The movement to strengthen the nation's workforce by redefining what all students need to learn has profound implications for the design of state assessment systems. The confluence of events--the change in the national and international climate, acknowledgment of long-standing inequities in education opportunity and achievement, and the…

Discusses the redesign of educational systems and presents a designing matrix to help select boundaries of a new system. A conceptual framework for exploring educational system boundaries is described, systems models are discussed, and the three cells of the matrix are explained. (LRW)

Provides guidelines for systemic change in education. Presents an overview of the change process. Discusses preparing for change; building a core team to lead the design effort; transforming vision into system design; shifting focus from planning to implementation; and implementation, summative evaluation, and closure. (AEF)