General outcome measurement, a specific type of formative evaluation, can be used to assess progress toward long-term academic goals. Curriculum-based measurement is a widely used type of general outcome measurement. When used to develop local norms, curriculum-based measurement data are helpful in making individual student and systems-level…

The purpose of this article was to identify how differing cultural factors affect informal learning in the workplace. We have introduced concepts and reviewed studies on informal learning and national culture based on an extensive literature review on the factors influencing informal learning, particularly based on five Hofstede's dimensions…

In this paper we argue that the socialist kindergarten in Hungary (1948-1989) was set up to aid the modernizing of a nation in a particular way and in a historical and political context in which the only way forward was to leave behind aspects of the past and start a new chapter in Hungarian history. Comparing this project to the…

The purpose of this study was to examine the connections between national culture and student achievement. Using Hofstede's six cultural dimensions and the two dimensions from the World Values survey, we conducted multiple regressions to determine the most significant predictors of student achievement as measured by the 2009 Program for…

The relationships between national personality traits and intelligence from 51 countries were examined. It was found that extraversion, openness to experience and agreeableness measured at the national level were significantly and positively correlated with national IQs; however, in the regression model only the former two were marginally…

Normative data for 8-15 year olds for the Standard Progressive Matrices in Saudi Arabia were obtained in 1977 and 2010. The 2010 sample obtained higher average scores than the 1977 sample by 0.78d, equivalent to 11.7 IQ points. This represents a gain of 3.55 IQ points a decade over the 33 year period. (Contains 1 table.)

The paper undertook a snapshot of the demand for various academic programmes on the labour market and compared this with national policy norms for enrolment in public universities in Ghana. The objective was to ascertain whether national higher education enrolments are responsive to the national policy target of 60:40 (Sciences : Humanities) or…

When "Academic Questions" editor Peter Wood asked the author to give some thought to the dispute between the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) and the Association of Literary Scholars, Critics, and Writers (ALSCW), he thought he should say no. Well, what did the CFR report prepared by an independent task force chaired by Joel I. Klein, former…

For the past decade, Finland has been lauded for consistently being a top performer on international assessments of student achievement. Having spent 25 years in the Ministry of Education, and then another 8 as director general of the National Board of Education, the author was heartened by these accomplishment--but he is also concerned about how…

Economic literacy is vital for functioning effectively in today's society. Consumers need to manage their finances, investors need to plan for their future, and voters need to choose among competing economic plans. As students move on to college or enter the workforce, their understanding of the economy will help them become financially…

Research indicates that approximately 70% of college students engage in some form of cheating (Austin, Simpson, & Reynen, 2005; Bowers, 1964; Leming; 1978; McCabe & Trevino, 1993, 1996; McCabe, Trevino, & Butterfield, 2001a). College students overwhelmingly agree that cheating is morally wrong; yet, their actions are not reflective of this belief…

Our current capacity to understand or provide a context for interpreting the size of an effect in education program evaluation is limited. To address the problem, this study proposes a time-indexed effect size metric (d') to estimate how long it would take for an "untreated" control group to reach the treatment group outcome in terms familiar to…

Since traditional principal preparation programs were scrutinized for inadequately training 21st century principals, alternative principal programs were designed to prepare principals to improve the US educational system and student achievement. One particular innovative program, the Daly Leadership Program, was collaboratively developed between…

Through a synthesis of test publisher norms and national longitudinal datasets, this study provides new national norms of academic growth in K-12 reading and math that can be used to reinterpret conventional effect sizes in time units. We propose d' a time-indexed effect size metric to estimate how long it would take for an "untreated" control…

On assessments such as Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) (Stigler & Hiebert, 1999) and Program for International Assessment (PISA) ("PISA 2006 Science Competencies for Tomorrow's World", 2007) students in the United States have not been performing as well in mathematics as students in other countries. In order for the…