Along with the rest of the education sector universities have been encouraged to develop strategies for educational improvement. The strategies that have emerged have been heavily influenced by the policies and priorities of the government and government agencies, such as the Quality Assurance Agency and the Higher Education Funding Council, and…

The emergence of Foundation Degree programmes in response to employer workforce development needs provides a rich environment for the study of undergraduate curriculum innovation in the context of cross-sector partnerships in post-compulsory education. This article presents the findings of a case study of foundation degree development by consortia…

The process of classroom observation is experienced by all, teaching in further, adult and higher education. This will either be as part of the organisation's quality assurance procedure, in-service staff completing teaching awards or the training of pre-service student teachers. Given its evaluative nature, it is a practice that generates strong…

Recent concern over the standard of social work practice, as evidenced by inquiries into child abuse cases, have led to something of a crisis in trust in the profession. As a result, there is now an emphasis on increasing practitioners' competency to practice in complex situations. Critical reflection is seen as key to achieving this increase in…

Accompanying awareness of the potential for lifelong learning to secure social inclusion and economic survival, e-learning has grown in significance and a fragile consensus about its purposes has emerged among stakeholders. The University for Industry (Ufi) and its e-learning arm, learndirect, have focused efforts especially (but not entirely)…

Analyzed 92 reports from the English Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED) to identify characteristics of educational provisions for children with language and communication difficulties and to explore inclusive education for these children. Also visited three schools to interview staff about OFSTED report features that contribute to good…

Reports on the first round of inspection by the Office for Standards in Education (England) of providers of postgraduate certificates in education (PGCE) for secondary school mathematics. Almost three-quarters of the providers evaluated in these 21 reports were judged to be good or better, but problems were found with the consistency of the OFSTED…

Evaluated a teacher training project in Israel for teaching Jewish culturally valued subjects focusing on the practicum activities of the first year. Many of the 16 student teachers displayed a significant measure of reflectivity, but their critical reflection was almost completely undeveloped. Results suggest that the key to developing reflective…

Explores what it would mean to "spread best practice" in educational measurement and considers lessons from the history of medicine and other scientific disciplines that are relevant to the development of educational theory and practice. Makes the case that these lessons point toward the use of less complex statistical tools and the collection and…

Studied the long-term benefits of preschool programs for young children living in poverty in the High/Scope Perry Preschool Study, which examined the lives of 123 African Americans randomly divided into a preschool treatment group and a no-preschool comparison group. Cost-benefit analyses of data on these students to age 27 show beneficial effects…

Discusses three interlocking areas associated with effectively and accurately conveying information about school performance to the public: (1) graphical display; (2) nonrandomly gathered data; and (3) statistical adjustment. Illustrates these points with historical data, including test results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress…

Identifies some challenges to evidence-based policy and practice and illustrates these challenges through the large-scale evaluation of a major curriculum development project. Offers several responses to these challenges, which include: (1) changes in educational goals; (2) different time lines; and (3) the variability of effect size in different…

Demonstrates the use of converging evidence in examining the effects of class size reduction on academic achievement. Estimates derived from three different types of evidence is mutually supportive in this instance, suggesting that the effect of class size reduction from 24 to 15 produces modest, but lasting, increases in academic achievement.…

Describes the early stages of development of the Campbell Collaboration Social, Psychological, Educational & Criminological Trials Register (C2-SPECTR) to help those preparing and maintaining systematic reviews of experiments in these fields. The register currently contains more than 10,000 records, including more than 300 references to existing…

Provides an outline of the framework for conducting a literature review based on experiences in reviewing the literature on the epidemiology of mentally disordered offenders. The approach covers the key areas of: (1) definition of the problem and criteria for inclusion and exclusion; (2) the search strategy; (3) criteria for the evaluation of…