Presents case studies of four exemplary schools as they worked to meet the demands of the Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA) and the assessment system, the Kentucky Instructional Results Information System. Finds that the ways schools met the challenges were unique to each site, but outlines aspect common to teachers in all four sites. (SLD)

This book documents classroom practices and considers the implementation and consequences of the Kentucky Education Reform (KERA) Act through case studies, comparisons to other models, and responses from national experts. The chapters are: (1) "Kentucky Lesson: How High Stakes School Accountability Undermines a Performance-Based Curriculum…

A randomized survey of Kentucky college and university faculty showed they were more familiar with the Kentucky Education Reform Act's goals than with assessment or accountability issues. Most support restructuring goals but do not believe that KERA-educated students will be better prepared to enter their institutions than formerly. KERA has not…

The Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA) of 1990 was adopted after the Kentucky Supreme Court declared the state's system of schools unconstitutional. The purpose of this study was to identify the sources of information about KERA and to describe community attitudes toward KERA in rural Kentucky school districts during the first few months the law…

This research summary says school-based management increases political activity in schools, but is time-consuming; many teachers evade SBM; less actively participating parents risk co-option by educators; and schools will not commit necessary resources. Academic achievement is not necessarily improved, and organizational implementation obstacles…

A survey of 127 rural Kentucky school councils found that more parent members than teacher members held positive views about their school-council performance, and more teacher members than principals had such opinions. Members indicated main benefits to the school from council performance and main problems faced by school councils. Contains 22…

This report describes the attitudes of parents, the general public, school principals, and teachers across Kentucky about the implementation of school reforms based on the Kentucky Education Reform Act of 1990 (KERA). Data were gathered from random telephone surveys in the eight geographic regions of the state for each targeted audience based on…

This report describes what schools and educators across Kentucky are doing to implement school reform in performance assessment based on the Kentucky Education Reform Act of 1990 (KERA). It provides research-based suggestions about how implementation of programs can be enhanced and how the benefits of reform increased for the Kentucky youth.…

This study surveyed educators in 30 school districts in Eastern Kentucky to examine the extent to which a grassroots movement toward inclusive schooling is developing, as well as teacher attitudes toward the Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA) of 1990. Of the 3,393 questionnaires distributed, 651 were returned from 65 (of 178) schools. Generally…

Describes the origins, development, and significant characteristics of the Kentucky Education Reform Act of 1990. Discusses the importance of outcome-based assessment in the program and presents eight "valued outcomes" that will be assessed in social studies. (CFR)

This paper places Kentucky's accountability program in the national context, and then describes how educators in four rural Kentucky school districts reacted to the program in the initial years of its implementation. The information is drawn from a qualitative study of the implementation of the Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA) in these four…

These three reports by national consultants assess first year progress in implementing state mandated educational reforms in Kentucky. First, "The Status of Primary School Reform in Kentucky and Its Implications," by James Rath, Lilian Katz, and John Fanning, reports on site visits to 14 public schools to assess progress in implementing…

This empirical study was conducted to explore both the influence of assessment on teachers' classroom practice during an assessment driven educational reform, and the principle underlying assessment driven instruction, i.e., "what you test is what you get." Factors targeted at the level of assessment were performance-based or objective…

In order to examine trends in educational reform in Kentucky, two studies of student portfolio evaluations as perceived by Kentucky teachers were described and compared. Under the Kentucky Educational Reform Act, student portfolios can serve as a basis for official evaluation of school performance. The first study, conducted in the fall and spring…

In response to a need expressed by Kentucky teachers for curriculum guides as a very important priority that should be addressed to improve instruction and learning as part of the Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA), the study reported here was undertaken. The study investigated the extent to which the state documents and guidelines had been…