind" ("Tools") curriculum to the curricula the school system is currently using in enhancing children's self-regulation skills and their academic preparation for kindergarten. In addition, compared was the effectiveness of each into kindergarten and first grade. The research plan in 2010-11 (Cohort 1) and 2011-12 (Cohort 2) involved assessing the consented children in both "Tools" and "Comparison" classrooms at the beginning and end of the school year using a variety of self-regulation tasks and child achievement measures. Each classroom was also observed three times during the year using multiple measures designed to capture the differences between classrooms using Tools and those using other curricula. The evaluation involved two cohorts of children. Cohort 1 included the four Tennessee school systems and Guilford County Schools in North Carolina with children from 60 classrooms ("Tools" = 32) in 45 schools ("Tools" = 25). Cohort 2 included Alamance-Burlington School System in North Carolina with children from 20 classrooms ("Tools" = 10) in 12 schools ("Tools"= 5). "Tools of the Mind" is a complex and dynamic curriculum with a specific sequence of preschool activities designed to develop children's ability to learn, as well as direct content knowledge, across the school year, with this sequence varying to some extent upon the strengths of the students within the classroom. At the time this project began, there were 62 activities but no developed measure of fidelity of implementation for the curriculum in this version. Project staff and the curriculum developers and trainers participated in a series of meetings to discuss (1) the important aspects of the curriculum that set it apart from other early childhood curricula; (2) how these characteristics could be measured or quantified; and (3) once measured, what implementation with fidelity would look like. This report focuses on vertical fidelity, or measures of fidelity designed to differentiate among classrooms enacting "Tools." Also collected was other data designed to measure horizontal fidelity, or the aspects of the curriculum thought to differentiate classrooms using "Tools" from those using another curriculum. The report offers a conclusion and future directions. [For the full technical report: "Experimental Validation of the Tools of the Mind Prekindergarten Curriculum," see ED574842.]

Many policies and initiatives have been proposed or implemented to address the unique needs of military families who face special challenges while supporting the service of their military member(s). Some of those policies and initiatives have sought to focus on military-connected children (MCCs) and the particular academic challenges they face. The unique aspects of many of the challenges stem from the dynamics of the military lifestyle. Current efforts to address the academic needs of MCCs are built upon earlier efforts, some of which can be traced back nearly two centuries. Although ascertaining their academic performance is more challenging and less straightforward than it could and should be, there are many indications that MCCs perform academically at least as well--and sometimes better--than their non-MCC peers. Despite this, there have been assertions that federal Common Core standards are essential to improving the academic progress of MCCs and would greatly benefit them as they transition with their military parents between different military duty locations. However, such assertions are supported neither by the available evidence nor by the existing questions of rigor, legality, transparency, privacy, and state and local control that surround the implementation of Common Core. Rather than centrally and opaquely determined standards, initiatives such as the Interstate Compact on the Education of Military Children, the creation of school liaison officers, support of military homeschooling families, and the use of targeted grants, to name just a few examples, are better suited to assisting military families and military leaders address the challenges of K-12 education for MCCs. [This document contains a preface by Lieutenant General Rick Lynch, Retired Three-Star General, United States Army.]

This study provides a first look at how student college- and career-readiness have progressed in the early years of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) implementation. It is motivated by concern that changes triggered by the standards transition might be disruptive to student learning in the short run, even when those changes may become beneficial once fully implemented. Using longitudinal administrative data from Kentucky, an early adopter of the CCSS, we followed three cohorts of students from the end of the 8th grade to the end of the 11th grade and found that students exposed to the CCSS--including students in both high- and low-poverty schools--made faster progress in learning than similar students who were not exposed to the standards. Although it is not conclusive whether cross-cohort improvement was entirely attributable to the standards reform, we found that students made large gains in proficiency in the years immediately before and after the transition. Additionally, we found student performance in subjects that adopted CCSS-aligned curriculum framework experienced larger, more immediate improvement than student performance in subjects that carried over last-generation curriculum framework.

Improvements in workforce skills are essential for European countries to attain higher economic growth and to compete effectively on product markets. Literature indicates a positive relationship between levels of education and productivity growth. This report builds on and expands this body of research in two ways: (1) It investigates the differential impact of various skill types--higher (academic), upper-intermediate vocational, lower-intermediate vocational, lower-intermediate general, and low--on labour productivity; and (2) It accounts for the stock of uncertified skills (i.e. those built through training). The analysis is carried out in six European Union Member States--Denmark, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the United Kingdom--representing different modes of vocational education and training (VET) and those for which data were available. The analysis suggests that general and vocational skills complement each other and that the effect of certified skills on productivity is stronger when certified skills are reinforced by training. This study underlines that learning in the workplace, both in initial and continuing VET, makes a fundamental contribution to productivity, and comes to support policy efforts to develop apprenticeship and adult learning. The following annex is included: (1) Overview of research methods used in the study. [This publication is the result of a team effort reflecting the work of a research consortium of Geoff Mason, Dawn Holland, Iana Liadze, Rebecca Riley, Ana Rincon-Aznar, and Mary O'Mahony, and their aids Tatiana Fic, Rachel Whitworth, Yasheng Maimaiti, and Fei Peng. This work was carried out under contract number 2009-0216/AO/RPA/GUTCHPDE/VET-Macroeconomic-benefits/010/0.]

Although the recent wave of mortgage foreclosures has clearly been accompanied by economic hardship, relatively little research has examined how foreclosures affect the academic performance of students. This paper investigates the relationship between mortgage foreclosures and the academic performance of students using a unique dataset that matches information on the standardized test scores and attendance of individual Boston Public School students with real estate records indicating whether the student lived at an address involved in foreclosure and whether that student's parent or guardian was the owner or a tenant in the property. Econometric analysis of this relationship suggests that foreclosures are associated with slightly lower test scores and attendance, controlling for the previous-year's test score and attendance as well as other student characteristics and environmental factors. The results suggest that both the foreclosure event and the diminished student outcomes stem from underlying economic stress within the family. School changes during the school year, which are sometimes induced by foreclosure-related residential moves but also occur independently of foreclosure, may be associated with more substantial negative effects on academic performance than foreclosures, although this causal relationship is not certain. This latter finding suggests that policies that decouple residential moves from school changes during the school year may help to mitigate this indirect effect of foreclosure on student performance. This Working Paper also includes a Data Appendix.

This is a support document to the "Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) 2009 Cohort User Guide" report. Developed for users of LSAY, the user guide consolidates information about the LSAY 2009 cohort into one document. This support document provides school and school transition information for the guide. [For the main report, "Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) 2009 Cohort User Guide. Technical Paper 74," see ED536971. For other supporting documents, see "Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) 2009 Cohort User Guide: Data Elements A--Demographics. Technical Paper 74A" (ED536979); "Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) 2009 Cohort User Guide: Data Elements B2--Education (Post-School). Technical Paper 74B2" (ED536975); "Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) 2009 Cohort User Guide: Data Elements C--Employment. Technical Paper 74C" (ED536974); and "Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) 2009 Cohort User Guide: Data Elements D--Social. Technical Paper 74D" (ED536972).]

Developed for users of the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY), this user guide consolidates information about the LSAY 2009 cohort into one document. The guide aims to address all aspects of the LSAY data including: how to access the data; data restrictions; variable naming conventions; the structure of the data; documentation; classifications and code frames used; weights; and derived variables. Updates to the Y09 data file are appended. (Contains 14 tables, 9 figures and 6 footnotes.) [For supporting documents, see "Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) 2009 Cohort User Guide: Data Elements A--Demographics. Technical Paper 74A" (ED536979); "Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) 2009 Cohort User Guide: Data Elements B1--Education (School and School Transition). Technical Paper 74B1" (ED536973); "Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) 2009 Cohort User Guide: Data Elements B2--Education (Post-School). Technical Paper 74B2" (ED536975); "Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) 2009 Cohort User Guide: Data Elements C--Employment. Technical Paper 74C" (ED536974); and "Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) 2009 Cohort User Guide: Data Elements D--Social. Technical Paper 74D" (ED536972).]

The core purpose of the Interstate Survey series is to survey statistically representative statewide samples and report the "levels" and "gaps" of voter opinion, knowledge, and awareness when it comes to K-12 education and school choice reforms--particularly with respect to state performance, education spending, graduation rates, achievement rankings, charter schools, virtual schools, tax-credit scholarships, and school vouchers. In this paper the author and his colleagues compare voter responses in six states: Alabama, Arkansas, Kansas, Mississippi, New Jersey, and New York. Why choose these states? In a sense these states comprise the open frontier for reforms in K-12 education. None has enacted school voucher or tax-credit scholarship systems. Arkansas, New Jersey, and New York have seen some growth in the charter school sector, but charter school student populations do not exceed 2 percent of the overall student populations in these states. Only New Jersey has had a consequential public debate about voucher or tax-credit scholarship programs in the last couple of years. This project's six states are similar in that none has been exposed to school choice programs in action, and the charter school sectors (non-existent in Alabama) and virtual school sectors (non-existent in New York) are still in early stages of development. The paper is presented in four sections. The first section summarizes key findings. The second section, "Survey Snapshots," represents the body of the paper. The third section describes the survey's methodology, summarizes response statistics, and presents additional technical information on call dispositions for landline and cell phone interviews. The fourth section lays out the questionnaire and question-by-question results (topline data), essentially allowing the reader to follow the actual interview as it was conducted in terms of question wording and ordering. This paper sets out to provide fundamental analysis, going light on editorial commentary, and letting the charts and numbers communicate the major findings. (Contains 12 footnotes.)

Redistributing highly effective teachers from low- to high-need schools is an education policy tool that is at the center of several major current policy initiatives. The underlying assumption is that teacher productivity is portable across different schools settings. Using elementary and secondary school data from North Carolina and Florida, this paper investigates the validity of this assumption. Among teachers who switched between schools with substantially different poverty levels or academic performance levels, we find no change in those teachers' measured effectiveness before and after a school change. This pattern holds regardless of the direction of the school change. We also find that high-performing teachers' value-added dropped and low-performing teachers' value-added gained in the post-move years, primarily as a result of regression to the within-teacher mean and unrelated to school setting changes. Despite such shrinkages, high-performing teachers in the pre-move years still outperformed low-performing teachers after moving to schools with different settings. (Contains 2 figures, 17 tables, and 11 footnotes.)

Taking a gap year--a break between high school and university--is becoming increasingly popular with Australian students. In terms of length and purpose, the traditional notion of a gap year being a year off between school and university has expanded considerably over time. For the purposes of the analysis reported in this paper, a person who takes a gap year is defined as "an individual who commenced university one to two years after completing Year 12. This includes those who accept and defer their university placement for one to two years" (Curtis, Mlotkowski & Lumsden 2012). Highlights of this report include: (1) In Australia the incidence of taking a gap year has increased from 10% in the period 1999-2000 to 24% in 2009-10; (2) The top four primary activities undertaken by gap students in 2009-10 were work (51%), full-time study leading to a non-university qualification (10%), other study (6%), and travel (6%); (3) Characteristics of gap-takers include: (a) being academically less inclined than non-gap-takers; (b) living in regional locations when at school; (c) having English speaking backgrounds; (d) being employed when in Year 12 at school; and (e) being less likely to receive Youth Allowance payments while at school; (4) In their first year of university, gap-takers are more likely to study in the areas of education and creative arts; and (5) Those who don't take a gap year are substantially more likely at age 24 to be employed full-time and to work in professional occupations than gap-takers. Much of this difference can be attributed to the fact that, in terms of their careers, gap-takers are a year or two behind those who don't take a gap year. The data do not allow the authors to measure the longer-term outcomes of both groups because the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) stops at age 25. Appended are: (1) Gap year definitions; and (2) LSAY cohorts sample sizes and durations. (Contains 13 tables.) [For "Bridging the Gap: Who Takes a Gap Year and Why? Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth. Research Report," see ED533077.]

School principals have complex jobs. To better understand the work lives of principals, this study uses observational time-use data for all high school principals in Miami-Dade County Public Schools. This paper examines the relationship between the time principals spent on different types of activities and school outcomes including student achievement, teacher and parent assessments of the school, and teacher satisfaction. The authors find that time spent on Organization Management activities is associated with positive school outcomes, such as student test score gains and positive teacher and parent assessments of the instructional climate, whereas Day-to-Day Instruction activities are marginally or not at all related to improvements in student performance and often have a negative relationship with teacher and parent assessments. This paper suggests that a single-minded focus on principals as instructional leaders operationalized through direct contact with teachers may be detrimental if it forsakes the important role of principals as organizational leaders. Percent of Principal Time Spent on Individual Tasks is appended. (Contains 6 footnotes, 3 figures and 5 tables.) [This paper was supported by the Stanford University K-12 Initiative.]

As is the case in most OECD countries, boys in Norway are more likely to have lower levels of academic achievement and attainment than girls. While this phenomenon is not recent, it has become increasingly pronounced in recent years and, as a result, is attracting considerable attention from policy-makers in many countries. This paper develops evidence of gender gaps in educational outcomes in Norway and selected OECD countries and identifies examples of policies and practices that could help close existing gender gaps in Norway. The first part of the paper describes gender gaps in school achievement, attainment, attitudes, beliefs and behaviours using an international comparative analysis. Evidence from PIRLS, TIMSS, PISA and the OECD Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC) is used to identify gender gaps during primary and secondary schooling as well as young adulthood. The second part of the paper summarises evidence on policies and practices that were implemented in other countries and that could support efforts in Norway to mitigate, prevent and reduce gender gaps in achievement and attainment. Most of the evidence on policies and practices reviewed in the report comes from the peer countries Finland, the Netherlands and the United States that were identified of particular relevance for Norway, given the policy challenge Norway faces. [This report was developed in co-operation with the Norwegian National Commission on Gender Equity in Education.]

In recent times social capital has received considerable attention because it is seen as having the potential to address many of the problems facing modern society, including the poor educational outcomes of considerable numbers of young people. This paper uses data from the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) to explore the relationship between social capital at age 15 and participation in education and training at age 17. The issue is whether social capital is yet another factor which advantages the already advantaged, or whether social capital operates separately from family background. Findings reveal that social capital influences educational participation "over and above" the effects of background characteristics such as parents' education levels, parental occupation, geographic location, cultural background, school sector and academic achievement. For both males and females, participation in a diverse range of activities has the greatest influence on participation in education and training, followed by the strength of the relationship students have with their teachers. Increasing rates of participation in sport also increase educational participation for females. The authors note that, if anything, the findings underestimate the net effects of social capital because the results cannot fully account for the accumulation of social capital prior to the age of 15. The finding that social capital matters for school education is a very positive one. It implies that activities that promote and encourage engagement at school can go some way to redressing economic and social disadvantage. Appended are: (1) Factor analysis; (2) Distribution of social capital; (3) Logistic regression (1); (4) Logistic regression (2); and (5) Distribution of social capital by academic orientation. (Contains 10 tables, 12 figures and 6 footnotes.)

Merit pay initiatives transparently alter the teaching profession and goings-on within classrooms, and thereby promise to stoke the self-interests of the two most prominent stakeholders in public education: teachers and parents. This memo summarizes the authors' ongoing efforts to empirically evaluate the extent to which public debates about merit pay pit key stakeholders, rather than well-defined political constituencies, against one another. The authors examine the content of public opinion on these issues; the willingness of different groups to update their views in light of new information; and the ways in which expressed opinions on these policies figure into the larger assembly of education policies. When it comes to public debates about merit pay, they find, cleavages between parents and teachers are not merely evident. They utterly overwhelm those differences observed between either Democrats and Republicans or liberals and conservatives. The authors use the 2009 "Education Next"-Program on Education Policy and Governance (PEPG) Survey conducted by Knowledge Networks[R]. The survey was fielded to a stratified nationally representative sample of 3,251 adults, including an oversample of 709 teachers. The sample also includes 863 parents with children under the age of 18. Samples were drawn from the probability-based KnowledgePanel[R], and surveys were administered over the internet between February 25 and March 13, 2009. (Contains 13 tables, 2 figures, and 5 footnotes.)

This paper assesses the potential to raise public spending efficiency in the primary and secondary education sector. Resource availability per pupil has increased significantly over the past decade in a number of countries; often in attempting to exploit the link between educational attainment and growth. However, available evidence reveals only a weak correlation between increased resource availability and pupil performance. In order to draw cross-country comparisons of the efficiency in the provision of education, the paper develops a set of comparable indicators which reflect international differences in the levels of efficiency in the primary and secondary education sector both within and among countries. The paper identifies significant scope to improve efficiency by moving towards best practice. These results are robust to a variety of approaches and are most certain when the potential gain from eliminating inefficiency is larger. (A bibliography is included. Supporting Technical Documentation and Supplementary Results are annexed. Contains 37 footnotes, 21 figures, 3 boxes and 17 tables.)

While the importance of effective principals is undisputed, few studies have addressed what specific skills principals need to promote school success. This study draws on unique data combining survey responses from principals, assistant principals, teachers and parents with rich administrative data to identify which principal skills matter most for school outcomes. Factor analysis of a 42-item task inventory distinguishes five skill categories, yet only one of them, the principals' organization management skills, consistently predicts student achievement growth and other success measures. Analysis of evaluations of principals by assistant principals confirms this central result. Our analysis argues for a broad view of instructional leadership that includes general organizational management skills as a key complement to the work of supporting curriculum and instruction. Two appendices are included: (1) Factor Loadings Matrix for Principal Effectiveness Factors; and (2) Factor Loadings Matrix for Assistant Principal Effectiveness Factors. (Contains 3 figures, 5 tables and 6 footnotes.) [This paper was supported by the Stanford University K-12 Initiative.]

The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act has compelled states to design school accountability systems based on annual student assessments. The effect of this Federal legislation on the distribution of student achievement is a highly controversial but centrally important question. This study presents evidence on whether NCLB has influenced student achievement based on an analysis of state-level panel data on student test scores from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). This study identifies the impact of NCLB by relying on comparisons of the test-score changes across states that already had school accountability policies in place prior to NCLB and those that did not. Results indicate that NCLB generated statistically significant increases in the average math performance of 4th graders (effect size = 0.22 by 2007) as well as improvements at the lower and top percentiles. However, the authors do not find consistent evidence that NCLB generated similarly broad improvements in reading achievement or achievement among 8th graders. (Contains 11 tables and 6 footnotes.) [This paper was presented at the "NCLB: Emerging Findings Research Conference" at the Urban Institute, Washington, D.C. on August 12, 2009.]

Using detailed data from North Carolina, this paper examines the frequency, incidence, and consequences of teacher absences in public schools, as well as the impact of a policy designed to reduce absences. The incidence of teacher absences is regressive: when schools are ranked by the fraction of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch, schools in the poorest quartile averaged almost one extra sick day per teacher than schools in the highest income quartile, and schools with persistently high rates of teacher absence were much more likely to serve low-income than high-income students. In regression models incorporating teacher fixed effects, absences are associated with lower student achievement in elementary grades. There is evidence that the demand for discretionary absences is price-elastic. Our estimates suggest that a policy intervention that simultaneously raised teacher base salaries and broadened financial penalties for absences could both raise teachers' expected income and lower districts' expected costs. (Contains 11 tables, 5 figures, and 37 footnotes.)

The gold standard in making causal inference on program effects is a randomized trial. Most randomization designs in education randomize classrooms or schools rather than individual students. Such "clustered randomization" designs have one principal drawback: They tend to have limited statistical power or precision. This study aims to provide empirical information needed to design adequately powered studies that randomize schools using data from Florida and North Carolina. The authors assess how different covariates contribute to improving the statistical power of a randomization design and examine differences between math and reading tests; differences between test types (curriculum-referenced tests versus norm-referenced tests); and differences between elementary school and secondary school, to see if the test subject, test type, or grade level makes a large difference in the crucial design parameters. Finally they assess bias in 2-level models that ignore the clustering of students in classrooms. (Contains 5 figures, 46 tables and 2 footnotes.)

Class-size reduction (CSR) mandates presuppose that resources provided to reduce class size will have a larger impact on student outcomes than resources that districts can spend as they see fit. I estimate the impact of Florida's statewide CSR policy by comparing the deviations from prior achievement trends in districts that were required to reduce class size to deviations from prior trends in districts that received equivalent resources but were not required to reduce class size. I use the same comparative interrupted time series design to compare schools that were differentially affected by the policy (in terms of whether they had to reduce class size) but that did not receive equal additional resources. The results from both the district- and school-level analyses indicate that mandated CSR in Florida had little, if any, effect on cognitive and non-cognitive outcomes. Thirteen tables are appended: (1) Effect of Required CSR at District Level on District Characteristics; (2) Effect of Required CSR at School Level on School Characteristics; (3) District-Level Models with Additional Years of Pre-Treatment Data (Effects in Student-Level Standard Deviations); (4) District-Level Estimates that Condition on Prior-Year Controls (Effects in Student-Level Standard Deviations); (5) District-Level Analysis Robustness Checks (Effects in Student-Level Standard Deviations); (6) Effects of District-Level CSR on FCAT Scores (Student-Level Standard Deviations), Standard Difference-in-Differences Specification; (7) Effects of District-Level CSR on Stanford Achievement Test (SAT) Scores (Student-Level Standard Deviations); (8) Achievement Effects of District-level CSR by Subgroup (Student-Level Standard Deviations); (9) Effects of District-Level CSR on Non-Cognitive Outcomes; (10) School-Level Estimates that Condition on Prior-Year Controls (Effects in Student-Level Standard Deviations); (11) Effects of School-Level CSR on FCAT Scores (Student-Level Standard Deviations), Standard Difference-in-Differences Specification; (12) Achievement Effects of School-Level CSR by Subgroup (Student-Level Standard Deviations); and (13) Effects of School-Level CSR on Non-Cognitive Outcomes. (Contains 3 figures, 21 tables and 32 footnotes.)

We use detailed data from New York City to estimate how the characteristics of school principals relate to school performance, as measured by students' standardized exam scores and other outcomes. We find little evidence of any relationship between school performance and principal education and pre-principal work experience, although we do find some evidence that experience as an assistant principal at the principal's current school is associated with higher performance among inexperienced principals. However, we find a positive relationship between principal experience and school performance, particularly for math test scores and student absences. The experience profile is especially steep over the first few years of principal experience. Finally, we find mixed evidence on the relationship between formal principal training and professional development programs and school performance, with the caveat that the selection and assignment of New York City principals participating in these programs make it hard to isolate their effects. The positive returns to principal experience suggest that policies which cause principals to leave their posts early (e.g., via early retirement or a move into district administration) will be costly, and the tendency for less-advantaged schools to be run by less experienced principals could exacerbate educational inequality. Data appendix is included. (Contains 1 figure, 12 tables and 18 footnotes.)

This quantitative study uses data from North Carolina to examine the extent to which survey based perceptions of working conditions are predictive of policy-relevant outcomes, independent of other school characteristics such as the demographic mix of the school's students. Working conditions emerge as highly predictive of teachers' stated intentions to remain in or leave their schools, with leadership emerging as the most salient dimension. Teachers' perceptions of their working conditions are also predictive of one-year actual departure rates and student achievement, but the predictive power is far lower. These weaker findings for actual outcome measures help to highlight both the strengths and weaknesses of using teacher survey data for understanding outcomes of policy interest. (Contains 3 figures, 11 tables and 13 footnotes.)

Debate is well under way regarding the efficacy of the "No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act," including whether this bundle of federal rules and resources is prompting gains in student achievement. Spirited conversation will intensify as the Congress discusses how to adjust and reauthorize this ambitious set of school reforms. Both state and federal gauges of student achievement will inform this debate. This paper first asks whether state testing systems provide an accurate and consistent indication of the share of fourth-grade students who are deemed "proficient" in reading and mathematics. It compares the states' own estimates against federal determinations, based on results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). It reports for the first time, on comparable state testing results and trends since 1992. The report details, looking across 12 diverse states, a small improvement in the percentage of children achieving proficiency in reading, based on NAEP results between 1992 and 2005. But states estimated much higher shares of students reaching proficiency, compared with the NAEP results. It then details how children made greater progress in math proficiency over this 13-year period. Yet again, it discovered that state test results exaggerate the annual rate of improvement, compared with the federal NAEP results. This historical disparity between state and federal estimates of proficiency levels has not previously been illuminated over this range of states. But the phenomenon is not new. The gap does not stem simply from NCLB's unintended incentive for states to set low cutoffs for defining which students are deemed proficient. Instead, it shows that states have long claimed that a much higher share of students are proficient relative to NAEP results, even before NCLB created the incentive for states to set a low bar. Appended are: (1) Fourth-Grade Test Score Patterns in 12 States; (2) Sources for Test Data and State Accountability Policies; and (3) State Policy Milestones. (Contains 6 endnotes, 15 figures, and 2 tables.)

This paper provides an extensive review of the most relevant issues involved in the management of teacher demand and supply at the pre-tertiary level. First, it proposes a conceptual framework for distinguishing among, defining and relating the different relevant factors. Second, it identifies trends and policy concerns regarding the quality of the teaching workforce across the OECD area. Third, it provides an account of current empirical evidence on numerous aspects (e.g. class size, reward structure, working conditions, teacher education, certification procedures, organisation of schools, evaluation systems, structure of labour market, teaching and learning practices) impacting on the teaching profession. Some concerns about maintaining an adequate supply of good quality teachers emerge. It is the case that in a great number of countries the age profile of teachers is skewed towards the older end of the age-range and signs point to a recent worsening of the situation. In addition, the relative attractiveness of the profession, as far as the salary dimension is concerned, has declined substantially in the most recent years. Other evidence indicates that, at least in some countries, a substantial share of the teaching workforce does not hold a regular teaching license and the proportion of "out-of-field" teaching assignments is strikingly high in many subject key areas. It is also emphasised that a teacher shortage is difficult to measure and raises quality as well as quantity concerns. Given that teacher quality is a critical factor in determining student learning, it is entirely appropriate that the educational authorities in the countries with the greatest difficulties develop strategies to guarantee a sufficient supply of quality teachers. This report identifies a broad set of policies that should be given serious consideration to achieve that objective. Finally, this paper also sheds light on the current availability of data on teachers at OECD and relevant data needs for a future quantitative analysis. (Contains 5 figures and 5 charts.)

This paper and its "Executive Summary," separately published, are intended primarily for Chief State School Officers and their immediate staff members involved in statewide accountability policy development and implementation. The paper addresses certain key issues and contains a full exploration of the related technical aspects of validity and reliability in Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) determinations by states responding to the requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). The paper also considers unique issues that arise in designing accountability systems under the NCLB and the critical variables that relate to decisions states must make in financing these systems. The key issues that must be considered are: (1) multiple, separate indicators that may be needed for NCLB and current state programs; (2) the definition of "proficient" for each purpose; (3) selecting assessments and other indicators; (4) starting points and goals; (5) the minimum number per student group for AYP determinations; (6) the inclusion of all students and schools; and (7) the need to use and advantages of multiple years of data. The passage of NCLB had marked a shift in federal educational policy from an emphasis on standards and assessment to an emphasis on accountability at school, district, and state levels so that all students reach, at a minimum, proficiency on the state's academic achievement standards and state academic assessments. This document is intended to help state educational leaders understand and work with the new accountability requirements. Four appendixes contain supplemental information, including an excerpt from the NCLB and a glossary. (Contains 5 tables, 9 figures, and 16 references.) (SLD)

This paper assesses progress made in elementary education in Latin America from 1990-2000. Besides examining completion rates, it looks at four critical indicators: the extent to which repetition rates have declined over the decade; the extent of timely access and on-time ages of elementary school students; the level or elementary school students' learning achievement; and changes in expenditures and other inputs into elementary education. The paper focuses on four countries (Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, and Honduras), which represent a wide spectrum of education conditions in the region. It uses data collected from a variety of sources, with the main criterion being reliable observations from 1999-2000. Results indicate that overall, the region has made progress in elementary education. More children complete their elementary schooling. They are also more likely to begin their schooling at appropriate ages, and they are less likely to repeat a grade. Most countries have increased their investments in education. However, 18 percent of children in the region do not complete 6 years of elementary education, and 16 percent repeat a grade. Progress in terms of learning has been slow or nonexistent. (Contains 29 bibliographic references.) (SM)

Most studies that have fueled alarm over the attrition and mobility rates of high-quality teachers have relied on proxy indicators of teacher quality, which recent research finds to be only weakly correlated with value-added measures of teachers' performance. We examine attrition and mobility of teachers using teacher value-added measures for early-career teachers in North Carolina public schools from 1996 to 2002. Our findings suggest that the most-effective teachers tend to stay in teaching and in specific schools. Contrary to common expectations, we do not find that more-effective teachers are more likely to leave more-challenging schools. (Contains 17 tables, 1 figure and 15 notes.)

We use data on statewide end-of-course tests in North Carolina to examine the relationship between teacher credentials and student achievement at the high school level. The availability of test scores in multiple subjects for each student permits us to estimate a model with student fixed effects, which helps minimize any bias associated with the non-random distribution of teachers and students among classrooms within schools. We find compelling evidence that teacher credentials affect student achievement in systematic ways and that the magnitudes are large enough to be policy relevant. As a result, the uneven distribution of teacher credentials by race and socio-economic status of high school students--a pattern we also document--contributes to achievement gaps in high school. An appendix that briefly describes the steps the authors took to match students' test scores by subject to the students' teachers, and reports the distributions of test taking for matched students is presented. (Contains 9 tables and 18 footnotes.)

In this study we consider the efficacy of a relatively new and widely accepted certification system for teachers established by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS). To address the limitations in past research on the subject, we utilize a unique database covering the universe of teachers and students in Florida for a four-year span to determine the relationship between NBPTS certification and the impact of teachers on student test scores from both low-stakes and high-stakes exams. Contrary to some previous studies, we find evidence that NBPTS certification provides a positive signal of a teacher's contribution to student achievement only in a few isolated cases. Our results do reinforce evidence from previous research that the process of becoming NBPTS certified does not increase teacher productivity. While there is some evidence that NBPTS-certified teachers who are paid to act as mentors enhance the productivity of their colleagues, the effectiveness of non-NBPTS certified teachers does not increase with increases in the total number of NBPTS-certified teachers in the same school. (Contains 22 tables and 30 footnotes.)

In 2004, the Lumina Foundation for Education approved a generous grant to support validation research to explore and document the validity of the Community College Student Report (CCSR), add to the higher education field's understanding of student engagement, and help to identify research or institutional practices that require further attention. The study was conducted in three strands that linked Community College Survey of Student Engagement ("CCSSE") respondents with external data sources: (1) data from the Florida Department of Education; (2) data from the Achieving the Dream project; and (3) student record databases maintained at community colleges that have participated in the "CCSSE" survey and are either Hispanic-Serving Institutions or members of the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU). All participating students had participated in the 2002, 2003, or 2004 administrations of the Community College Student Report, "CCSSE's" survey instrument. The pattern of results obtained from the Florida study broadly confirms positive relationships between the construct of student engagement as measured by "CCSSE" and community college outcomes. This Achieving the Dream study yielded mixed results. The most promising results were for academic achievement (cumulative GPA) and persistence (credit completion ratios and fall-to-fall retention). Less promising were the results when predicting course completions across developmental math, writing and reading, as well as college-level algebra and English. In the HSS study, the student engagement scales were predictors of both "CCSSE" self-reported outcomes and transcript-derived student outcomes. Overall, two student engagement scales--Academic Challenge and Support for Learners--were the most consistent predictors of student outcomes. Overall, results clearly demonstrate that in assessing the validity of the "CCSSE", the choice of student outcomes variables is very important. The analyses accounted for larger proportions of variance in cumulative GPA, total credit hours completed, and average credit hours than in first to second term persistence, first to third term persistence, and number of terms enrolled. Further, depending on the student outcome of interest, some "CCSSE" self-reported outcomes seemed to be good proxies for transcript-derived outcomes, specifically cumulative GPA and total credit hours earned. Overall, many of the "CCSSE" variables, as well as corresponding derived scales and factors, demonstrated solid relationships with both self-reported and transcript-derived student outcomes. The results of these studies point to the following overall conclusions: (1) There is strong support for the validity of the use of the CCSR as a measure of institutional processes and student behaviors that impact student outcomes; (2) The studies confirm a long tradition of research findings linking engagement to positive academic outcomes; (3) There is strong consistency in the relationship between engagement factors and outcome measures across the three studies; however, some outcomes have stronger relationships to engagement than others; and (4) The Support for Learners benchmark was consistently correlated with measures of persistence. Appended are: (1) Florida Community College System Validation Study Results; (2) Achieving the Dream Validation Study Results; (3) HSS Consortium Institutions Validation Study Results; (4) "CCSSE" Constructs; (5) Study Variables; and (6) Participating Institutions. (Contains 71 tables, 8 figures and 4 footnotes.) [For related report, "Student Engagement and Student Outcomes: Key Findings from "CCSSE" Validation Research," see ED529076.]

California's loss of capital gains and stock options revenue during the recent economic downturn was one of the worst in the nation, and the resulting fiscal crisis led to reductions in State appropriations to the University of 15% over the past four years, while enrollments grew by 19%. This article examines the effects of this reduction in State funding and outlines the actions taken by the University of California to minimize the impact of these reductions in State funding. Despite sharp increases, student tuition and fee increases offset less than one-third of the total cut. Those additional tuition and fee revenues were, however, targeted and offset much of the impact on instructional programs, though there were large cuts in other areas. The University took steps to streamline administrative processes and to make better use of limited State funds by utilizing technology and leveraging the power of a multi-campus system to minimize the impact on academic support budgets. Nevertheless, the quality of the educational program has been affected, graduate student support levels are below those of the University's competitors, and salaries for both faculty and staff are well below market. In the short run, the University of California seems to have avoided some of the more serious effects of the loss of State funds on the academic program; the long term prospects, however, are less clear. (Contains 16 figures and 1 table.)

Student "teachability"--the advantages and disadvantages that students bring to school--is often offered as an excuse for educational failure. Many claim that students are less teachable than they used to be, and that reforms cannot meaningfully improve student achievement due to problems like poverty and social dysfunction. This study measures student teachability by examining 16 key social factors that affect learning. (Contains 13 tables and 13 figures.)

This document represents the second of two volumes presented in "Study of the Impact of the Statewide Systemic Initiatives Program" (Norman L. Webb and Iris R. Weiss). In an effort to evaluate the impact of the Statewide Systemic Initiatives (SSIs) on student achievement and the lessons that could be learned from the National Science Foundation's effort to reform mathematics and science education on a statewide basis, research studies identified the technical strategies, the political strategies, and the interactions with funders that were critical factors in the attempt to effect significant change in student learning over large populations. Documents were received on 21 of the 26 SSIs. More intensive data were collected via telephone interviews of key personnel in seven of these states and during site visits in six other states. An analysis of the NSF's systemic initiatives compared student mathematics test data for Grades 4 and 8 in SSI states and non-SSI states with data from State NAEP assessments for three testing years, 1992, 1996, and 2000. Comparisons were made of 14 SSI states and 13 non-SSI states that participated in the State NAEP in each of these three testing years. The close fit found between improved performance and SSI funding suggests that a relationship exists between such initiatives and student achievement. Of equal importance is the finding that change is most effective when multiple components are addressed in concert: i.e., when the SSIs served as catalysts for other reform efforts that states had initiated, they achieved optimum impact. When state policies are aligned with the goals of a systemic initiative and when state infrastructure supports teachers and schools as they change their practices, reform can result in substantial achievement gains in a relatively short time. (Contains 86 tables and 94 figures.) [For Volume I of this report, see ED497576.]

This study examined factors that affect student learning and growth in four student populations: seniors who began as freshmen immediately after high school, students who transferred from two-year colleges, students who transferred from four-year colleges, and students who entered Bachelor of Arts programs after military service or work. The data examined 2,500 graduating seniors at 20 state colleges and universities in 1997; data was broken down into four categories: background and demographic information, including age; class year; sex; ethnicity; employment; major; financial aid; residence; admissions test scores; high school grades and class rank; student plans, goals, and reasons for attending; level of student satisfaction with campus services and facilities, as well as campus academic environment; and cognitive and noncognitive experiences and outcomes, including classroom experiences and self-reported growth. Results indicate that the best academic outcomes were among the group who enter Bachelor of Arts programs after work or military experience. Differences in outcomes between the two transfer populations were not significant. For all students the best predictor of cumulative grade point average was Scholastic Assessment Test score and student effort. The best predictor of cognitive growth across all four populations on the 20 campuses was favorable classroom experiences. (CH)

The Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Class of 1998-99 (ECLS-K), selected a nationally representative sample of approximately 22,000 kindergartners in the fall of 1998 and is following these children through the end of the fifth grade. Baseline data about these children, their families, and their kindergarten programs were collected by means of telephone interviews with the children's parents or guardians and from self-administered questionnaires completed by the kindergarten teachers. Data were also gathered during an individual assessment with each child. This report documents the design, development, and psychometric characteristics of the assessment instruments used in the ECLS-K. The focus is on the psychometric results of the assessment instruments for four time points: Fall- and Spring-kindergarten and Fall- and Spring-first grade. The assessment instrument examined three domains: the cognitive (direct and indirect), socioemotional, and psychomotor. In addition, the report discusses issues involved in analyzing longitudinal measures of cognitive skills, including the use of total scores and of proficiency probabilities to measure longitudinal change. Initial results revealed sex differences in prereading skills at kindergarten entry and the areas of gain. Public school children had the lowest reading skills at kindergarten entry, followed by Catholic school children, with private non-Catholic school children having the highest reading skills. There were differences in the areas of gain in children attending different types of schools. The report's five appendices include a summary of national mathematics and science curriculum standards, reading assessment content classifications used for test item development, ECLS item parameters and item fit by rounds, and score statistics for indirect and psychomotor measures for selected subgroups. (Contains 60 references.) (KB)

This study investigated the potential effects of welfare reform on children in late childhood through adolescence, examining how poverty status and family welfare receipt interacted with current poverty status and welfare receipt during adolescence to influence various outcomes. The study examined how 1998 outcomes varied for adolescents based on family income, maternal employment, patterns of parental welfare receipt in middle childhood and adolescence, and demographics. Data from the 1992 and 1993 Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) were matched with data from the 1997 and 1998 interviewing years of the Survey of Program Dynamics (prior to the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunities Reconciliation Act of 1996). Average income-to-needs ratio, parental education, and whether the adolescent lived the entire period in a two-parent family highly correlated with positive outcomes. Adolescent outcomes were not significantly affected when parents stopped participating in welfare programs. When income insufficiency was severe enough to affect diet adequacy, adolescents were affected on many important outcomes. School outcome variables, status offense/criminal behavior variables, and substance use/abuse were most sensitive to differences in income, program participation, and time and extent of parent employment. (Contains 45 references.) (SM)

The primary purpose of this document is to provide accrediting organizations with guidance about how to engage evidence of student learning as they establish policies, standards, and approaches to review. As a result, it addresses three main topics: (1) accreditors must be clear about terminology when considering evidence of student learning outcomes; (2) accreditors have to face a number of policy choices about evidence of student learning outcomes; and (3) they will encounter a similar set of issues when examining student learning that need to be identified systematically. Accrediting organizations must be more aggressive and creative in requiring evidence of student learning outcomes as an integral part of their standards and processes for review. The accrediting community must become more vocal and articulate in talking about evidence of student learning outcomes, and each individual accreditor must choose a coherent rationale that underlies its approach to student learning outcomes, and then must use this rationale to explain the procedures it adopts. Accreditors need a language with which to talk with one another about what they are doing. All accreditors would benefit form the development of common resources. The growing body of accreditation experience should be organized for use by the community in common. (SLD)

This booklet examines ways to promote student success in a California standards-based system. It reviews the history of social promotion and retention in the United States and suggests why it is time to move beyond the "either/or" mindset. The booklet suggests that neither social promotion nor retention solves the basic problem of students' lack of success, and although retention may be appropriate in certain individual circumstances, it is not likely that repeating students will receive different curricular offerings or instructional approaches. The debate concerning social promotion versus retention must also be viewed in the context of accountability. Students must be expected to produce high-quality work, and teachers should develop lessons that engage students in powerful learning experiences. When establishing an effective, standards-based system of public education, it is necessary to identify approaches and use them so that students can successfully progress through school with their age-appropriate peers. Ways in which students meet standards cannot be separated from issues of teacher expertise, professional development, curricular alignment, assessment, school organization, and funding. Changes in classroom practice and reorganization of schools are not enough; the entire school community must support schools in new ways. (RJM)

The Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) of the National Center for Education Statistics offers the most comprehensive picture available of elementary and secondary schools in the United States. The value of the SASS would be even greater if information on districts and schools could be related directly to student outcomes. A relatively inexpensive source of school-level achievement data is state assessment data. Through cooperation with the states that have such data, it is possible to develop an SASS student achievement subfile that adds an outcome dimension to the SASS and provides in-depth data for use by states in understanding the organizational factors that are associated with variation in their schools' achievement test scores. If a linkage were carried out in all possible states, state assessment data would be missing for only about one-third of the SASS public schools. To address questions about feasibility, power, accuracy, and generalizability of analyses that combine SASS data with state assessment data, a pilot study was undertaken that involved merging 1993-94 SASS data with state assessment data from selected states. Chapter 2 of this report describes the development of the pilot project, and chapter 3 presents results concerning the developed SASS student achievement measure and preliminary analyses of a model relating student achievement levels to student background characteristics and school attributes measured by the SASS. An appendix presents technical notes. (Contains 4 figures, 11 tables, and 27 references.) (SLD)

The report summarizes the results of the British Columbia (B.C.) Council on Admissions and Transfer's efforts to define various student flow patterns into and through university colleges and community colleges in British Columbia (Canada). The purpose of this working paper is to provide baseline data to the Council for its use in order to promote transfer effectiveness and access equity. From 1988 to 1990, Grade 12 enrollments grew 1.5 percent; college academic enrollments grew 31.0 percent. In response, students are staying at college longer before transferring and, as a result, transferring more credits into universities. It appears that direct entry admissions are increasingly destined for university science and science-related faculties. By contrast, college transfers are increasingly destined for arts and education. Roughly 25 percent of all college transfers are admitted into spring and summer sessions. Of all leavers from college academic programs in spring 1991, 13 percent were admitted for the first time to a B.C. university in fall 1991. Overall, direct entries continue to earn higher second-year university GPAs than college transfers (2.70 vs. 2.58). Between 1983 and 1991, the number of first undergraduate degrees awarded to direct entries increased roughly 18 percent while the number awarded to college transfers increased 64 percent. (Contains 12 sets of tables and 23 endnotes.) (JA)

This study examined the effects of race on the experiences and outcomes of first-year students at York University (Ontario). Data were collected through a survey of 1,093 students at their time of entry in September 1992 and a survey of 1,129 students conducted in February-March of 1993. The study found that students' socioeconomic backgrounds varied by race, with the families of students of European origin having higher incomes than others, while the parental education of students of East Indian origin was higher than for other groups. The results also indicated that black students, more than all others, believed that they had been academically prepared for the university and felt more competent than their peers. The study found that black students had the lowest grade point averages (GPAs) while students of European origin had the highest. The difference between the means, however, was only 2 percent. Regression analysis indicated that race, per se, had little if any impact on educational outcomes. Explanations for differences were most likely to be found in the different classroom experiences of students of different races and the degree of academic involvement on campus. (Contains 34 references.) (MDM)

There is mounting evidence of substantial "teacher quality gaps" (TQGs) between advantaged and disadvantaged students, but practically no empirical evidence about their history. We use longitudinal data on public school students, teachers, and schools from two states--North Carolina and Washington--to provide a descriptive history of the evolution of TQGs in these states. We find that TQGs exist in every year in each state and for all measures we consider of student disadvantage and teacher quality. But there is variation in the magnitudes and sources of TQGs over time, between the two states, and depending on the measure of student disadvantage and teacher quality.

The OECD Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) and the OECD Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) constitute two of the largest ongoing international student and teacher surveys presently underway. Data generated from these surveys offer researchers and policy-makers opportunities to identify particular educational institutional arrangements--that is, how aspects of educational systems are organised to promote equality of educational opportunity both within and between countries. Naturally, policy makers are interested in all three levels of the school system--students, teachers, and schools, in order to fully understand within and between country differences in relations between the inputs, processes, and outcomes of education. A serious limitation of these data collection efforts is that each survey is missing an important component of the educational system in their design--namely, PISA is missing teacher-level data and TALIS is missing student-level data. This limitation can be partly addressed by statistically linking both surveys. This involves the creation of a synthetic cohort of data--that is, a new data file that combines information from both surveys. This paper presents a systematic evaluation of a set of statistical matching methods focused on the goal of creating a synthetic file of PISA 2009 and TALIS 2008 data for Iceland. We evaluate the extent to which each method provides a matched data set that maintains the essential properties of PISA and TALIS, concentrating on a set of validity criteria established by Rassler (2002). The experimental study provides a proof of concept that statistically matching PISA and TALIS is feasible for countries that wish to draw on the added value of both surveys for research and policy analysis. Three annexes include: (1) R Scripts for PISA-TALIS Matching Project; (2) Script for Calculating Marginal Distributions and Conditional Covariance Matrix; and (3) Recent OECD Publications of Relevance to This Working Paper. (Contains 7 tables, 12 figures, and 7 footnotes.)

This instructional module from the National Council on Measurement in Education (NCME) explains how to design assessments for written reports, develop performance criteria and communicate them to students, monitor progress, and assess the outcome. Learning how to give students a role in assessment adds a dimension to their responsibilities. (SLD)

Despite significant increases in spending on child care and education during the last decade, PISA scores suggest that educational performance remains static, uneven and strongly related to parents' income and background. Better educational performance could improve labour market outcomes, raise growth, lower the consequences of a disadvantaged background and increase social mobility. Given the austere fiscal outlook, improvements have to come from higher efficiency rather than further spending. More focused pre-school spending on disadvantaged children could improve skill formation. Better-targeted funding for disadvantaged children combined with strengthened incentives for schools to attract and support these students would help raising educational outcomes. The government is increasing user choice by expanding the academies programme and introducing Free Schools, but needs to closely follow effects on fair access for disadvantaged children. The impact of increasing user choice on educational outcomes is uncertain, but the government should experiment with proscribing the use of residence criteria in admission to local government maintained schools in some local authorities. Reforms to increase supply flexibility should be pursued. All government funded schools should enjoy the same freedom in hiring and wage setting to level the playing field across different school types. To better gauge progress and inform policy makers, schools and parents on educational outcomes, additional performance measures should be developed and steps taken to lessen the reliance on grades in performance management. Insufficient supply of high-quality vocational programmes and tertiary education study places hamper human capital formation and growth. Stabilising and simplifying vocational education by more focus on high quality apprenticeships would support participation. The government needs to find efficient measures to raise participation especially among children from low income families to replace the abolished educational maintenance allowance. Further reforms to funding of higher education could lower taxpayers' costs and help finance a needed expansion in the sector. This Working Paper relates to the 2011 OECD Economic Survey of the United Kingdom. (Contains 8 tables, 17 figures, 6 boxes and 15 footnotes.)

The efficiency of schools diverges dramatically across countries in the OECD and can also vary markedly within countries. These differences in levels of efficiency can be traced to policy and institutional settings. As such, moving to best practice could boost educational attainment and reduce pressure on budgetary resources. This paper assesses empirically the relationship between institutional and policy settings and the efficiency of public spending on primary and secondary education across OECD countries. The analysis builds on two previous papers, which respectively developed OECD-area indicators of educational efficiency based on PISA score data and institutional indicators based on questionnaire responses. The results identify a number of institutional and policy settings that appear conducive to raising efficiency, as well as policies that appear to be detrimental to achieving higher levels of efficiency. (A bibliography is included. Supplementary Results are annexed. Contains 32 footnotes, 7 figures, 3 boxes and 23 tables.)

Improving education achievement in Luxembourg is a priority for strengthening productivity growth and enhancing residents' employment prospects in the private sector, where employers mainly hire cross-border workers. Student achievement in Luxembourg is below the OECD average according to the 2003 OECD PISA study, with the performance gap between immigrant and native students being above average. A factor that makes learning more difficult in Luxembourg than in other countries is the use of three languages of instruction (Letzebuergesch, German and French). New empirical evidence presented in this paper based on the PISA tests suggests that the reforms over the past decade or so to attenuate these difficulties have had considerable success: the adverse impact of immigrant status on PISA test scores is around the OECD average. The fact that the performance gap between immigrant and native students is nevertheless greater than average reflects other factors, notably the relatively large difference in socio-economic background between immigrant and native students. The paper also discusses further reforms that are underway or planned to improve achievement of immigrant students. Another feature of Luxembourg's education system is that it is highly stratified, with children being sorted into a large number of parallel tracks at an early stage and there being a high rate of grade repetition. International evidence suggests that stratification increases the impact of socio-economic background on student achievement. Reforms to reduce stratification are discussed in the remainder of the paper, together with reforms to enhance achievement more generally by improving teaching skills and basing school programmes on key competences. This paper relates to the 2006 Economic Survey of Luxembourg (www.oecd.org/eco/surveys/luxembourg). (A bibliography is included. Information about the structure of the Luxembourg education system, and an analysis of 2003 PISA results for Luxembourg are annexed. Contains 37 footnotes, 7 figures, 2 boxes and 7 tables.)

Recent research shows that variation in teacher quality has large effects on student performance. However, this research is based entirely on student test scores. Focusing on high-school math teachers, this paper evaluates teacher quality in terms of another educational outcome of great interest--graduation. I use a unique instrumental variables approach to identify teacher effects and find that differences in teacher quality have large effects on graduation outcomes. Because teacher effects on graduation outcomes will be more pronounced for students who are on the graduation margin, the results imply an avenue through which high-quality teachers are more productive with disadvantaged students. Appended are: (1) Non-Teacher Coefficient Estimates from Models for Schools 2, 3 and 4; and (2) Teacher-Effect Estimates from the GPA Analysis. (Contains 2 figures, 15 tables and 27 footnotes.)