This study explores the attitudes and perspectives of school administrators and other stakeholders on the school improvement planning process. A convenience sampling technique was employed with a sample of 15 schools and 91 respondents. The findings of the study indicated four principal factors, involvement, accountability, plan implementation and…

This article provides postsecondary leaders with a way to quickly develop a more thorough understanding of higher education accountability. It describes the complexity of the broader higher education accountability environment and then maps the seven accountability silos: assessment, accreditation, institutional research, institutional…

The paper examines the process of establishing a teacher evaluation system in Chile and its acceptance by teachers over time. The conceptual base upon which the system was established is described. Evidence is also examined from a variety of data sources and research related to the evaluation system as well as teachers' use of its results. This…

Encouraging partnerships between parents of children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and educational practitioners is a key theme in educational policy in England. However, there are unanswered questions regarding whether parents and teachers are mutually responsible for developing and maintaining these partnerships, as well…

As this anniversary issue of "Change" goes to press, Congress should be considering reauthorization of the Higher Education Act. It was up for renewal in 2014. But meaningful action before the November 2018 elections seems unlikely. What was once routine housekeeping with broad bipartisan support has in the past 15 years become another…

One of the greatest challenges supervisors face is developing and retaining their staff. Site supervisors are in a continuous struggle to develop and train new employees on the fundamental skills--managing groups, dealing with disruptive behavior, and so on--that youth workers need before they can successfully implement learning activities. One…

European institutions of higher education have increasingly sought to improve the accountability and transparency of teaching and research with formal procedures and performance criteria. In a longitudinal analysis conducted in faculties of social sciences and economics at universities in the Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom, we examined…

Teachers in England are under pressure to maximise their pupils' examination results, both to improve pupils' life chances and to ensure their school performs well on government accountability measures. This article reports the findings of an anonymous, online, voluntary survey of 548 teachers from secondary schools and colleges. The survey asked…

This article begins by thinking about the process of accreditation in general and examining whether it is a transactional or value-added activity. The overall systems of U.S accreditation and National Association for Developmental Education (NADE) accreditation are reviewed.

While we have known about the benefits of project-based learning for decades, it has been difficult to maintain momentum in learning how to do it well, especially as the policy context in education turned toward high-stakes accountability measures in the early 2000s. Currently, many schools across the country are incorporating project-based…

An independent watchdog agency, the Office of Inspector General (OIG), from the U.S. Department of Education, is charged with ferreting out waste and abuse of taxpayer dollars in both K-12 and postsecondary education. OIG's official mission is to "promote the efficiency, effectiveness, and integrity of the [Education] Department's programs…

The authors examine the functions of literacy in three accountability-driven English language arts classrooms. To explore the interplay between transmission-oriented, standards-based instruction and local interpretations and uses of literacy, they employed Pennycook's (2010) notion of relocalization. The authors examine how accountability…

Progressives have long understood that access to a quality education is the one factor that consistently and permanently changes the trajectory of a life. As such, creating a strong public school system has been at the epicenter of our decades-long struggle to promote equal rights and equal opportunity for all. For many of America's families of…

To improve academic accountability and graduation rates of student-athletes among its member institutions, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) designed and implemented the Academic Progress Rate (APR) and the Division I Head Coaches Academic Progress Rate Portfolio (HCAPRP). The NCAA believed that the direct influence of the head…

The purpose of this report is to profile a selection of emerging approaches to judging quality in higher education that represent a range of stakeholder interests and perspectives. This report is divided into three sections. "Quality Assurance at a Crossroads" highlights perceived challenges for the U.S. accreditation system in a…