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Research universities enable students to have a unique learning environment and other experiences. This article aims to analyze student engagement in one research university in Brazil, the effects of student socioeconomic and academic characteristics and their associations with university structures (curriculum), and student trajectories. The data comes from the Student Experience in the Research University, an international survey administered in 2012 at the University of Campinas and longitudinal academic registers. The study used both Principal Component Analysis and also Multiple Linear Regression Models. Five modes of engagement were found: two related to curricular engagement (engagement with faculty and engagement outside the classroom), social and leisure engagement, curricular disengagement and co-curricular engagement. The main effects are associated with the disciplines. Regarding student trajectories, there was a negative association between academic engagement and dropout students and those still enrolled seven years after the survey application. The results align with other studies that associate disciplines with student engagement and student engagement with student success.

We provide the first causal evidence of the returns to maternal educational curricula on offspring's health at birth. Educational programs that aim to deliver more general knowledge may potentially improve women's earning potential and maternal prenatal investment by increasing the portability of skills across occupations and improving women's ability to make informed decisions about fertility options and health behavior. We study the impacts of a comprehensive educational reform that postponed students' curriculum choices and integrated more general education into the high school system on infant health outcomes. Using a dose-response difference-in-differences (DiD) model research design applied to linked population registries, we find that the reform led to a significant reduction in the incidence of very low birth weight (less than 1,500 grams) and very preterm birth (less than 33 gestation weeks). Overall, the reform's positive effects on infant health at birth seem to be driven by increased mothers' labor market opportunities and better family planning, rather than increased ability to avoid risky behaviours or increased women's earnings via different occupational choices or assortative mating. [This report received additional funding from Fundación Ramón Areces and the Spanish National Research Plan 2017-2020.]

Calls are intensifying for workforce reskilling and a re-engineering of education and training to meet the demands of the future. Current policy in England focuses on technical, digital and green economy skills, underpinned by strong literacy and numeracy and a knowledge-rich school curriculum. National Foundation for Educational Research's Nuffield-funded research study, "The Skills Imperative 2035: Essential skills for tomorrow's workforce" investigates: (1) which essential employment skills will be most needed in 2035; (2) what will their likely supply be and where will the gaps be; (3) which occupations and workers are most at risk of not having these skills; (4) which skills will affected workers need to develop to transition into new employment opportunities; and (5) the role of educators and employers in helping to prepare young people and workers for the future labour market. This first report, a review drawing on a wide-ranging and growing evidence base, sets the scene for the wider research study by bringing together what the literature suggests about: (1) what the world of work will look like in 2035; and (2) which essential employment skills will be in demand and how what should be done to prepare.

The share of women achieving tertiary education has increased rapidly over time and now exceeds that of men in most OECD countries. However, women are severely under-represented in maths-intensive science fields, which are generally referred to as STEM (science, technology, engineering, and maths). The under-representation of women in these subject areas has received a great deal of attention. This is because these fields are seen to be especially important for productivity and economic growth and are associated with occupations that have higher earnings. Subject of degree is an important part of the explanation for the gender wage gap. The aim of this paper is to review evidence on explanations for the STEM gap in tertiary education. This starts with statistics about background context and evidence on how well-prepared male and female students may be for studying STEM at a later stage. I then discuss what the literature has to say about the role of personal attributes: namely confidence, self-efficacy and competitiveness and the role of preferences and expectations. I go on to discuss features of the educational context thought to be important for influencing attributes and preferences (or mediating their effects): peers; teachers; role models; and curriculum. I then briefly discuss broader cultural influences. I use the literature reviewed to discuss policy implications.

This paper analyzes the history, current practice, and dangers associated with Social-Emotional Learning (SEL). With roots in American progressive education and particularly in the movements for Outcome-Based Education and Self-Esteem, SEL is now pushed onto state and local education systems by the federal government and even international governmental entities. Other progressive-education forces, including the purveyors of widely used preschool standards, are equally enthusiastic. SEL is interwoven into education movements such as the Common Core State Standards and Competency-Based Education. SEL proponents present their product uncritically as the transformational tool that will propel students into greater academic achievement and personal fulfillment. But as this paper shows, and as admitted by numerous experts in SEL and related fields, the evidence for these claims is thin--and the risks to students' privacy, health, and even their very futures are significant. The paper analyzes the scientific research support for SEL claims and finds it much less persuasive than advertised. The paper further addresses the numerous problems in assessing SEL--problems that are acknowledged even by the experts and most dedicated proponents of the movement. It turns out there is no reliable, objective way to measure a student's personality, values, and mindsets. These experts cannot even agree on a uniform definition of SEL. The paper then explores the use of technology as a means of overcoming these problems. With the backing of the federal government, the education-technology industry is creating sophisticated software that supposedly can determine the most sensitive personality traits of students via their interaction with digital platforms. But this software--and especially software for video gaming--can go beyond assessing traits and in fact reshape the child to fit the desired mold. Finally, the paper discusses the fundamental philosophical and ethical objections to having the government, through the public schools, delve into this realm at all. [Foreword written by Kevin Ryan.]

This paper provides information about noncredit instruction in the California Community Colleges and updates the 2009 paper "Noncredit Instruction: Opportunity and Challenge" to incorporate subsequent changes from the last decade. Since the passage of SB 361 (Scott, 2006), noncredit instruction has seen significant changes, including the equalization of funding for some areas of noncredit instruction, the passage of the Adult Education Block Grant that created adult education consortia including K-12 and community college adult education providers, and the passage of AB 705 (Irwin, 2017) that specifically encouraged colleges to use noncredit courses to support the needs of credit students. Despite noncredit's long history in the community colleges, a limited number of robust noncredit programs currently exist, and many colleges may be looking to or are beginning to offer noncredit courses for the first time. This paper is intended to provide information about noncredit instruction that will be useful to individuals with varying backgrounds and experience with noncredit and to provide recommendations that will help noncredit continue to serve the needs of diverse student populations. [For the original paper, "Noncredit Instruction: Opportunity and Challenge" (adopted spring 2009), see ED510579.]

In spite of advances in recognising that girls and boys, and women and men, do not have to be bounded by traditional roles, gender stereotypes persist in education and beyond. Children and youth are affected by gender stereotypes from the early ages, with parental, school, teacher and peer factors influencing the way students internalise their gender identities. As such, not only is intervening in pre-primary education necessary, but also measures at the primary and secondary levels are key to eradicate gender stereotypes and promote gender equality. Based on the analytical framework developed by the OECD Strength through Diversity project, this paper provides an overview of gender stereotyping in education, with some illustrations of policies and practices in place across OECD countries, with a focus on curriculum arrangements, capacity-building strategies and school-level interventions in primary and secondary education.

As one of the world's fastest-growing economies, Bangladesh aims to become a middle-income country by 2021 and a high-income country by 2041. To attain these goals, the country must face global challenges head on by strengthening existing industries and preparing itself for industries that have yet to emerge. To do this, it must tap the full potential of its human capital. Although Bangladesh made strides in access to education during the Millennium Development Goals era, poor girls continue to fall behind despite their ambitions to lead the country to change--a gap that affects their work outcomes once they leave school. The skills that Bangladesh's youth need to thrive in a world of rapid technological advancement will require a response by policymakers and practitioners alike. This policy paper unveils the barriers to educational opportunities for rural girls in Bangladesh, focusing specifically on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. It reflects upon a survey of 500 rural secondary-level schoolgirls, 100 parents, and 75 teachers from 30 rural schools of the district of Gazipur. The study identified barriers to STEM education at three levels--individual, institutional, and societal--that revealed both systemic and socio-cultural issues that actors in policy and practice can tackle. It provides clear recommendations for action and examples of practices that have started to fill the gap globally. If Bangladesh is to accomplish its goals and tap the potential of all its youth for rapid development, breaking the barriers to STEM education for all children is a key place to start. [This report was co-authored with Amanda Braga.]

Social and emotional learning (SEL) strengthens students' abilities to regulate their emotions, thoughts, and behaviours and to interact successfully with others. There are an array of important social and emotional skills (SES): goal-setting, working to one's potential, resilience, creativity, perseverance, problem solving, and caring about the welfare of others, among them. All students need SEL, but newcomer and refugee students may have particular challenges requiring SES. The beginning of this paper examines the current situation of refugee and newcomer students in OECD countries, SEL, its frameworks and skills and how they apply to newcomer and refugee students. The paper concludes with an examination of SEL policies and practices for newcomer and refugee students in OECD countries.

Lesotho and Wales have undergone significant curriculum changes recently, and both advocate the desire for their learners to be 'active citizens' and to acquire core life skills that allow them to be 'creative contributors' to society. The Connecting Classrooms Through Global Learning (CCGL) cluster lead schools in this research have been working in partnership for 13 years. They believe that their collaborative projects are essential elements of their curricula that provide significant global learning for all involved. This study centres upon the experiences and impact of global partnerships on the learners and asks: (1) How have pupils in both countries engaged in the partnership?; (2) What was their experience of it?; and (3) How has the partnership impacted on their learning? By providing opportunities to investigate and analyse a snapshot of the pupil's perceptions and experiences, their knowledge and assumptions, and what types of skills they display as a result, we can begin to document the effectiveness of such projects and partnerships, and the impact on learning in general. This is an important addition to global learning and international partnerships research in Wales and Lesotho, as at the time of writing no other such paper has ever been written. As Welsh schools begin to deliver the new New Curriculum for Wales (2022), the findings from this study will support schools to prioritise and further embed their partnerships in practice. [This paper was published by Connecting Classrooms through Global Learning in collaboration with the Development Education Research Centre (DERC). The Connecting Classrooms through Global Learning (CCGL) programme is funded by the British Council and UK aid.]

Serious history instruction in K-12 U.S. schools has been in decline for decades. History education in Massachusetts has, until now, fared somewhat better than in the nation at large. In 1993 the commonwealth enacted the Massachusetts Education Reform Act--a bipartisan plan to improve education--which mandated core standards and assessments in history and social science, among other disciplines. The Massachusetts History and Social Science Curriculum Framework (the 2003 Framework) produced under this mandate contained strong, flexible grade-by-grade standards for core essential knowledge. In 2009, the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (the State Board) suspended the 2003 Framework, and it never went into effect. In 2016, the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) instead launched a rewrite of the 2003 Framework, in good measure to realign Massachusetts history education around service-learning and civic engagement. In 2017 the DESE presented the revisions to the State Board, which approved them to be posted for public comment in January 2018. This paper contends that the January 2018 Public Comment Draft of the Massachusetts History and Social Science Curriculum Framework (2018 Revision) eviscerates the 2003 Framework. Among other things, the 2018 Revision eliminates the standards-based and curricular linkage to the already developed Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) test for U.S. history, while substituting meaningless expectations for each grade. This paper recommends that the Massachusetts State Board reject the 2018 Revision in its entirety and immediately put into effect both the 2003 Framework and its accompanying MCAS test. [Preface By Paul Reid, co-author with William Manchester.]

Enrolling more than 6 million students each fall, community colleges carry out a crucial function in higher education by providing access to college, including baccalaureate opportunities, occupational education, remedial education, and other educational services. At the same time, community colleges face great challenges that have elicited calls for major reforms. This paper begins by discussing the social roles and organization of community colleges in the United States, their main social contributions, and the challenges they face. It then describes and evaluates the sweeping policy proposals that have been made to address these challenges.

The aim of this research was to assess how the COVID-19 global pandemic impacted overseas school partnerships in 2020, through to January 2021. It was undertaken with teachers involved in the British Council Connecting Classrooms through Global Learning (CCGL) programme to provide insight into how and why partnerships have been impacted. It also looks at what these teachers perceive to be the challenges that make it difficult for schools to maintain partnerships in a time of global crisis and provides examples of how schools have overcome these challenges. Online questionnaires were used to collect both qualitative and quantitative data and were distributed to teachers in UK using a network of British Council Local Advisors. 52 questionnaire responses were collected and analysed to explore the impact of the global pandemic on overseas school partnerships.

The aim of this study was to research whether teachers see global school partnerships as an effective tool to support anti-racist and inclusive approaches and deliver practice that reflects, is representative of, and engages all pupils. Over the last year, events have led to increasing debates around Black Lives Matter, the urgent need to de-colonise and re-design the curriculum and develop teaching and learning practice that responds to our diverse school communities and contexts. Although there are many schools involved in the Connecting Classrooms Through Global Learning programme it is unclear how many are actively using this work to address and respond to this need. This study aims to assess whether links can be made between the two agendas so that teachers can understand, embed within the rationale for and use their global learning work and global school partnerships as a vehicle to develop and evidence anti-racist approaches. Research data was gathered from both teachers and senior leaders via a simple online questionnaire for schools involved in Connecting Classrooms Through Global Learning school partnerships and used to gauge whether they are addressing the agenda and to what degree they can see these links as a tool to enable and evidence impact. This was followed by more qualitative data collected via virtual interviews with three teachers identified from their responses to the initial questionnaire. What is clear from the findings is that teachers acknowledge that a global learning approach and global school partnerships specifically have real relevance when developing anti-racist practice.

Classrooms have become increasingly diverse places where students from various backgrounds share their learning experiences. To promote inclusive school settings for all, building teacher capacity for inclusive teaching represents a key policy area. Education systems need to ensure that teachers are adequately prepared for inclusive teaching and supported throughout their career. Mechanisms to attract and retain a more diverse teaching body as well as to monitor and evaluate teacher preparation and work with respect to diversity and inclusion should also be developed. While teacher policies have increasingly addressed some of these areas, most education systems lack comprehensive capacity-building frameworks for inclusive teaching. This paper maps policies and practices to build teacher capacity for inclusive teaching across OECD countries. It then presents core elements and competences to design and implement inclusive teaching strategies. Finally, the paper reviews some of the evidence available on teacher diversity and interventions for inclusive teaching.

During the past decade, national qualifications frameworks (NQFs) have been developed and implemented across Europe. Triggered by the adoption of the European qualifications framework (EQF) in 2008, these frameworks draw attention to the outcomes of education and training, focusing on what learners are expected to know, understand and are able to do. Learning outcomes-based level descriptors are essential to these frameworks. While technical in their character, these descriptors not only help to define and map the (vertical) level of complexity of a particular qualification, they also help to clarify its (horizontal) orientation, be this on theoretical knowledge, practical skills and/or transversal competences. Level descriptors are thus important reference points, aiming to reinforce the learning outcomes orientation of education, training and qualification systems. This publication provides an updated overview of NQF level descriptors of 39 countries participating in EQF implementation. It celebrates the 10th anniversary of the EQF process in 2018 and its contribution to transparency and comparability of European qualifications. It shows the progress made in this area and challenges ahead.

In 2016 the state of Massachusetts began a process to end the confusing series of alterations to education by revising and aligning the state's academic standards and tests. In March 2017 the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) approved revisions to the state English language arts (ELA) and math standards. The purpose of this report is to answer two questions: (1) Are the latest revisions substantial or superficial?; and (2) Do the revisions signal a return to the quality of the pre-Common Core standards, or continue the trajectory of Common Core? These questions are addressed by recognized subject-matter experts. Dr. Mark Bauerlein (English) and Dr. R. James Milgram (math), both of whom have extensive knowledge of Common Core and of the pre-Common Core Massachusetts standards. Their answers, while not surprising, will disappoint the commonwealth's parents and other citizens who had hoped for a return to the glory days of Massachusetts education.

Using administrative longitudinal data from five states, we study how value-added measures of teacher performance are affected by changes in state standards and assessments. We first document the stability of teachers' value-added rankings during transitions to new standard and assessment regimes and compare our findings to stability during stable standard and assessment regimes. We also examine the predictive validity of value-added estimates during nontransition years over transition-year student achievement. In most cases we find that measures of teacher value added are similarly stable in transition years and nontransition years. Moreover, there is no evidence that the level of disadvantage of students taught disproportionately influences teacher rankings in transition years relative to stable years. In the states we study, student achievement in math can consistently be forecasted accurately--although not perfectly--using value-added estimates for teachers during stable standards and assessment regimes. There was somewhat less consistency in reading, because we find cases where test transitions significantly reduced forecasting accuracy.

Multiple traits compose a broad definition of what it means to be an educated person. Indisputably, being an educated person is associated with having a certain command of a curriculum, and knowledge of theories and facts from various disciplines. This paper contends that noncognitive skills should be an explicit pillar of education policy. It contributes to the growing interest in these skills by reviewing what is known about noncognitive skills, including what they are, why they matter, and how they enter into the education process. The author then extends the discussion by providing a tentative list of skills that are both important for and can be nurtured by schools. Contrasting what is known about noncognitive skills with how policy currently treats them, the author contends that noncognitive skills deserve more attention in the education policy arena. Toward this end, she proposes some guidelines for how to design education policies that better nurture them, and describe the kinds of research needed to inform policy and practice. This paper is composed of two main sections. The first defines noncognitive skills and explores the evidence-based findings on their role in education and adulthood outcomes, and on how they are nurtured. The second section examines how education policy could help schools better nurture noncognitive skills. It includes some suggestions for researchers on how their work can provide new evidence geared toward policymakers, and a discussion of the goals of public education, education reform, and accountability.

For a long time, leaders have asked the question, where will the next generation of leaders come from? And for a long time the same formula has been applied: Identify those high potentials in high school, college or in the workforce and provide that select group leadership development opportunities. One focus of the Leadership Beyond Boundaries initiative is early leadership development. But what do we mean by "early"? One answer the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) has been hearing for years comes from senior leaders, as they leave CCL programs wishing they had been able to benefit from a leadership development experience much earlier in their lives. Couple this statement with comments from youth, leadership development practitioners (Van Velsor, 2011), principals, and educators in schools and universities and a fairly consistent theme begins to emerge--that leadership development could occur much earlier and be provided to a broader audience. Prompted by this theme of earlier and broader leadership development initiatives the authors began to ask several questions. When should leadership development start? What are the most important competencies to focus on in developing young leaders? Do current leaders see young people as having what is needed for success? Have young people been able to develop the competencies organizations need in their entry-level workforce or that they will need to lead organizations and society forward? What impact would a broad investment in younger audiences have? Would it help them learn more about themselves and others, and propel them on an increased path of purpose and impact? A subset of these important questions was the focus of a 2012 CCL Leadership Insights survey, the results of which are summarized in this paper. This online survey of business, government, nonprofit, and education leaders focused on: 1) the age a young person should commence his or her leadership journey, 2) whether leadership development should be part of the regular educational curriculum, 3) how widely it should be offered, 4) leadership qualities that managers want to see in young people entering the workforce, and 5) what excites managers and what concerns them about the young people they employ today. (Contains 2 resources.

The authors investigated the design and implementation of the capstone courses that are part of Virginia's College and Career Readiness Initiative. Based on a set of performance expectations for college readiness, two capstone courses--one in English and one in mathematics--were developed to help support high school juniors and seniors who intend to enroll in college but are at risk of placing into developmental education. The courses were piloted in more than 20 high schools across Virginia during the 2011-12 academic year. To better understand the pilot year of the capstone courses in Virginia, NCPR partnered with the Virginia Department of Education to document the implementation of the courses. Researchers interviewed stakeholders at the state, school division, and school levels, as well as the creators of the curricula at four partnering institutions of higher education. They also visited several high schools and school divisions involved in implementing the capstone courses to understand how the curricula were being used and to learn more about course content and pedagogy. As a result, the authors identified issues that practitioners should consider as the capstone course initiative expands and implications for researchers investigating capstone courses. Appended are: (1) English Performance Expectations; and (2) Mathematics Performance Expectations. (Contains 1 table and 7 footnotes.)

In this paper, the researchers draw on their experience with a professional development project to propose a model for studying the formation and development of teacher community. The project described brought together 22 English and social studies teachers, as well as a Special Educator and an ESL teacher, from an urban high school for a period of 2 1/2 years. The teachers met twice a month to read together in the field of history and literature and to work on an interdisciplinary curriculum. This detailed account of the first 18 months of the project sheds new light on definitions of professional community, its stages of development, and the challenges that confront community in the workplace of high schools. One of the challenges consists of the need to negotiate an "essential tension" at the heart of teachers' professional community. Among this group of teachers, many felt that the primary reason to meet was to improve classroom practices and student learning, while others were more interested in the potential for continuing intellectual development in the subjects they taught. The researchers--who deliberately built the essential tension into the project--claim that these two views must both be respected in any successful attempt to create and sustain intellectual community in the workplace. The researchers also describe the challenges of maintaining diverse perspectives within a community and how familiar fault lines--both in society and in school--threaten the pursuit of community. The paper includes a model of the markers of community formation--as manifested in participants' talk and actions--and concludes with a discussion of why teachers must continue to care about professional communities. (Contains 33 notes, 109 references, 2 figures, and a table of data.) (Author/SR)

This report examines the legal and regulatory structure of basic education in Indonesia beginning in 1989, when Education Law Number 2 was enacted (from which all current regulations, policies, and procedures can be traced). In 1999, two key laws (Number 22 and Number 25) were passed that required the decentralization of many government functions. This paper examines the laws and their supporting executive pronouncements and makes recommendations related to improving the functions of a decentralized educational system. The five chapters focus on (1) "Overview of Regulatory Structure in Indonesia"; (2) "Laws Pertaining to Basic Education" (governance, organizational structure, management, and supervision; student personnel; program, curriculum, instruction, and resources; assessment, monitoring, and evaluation; educational personnel; community; educational finance; and other topics); (3) "Recent Legal Changes Impacting on Education"; (4) "Discussion and Recommendations" (governance, organizational structure, management, and supervision; student personnel; program, curriculum, instruction, and resources; assessment, monitoring, and evaluation; educational personnel; community; educational finance; and other topics); and (5) "Final Remarks." (SM)

A multinational, multidisciplinary team examined the impact of globalization on education, training, and small and medium sized enterprise development in Ghana, Kenya, and South Africa. The study focused on the following issues: developing a learner-led competitiveness approach; building learning enterprises; education for microenterprises and macroeconomic growth; and training for self-employment and competitiveness. The study documented the importance of learning-led competitiveness and identified obstacles to development of learning enterprises in all three countries. The following are among the 12 recommendations offered to national governments and international agencies with development concerns: (1) insert learning-led competitiveness into development debates; (2) understand the implications of globalization better; (3) address the range of barriers to development of learning enterprises; (4) consider interenterprise linkages and the role of learning therein; (5) place learning-led competitiveness at the heart of small enterprise development policy; (6) broaden the universal primary education vision; (7) construct a curriculum for competitiveness; (8) improve public training's ability to support competitive self-employment; (9) empower training providers to be more market responsive; and (10) emphasize skills transfer from large to small firms. (The bibliography lists 139 references. Brief profiles and addresses of the research team members and a list of project papers are appended.) (MN)

There are a number of issues to consider in choosing tests, including alignment of tests and standards, the integration of tests with curriculum and instruction, the quality of the tests, and a clear definition of the purpose of the test. To address the various needs reflected by these issues, PLATO Learning, Inc., offers two curriculum-wide testing systems: NetSchools Orion GATE and PLATO (registered) LINK. For practice in preparation for high-stakes tests, PLATO Learning offers the Simulated Tests in mathematics, reading, and writing. To support needs for placement, progress control, and cumulative testing when using PLATO (registered) courseware, PLATO Learning offers the FASTRACK and Skills Inventory systems, module mastery tests, and course-level assessments. Each of these systems has different characteristics and is designed to serve different needs. Choosing among them involves answering 12 key questions about testing needs, which are provided in this document. (Author/SLD)

This comparative case study investigated instructional methods that effectively enhance the development of students' critical thinking. Four institutions were selected for study; two at which students reported experiencing high degrees of growth in the ability to think critically, and two at which students reported experiencing low degrees of growth. Analysis of the data, which came primarily from 55 interviews and 28 classroom observations, suggests that the development of critical thinking is linked to an emphasis on writing and rewriting. At the two schools scoring high on an institutional growth in critical thinking (IGCT) measure, there was a strong focus on writing, a focus absent from the two schools that scored low on IGCT. At one school (high IGCT, low selectivity) a curricular policy stipulates that writing be an integral part of all course programs (which are taught by a multi-disciplinary team of faculty members). Another classroom factor that appears related to the development of critical thinking is an emphasis on class discussion, which again exists at the two high IGCT institutions. Appendices include a table showing selection criterion for case study sites, a summary of classroom observation data, and descriptions of categories for the observation data. (Contains 38 references.) (RH)

This report was developed in response to the conflicts that have arisen over the mission of the community college. Critics of community colleges claim that the colleges have become unfocused and lost their way in an attempt to be all things to all people, while advocates state that the colleges play a broad, but essential, educational, social, and economic role in society. The paper is intended to clarify some of the underlying assumptions and suggest a framework for analyzing the optimal set of missions for the colleges. Descriptions of the current arguments about the missions of community colleges are presented, including the collegiate or academic function, vocational preparation, economic development activities, remediation, and community service. The authors then assert that integrating several of these functions at a single institution benefits the colleges by allowing them to take advantage of possible complementarities and economies of scope. Specific advantages may include improved coordination between degree programs and customized training, cross-registration among students, and improved competitiveness. However, these functions are in conflict if they are based on insufficient resources or are not properly integrated. Each institution needs to decide how to focus its efforts within a framework of comprehensiveness. Contains 46 references. (CAK)

The gulf between published descriptions of curriculum and the actual experience of students reveals lapses in the intentional pursuit of planned outcomes in many colleges. Few institutions follow a clear path in their curricular planning from overall mission through general education goals, to course design, to assessing learning outcomes. Most students experience a set of disparate requirements without evident connections of clear intentions. Many faculty members teach without clear strategies in pedagogy of knowledge of the institutional or departmental goals their courses should address. Systematic outcomes assessment may help institutions clarify goals and organize curriculum and pedagogy more completely. In addition to the problems of goals, curricula, and educational intentionality, there are problems associated with transfer of students between institutions. The Association of American Colleges and Universities is working to address problems of state-level requirements and goal clarification. At present, institutions are urged to make clear the intentions of their own curricula and to assess student outcomes thoroughly in terms of these intentions. (Author/SLD)

Like other major school districts throughout the country, the New York City Department of Education (NYC DOE) has shifted its focus over the last decade from holding high schools accountable for graduation rates to holding them accountable for rates of college and career readiness. There are two major challenges facing both research and policy related to accountability for postsecondary outcomes, however. First, we know relatively little about the conditions under which students are successful in getting college and career ready. Second, we do not yet know in the New York City context to what extent school-level differences in college-going rates are the function of compositional differences--that is, differences in the students' backgrounds and experiences prior to high school--or the function of real differences in school policy and practice. Using an extensive longitudinal database from The New York City Partnership for College Readiness and Success, we employ a variance-partitioning approach to take up these questions. We find, similar to much of the previous literature on school effects, that the bulk of the variation in rates of four-year enrollment is within, rather than between schools, and that compositional effects account for much of the between-school variation. Yet we also find two markers of college-going academic culture that do significantly contribute to the remaining between-school variation: high teacher expectations and access to a college preparatory curriculum. This study also introduces two additional school-level control variables that have not been employed in the national literature on school effects--size and selectivity--and discusses their potential usefulness to the field.

As part of a larger comparison of the school-to-work transition in Switzerland and Great Britain, instruction in mathematics, science, and practical subjects (industrial arts and home economics) in the two countries was compared by two methods: site visits to English and Swiss schools by teams of English teachers and inspectors and analyses of the performance of samples of English and Swiss students on the International Assessment of Educational Progress (IAEP). Of the English and Swiss pupils selected on a representative basis, 47% and 80% participated, respectively. The Swiss students scored significantly higher on the IAEP than the British students did. Although some English students met standards as high as those observed in Switzerland, Swiss students generally appeared to be 1-2 years ahead of their English counterparts. The observed differences between English and Swiss students' levels of achievement were attributed partly to differences in the teaching styles and syllabus content observed in the two countries and partly to the excellence of Swiss primary school teachers. Emphasis on pupils' active involvement in the learning process was greater in Switzerland. (Contains 78 footnotes. Appended is information on a Swiss experiment in comprehensive schooling.) (MN)

The relationship between school characteristics and labor market outcomes was examined through a literature review and an econometric analysis of the effects of various characteristics of the schooling experience on students' labor market performance after high school. Data from the National Center on Education Statistics' longitudinal survey of students (High School and Beyond 1980), were subjected to a number of regressions using two different models. It was discovered that schools make a difference in the labor market performance of those graduates who enter the labor market directly after high school. Some particular characteristics were identified as affecting earnings; however, the aggregation of the school characteristics assembled did not decisively explain differences in the job market performance. Attending a school where up-to-date local job listings were available and information on finding a job was provided, higher family income, higher school test scores, and participation in academic education were all linked with higher postschool earnings, whereas per-pupil expenditure, class size, teacher salaries, and teacher experience were not. (Appended are the following: summary of relevant studies; sources/definitions of variables; means and standard deviations for variables used in the regressions; and the two models.) (MN)

This study examined how philosophies of general education are enacted at two higher education institutions by those persons charged with implementation. The study proceeded using case study methods and week-long visits to the two institutions, one holding a "Liberal Arts I" Carnegie classification, and the other holding a "Research I" Carnegie classification. The two were selected to maximize variation in the sampling. At each institution interviews were conducted with faculty, department and division chairs, associate deans, deans, registrars, advisors, other administrators, students, and one president. Document analysis and the personal observations of the researcher were also utilized to achieve a triangulation of data sources. Observation of the liberal arts college found a clear and commonly held vision for the institution that provided general agreement concerning the administration and maintenance of the general education curriculum. The culture of the research university was characterized by distances: distances between students, faculty and administrators. Analysis and comparison revealed one major theme, that administrators at both institutions were actively involved in the curriculum, more involved than they themselves seemed to realize. Though administrators were thoroughly involved with all of the processes of the curriculum they maintained that the faculty "own" the curriculum. (Includes 16 references.) (JB)

This study investigated differences in freshmen to senior student general education gains across institutions of higher education, with varying patterns of general education requirements using a mixed-effect structural equation model. The subjects were 6,409 students at 34 colleges and universities nationwide. Study procedures used American College Testing Assessment composite scores as the observed measures with the Pre-College Ability latent variable, and groups were based on data from students attending institutions with different general education requirements. Findings indicated that students attending institutions where less than 40 percent of undergraduate curricular requirements were devoted to general education and where there was not equal distribution of general education courses within the requirement were found to have significantly higher general education gains than did students who attended institutions where 40 percent or more of the undergraduate curriculum was devoted to general education and there was equal distribution of courses within the general education requirement. The study also demonstrated the usefulness of the structural equation modeling for representing the interactions between student characteristics and general education program effects. Included are 1 figure, 7 tables, and 23 references. (JB)

Information and communication technologies (ICT) are being utilized extensively in education and have become an essential aspect of both formal and informal learning worldwide. Related to their widespread availability and use in education, it is suggested that ICT hold tremendous promise for society at large, and in particular, in shaping social and economic development. What then motivates ICT usage in education, in particular? Is education anticipated to produce better users and consumers of ICT for the 21st century? Or, are ICT expected to improve the quality of education for all members of society? Perhaps it is both. This paper argues for a new intentional ICT approach in which a relevant, sensible, and coherent curriculum guides the appropriate and defensible use of ICT for educational quality improvement. This approach focuses on the value of ICT to curricula efforts for educational improvement. The paper seeks to explore concentrations of discourse, research, policy, and practice that occur around ICT in education. Lubin uses the curriculum as a lens and sensitizing concept to explore in a critical manner how ICT are implicated in educational quality improvement. A critical analysis of the current discussions and practices involving ICT may serve to interrupt more common enthusiasm with respect to these innovations and may contribute to the emergence of a balanced collective discussion of their development and implementation in the field of education. A bibliography is included.

Few efforts have been made to inject teachers' voices into discussions on school restructuring. Qualitative, in-depth interviews were conducted with 14 teachers to ascertain what the "average" teacher thinks about restructuring. The majority of interviewees held positive perceptions about restructuring, but opinions differed on the feasibility of changing schools. Hopes for interdisciplinary curriculums integrated across time and subject matter and for school climates that fostered a sense of unity were widespread. Teachers also expressed desires for more freedom to teach what they think is best and additional support personnel. Almost all teachers felt that more social and academic benefits would be available to students as a result of restructuring. The interview questionnaire is appended. (26 references) (EJS)