Many studies point to potential unintended consequences of accountability systems such as when schools narrow their teaching to fixate on tested subjects. As a result, some states and districts in the USA have complemented the federal test-based accountability system with additional measures of educational practices to hold schools accountable on…

In 2005, all 50 state governors made an unprecedented commitment to voluntarily implement a common, more reliable formula for calculating their states' high school graduation rates by signing the National Governors Association (NGA) Graduation Counts Compact. Four years later, progress is steady. Twenty states now report that they use the Compact…

Implementation of the curriculum-centered, standards-based federally mandated reform, No Child Left Behind, has placed pressure on teachers, particularly those working in schools comprised of highly diverse and impoverished students, to have their students attain predetermined levels on high stakes, standardized tests. When schools have not met…

Since its initiation in 2003, the College Student Western China Program has had several satisfying achievements. At the same time, however, problems exist in the project. This article gives a brief analysis of problems encountered in the project from the aspects of publicity and campaign work, plans and schedules, student participation, voluntary…

Purpose: This paper aims to outline the current status of the implementation of sustainability practices in the context of Italian public universities, highlighting the strengths and gaps. Design/methodology/approach: Based on a qualitative approach, an exploratory study design has been outlined using the model of Glavic and Lukman (2007) focusing…

The purpose of this case study is as follows: (1) to identify change within a single school, (2) to record and to categorize this change, and (3) to analyze this change within the targeted school, over a year, after implementation of a non-collaborative SIP through the perceptions of the instructional staff. This study explained how the Louisiana…

To what extent school improvement processes can be initiated and sustained from the outside has been a relevant question for policy-makers seeking to increase quality in education. Since 2008, the Chilean Government is strongly promoting the use of external technical support (ETS) services to support school improvement processes, as part of the…

In 1985, Washington State Legislature passed a law mandating that each Washington school conduct a self-study by 1990-91 and every seven years thereafter. The intent is to enhance education through school improvement. This manual illustrates a model self-study process and provides a "tool kit" of implementation aids. The first section…

The Chapter 1 Program Improvement Project of the Portland (Oregon) Public Schools was designed to provide technical assistance to schools in order to facilitate program change and improve student achievement. The project was a joint effort by the Technical Assistance Center of the Northwest Regional Educational Center and the Portland District…

This document is the fourth volume in a set of five Career Education Measurement Handbooks intended to help local education personnel in measurement and evaluation. Divided into thirteen units, this handbook is designed to show how evaluation can help improve the accountability of career education programs. Each unit is written to stand alone, and…

These days, Response to Intervention (RTI) is everywhere, and there are lots of claims about what RTI is and how to do it. At last, here's a book that helps you cut through the quackery and ensure that your approach to RTI represents the very best of what is known about assessment, instruction, and intervention. Author Margaret Searle provides you…

This document on state-level planning for education in Texas by the Texas Education Agency consists of two papers. The first focuses on the long-range plan of the State Board of Education for Texas public school education. The paper summarizes this plan, describes the process by which it was developed, and analyzes the status of its implementation…

The Institutional Self-Assessment Measure (ISAM) is presented, which was designed to aid local agency program managers and staff members in planning and improving implementation of competency-based education (CBE) programs. It is a structured tool to be used with the support of a trained ISAM facilitator to enhance communication among staff…

A growing body of evidence confirms what makes sense intuitively--quality matters for participation in after school programs. Nationwide, a chief concern among after school stakeholders is programming for middle schoolers--too "old" to be told what to do after school and too "young" to be left home alone. A national dialogue about the state of…

A project was conducted (1) to obtain an operational definition of vocational guidance as it is practiced in Indiana's secondary schools, (2) to establish a model vocational guidance program as defined by panels of Hoosier practitioners, and (3) to develop an objective, self-administered instrument designed to assess movement toward the model…