Auditing, accountability, and transparency are concepts that greatly impact the working conditions of today's public sector professionals, including teachers. Documentation requirements have been on the increase for some time, which can be seen in the education sector's Individual Development Plans (IDPs), for example. These IDPs are pedagogical…

The Board of Education's mission is to equitably educate the whole child so that every student graduates with the tools to reach their full potential (Houston Independent School District (HISD), 2019). To succeed in their mission, the board participates in Lone Star Governance, whose intent is to provide a continuous improvement model for…

Since 1995, all Swedish compulsory schools have had a legal obligation to establish individual educational plans (IEPs) for pupils with special educational needs. However, previous research shows that there are a number of issues associated with how these plans are used in schools' overall work and identifies a discrepancy between educational…

The reporting policies across Australia are critiqued. In the Australian Capital Territory, the reporting is carried out against the goals and priorities identified in the Individual Learning Plan. Reporting in the Northern Territory is facilitated by providing a reference for communicating the level of student achievement through a standardised…

The demands for accountability in education have led to an increase in high-stakes testing practices in public schools. Accountability can be seen at the high school level in the use of exit examinations (hereafter "exit exams") that students must pass to receive a diploma and graduate from high school. One of the most challenging issues…

In response to the rising demand for market-responsive education reform across the U.S., since 1998 more than twenty states have created Individual Learning or Graduation Plan (ILP/IGP) state policies. Using extensive policy document analyses and stakeholder interview data from four early-adopting ILP/IGP states, the goal of this four-state case…

With the pressure of No Child Left Behind and state-ordered accountability initiatives building, local educators' angst with the challenges of documenting improvement on the part of special education students, as a function of their performance on high stakes content assessments, continues to grow. One major tool used to identify academic needs…

This study determined school-level curricular, assessment, and accountability policies and practices in private and public day treatment and residential schools for elementary-age children with emotional or behavioral disorders (E/BD). A national random sample of 271 (56.45%) principals and 229 (47.70%) teachers responded to a mail survey. No…

The goal of Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is no longer simply to make services available to young children with disabilities and their families, but also to ensure that those services lead to enhanced outcomes for participating children and families. To that end, IDEA 2004 requires states to submit State Performance Plans…

States and school districts receive funding through ESEA, IDEA, and national school meals programs. Some requirements for these programs are intended to help ensure program integrity and transparency, among other purposes, but questions have been raised about whether some federal requirements place an undue burden on states and school districts.…

Achieving positive postschool outcomes continues to be a challenge for many students. These challenges are compounded for students with disabilities, even years after the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (1990; IDEA) required systematic transition planning. In this era of accountability through high-stakes testing, schools and families…

The purpose of this study was to examine the alternative routes to passing the high school exit exam that were available during the school year 2008-09 to students to earn a standard high school diploma. The authors examined alternative routes in the 26 states with active or soon to be active exit exams. They documented the alternative routes…

This document presents a five-step process for schools, districts, and states to use in monitoring accommodations for instruction and assessment. This document was designed to be a companion to the "Council of Chief State School Officers' Accommodations Manual: How to Select, Administer, and Evaluate Use of Accommodations for Instruction and…

Special education service delivery is often the source of disputes between parents and districts and an issue in special education class-action lawsuits. Despite these controversies, there has been little large-scale research on the delivery of services. This study represents a large-scale assessment of the delivery of special education services…

The second of two articles on individualized education programs (IEPs) reports on a study of the relationship between IEPs and student achievement. The study found agreement among policy makers, administrators, and educators that IEPs serve an accountability function, improve teaching, and enhance learning. However, different groups emphasized…