Accountability mechanisms and processes have evolved with changes in statute. State Education Agency (SEA) accountability systems may exhibit characteristics of compliance- and/or improvement-focused systems in light of requirements under the "Elementary and Secondary Education Act" (ESEA) and its reauthorizations under the…

What does it take to transform a large, bureaucratic institution with a fractured culture and a compliance orientation into a nurturing, collaborative, vision-directed organization? In 2017, the California Department of Education's Expanded Learning Division (after-school and summer programs) took a radically different approach by cultivating the…

Principals and teachers do not use large-scale assessment results because the lack of distinct and reliable subtests prevents identifying strengths and weaknesses of students and instruction, the results arrive too late to be used, and principals and teachers need assistance to use the results to improve instruction so as to improve student…

With new Common Core State Standards assessments in K12 mathematics due to be in use by the start of the 2014-2015 school year, many district administrators and teachers do not know what they should know about them now and are not taking steps they should be taking to prepare for them. While they are aware that the assessments are being developed,…

Over the past five years, California State University, Bakersfield (CSUB) recruited 39 Noyce Scholars for STEM teacher preparation in high-needs schools. As of April 1, 2014, the program has saved approximate $150,000 of NSF funding for this grant. In this summative report, program effectiveness has been examined in three aspects, "Noyce…

Since 1988, considerable state and school/district energies have been devoted to implementing Re:Learning in Pennsylvania. This paper describes the experiences of Cycle I project directors who implemented Re:Learning in late 1988 or early 1989. Re:Learning is a national effort to redesign the total school system, based on Theodore Sizer's (1984)…

This paper describes how implementation of four key aspects of the No Child Left Behind Act can move schools closer to raising achievement for all students. These four aspects--accountability and testing, flexible use of federal resources, school choice, and quality teachers and quality teaching--can allow schools and districts to realize the…

This report presents a model state legislative bill to provide for the special needs of gifted and talented students. The model bill utilizes a "best practices" framework and attempts to be fiscally responsible and provide maximum flexibility while meeting the needs of gifted and talented students. The model legislation itself begins with a…

This report is a comprehensive statement of the vital role education service centers perform in implementing educational reform in Texas. Regional education service centers participate as service agencies in the planning, development, coordination, implementation, and evaluation of educational programs within the 20 regions of Texas. This report…

An attempt to identify methods of human resource management that emerge as schools and classrooms become more effective, this literature review emphasizes the importance of administrator "support functions," which include feedback to teachers, monitoring of teacher and student performance, incentives for teachers, and visible commitment…

This paper explores the dynamics of managing collective problem solving and decision making, and the application of tools and strategies to deal with the emergent complexity of systems in which educators work. Schools and educational programs are complex adaptive systems that respond to changes in internal and external environments. Functioning…

This book describes a practicum project that developed instruments and procedures to aid staff members of the California State Department of Education in monitoring multiple educational programs. The instruments and procedures developed were used by staff members to analyze applicable federal and state regulations and evaluate program quality for…

Six papers prepared within the Office of Career Education during the period 1975-76 are contained in this monograph. The papers are presented in their order of preparation, each intended to make some contribution to refinement of the career education concept. "Career Education: A Crusade for Change" discusses the need for, nature of, and…

Findings of the one-year evaluation of Massachusetts Title III, Elementary and Secondary Education Act innovative projects covering the period from July, 1975 through June, 1976 are outlined in this summary. The formative stages of evaluation are viewed from two perspectives: project strategy designs and project directors' change processes. The…

School reform efforts today have a personal focus that emphasizes attending to the problems faced by individual at-risk students. After outlining the impact of student dropouts, this document uses information from a review of 150 at-risk student programs described in related professional literature to describe six basic weaknesses in current…