Although Public Law 94-142 (Education for All Handicapped Children Act) raised public awareness of the civil rights of the handicapped, the policy problems that it was intended to solve included more than civil rights issues. In particular, the law did not provide for modifications of its policies in improving public education opportunities for…

The third in a series, this report provides a brief look at the recent history of the education reform movements in 10 states. The report begins with an essay by William Chance, former executive director of the Washington State Temporary Committee on Educational Policies, Structure and Management. In an article entitled "Changing the Terms of…

This handbook was designed to assist advisory councils, program staff and administrators, and community members in planning community education programs and in managing those programs effectively. Chapter I defines and describes planning: what it is, why it is used, and how to engage in the process. The critical role of planning leaders is…

The Illinois Board of Higher Education appointed a committee to review health professions education programs in Illinois and directed the committee to assess the educational needs in the health professions and the extent to which Illinois higher education is supplying qualified professionals to meet those needs. The committee also reviewed…

This is the third SERVE publication about charter school issues. It focuses on implementation concerns confronting policymakers and state-education agencies, with particular emphasis on charter-related issues and recommendations for policymakers. The text focuses on strategies for drafting charter school legislation, issues that affect…

This guidebook is intended for use by charter school planning groups as they prepare their applications to create a charter school in Colorado. It is also intended to guide charter school groups that have already implemented a program. It covers essential components of the charter school application and includes examples from existing charters.…

Federal education policy should: (1) define objectives and targets of its activities more precisely; (2) define minimal conditions of organizational performance; (3) distinguish among sources of variability in state-local program implementation; and (4) specify the relationship between strategy and structure. (CJ)

The Netherlands' new basic school (bringing together kindergarten and primary schools) was implemented in the mid-1980s to increase individualized instruction and curriculum differentiation for young children. This article summarizes a study mapping the new program's implementation by principals and teachers, and identifies three response patterns…

Policy initiatives from Kentucky to California are espousing curriculum based on NCTM-backed core concepts that students understand through induction rather than memorization, teaching based on guided mastery rather than didactic instruction, and assessment that is open-ended rather than machine-scorable. This article highlights obstacles to…

Analyzes significant phenomena observed while developing and implementing Hong Kong's school-based management policy. Findings from an evaluation of 12 schools revealed that major SBM program components (teacher and parent participation, systematic planning and reporting of school activities, and flexible resource use) can contribute to school…

Evaluation studies of the Dutch Educational Priority Policy (OVB) conducted up to 1993 show that inside the Educational Priority Areas the OVB is being implemented better and achievement has improved more than outside these areas. Results are based on data from 600 schools involving 10,000 students in each year of measurement. (SLD)

Policymakers are placing tremendous faith in assessment, a technology with many limitations. Assessment-driven improvement policy uses mandatory testing to leverage desired change, but it narrows the curriculum, punishes teachers for things beyond their control, expands bureaucracy, and does not work. Alternative strategies for school leaders are…

The costly National Grid for Learning initiative embodies the fast-growing influence of both market and technological forces in UK education. An initial study reveals that the NGFL does not represent a radical shift toward business-dominated educational policy-making, but reflects New Labour's "healthy pragmatism" toward policy…

This paper describes an EU-funded project under the Training and Mobility of Researchers (TMR) Programme, with a particular emphasis on the Oxford-based part. Involving six European universities, the overarching investigation was concerned with the tensions between standardization and tradition in education. In Oxford the focus was on aspects of…

There is no shortage of opinions about what the schools are doing right--and where they fall short. One interesting portal into public opinion comes from the annual Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup Poll of the Public's Attitudes Toward the Public Schools. Released each fall, this poll has proven to be an important gauge of where the public stands on timely…