Evidence from the Boston Renaissance Charter School suggests that the Edison Project is struggling fitfully to learn school management. Reliance on suspension and physical restraints demonstrates Edison Project's lack of experience with inner-city children. Test scores are up, but faculty are warring over school mission, teachers are struggling to…

Discussed the State of Colorado's introduction of performance contracting into its relationships with community mental health centers. Describes the nature of the contract and its implementation. Particular emphasis is placed on the implications of the contract for program evaluation. (Author)

A guidance instructional program at Mentor High School in Ohio relies greatly on free time as the primary motivator of low achievers. (Author/MLF)

A cooperative project, involving Empire State College and other institutions within the State University of New York, is described that introduces faculties and administrators at traditional campuses to the nontraditional modes and methodologies of instruction at Empire State. Participants' evaluation of the project are provided. (MLW)

Evaluates the UK government's performance-management initiative for teachers. This measure, which aims to modernize the teaching profession, raise standards, and provide financial rewards for individuals, teams, and whole-school performance, has been soundly criticized. However, the initiative is flawed, as it neglects some important school…

During the first 10 years of reforms, New Zealand schools had two kinds of inspections: assurance (compliance) audits and effectiveness reviews to measure academic performance and contributing factors. In 1998, accountability reviews were introduced to judge whether schools were satisfying their charter (contract) objectives. The program is…

This manual on faculty growth contracting as done at Gordon College (Massachusetts) is divided into three sections. The first is a progress report on the college's efforts in growth contracts. It discusses the principles of the contracting, difficulties of implementation, unanswered questions (impact on teaching effectivenees, what to do when…

The program of faculty development by growth contracting at Gordon College, Massachusetts, is described and evaluated, and a faculty development manual is presented. Under the growth contracting program, each participating faculty member writes a faculty profile that contains an assessment of strengths and weaknesses, a statement of current…

A planning model to improve performance in generating positive terminations of Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) participants is described. Sponsors can improve performance by selecting participants with particular characteristics and altering types of services. This approach is useful for any social services which result in…

In order to encourage instructors interested in collaborative classroom approaches, the College of Continuing Education at the University of Rhode Island sponsored a series of workshops and informal discussions. A telephone survey of faculty was undertaken to learn the ways they were using collaborative approaches in their courses. (MLW)

The evaluated project is an approach to the individualization of instruction in reading and mathematics in the junior high school. Among the instructional approaches used were diagnostic/prescriptive teaching, games and simulations, as well as traditional teaching procedures. Project goals included raising student achievement, improving attitudes,…

Within broad guidelines provided by the Community College of Vermont (CCV), associate degree students write their own individualized, competence-based contracts. Development of the contract includes both assessment of prior learning, and planning for sponsored learning: These are integrated through a "degree development sequence" which includes a…

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.…

This report describes Learning Unlimited, an alternative education program at North Central High School in Washington Township, Indianapolis, Indiana, as a model upon which other alternative education programs might be based. The program was established to keep potential high school dropouts in school, and to provide a new kind of educational…

Today contract education is generally thought of as a program or course for which an employer is paying the full cost of instruction for customized training. Contract education can help faculty remain current, encourage industry to make equipment available to the college that might otherwise be too expensive, and provide employment opportunities…