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The article discusses the evolution of item development in educational assessments, focusing on large-scale K-12 assessments. It highlights the importance of item quality, the role of item writers, and the review processes involved in ensuring fairness and validity. The Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing have guided best practices in item development since 1966, emphasizing the critical role of items in score interpretations and decision-making. The article also explores the potential impact of artificial intelligence (AI) and large language models (LLMs) on future item development, emphasizing the need for human judgment and validation in technology-based processes. [Extracted from the article]

The article discusses the importance of subscores in educational and psychological testing, particularly in response to demands for more detailed information about examinees' knowledge and skills. It highlights the challenges and limitations of subscores, such as their reliance on few items and high correlation with total scores. The article reviews a book that provides a comprehensive guide to producing and interpreting subscores, offering practical recommendations for testing practitioners. The book covers the history of subscores, methods of reporting them, evaluating their quality, and making decisions about their use based on psychometric standards. It also addresses the issue of subscore equating and provides a flowchart for decision-making on reporting subscores. [Extracted from the article]

The article discusses the challenges faced by high-profile education reform efforts in big-city school districts, focusing on Houston's recent takeover by the Texas Education Agency and the implementation of a new education system by Superintendent Mike Miles. The article highlights the resistance and criticism faced by Miles and his agenda, as well as the financial and operational challenges within the district. It also explores the changing landscape of education reform, with a shift towards alternative education models and declining support for traditional big-city reform efforts. [Extracted from the article]

Single-sex classrooms have been a topic of interest in the educational community since the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. The academic achievement gap between boys and girls in high school is a complex and multifaceted issue that has garnered significant attention in educational research. Proponents of single-sex classrooms argue that it reduces social anxiety, physical aggression, and can close the achievement gap between boys and girls. This quasi-experimental study compared students in single-sex classrooms and coeducational classrooms of ten various Principles of Agriculture courses in Kentucky, and the influence these teaching models had on students' career interests. Key findings from this experimental study included: (a) boys in single-sex classrooms ranked their interest in the agriculture, food, and natural resources career pathway the highest; (b) the classroom structure nor the sex of the students were not influential to the gain in students interest in the agriculture, food, and environment careers; (c) boys and girls in single-sex classroom structures were influenced more than their coeducational classroom colleagues in a career interest in education and training, particularly, agricultural education. Recommendations from this study include: (a) exposing boys to careers in agricultural education early in high school; (b) prepare teachers on methodologies that limit gender stereotypes within the agriculture career field; and (c) the need for study replication along with longitudinal and qualitative research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Janus 2.0 Conference brought together scholars in physical education to discuss the future of the field. While progress has been made, there is still work to be done in developing sustainable initiatives and interventions for physical education. The conference highlighted differing opinions on the purpose of physical education and the importance of ecological systems theory in understanding its influence. Teacher socialization, education, and professional development were also discussed. The conference emphasized the need for long-term, funded research and the importance of diversity in physical education teacher education. The text concludes by discussing the challenges and progress in the field and the need for research to adapt to societal changes. [Extracted from the article]

The article discusses a report released by The Office for Students (OfS) regarding the assessment of technical proficiency in writing (TPWE) in higher education providers. The author analyzes the report and its policy contexts, emphasizing the importance of understanding transnational policy regimes in writing studies. The article also highlights the need to study and critique policies that impact educators and students, particularly those who are marginalized. The document analyzes power relations within the context of the OfS and its interactions with providers, students, employers, taxpayers, and faculty. The text discusses the positioning of the OfS and its policies in relation to standards, accountability, and the use of Standard English in higher education. It also discusses the influence of neoliberalism and the transnational diffusion of standards and accountability policies. The text explores different policy regimes that shape transnational education, language, and writing policies, and emphasizes the importance of understanding these regimes and their implications. Finally, the text provides a list of references and citations from various sources related to language policy, education, and assessment in higher education. [Extracted from the article]

Educational policies such as the No Child Left Behind Act in 2001 and Every Student Succeeds Act in 2015 have emphasized the need for hard evidence such as standardized test data to make educational decisions. Therefore, teachers have been expected to use student assessment data to make informed curricular decisions and adjustments in teaching practice. This has led school districts to turn to data-based decision-making (DBDM) to create an effective process of student assessment data analysis, and reflection during professional learning communities (PLCs). The study explored teachers' collaboration on the DBDM when teachers were analyzing student assessment data from common, district, and state assessments, as well as its influence on their instructional decisions. Participating teachers' department and PLC meetings were recorded, and individual teachers' classrooms were also observed. Teacher interview data and their lesson plans were also included and analyzed qualitatively. Results revealed that the purpose of collaboration determined types of data used, modes of analysis, and the impact on their teaching. Furthermore, teachers used varied assessment data to plan and adjust their instruction. Their motivation to enhance their teaching practices was also increased by exchanging ideas and insights rooted in the data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article, published in the American Journal of Qualitative Research, explores teachers' and administrators' perceptions of test score pollution resulting from COVID-19-related issues that may affect students' performance on state standardized tests. The study sample included middle and high school teachers and administrators, and data was collected through semi-structured interviews. The analysis revealed themes such as inadequate preparation for standardized tests, devaluing of education, understanding students' emotional well-being, providing data-driven support, questioning test validity, and recognizing disparities among students. The article discusses the use of standardized tests in decision-making and the validity of these tests, particularly in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. [Extracted from the article]

This article examines the marginalization of social studies in K-12 education, attributing it to standardized curricula and high-stakes testing. It notes a decrease in instructional time for social studies, with a greater focus on English Language Arts and mathematics. The article introduces the Man: A Course of Study (MACOS) project, which employs hands-on learning to explore anthropological concepts in social studies. It describes a tool-making simulation activity inspired by MACOS, where middle school students design and construct tools to gain insight into the experiences of early humans during the Agricultural Revolution in Ancient Rome. The article underscores the significance of tools in the establishment of human civilization and draws connections between historical events and contemporary issues. Additionally, it delves into the impact of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) policy and accountability measures on social studies instruction. It presents teachers' experiences and perspectives on the challenges they encounter when teaching social studies within the NCLB framework. The article emphasizes the importance of social studies education in cultivating critical thinking skills and promoting civic engagement. It also advocates for increased support and resources for social studies teachers to effectively meet the demands of accountability measures. [Extracted from the article]

This article explores the arguments presented in two books, "The Education Trap" and "Indentured Students," which challenge the belief that education alone can solve economic inequality. "The Education Trap" examines the negative consequences of standardized testing and accountability policies in public schools, while "Indentured Students" delves into the history of federal student loans and their impact on college graduates. Both books emphasize the need to address systemic inequalities and consider other factors such as trade and tax policies. The article also mentions the shifting perspectives on education reform, with conservatives advocating for school choice and Democrats prioritizing other policy areas. [Extracted from the article]

The article discusses the global significance of play in childhood, emphasizing its universal nature despite cultural variations. It also explores the benefits of play for children's holistic development across emotional, social, cognitive, physical, creative, and linguistic domains, while highlighting the concerning trend of diminishing play opportunities in kindergarten programs, particularly in the United States, due to academic pressures and standardized curricula.

I. Introduction 787 II. Constitutional and Statutory Framework: The Equal Protection Clause 788 III. Elementary and Secondary Education 791 A. Litigation After the No Child Left Behind Act 791 B. [...]

While teacher preparation organizations and accreditation bodies have called for heightening the clinical component for university teacher preparation, educational policy such as the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB, 2001) opened the door for alternative routes for teacher preparation that compete with university teacher preparation. Throughout the last century, teacher education reform in the United States has created challenging terrain with these reforms intensifying during the last decade. These efforts, conducted with the purpose to enable teacher education programs to respond to the needs of diverse students and teacher candidates, have been spurred by reform and policy endeavors in teacher preparation at local, state, and national levels (Wiseman, 2012). To date, the state policymakers' choice of controversial high stakes teacher evaluation and teacher education program evaluation approaches has placed the teaching profession in many US states under siege with experienced and novice teachers leaving the profession in record numbers and under enrolled teacher education programs that are threatening the pipeline (Sutcher et al., 2019). Also, while teacher education organizations and accreditation call for clinical practice and partnerships between teacher preparation programs and qualified school and university-based teacher educators, much of the US education policy did not align with those goals. [Extracted from the article]

The article focuses on the role of law schools in addressing the negative impact of federal education policy on students' cognitive adaptability, self-regulation, and critical thinking skills. Topics include the effects of policies like No Child Left Behind and the Every Student Succeeds Act, the mismatch between the skills needed in law school and the education provided before law school, and the need for law schools to adapt their curriculum and teaching methods to foster deep learning.

CONTENTS ABSTRACT 168 INTRODUCTION 168 I. CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS AND THE DIALECTICAL-RELATIONAL APPROACH 170 II. A BRIEF HISTORY OF FEDERAL INVOLVEMENT IN EDUCATION LAW AND POLICY AND THE POLITICS OF [...], State takeovers of schools and school districts in the United States have been rising for over thirty years, with a significant increase in the past decade. These takeovers raise questions of equity, accountability, integrity, and capability in many areas, specifically in terms of educating the nation's youth who live in urban settings. The state takeover of the Little Rock School District can be compared to the contestable acquisitions in major metropolitan cities such as Detroit, Memphis, and New Orleans. The purpose of this study is to explore the policies that allow the implementation and maintenance of state takeovers of school districts and investigate market-based agendas embedded in the process. Further, this study examines the role of racism and rights within these policies as it applies to the recent state takeover of the Little Rock School District. This study asserts that state takeover policies maintain whiteness and white supremacy as well as antiblackness in urban school districts and education policy. Provided that 85% of state takeovers occur in public schools and school districts that are predominately Black, we apply antiblackness and critical whiteness as frameworks within a dialecticalrelational approach to better understand implications of state takeover legislation, policies, and practices. We assert that state takeovers of public schools and school districts are acts of dispossessing Black communities of their political power and their rights to self-determination, education, and existence in particular geographic locations.

No Child Left Behind (NCLB) aims to improve US education system. Every student in the US must have the same rights to get a quality education. The state is responsible for providing fair, equitable and quality educational facilities to the community. In reality, however, the NCLB was not entirely successful. While the law stipulates equality for underprivileged students, in reality, the richer students get better facilities and the best teachers. In addition, not all school teachers meet the standards. Based on these problems, this study aims to examine the challenges NCLB faced. It also intends to investigate the ideal implementation of NCLB and its effectiveness for students in the United States. This research also explores minority groups, like Hispanics. They are the largest minorities in the US. This research seeks to answer (1) How is the NCLB implementation reported in the media? and (2) What are the impacts of the NCLB implementation on Hispanic students?. This study uses the theory of Critical Discourse analysis from Norman Fairclough and Jager with news articles as data sources. The news articles were taken from the New York Times, usnews.com, dailynews.com, fivethirtyeight.com, and CBS News. The results found that the NCLB is still problematic that still there are achievement gaps, protests, and low performance. In addition, there are still wrong beliefs, discrimination, and dishonesty regarding the implementation of NCLB. Through some possible ways to solve the problem, like supervising and revising NCLB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is beyond the scope of this essay to evaluate that practice, but clearly instructional communication scholars possess methodological and topical expertise to speak to these questions. Instructional communication scholars can help stakeholders understand that, although no teaching assessment method is perfect, sound practices may improve assessment and reduce its negative unintended consequences. [Extracted from the article]

Another factor was the district's assignment of Mexican American students to JHS and other east Austin schools, resulting in the near-exclusive JHS attendance of Mexican American and Black students. Ten years after the desegregation efforts began at JHS, several students affected by the busing decision as elementary school students who were now high school students were interviewed. Although the district requested a rehearing, the court denied the petition and ordered AISD to desegregate Black students and place Mexican American students in schools with both Anglo and Black students. The demographics and academic performance of JHS students stood in stark contrast to students at more affluent high schools comprised mostly of White students. [Extracted from the article]

The employability of professional students has been a source of concern in recent years. Several reports have highlighted this gap. The India Skills Report (2021) observes that only about 47% of engineering and management graduates are employable. The concept of employability has significance not only at a macro-level for an economy, but also at a microlevel for an individual, as it is related to a person's sense of life satisfaction, self-esteem, and general well-being. At the individual level, employability refers to the propensity of students to obtain a job (Harvey, 2001) and hence represents a form of work-specific adaptability (Fugate, Kinicki & Ashforth, 2004) leading to career success. Success in a career, in turn, is also influenced by the broader external factors, such as social, economic, and so on, which may influence a person's ability to get a job. Keeping the above factors in mind, employability is defined as an individual's perception of his or her possibilities of getting employment (Bernston & Marklund, 2007). Some of the determinants of employability that have been examined by researchers include perceived skills, experience, network, personal traits, and knowledge of the labour market (Guilbert et al., 2016). A more empirical approach to employability considers the individual, demographic, and psycho-social attributes related to success in securing a job (Boswell et al., 2006; McArdle et al., 2007). McArdle et al. (2007) showed that 42% of the variation in the intensity of jobseeking behaviour is explained by employability. The objective of the study is to examine the antecedents of employability at different levels. The data for the study were randomly drawn from the placement records of postgraduate management students in Bengaluru, India. The study uses the negative binomial model to develop an index for employability, applicable at the individual level, as well as at different levels of grouping. The study contributes to the literature by examining the role of academic performance as an antecedent of employability for business students in India at different levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article analyzes nationwide student progress and trends in academic achievement in the U.S. from 1971 to 2017. The study examined math and reading scores taking into account differences by student race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status and assumptions about educational inequality. Research results reveal the Flynn Effect, exception from the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), and role of health and nutrition in students' reading and math achievement and reasoning ability.

The article offer narratives from three elementary educators navigating literacy teaching in schools impacted by third-grade reading laws. It looks at how elementary literacy teachers define, talk about, and interact with student literacies. It also highlights the challenges and pressures teachers experience when teaching young students in the context of the third-grade reading laws.

INTRODUCTION There is increasing concern about the low levels of U.S. students' performance both on national and international assessments. To remedy the situation, the 2001 No Child Left Behind Act [...]

We should partner with departments of English teacher-preparation programs to ensure that communication instruction is provided to those instructors teaching communication in K-12. In 2014, the year of the centennial celebration of the National Communication Association (NCA), I (Cheri) facilitated a series of workshops for introductory communication course directors. Jennings noted that as states and teacher-preparation programs moved to meet the requirements of NCLB, many states decided to reduce the number of certification programs by combining similar subject areas. [Extracted from the article]

The empirical analysis of the impact of market potential on the spatial distribution of human capital has often taken the approach of using samples of large economic areas (world sample of countries, Europe, single countries). This paper proposes to strengthen the analysis of the potential 'fractal dimension' of the market potential–human capital relation by estimating econometric specifications which relate educational attainment levels to market potential for the 53 Galician counties using yearly data over the period 2005–2012 and census data for 2001 and 2011. We find evidence that market potential exerts a positive impact on the spatial distribution of human capital across the Galician counties, concluding therefore in favour of the fractal dimension. These results could also help to explain the (lack of) convergence in terms of income between the Western and Eastern parts of Galicia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grounded in the theories of inclusive talent management (TM) and social-exchange, this conceptual paper draws on the education working conditions and broader TM scholarship to promote Talent Centered Education Leadership, an education human resource management (HRM) approach that emphasizes an "employee centered" philosophy to enhance teachers' experience and engagement. Schools will benefit by improving TM and school performance outcomes, reconciling the "corporate reformer" perspective, emphasizing performance accountability, and the teacher professionalism perspective, emphasizing teacher respect. This article redefines school HRM from a standardized-product focus to one that emphasizes employee value and care, an empirically supported humanistic framework compatible with education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main objective of this paper is to clarify the influence of fiscal decentralisation and ethnic diversity on Indonesia's educational outcomes using Indonesian provincial-level data from 2001 to 2014 and applying dynamic panel data estimation. This paper takes into account that ethnic diversity mediates the relationship between fiscal decentralisation and educational outcomes. The result confirms that the inclusion of the ethnic diversity variable lessens the positive influence of fiscal decentralisation on educational outcomes. The presence of a diversity debit hypothesis in Indonesia overshadowed the local government's effort in improving regional educational outcomes through decentralisation. This paper proposes a set of policy recommendations based on empirical results to assist the local government in controlling the adverse effect of ethnic diversity on regional educational outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discuses the notion of educational philosophies as espoused in educational foundations courses and textbooks with philosophical awareness as an approach to teaching preservice home economics teacher education methods in these courses. Topics include professional experience helped me appreciate that family and consumer sciences (FCS) and home economics education; and home economics education and how it can and should be informed by educational philosophies.

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses -Dismantling Denver: The city was a national model for education reform. Then union-backed candidates took over the school board. The politics of public education in Denver have grown increasingly school systems across the country. As soon as Denver Public Schools took its first, tentative steps toward reform, an active opposition campaign arose, aimed not at moderating or improving the reforms, but at destroying them.

We examine gender and race differences in education-mortality trends among 25–64-year-olds in the United States from 2001 to 2018. Relationships are heterogeneous by race and education, with larger mortality reductions for less educated non-Hispanic Blacks than for other races and mixed results at higher levels of schooling. Drug overdoses represent the single most important contributor to increased death rates for all groups, but the magnitudes vary sharply. Cardiovascular disease, cancer, and HIV are the most significant sources of mortality rate reductions, with heterogeneous patterns again by sex, race, and educational attainment. Examining specific causes of death can provide a more nuanced understanding of the health shocks affecting population subgroups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines how three bilingual education teachers engaged with a transitional bilingual policy while balancing the demands of monolingual high-stakes assessments in ways that contributed to advocacy on behalf of their bilingual learners. The consequences of high-stakes accountability can be exacerbated in bilingual settings, because in these contexts often contradictory assessment policies and language policies interact. In this interaction, bilingual educators can become susceptible to enacting policies that largely fail their bilingual students and ultimately promote the status quo. Applying a Figured Worlds theoretical framing (Holland, Lachicotte, Skinner & Cain, 1998) in a vertical comparison case study design (Bartlett & Vavrus, 2016), the author explores the teacher's policy work from an improvisation lens. Findings reveal that the teachers engaged in both overt and improvisational policy work. The costs associated with the teachers' overt policy work suggests that improvisational agency offers great potential as a strategic and sustainable form of advocacy for bilingual students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The U.S. federal government has played a growing role in setting nationwide education policy since the passage of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) in 1965. This Act, along with the 'Equality of Educational Opportunity' report commissioned by the 1964 Civil Rights Act, led the U.S. Office of Education to pursue a policy agenda focused on equalizing access and ameliorating poverty through the education system. Despite the promotion of equity serving as the officially stated goal of federal policy, expert evaluations of the government's efforts incorporated technical assumptions from the field of economics that prioritized maximizing efficiency between inputs and outputs in the education system. When the ESEA was reauthorized in 2002 as No Child Left Behind, significant 'policy drift' had occurred such that the evaluation of teacher quality – which was the subject of a large literature in economics on the 'education production function' – was incorporated as a key component of the education system's flagship anti-poverty initiative, Title I. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Beyond testing: 7 assessments of students and schools more effective than standardized tests. Busy school officials rely on policymakers' expertise in deciding what's best to determine how well students and schools are performing. They tout their school's or system's success in raising test scores or evaluating teachers with a values-added measurement model. [Extracted from the article]

Defined benefit (DB) pension plans are the dominant retirement program for state and local governments in the United States. However, in the last 15 years, some have given new employees a choice of alternatives to stand-alone DB pension plans such as cash balance (CB), defined contribution (DC), and hybrid retirement plans. This article examines this shift through survival analysis using panel data of 190 state and local pension plans across the United States. From 2001 to 2019, we modeled five change factors found in the pension reform literature, namely, financial constraints, interest group influence, plan membership, and liability, along with other state factors. Our analysis shows that all five of these factors impacted the shift to alternative retirement plans from stand-alone DB plans. Notable findings are that well-funded pensions were more likely to shift to alternative retirement plans, and interest groups such as police, fire, and teachers were more likely to keep stand-alone plans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

School performance indicators commonly used for school accountability purposes (e.g., student attendance, achievement on standardized test scores, graduation rates) do not adequately reflect student progress in an alternative education context (Brewer et al., 2001; De Velasco & Gonzales, 2017; Rumberger & Palardy, 2005; Warren, 2016). Although proposals of alternative accountability indicators exist, these proposals rarely consider contextual indicators that are important for understanding the academic outcomes of students attending alternative schools. In this study, we argue for a multilevel and contextual perspective on alternative school accountability system just as some scholars in the education and health sectors have argued for a multilevel social–ecological framework for understanding individuals in context (Bronfenbrenner, 1977; Golden & Earp, 2012; Lemieux‐Charles et al., 2003). We present our conceptualization (i.e., Multi‐level Contextual School Accountability Framework) of what a comprehensive and fair accountability system might look like, based on reviews of existing literature and our evaluation of an alternative school's effort to transform into a full‐servicecommunity school. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article informs about excess demand exists for adopting healthy babies, while an excess supply exists of older children or children with physical or emotional disabilities. Topics include Children awaiting adoption who remain in foster care for long periods or incur changes in foster-care placements often experience life-long poverty, educational failure; and introducing a market for the right to raise children could increase resources available for the hard-to-adopt children.

As longstanding members of the National Council on Measurement in Education (NCME) and employees of College Board, a mission-driven not-for-profit organization that connects students to college success and opportunity, we would like to offer some commentary in response to the focal article written for I Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice i , titled "College Admission Tests and Social Responsibility" by Mladen Koljatic, Mónica Silva, and Stephen G. Sireci. There is extensive publicly available documentation from ACT and the College Board on college and career readiness research that forms the basis of these tests (ACT, 2015; College Board, 2015a). Although high school or college admission professionals or higher education researchers may be aware of and involved in the College Board initiatives we discussed in this commentary, it is likely that the measurement community is not as aware but might benefit from knowing more. The College Board also offers the National Recognition Programs, which opens doors and creates pathways to college for underrepresented students who take the PSAT/NMSQT, PSAT 10, or AP Exams by awarding them academic honors and connecting them with universities across the country. [Extracted from the article]