Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Standardized Predictive Testing: Practices, Policies, And Outcomes, Lisette Barton, Pamela Willson, Rae Langford, Barbara Schreiner

Administrative Issues Journal

The aims of this study were to describe current policy practice related to the use of the HESI™ Exit Exam in schools of nursing and to determine which policies result in higher HESI Exit Scores. Deans and directors of nursing schools that administered Elsevier HESI Exit Exam to students during the 2010 academic year were queried. Data were collected regarding students’ HESI Exit Exam results, national nursing licensure examination outcomes, and the schools’ standardized testing policies. A stratified random sample of schools and a total of 5438 student records were obtained, 3084 from Associate Degree (AD) and 2354 from Baccalaureate …

Editor's Note, Padraig O'Malley

New England Journal of Public Policy

On December 3, 2013, when the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) released its Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) scores, the ranking of the United States as number 27 on the global scoreboard elicited little surprise among teachers, educational professionals, academics, and educational policymakers. The usual platitudes were trotted out—no mention that the United States’ standing was getting any worse, just which other countries were passing us by. We were stuck at a perennial average.

The results are in a sense a metaphor of the slow decline of the United State since the 1970s from a position of …

Together For Tomorrow: Improving Title I Education Through Intersectoral And Governmental Collaboration, Thomas A. Bryer

Journal of Public Management & Social Policy

The Obama administration created the Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships and related Centers throughout federal agencies. Their aim is to help cultivate relationships between the interfaith community and government in communities around the United States. One such effort, Together for Tomorrow, seeks to facilitate partnerships to strategically deploy volunteers to lift up schools and students in low-income communities. The partnership involves federal offices, national service through AmeriCorps VISTA, local government agencies, nonprofit organizations, and faith organizations—a “multi-flavored wedding cake.” This article reports on the theoretical and observed enactment of the first-in-the-nation pilot project of Together for Tomorrow, suggests lessons, …

Vying For Scholars, Jeff Wuorio

Colby Magazine

As students, parents and alumni watch college costs creep upward, the sound they make slapping their foreheads is often followed by a question: "Why so much?" Or "How has it come to this?" Jeff Wuorio '79 is a business and finance writer who returned to Colby this fall to try to answer those questions. In short, he found that competition among colleges has raised the quality of programs and services; the increased quality of programs and services has raised students' expectations; students' expectations have increased competition among colleges; and around again. Wuorio, who writes for Money, Worth and The New …