Education & Pedagogy

Addressing the equity and learning crisis in education requires resolute efforts to strengthen national systems. This includes efforts by development partners to improve development cooperation practices with more alignment of aid for education with national systems. Alignment provides unique opportunities to strengthen national systems for the education sector, leverage improvements in the effectiveness and efficiency of public expenditure and support better education funding at scale. This brief presents Global Partnership for Education's (GPE's) conceptual approach to the use of country systems through the experience of five partner countries (Burkina Faso, Mozambique, Nepal, Niger and Senegal). Each partner country has developed unique financing mechanisms to support education, adapted to their different contexts but characterized by their alignment with national public financial management systems. The adaptations include measures to manage both opportunities for system transformation and capacity support for sound fiduciary management.

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields are widely regarded as critical to the national economy. To provide a nationally representative portrait of undergraduate students' experiences in STEM education, these Web Tables summarize longitudinal data from a cohort of first-time, beginning students who started postsecondary education in a bachelor's or associate's degree program in 2003-04, examining their entrance into and attrition from STEM fields and the extent to which they participated in STEM coursework over a period of 6 academic years, from 2003-04 to 2008-09. The following are appended: (1) Classification of postsecondary STEM courses in BPS:04/09; and (2) Classification of major field of study in BPS:04/09.

This study investigated associations between enrollment in preschool special education and school readiness skills for children with mild to moderate delays. Findings indicated that on average, children who received preschool special education services had lower scores in reading and math in kindergarten than similar children who did not receive such service. These results could be due to a range of factors that should be explored further, including the nature of special education services for young children as well as possible differences between the groups of children with and without special education experiences. [This research brief is based on the following study: Sullivan, A. L. & Field, S. (2013) Do preschool special education services make a difference in kindergarten reading and mathematics skills?: A propensity score weighting analysis. "Journal of School Psychology."]

Volume IV of the 1916-18 Biennial Survey of Education covers the following topic areas: (1) Statistics of Normal Schools; (2) Statistics of Public High Schools; (3) Private High Schools and Academies; (4) Private Commercial and Business Schools; (5) Summer Schools; (6) Nurse Training Schools; (7) Schools and Classes for the Blind; (8) Schools for the Deaf; (9) Schools and Classes for Feeble-Minded and Subnormal Children; and (10) Industrial Schools for Delinquents. An index is included. Individual chapters contain footnotes and figures. (Contains 278 tables.) [For Volume III, see ED541461. Best copy available has been provided.]

"Space and utilization standards" are budgetary planning tools that measure the need for space in California public higher education systems and are common in other areas of State facilities planning. California's higher education space standards were researched and developed between 1948 and 1966, first by consultants and researchers dealing with the post World War II enrollment surge, then by planners working towards the State's eventual adoption of a higher education Masterplan, and finally as research done by the Commission's predecessor, the Coordinating Council for Higher Education. In response to legislative directives in 1985 and 1987, the California Postsecondary Education Commission worked with national consultants MGT and Associates and an advisory committee to evaluate California's higher education planning standards and guidelines. The Committee met 22 times between 1985 and 1990 and its work led to the 1990 Commission report "A Capacity for Learning." (Contains 4 tables.)

This bulletin provides details of the current state of education in United States territories and dependencies. Contents include: (1) Education in Porto Rico (by Paul G. Miller); (2) Education in the Canal Zone (summarized from the report of A. R. Lang); (3) The Virgin Islands (from the report of the school director); (4) Hawaii (by Henry W. Kinney); (5) The Philippine Public School System (by W. W. Marquardt); and (6) Education in Alaska (summarized from the report of Gov. Thos. Riggs, Jr.). (Contains 6 footnotes.) [Best copy available has been provided.]

"Straight A's: Public Education Policy and Progress" is a biweekly newsletter that focuses on education news and events both in Washington, DC and around the country. The following articles are included in this issue: (1) Debating Education: Obama and Romney Promote Education Records, Importance of Education to the Economy and Public Safety During Final Debates; (2) No Deal: Americans Believe Cuts to Federal Education Funding Should Not Be Part of Plan to Reduce Debt or Deficit, Poll Finds; (3) "Rethinking Policy and Practice in Support of English Language Learners": New Alliance Report Identifies Challenges and Solutions for Helping ELLs Meet Higher Expectations Associated with Common Core; and (4) "Taking College Courses in High School": Dual Enrollment Doubles the Credits, Doubles the Success in College, Report Finds.

"Straight A's: Public Education Policy and Progress" is a biweekly newsletter that focuses on education news and events both in Washington, DC and around the country. The following articles are included in this issue: (1) "The Digital Learning Imperative": New Alliance Report Shows How Digital Learning Connects Technology and Teaching to Meet Today's Educational Challenges; (2) Thirty-three States and DC Committed to Celebrate Digital Learning Day: States Pledge Support for National Awareness Campaign Highlighting Technology's Role in School Reform and Strengthening Instructional Practices; (3) Congress Passes Bill Funding U.S. Department of Education: Education Funding Cut By $100 Million, But Bill Restores Funding for Striving Readers Comprehensive Literacy Program; and (4) House Education Committee Chairman Kline Releases Draft Legislation on Accountability and Teacher Effectiveness. (Contains 1 footnote.)

"Straight A's: Public Education Policy and Progress" is a biweekly newsletter that focuses on education news and events both in Washington, DC and around the country. The following articles are included in this issue: (1) Senate Help Committee Passes Legislation to Rewrite No Child Left Behind; (2) Remediation Exasperation: New York City, Wyoming, and Ohio Focus on College Students' Needs for Remedial Courses; (3) "Hidden Costs of Community Colleges": New Report Estimates Federal, State, and Local Governments Spent Nearly $4 Billion on Community College Students Who Dropped Out After First Year; and (4) "The High School Dropout Dilemma and Special Education Students": New Report Examines Benefits for Special Education Students Who Earn a Diploma Compared to Those Who Do Not.

A+ Education Partnership is a statewide, non-partisan, non-profit organization that works to shape policy, improve teaching and learning, and engage communities in ongoing conversations about the best ways to create great schools for every child and build a bright future for Alabama. "Alabama Public Education at a Glance" provides in tabular form: (1) data on college and career readiness of high school graduates; (2) demographics for school systems; (3) breakdowns of various achievement gaps; (4) summaries of education revenues and expenditures; and (5) pre-k information on how Alabama stacks up compared to other states. A+ has compiled this data to provide information on the state of education in Alabama, using the most current data available. This report will be updated annually.

Fingertip Facts is a compendium of some of the most frequently requested data sets from the Utah State Office of Education. This year's Fingertip Facts includes the following data sets: SAGE Testing, 2014-15; 2015 Public Education General Fund; 2014-15 Public School Enrollment Demographics; Public Schools by Grade Level, 2014-15; Number of Licensed Educators; Estimated Average Teacher Salary; Pupil-Teacher Ration; Value of the Weighted Pupil Unit (WPU) for the 2014-15 School Year; Per Pupil Spending; and Public School Enrollment. A Utah State Office of Education contact list is included. [For "Utah State Office of Education Fingertip Facts, 2014-15," see ED572989.]

Fingertip Facts is a compendium of some of the most frequently requested data sets from the Utah State Office of Education. Data sets in this year's Fingertip Facts include: SAGE Testing, 2014; 2013 Public Education General Fund; 2014-15 Public School Enrollment Demographics; Public Schools by Grade Level, 2013-14; Number of Licensed Educators; Trimmed Mean Teacher Salary; Pupil-Teacher Ratio; Value of the Weighted Pupil Unit (WPU) for the 2014-15 School Year; Per Pupil Spending in Perspective, 2011; and Public School Enrollment. A Utah State Office of Education contact list is included. [For "Utah State Office of Education Fingertip Facts, 2013-14," see ED572988.]

This monograph aims to provide a brief but critical history of adult and community education in Aotearoa over the past fifty years. It draws on primary and secondary sources as well as a substantial body of previous research much of which has yet to be published. The focus of this work is on changing policy environments and their impact on adult and community education as well as on the ways in which ACE practitioners have responded to these changes. The intention is to follow this up with further work whichh will focus on changes in adult and community education programmes and practices over the period. In particular it provides a perspective on the policy environment that has impacted on Adult and Community Education in Aotearoa.

The "2016 Data Report" identifies and measures state-level indicators linked to outcomes to inform decision-making among Massachusetts education leaders. These indicators focus on critical stages in learning and development from school readiness and early learning to the emergence of a strong and productive workforce. Important indicators in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) are highlighted at each stage and specific attention is leveled at the need for prepared and effective educators to support student progress throughout our entire education system. Indicators are selected because of their evidentiary base and alignment with Massachusetts' reform agenda and updated at least every two years. This report provides a critical overview of our public education system, while presenting data and information to encourage more nuanced discussions of potential strategies for improving student learning outcomes.

This paper is a brief summary of a large historic research project in Papua New Guinea (PNG). The project aimed to document and analyse the nature of mathematics education from tens of thousands of years ago to the present. Data sources varied from first contact and later records, archaeology, oral histories, language analyses, lived experiences, memoirs, government documents, field studies, and previous research especially doctoral studies. The impacts of colonisation, post-colonial aid and globalisation on mathematics education have been analysed and an understanding of the current status of mathematics education established as neocolonial. Managing neocolonial education policies may minimise the loss of cultural ways of thinking.