Group items tagged

The paste of India and the paper industry has been protected by government policy for over three decades. Controls on the production, distribution and prices hampered growth industry substantially. During the paper shortage in the 1970s and later in the year 1980 the government has actively supported the company in the paper industry in providing financial incentives of technocrats and entrepreneurs through financial institutions.

Commissioned to support the development of the National Education Technology Plan, A Retrospective on Twenty Years of Education Technology Policy provides an overview and analysis of key education technology policy reports issued since the landmark 1983 release of A Nation at Risk.

This article describes elements of an approach to research and development called design-based implementation research. The approach represents an expansion of design research, which typically focuses on classrooms, to include development and testing of innovations that foster alignment and coordination of supports for improving teaching and learning. As in policy research, implementation is a key focus of theoretical development and analysis. What distinguishes this approach from both traditional design research and policy research is the presence of four key elements: (a) a focus on persistent problems of practice from multiple stakeholders' perspectives; (b) a commitment to iterative, collaborative design; (c) a concern with developing theory related to both classroom learning and implementation through systematic inquiry; and (d) a concern with developing capacity for sustaining change in systems.

CPRE unites five of the nation's top research institutions in an effort to improve student learning through research on education reform, policy, and finance.

Independent Advocate for Public Education

An archive of scholarly articles on education policy from the Teachers College at Arizona State University.

PDF report on performance of foster youth in K-12 education in California. Long (116 pages). From the PND description of the report... California public school students in foster care tend to underperform their peers on standardized tests and comprise a distinct at-risk subgroup, a study by the Center for the Future of Teaching and Learning at WestEd finds. Based on an analysis of statewide data from the 2009-10 school year, the report, The Invisible Achievement Gap, Part 1 (116 pages, PDF), found that only 29 percent of California foster care students in grades 2 through 11 scored at "proficient" or "advanced" levels on the state standards test in English, compared with 40 percent of students of low socioeconomic status and 53 percent of all students in the state. Similar achievement gaps were found in mathematics, with 37 percent of foster care students in grades 2 through 7 testing at "proficient" or above, compared with 50 percent among low-SES students and 60 percent statewide; and between 12 and 13 percent testing at proficient or above in high school Algebra I and II, well below the 23 percent and 32 percent among low-SES students and statewide. Youth in foster care, who have the lowest rates of participation in California's statewide testing program, also are more likely to be African American, to be classified with a disability, to change schools during the academic year, and to be enrolled in the lowest-performing schools. Funded by the Stuart Foundation, the report also found that students in foster care have a single-year dropout rate of 8 percent - nearly three times the statewide rate of 3 percent and well above the 3 percent to 5 percent rate among other at-risk groups. In 2009-10, students in foster care also had the lowest high school graduation rate among at-risk groups, 58 percent, compared with 79 percent of low-SES students and 84 percent of all students in the state. "These findings help all of us understand that we have a long way to go

Meet the extraordinary activist educator and author notably known for his stand against the use of nuclear weapons, Lawrence Wittner. He has written a total of nine books, co-authored and edited four, and published over 250 articles. Once he was ostracized in the academe for being outspoken about issues that are rather controversial. "Rhetoric repeated often enough inhibits a policy reversal". To read more about Lawrence Wittner visit www.thextraordinary.org

What is the governance? Governance is a key issue of public policy and at all levels. It appears in the center of political discourse, both in definition...

From the Economic Policy Institute

PDF report from the Center for College Affordability and Productivity. Goes into significant detail on the various "ways," many of which are institutional or policy level actions.

RAND's research on pre-K, K-12, and higher education covers issues such as assessment and accountability, choice-based and standards-based school reform, vocational training, and the value of arts education and policy in sustaining communities and promoting a well-rounded community.

Online communities depend upon the commitment and voluntary participation of their members. Community design - site navigation, community structure and features, and organizational policies - is critical in this regard. Community design affects how people can interact, the information they receive about one another and the community, and how they can participate in community activities. We argue that the constraints and opportunities inherent in online community design influence how people become attached to the community and whether they are willing to expend effort on its behalf. We examine two theories of group attachment and link these theories with design decisions for online communities. Common identity theory makes predictions about the causes and consequences of people's attachment to the group as a whole. Common bond theory makes predictions about the causes and consequences of people's attachment to individual group members. We review causes of common identity and common bond, and show how they result in different kinds of attachment and group outcomes. We then show how design decisions, such as those focused on recruiting newcomers versus retaining existing members, constraining or promoting off-topic discussion, and limiting group size or allowing uncontrolled growth, can lead to common identity or interpersonal bonds among community members, and consequently to different levels and forms of community participation by those so motivated.

Although this article is not directly related to education policy, I think it provides an important look at the youth culture many students in DC schools experience.

Research report from ACT Research & Policy with a primary finding of, "...students entering college with dual credit are more likely to be successful in college than those who do not...."