Of the 24 statewide quality rating and improvement systems (QRIS), 21 include linkages to national program accreditation and 15 include accreditation status as an alternative pathway to quality at a specific level of a statewide QRIS. While there is general agreement that program accreditation status is a valid measure of overall quality, little…

Leadership gurus often put creating a "shared vision" at the top of their pyramid of what successful leaders do. These visions are best when they are an anchor or a North Star -- unwavering goals that the district works toward. Author Jon Saphier proposes this North Star for districts: Make every school an engine for continuous…

The report is about the effectiveness of the YoungStar system which provides consumers with a simple 5 Star rating system for the quality of early care and education (ECE) programs for children ages 0 to 5. It also explores what was learned from a recent research study of YoungStar, Wisconsin's child care quality rating and improvement system. The…

Drawing on the concepts of mediatisation and celebrification, this paper analyses how the Nobel Prize is used as a proxy of excellence by the 'Big Three' university rankers and top-ranked universities. Ranking advisories, university leadership at top-ranked institutions, and Nobel Prize adjudication committees are overwhelming from the same…

Alternative teacher preparation programs have triggered global debates. This study analysed 16 fellows of an alternative teacher preparation program who entered rural schools located in China--a high-stakes testing context--with a strong disposition toward quality-oriented education. Drawing on Bourdieu's sociology, we revealed four forms of…

The authors' recent research has revealed that most afterschool programs in Milwaukee County have received relatively low ratings, and that their biggest hurdle to improving their scores often involved the educational qualifications of program staff. In light of the potential consequences of that finding--which include the possibility that the…

An illuminating, in-depth look at competition in suburban high schools with growing numbers of Asian Americans, where white parents are determined to ensure that their children remain at the head of the class. The American suburb conjures an image of picturesque privilege: manicured lawns, quiet streets, and--most important to…

Higher education institutions are joining many other social entities in shifting how participants are evaluated; work is undergoing increasing analysis through metrics, big data analytics, and related methodologies. As applications of academic metrics expand, new formulations of what is considered as "excellence" in teaching and research…

At one end, we are grappling with quantity i.e. enrollment but on the other hand the most serious concern is quality and relevance of higher education imparted to student. In terms of quality, the biggest lacuna in the system of higher education is mismatch between the need of society and what the students are taught in classrooms. Our…

Hakeem, Emily, Jose, and Latisha are all entering preschool in the fall. Their mothers are looking for the highest quality early childhood program they can find. Is there a guide for them to find a five-star program? Are all certified or accredited programs of equal quality? How do these parents and guardians know what defines quality in early…

The Success By 6® (SB6) initiative is designed to support early care and education centers in improving and sustaining quality in Pennsylvania's Keystone STARS Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS). This SB6 evaluation report examines implementation and outcomes. The findings have implications for SB6 continous quality improvement process…

Mayor Cory A. Booker, a rising star in the Democratic Party nationally, has high hopes for the role education in general, and charters in particular, can play in efforts to revitalize this long-struggling city. He says that, eventually, he would like to see one-fourth of Newark's public school students attend high-performing charter schools. The…

This paper presents the results of a series of summary analyses of descriptive statistics concerning 5,720 Louisiana teachers who were assessed with the System for Teaching and Learning Assessment and Review (STAR)--a comprehensive on-the-job statewide teacher assessment system--during the second pilot year (1989-90). Data were collected by about…

Quality Rating System (QRS) initiatives define levels of quality based on research and then support providers with funding and technical assistance to increase their quality. Each program is assessed and given a number of "stars" to indicate to parents what level of quality the program has reached. In this article, the author describes…

This paper is, in one sense, a Sternberg review. It references 36 papers first authored by him and three co-authored or 42% of all the papers cited. Most of it deals with what should be viewed as goals of gifted education, very little of it with practical aspects of the process of identifying/selecting youth for specific programmes. The paper is…