While Massachusetts has received accolades for its high scores on the National Assessment for Educational Progress (NAEP) and Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) tests, absolute results from standardized tests tend to correlate strongly with family income and parental education. The Massachusetts Consortium for Innovative Education…

The authors comment on Porter, McMaken, Hwang, and Yang's recent analysis of the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics by critiquing their measures of the focus of the standards and the absence of an assessment of coherence. The authors then consider whether the standards are an improvement over most state mathematics standards by discussing…

This special series focused on treatment integrity in the child mental health and education field is timely. The articles do a laudable job of reviewing (a) the current status of treatment integrity research and measurement, (b) existing conceptual models of treatment integrity, and (c) the limitations of prior research. Overall, this thoughtful…

Problems encountered during the implementation of a statewide educational accountability plan in Mississippi are typical of those reported in the literature. This article reviews the development of the plan, the direction of implementation process has taken, and proposals for the future. (PGD)

Assesses major findings and recommendations of the education commission reports and discusses issues and topics that they avoid. Argues that the inadequacies of the reports derive from the defective nature of the commission process itself. Also argues that even if the commission reports had never been issued, American schools would be on the mend.…

The concept of treatment integrity cuts across a diversity of fields involved with providing treatments or interventions to individuals. In medical treatments, the concept of "treatment compliance" or "treatment adherence" is an important and problematic issue. In the field of nutrition, the concept of "dietary adherence" is important for…

This paper presents and illustrates some principles for organizational development approaches to improving school climate. It discusses a specific structure for facilitating school improvement entitled Program Development Evaluation, and it illustrates the use of school climate assessments for school diagnosis and the evaluation of improvement…

Evaluation of large-scale programs is problematical because of inherent bias in assignment of treatment and control groups, resulting in serious regression artifacts even with the use of analysis of covariance designs. Nonuniformity of program implementation across sites and classrooms is also a problem. (Author/GSK)

This document contains resolution text adopted by the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) in July 1998 regarding Redesigning Low-Performing Schools. A Question & Answer section follows the resolution, addressing the following issues: (1) Union support for redesign or closure of low-performing schools; (2) Indicators of low-performing schools…

Examines the organizational implications of the recent education reform panels and commissions, including the question of expected linkage between reports and action at the local level. Looks at the commissions as ceremonies with deep symbolic meaning and the potential power to express, shape, reorganize, or create educational values. (RDN)

By 1992, all states had adopted the Governmental Accounting Standards Board's (GASB) Generally Accepted Accounting Practices (GAAP). However, not all governments had implemented them by that date. Points out the advantages and weaknesses of GAAP. Concludes that the uniformity in accounting rules give greater assurance that the information…

The growing demand for colleges and universities to be accountable to their publics and the recognition that assessment is of little value without a systematic planning effort have led many institutions to turn to the concept of Total Quality Management (TQM). This pamphlet discusses the process of adapting TQM to a typical community college, a…

This is a report from a task force formed by Howard Community College (Maryland) to examine existing and future markets. The task force also explored ways to use marketing strategies to attract potential customers to the college. The task force recommends that the college use its strengths to attract customers, such as its commitment to open…

This paper presents an agenda for worldwide change in medical education to meet current and future requirements of society. The first of four sections offers the central arguments for change in medical education noting global patterns in the search for better use of resources for health care, describing a profound shift underway in the present…

Climate and culture are inherent in the life of every organization, including schools. They are difficult to define and even more difficult to change, yet any reform effort must address them first if it is to succeed. This report helps school leaders understand these crucial factors and measure their influences on the school. It offers various…