Current Developments in Community College Performance Funding

Since the initiation of performance funding in Tennessee in the late 1970s, approximately 30 states have, at some point, attempted a funding model that includes performance on a set of indicators. The purpose of the present study was to capture the current status of performance funding in public statewide community college systems and to assess which performance indicators were collected at the state level. Data were obtained through the 2012 Survey of Finance and Access Issues conducted by the Education Policy Center at the University of Alabama. The survey was administered to the National Council of State Directors of Community Colleges, and 50 responses were obtained from 49 states. Not every survey respondent answered each survey item. Findings showed that 19 states used performance funding for community colleges, with six of those states allocating at least 10% of state funds based on performance. An analysis of indicators captured at the state level (not exclusively for performance funding) showed a decline of emphasis on process indicators and greater emphasis on outputs. The performance-based distribution of base funding and the inclusion of output measures that capture intermediate indicators of success are consistent with the principles of Performance Funding 2.0, a new form of performance funding recently discussed in the literature. Future research should include tracking the current findings over time and expanding the existing literature on whether performance funding influences outcomes.     

Including children with special educational needs in mainstream classrooms: implications for pedagogy from a systematic review

This paper reports on the outcomes of the first in a series of three systematic literature reviews in inclusive education. The aims include establishing what research has been undertaken in the area of effective pedagogical approaches to enable children with special educational needs to be included in mainstream classrooms, synthesising themes in a purposive sample of the literature and examining how this research might inform practice. One outcome of this first literature review was an overview of the various ways that teachers are effectively including children with special educational needs. In this paper, using the literature, we share some of the characteristics of the teaching approaches that have been shown to lead to positive outcomes in the areas of academic attainment, social involvement and improved behaviour. We discuss how these approaches, particularly those involving peer group interactions, might be used by teachers to support all learners.     

Students' and teachers' explanations of chemical equilibrium

Specializations: cognitive processes in science learning and teaching.     

The Tower in Red and Yellow: Using Children's Drawings in Formative Research for Alum Simsim, an Educational Television Series for Egyptian Children

Formative Research is an integral part of the development of Sesame Workshop's productions worldwide. It is used to bring children into the television production process and give producers insights into what children like and learn from material as it is being produced. Using examples from a study of six test segments of the television series Alam Simsim, the Egyptian Sesame Street, this paper illustrates how one non-conventional research method-systematic analysis of children's artwork-can be used, in conjunction with other research tools, to gain supplemental feedback from children during formative research of educational television.     

Take home tests: An experimental study

The take home test was compared with the conventional closed and open book tests at the college level. It was found that scores on knowledge items were significantly higher with the take home test, and that additional time spent looking up answers was important. An additional factor was the level of anxiety, perceived by students to be less with the take home test. Rampant cheating does not appear to be a problem with take home tests.     

Building Connections between Industry and University: Implementing an Internship Program at a Regional University

Using an established university level internship program, this article discusses the issues of socialization and acculturation of interns into the workplace, motivation of student employees, and the relationships between education and training/workplace and academy. Evaluations by students and their supervisors reveal the significance of these issues for positive experiential learning.