Very little of the professional development literature identifies its costs. Many say good professional development is expensive, but what is meant by expensive, and if so, expensive relative to what? This article shows that effective professional development is not expensive relative to overall spending and that its key elements and their costs…

Explains what educational indicators are and what indicator systems accomplish. Summarizes major educational indicator initiative. Focuses on indicator strategies in California. Discusses several key issues related to indicator development and use. Outlines alternative strategies for making sense of educational indicators. (JS)