Federally mandated standardized testing (i.e., in core subject areas and certain grade levels), as an element of educational accountability, began in 2002 with the No Child Left Behind Act. With that step, large-scale assessments came to serve as one of the foundations of accountability-based systems and policies not only for districts, schools…

A basic weakness of many national educational reports is that they focus on what is wrong with the education system and overlook how the schools can be improved. Research-based guidelines to be used in change efforts are offered. (DF)

Types of changes being recommended by various national educational reports were compared with actual changes reported in a national sample of high schools. Implications for staff developers are offered. (DF)

This document examines what has happened to career education since the 1981 repeal of the Career Education Incentive Act and where it appears to be going in the future. In his monograph "Trends in Career Education: Implications for the Future," Kenneth B. Hoyt examines past, present, and future trends in the field from the perspective of…

This document examines the state of regulated professions, as defined by Council of the European Communities Directive 92/51/EEC, in those Central and Eastern European countries that are candidates for admission into the European Union. The introduction discusses Council Directive 92/51/EEC, previous directives, and the national case studies on…

This document contains six studies that were commissioned for the National Assessment of Vocational Education. "Introduction" (Ann M. Milne) provides an overview of the reforms of the 1980s. "The Impact of Educational Reform on Vocational Education" (Marion Asche, Donald E. Elson, Ann Echols, Arthur Williams) examines primary…

This document reviews progress in vocational education and training (VET) reform in the candidate countries for accession to the European Union in light of developments in European policy on vocational training. The document consists of a cross-country overview and individual overviews of VET in 12 candidate countries: Bulgaria, the Czech…