The debate over linking teacher pay to student test scores that ignited on Capitol Hill recently underscores the growing momentum--and continued controversy--behind tying what teachers earn to what students learn. Both the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers came out swinging against language in a draft bill for…

Warns that the leverage made possible through widespread use of vouchers and performance contracting can make education a less certain product that will have exercised its influence beyond the point of recall for a generation of students. (JF)

Discusses teacher associations' objections to education voucher systems and performance contracts. (JF)

Resume of several articles that have been written about performance contracts. Articles discuss its history, various facets of performance contracting, favorable positions on it, reasons for opposing it and measurement problems connected with it. (RB)

This book examines the process of change in American public education, focusing in particular on various experiments in performance contracting that were conducted between 1969 and 1973. Chapter 1 briefly reviews the process of change in education and describes the performance contracting concept and the ways its advocates expected it to overcome…

This document focuses on improving the writing and execution of learning contracts at Empire State College. Emphasis is placed on student purposes and background, organization of learning contracts, continuity and incrementability, diversity and variety, unity and intensiveness, compatibility with the discipline, time requirements, bibliography…

A Danish university's foreign language teacher education program's use of learning contracts is described. The student project has four major functions: solving a particular instructional problem, working in a group, finding a method that uses the individuals' skills to their best advantage, and organizing the work to be done. (MSE)

The General Accounting Office (GAO) evaluated the Office of Economic Opportunity's (OEO) performance contracting experiment because of its potential impact in education. Performance contracting has been defined as an agreement between a local education agency, such as a public school, and a private educational firm, known as a learning system…

This book examines in detail the experiment in educational performance contracting conducted by the United States Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO) during the 1970-71 school year. Major objectives of the OEO project were to find out whether a private educational firm could teach educationally disadvantaged children to read and write better than…

This paper describes the historical development of performance contracting, discusses the first performance contracting experiment, cites reactions to performance contracting, and supplies supportive data. The contents are designed to assist the New York State Board of Regents to determine policy for the State Education Department and the New York…

This document explicates what is involved in educational performance contracting. Four basic types of contracts can be used to procure goods and services: fixed and performance contracts for resources and fixed and performance contracts for results. The basic considerations in choice of type are risk, relative technologies, management skills…

Describes a multifaceted intervention program for high-risk nursing students, indicating that it provides reading guides, active learning techniques, and master tutors. Discusses outcomes from the first year of implementation, highlighting positive results for the master tutors, learning contracts, and reading guides. Reviews future program…

After discussing the controversies surrounding attempts at "external" performance contracting--agreements negotiated between local educational authorities and private educational firms--this document describes five "local" programs--agreements negotiated between a local educational authority and its own teachers--involving nine school districts.…