For years California has been a leader in public education. In 1999, the state implemented some of the strongest content standards in the country through its main accountability metric, the Academic Performance Index (API). The state has also signed onto the Common Core State Standards, taking important steps to ensure its students are college-…

In a 2012 paper for the Center for American Progress, "The State of Evaluation Reform," Patrick McGuinn (Drew University) identified the opportunities and challenges facing education agencies in Race to the Top (RTTT) grant-winning states as they prepared for the implementation of new teacher evaluation systems. The 2012 study undertook…

State policymakers are increasingly focused on closing the achievement gap and preparing all students to succeed in school and life. However, college and career readiness begins long before students enter high school or even a classroom. Differences in children's abilities appear as early as the first year of life, and research has shown that…

Data-based decision making has been the mantra of the school reform movement since the late 1980s, but California does not yet have an effective system for collecting and using vital school information. California has taken a number of steps to address this shortcoming. These include the Public School Accountability Act of 1999 and Senate bills…

An automated management information system was developed for planning and scheduling unit training in a U.S. Army infantry division. The primary goal of the project was to test the feasibility of the concept for a computer-based management information system. Specific objectives were to integrate information on personnel, training, and logistics…

The purpose of this project was to develop a comprehensive system for recording enrollment and accomplishment information about Adult Basic Education (ABE) students for use in preparing state and federal reports. Project goals were: (1) to develop a systematic program of individualized instruments and procedures for functional data gathering on…

This hearing, which is the first of a series of hearings on the 1990 decennial census, focuses on automation activities, pretest preparations, and proposed residency rules. Gene L. Dodaro, associate director of the General Accounting Office, calls on the committee to use special purpose tests to adequately evaluate the following: (1) potential of…

Most administrators agree that school improvement and change are needed. Disagreement among administrators arises over how the improvements should be made. Total Quality Management (TQM) is a powerful tool in bringing about change and should be considered as an effective alternative in improvement efforts. The TQM approach is designed to address…

The Board on International Comparative Studies in Education monitors U.S. participation in cross-national comparative studies in education and provides advice to sponsoring agencies. This document results from the Board's consideration of studies that would enrich plans for international studies. What the Board believes to be the value of…

Highlights lessons learned by a national organization, the Council of Chief State School Officers, in building an education indicator system in cooperation with federal and state education agencies. Issues emphasized are (1) the role of consensus; (2) production of indicators through a cooperative data system; and (3) reporting methods. (SLD)

Recommendations for deriving and using student ratings of college teachers are presented. General recommendations for teacher evaluation include: (1) using multiple sources of data about a faculty member; (2) using student ratings as one aspect; and (3) determining the purpose of the ratings before they are collected. Ten specific recommendations…

Some steps to identify an initial set of indicators and to develop alternative indicator systems are outlined for educational evaluation and illustrated through the example of a National Science Foundation (NSF) study of mathematics and science education. The first step is to conceptualize potential indicators to specify a comprehensive monitoring…

The Educational Quality Indicators (EQI) initiative was a collaboration between Alberta Education (Alberta, Canada) and 12 school jurisdictions to develop and implement indicator systems to measure the success of the educational enterprise. Ten concurrent collaborative projects were conducted between 1989 and 1992 to develop indicator systems for…

This is a report evaluating the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS), which is designed to track federal student financial aid (Title IV) programs and provide research and support functions such as prescreening of aid applicants for eligibility and enrollment status. The report finds that the Department of Education has made only limited…