For more than 30 years, NCEE has made it a priority to identify and learn from the highest performing school systems in the United States and around the world to uncover valuable lessons and insights for education systems aiming to boost their performance and student outcomes. The Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) serves children of…

This paper explores the use, functions and constitutive effects of evaluation systems in local school governance, and identifies how contextual factors affect various uses of evaluation in this context. This case study of three Swedish municipalities demonstrates that local evaluation systems are set up to effectively sustain local school…

The idea that schools can impact positively on student outcomes is a crucial driver in the rise of interest in school improvement research and practice. This review focuses on school self-evaluation for school improvement. School self-evaluation can be a fundamental force in achieving school improvement and this review establishes what the key…

This article focuses on the use of a value-added approach for promoting school improvement. It presents yearly value-added estimates, analyses their stability over time, and discusses the contribution of this methodological approach for promoting school improvement programmes in the Portuguese system of evaluation. The value-added model is applied…

Assessing student attainment in the major field of study is increasingly important to employers and accrediting bodies alike. Construction and manufacturing firms do not like engineers who design faulty bridges and airplanes. Marketing firms want to hire students who understand the difference between a niche market and a global market. School…

This study outlines and demonstrates a methodology for identifying effective schools using a random sample of student data generated by the operation of a school district's Instructional Accomplishment Information (IAI) system. (IAI systems are designed to provide school districts with information for reviewing and planning their instructional…

This paper discusses performance evaluation and the introduction of incentives into education in Latin America from an analytical and methodological perspective. The aim is to describe ongoing strategies and learn from practical experiences in this field. The cases analyzed reveal that school-level evaluations and collective incentives adapt…

Presents a comprehensive model for assessing the institutional effectiveness of academic programs and illustrates, through a case study, strategies for managing the difficulties inherent within this process. Models the system designed for West Point's Academic Program and describes how the model was implemented into an academic environment.…

Compares the policies of inspection in Finland and England where the former promotes school self-evaluation and the latter utilizes the Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED). Finds that OFSTED inspections affect teacher morale and focus on policies and procedures; in Finland, inspections lack a whole-school strategy but encourage changes in…

A review of school effectiveness literature is presented in this paper. Research studies and other literature on this topic are examined, including case studies, surveys and evaluations, studies of program implementations, and organizational theories of schools and other institutions. Emphasis is given to organizational theories and findings…

British schools measure effectiveness by using performance indicators such as Standards Assessment Tasks, the General Certificate of Secondary Education, A-level results, and truancy rates. Suggests using alternative measures based on TQM concepts. Describes how two secondary schools used three years of client-satisfaction data to build a…

Separate formal evaluations were conducted of the following alternative schools in the Seattle Public Schools system: Nova, Orca, Summit K-12, Alternative School 1 (AS1), Alternative Elementary School II (AES II), and Alternative Elementary School III (AES III). These six documents, combined here as one item, describe the distinctive…

This document presents the results of an evaluation of the usefulness to 14 participating schools of Connecticut's School Effectiveness Program, which focuses on the achievement performance of low-income students. The following are the evaluation's major findings, based on interviews, questionnaires, case studies, test data, and archival data: (1)…

The 14 papers in this volume address planning and administration of higher education within an international context. Papers are grouped into general studies, regional studies, and national and institutional studies. Included papers are: (1) "Management of Global and Educational Change: Challenges for Higher Education and Graduate…

Discusses culturally defined school success, using the case study of a videotape prepared by six Hispanic American and African-American students in an alternative New York City high school. Despite the project's pragmatic success, teachers judged the discussion task a failure. Bases of the prevailing view of success are discussed. (SLD)