Education & Pedagogy

This 22nd annual report to Congress on the implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act 1997 (IDEA) begins with a special preface reflecting on the progress made in the 25 years since the initial passage of the law. Following the preface, Section 1 examines contextual and environmental factors such as the role of minority institutions of higher education in recruiting and training minority educators and the implications of fetal alcohol and nicotine exposure for special education. Section 2, which discusses student characteristics, includes information on state reported data for infants and toddlers, preschoolers, and students ages 6-21, as well as papers on students with orthopedic impairments and students with co-occurring disabilities. Section 3, which focuses on school programs and services looks at positive behavioral interventions and support, assistive and instructional technologies, and the state reported educational environments data. The final section includes initial findings from the National Early Intervention Longitudinal Study and information on high school graduation and state improvement and monitoring activities. Extensive appendices provide data tables on child count, placement, personnel, graduation rates, population and enrollment, and early intervention. Activities of the Regional Resource Centers are also summarized. (Individual sections contain references.) (CR)

At the beginning of the 1990s, education in South Africa was in turmoil and experienced a major crisis. Adding to the crisis were problems such as major inequalities in South African society where the majority of people were marginalized and forced to live in a disenfranchised society. Educational change was required to provide equity in terms of educational provision and to promote a more balanced view of South African society. The newly democratic African National Congress government has striven to root out apartheid education and to create a new vision of empowered citizens for South Africa. Against this background, outcomes-based education (OBE) was chosen in 1997 as the most likely educational model to address the crisis in South African education; the most likely system to operate at all educational levels; and the most likely model to address the issue of quality (and inequality) in South African education. This approach or model was chosen not only to emancipate learners and teachers from a content-based mode of operation, but also to respond to international trends in educational development. In March 1997 the Education Minister announced in the British parliament the launch of Curriculum 2005. Has the introduction of outcomes-based education really transformed South African education and empowered the marginalized and disenfranchised post-apartheid South African society? The paper provides background on outcomes-based education, considers the issue of quality in education, and discusses OBE, quality, and reform in South African education. It suggests a way to implement Curriculum 2005. (BT)

The primary responsibility for the financing of U.S. primary and secondary education rests with state and local governments. In 1970-1971, local governments had, by far, the greatest role in education financing, providing 52.5% of the total education revenue. State governments contributed 39.1% of total education revenue. Since the early 1970s, the states financial responsibility has increased such that in academic year (AY) 2001-2002 the state governments 49.3% share was considerably larger than the local governments share of 42.9% (U.S. Department of Education, 2004). Even though states have assumed a larger financial role, local governments continue to be an important source of revenue for primary and secondary education. The largest source of local funds for education comes from the local property tax. However, given the unequal intrastate distribution of property wealth, combined with the extensive use of local property taxes to fund the local portion of education expenditures, it is not surprising that state education finance systems have been challenged in the state courts. Since 1972, nearly every state has witnessed a state constitutional challenge to its system of locally financed primary and secondary education. Between 1971 and 1999, plaintiffs in 17 states won state Supreme Court judgments that led to either overturning the state education finance systems or significantly altering them. Recent increases in the states share of total education revenue can be largely explained as a result of state court decisions, which reduced the reliance on local property taxes. [This document was produced by the Appalachia Educational Laboratory at Edvantia, formerly the Appalachian Educational Laboratory (AEL, Inc.).] (Contains 5 tables.)

Will recent federal policy changes succeed in improving the quality of education policy research? One explanation for the limited supply to date of high-quality evaluation evidence in education is limited demand, owing perhaps, in part, to market failure for both education outcomes and education research. In the market for education outcomes, the public seems to have limited information about school performance, and educators thus face limited incentives to improve performance. In the market for education research, consumers face information problems that make it difficult to determine the quality of the research "product." Even for research producers, information about the costs of high-quality research designs (such as randomized or natural experiments) is more readily available than information about the benefits, which may help explain why such methods are not more common. The government's new Institute of Education Sciences seeks to directly increase the supply of experimental evidence, clearly a step in the right direction. But more sweeping changes in education research may ultimately arise from efforts to stimulate the demand for high-quality education research and solve the information problems facing both consumers and producers in the research market. The success of federal policies in this last regard is likely to require better data on the benefits and costs of different research designs, particularly from research on the conditions under which nonexperimental research designs can replicate experimental findings. [In: Ravitch, Diane, Ed., Brookings Papers on Education Policy, 2005. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press, 2005. p47-87. See ED488830.]

This is the second of four electronic newsletters being published this year by the U. S. Department of Education, Character Education and Civic Engagement Technical Assistance Center (CETAC). The newsletters are intended to provide the latest developments in character education and civic engagement, and this issue focuses on student involvement in character education. The Department of Education's Partnerships in Character Education Program (PCEP) grants currently demonstrate that student leadership possibilities take on many forms across the states. As examples, students are serving on character education councils and district level advisory boards; participating in forums to address character education and community issues; serving in decision making capacities as student ambassadors and student government positions; engaging in service learning activities; and participating in special projects to address community health issues such as providing care for those with Alzheimer's disease. In the provisions of the No Child Left Behind legislation, Congress recognized the importance of student involvement in character education by adding it as one of the requirements for seeking funding under the PCEP grant program. In following the spirit of the legislation, students were asked to participate in the development of this newsletter by sharing their stories, talents and skills regarding character education. The Department is hopeful that each of the articles featured in the newsletter will increase reader awareness of meaningful ways students are involved in character education and civic engagement in their communities. [The Character Education and Civic Engagement Technical Assistance Center (CETAC) is operated for the U.S. Department of Education under a contract with the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation (PIRE).]

"The Condition of Education, 2007" summarizes important developments and trends in education using the latest available data. The report presents 48 indicators on the status and condition of education and a special analysis on high school coursetaking. The indicators represent a consensus of professional judgment on the most significant national measures of the condition and progress of education for which accurate data are available. The 2007 print edition includes 48 indicators in five main sections: (1) participation in education; (2) learner outcomes; (3) student effort and educational progress; (4) the contexts of elementary and secondary education; and (5) the contexts of postsecondary education. Each indicator contains a discussion along with a graph or table on the main indicator page, and one or more supplemental tables found in appendix 1. The supplemental tables provide data tables of the estimates used in the indicator discussion as well as additional estimates related to the indicator. Tables of standard errors for applicable estimate tables are available on the Web. The Web version includes the following: the 2007 Commissioner's statement, a user's guide, special analyses from 2000 through 2007, all indicators from this edition, and selected indicators from earlier editions of this report. A glossary and an index are also included. Supplementary notes and tables are appended. (Contains 62 tables and 12 notes.) [For the 2006 edition of this publication, see ED491909.]

The present report is the product of an ENQA (European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education) Bologna Seminar "Quality Assurance in Transnational Education: from words to action" hosted by the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA, UK) in London in December, 2008. The seminar discussed the current trends in Transnational landscapes, the influence of the UNESCO-OECD Guidelines for cross-border higher education and their compatibility with the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area. The outcomes of the seminar were later presented as recommendations to the Bologna Follow-up Group. Articles included in this report are: (1) Introduction; (2) The UNESCO/OECD Guidelines: a Governmental Perspective (Sjur Bergan); (3) Quality Assurance in Transnational Education: a European University Association Perspective (Andree Sursock); (4) Quality Assurance in Transnational Education: An Education International Perspective (Paul Bennett); (5) A Comparative Analysis of International Guidelines in Quality Assurance (Marlene Hamilton); (6) Quality Assurance in Transnational Education--from Declarative Intentions to Concrete Progress: a European Students Union Perspective (Daniela Cassar); and (7) Conclusions and Recommendations to the Bologna Follow-up Group (Peter Williams). A programme of the seminar is annexed. (Contains 19 footnotes.) [Support for this report was provided by the Lifelong Learning Programme of the European Union.]

The data on public elementary and secondary education in this document are collected and reported each year by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), U.S. Department of Education. The data are part of the "National Public Education Financial Survey" (NPEFS), one of the components of the Common Core of Data (CCD) collection of surveys. The purpose of the NPEFS Survey is to provide district, state, and federal policymakers, researchers, and other interested users with descriptive information about revenues and expenditures for public elementary and secondary education. This report presents selected findings from the survey. The body of this report is composed of tables providing an overview of revenues and expenditures for public elementary and secondary education during the 2003 fiscal year. The tables present data on three topics: (1) Revenues--presents amount and percentage of local, state, and federal revenue; (2) Current expenditures--compares state spending on day-to-day expenditures; and (3) Total expenditures--highlights current expenditures plus facilities acquisition and construction, replacement equipment, other programs, and interest on debt. Approximately $440 billion in revenue was raised to fund public education for grades prekindergarten through 12 in school year 2002-03, also referred to as fiscal year 2003. Total expenditures for public education, including school construction, debt financing, community services, and adult education programs, came to $455 billion. The following are appended: (1) Technical Notes; and (2) Definitions. (Contains 7 tables and 2 figures.)

As the demands for public accountability increase for the higher education industry, institutions are seeking methods for continuous improvement in order to demonstrate quality within programs and processes, including those provided through online education. Because of the rapid growth of online education programs, institutions are further called upon to demonstrate that quality education is being delivered to students at a distance. This study sought to create such a method to provide institutions offering online education an instrument for assessing quality within their programs: a quality scorecard for the administration of online education programs. A six round Delphi study was undertaken with 43 experts in the administration of online education programs. The panel of experts agreed upon 70 quality indicators that administrators of online education programs should examine within their programs to evaluate quality. A method for scoring was also developed. The original set of quality indicators from the Institute for Higher Education Policy study, "Quality on the Line: Benchmarks for Success in Internet-Based Distance Education" (2000) were used as a starting point and were determined to be still valid in 2010, with modifications. An additional 45 quality indicators were added that resulted in a quality scorecard that provides industry agreed upon standards for online education programs to use for quality evaluation. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

This report examines the literature on practices and programs seeking to improve students' transition from adult education to postsecondary education. Ultimately, the report seeks to provide practitioners with models for effective strategies in transitioning students to postsecondary education that can be implemented at community colleges throughout California. From a review of more than 40 references, a total of 17 effective practices emerged. Because this report has been created as a follow-up to Basic Skills as a Foundation for Student Success in California Community College, it uses the same four major categories to organize the effective practices uncovered in the literature. These categories include: (1) Organizational and Administrative Practices; (2) Program Component Practices; (3) Staff Development Practices; and (4) Instructional Practices. The report examines practices in each of these areas and provides examples from adult education programs nationwide. However, it is important to note that there is little evidence-based research completed to date on students transitioning from adult to postsecondary education. Hence, the practices in this report fall mostly into the "promising" rather than the "effective" category. Nonetheless, the report identifies these practices and makes recommendations for further research.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) provided $70.3 billion for three education programs--the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund (SFSF); Title I, Part A of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (Title I); and Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Part B. One goal of the Recovery Act was to save and create jobs, and SFSF also requires states to report information expected to increase transparency and advance educational reform. This report responds to two ongoing US Government Accountability Office (GAO) mandates under the Recovery Act. It examines (1) how selected states and local recipients used the funds; (2) what plans the Department of Education (Education) and selected states have to assess the impact of the funds; (3) what approaches are being used to ensure accountability of the funds; and (4) how Education and states ensure the accuracy of recipient reported data. To conduct this review, GAO gathered information from 14 states and the District of Columbia, conducted a nationally representative survey of local educational agencies (LEA), interviewed Education officials, examined recipient reports, and reviewed relevant policy documents. GAO recommends that the Secretary of Education establish mechanisms to improve the consistency of communicating SFSF monitoring feedback to states. Education agreed with our recommendation. Appended are: (1) Objectives, Scope, and Methodology; (2) Drawdown Rates by Program; (3) Comments from the Department of Education; (4) Status of Prior Open Recommendations and Matters for Congressional Consideration; (5) GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments. (Contains 5 tables, 8 figures and 71 footnotes.)

The "Annual Partnership Report" catalogs partnerships that Wyoming community colleges established and maintained for each fiscal year. Each community college maintains numerous partnerships for the development and provision of academic, occupational-technical, workforce development, and enrichment educational programs. These partnerships assist the colleges in meeting the higher educational needs of Wyoming's citizens and communities. In fiscal year 2008, Wyoming community colleges partnered with many public and private firms, educational institutions, and state agencies. These diverse partnerships were cultivated in all areas of community college education including: remedial education, adult basic education (ABE), English as a second language (ESL), business, health sciences, fine arts, technical education, workforce training, education, language arts, social sciences, physical sciences, biological sciences, family skills/studies, personal enrichment and leadership studies. The information provided in this report indicates that the partnerships initiated and maintained by the seven community colleges, the University of Wyoming, and the Wyoming Community College Commission are relevant to the educational programs offered at each institution. This information also indicates that these programs are beneficial to students, staff, faculty, and community stakeholders in each respective community college service area. [For the 2007 edition of this report, see ED535832.]

The "Annual Partnership Report" catalogs partnerships that Wyoming community colleges established and maintained for each fiscal year. Each community college maintains numerous partnerships for the development and provision of academic, occupational-technical, workforce development, and enrichment educational programs. These partnerships assist the colleges in meeting the higher educational needs of Wyoming's citizens and communities. In fiscal year 2009, Wyoming community colleges partnered with many public and private firms, educational institutions, and state agencies. These diverse partnerships were cultivated in all areas of community college education including: remedial education, adult basic education (ABE), English as a second language (ESL), business, health sciences, fine arts, technical education, workforce training, education, language arts, social sciences, physical sciences, biological sciences, family skills/studies, personal enrichment and leadership studies. The information provided in this report indicates that the partnerships initiated and maintained by the seven community colleges, the University of Wyoming, and the Wyoming Community College Commission are relevant to the educational programs offered at each institution. This information also indicates that these programs are beneficial to students, staff, faculty, and community stakeholders in each respective community college service area. [For the 2008 edition of this report, see ED535834.]

The "Annual Partnership Report" catalogs all partnerships that Wyoming community colleges established and maintained for each fiscal year. Each community college maintains numerous partnerships for the development and provision of academic, occupational-technical, workforce development, and enrichment educational programs. These partnerships assist the colleges in meeting the higher educational needs of Wyoming's citizens and communities. In 2007, Wyoming community colleges partnered with many public and private firms, educational institutions, and state agencies. These diverse partnerships were cultivated in all areas of community college education including: remedial education, adult basic education (ABE), English as a second language (ESL), business, health sciences, fine arts, technical education, workforce training, education, language arts, social sciences, physical sciences, biological sciences, family skills/studies, personal enrichment and leadership studies. The information provided in this report indicates that the partnerships initiated and maintained by the seven community colleges, the University of Wyoming, and the Wyoming Community College Commission are relevant to the educational programs offered at each institution. This information also indicates that these programs are beneficial to students, staff, faculty, and community stakeholders in each respective community college service area. [For the 2006 edition of this report, see ED502736.]

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education programs help to enhance the nation's global competitiveness. Many federal agencies have been involved in administering these programs. Concerns have been raised about the overall effectiveness and efficiency of STEM education programs. GAO examined (1) the number of federal agencies and programs that provided funding for STEM education programs in fiscal year 2010; (2) the extent to which STEM education programs have similar objectives, serve similar target groups, and provide similar types of services, and, if necessary, what opportunities exist to increase coordination; and (3) the extent to which STEM education programs measured effectiveness. To answer these questions, GAO reviewed relevant federal laws, regulations, and plans; surveyed federal STEM education programs; analyzed programs' STEM evaluations; and interviewed relevant federal officials. An electronic supplement--GAO-12-110SP--provides survey results. GAO recommends that as OSTP leads the government-wide STEM education strategic planning effort, it should work with agencies to better align their activities with a government-wide strategy, develop a plan for sustained coordination, identify programs for potential consolidation or elimination, and assist agencies in determining how to better evaluate their programs. OSTP provided technical comments that we incorporated as appropriate. OMB had no concerns with the report. Appended are: (1) Objectives, Scope, and Methodology; (2) List of STEM Education Programs with Fiscal Year 2010 Obligations; (3) Review of Evaluations; and (4) GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments. (Contains 5 tables, 8 figures and 44 footnotes.)