California's continuous-improvement accountability system in which all elements are aligned and work together for the purpose of promoting and improving student learning is presented. The state's comprehensive, standards-based system rests on five key components: (1) student learning and achievement are at the heart of education; (2) standards are…

Despite their progress, most schools in Kansas' Quality Performance Accreditation (QPA) System fall short of the philosophy and practice envisioned by QPA. What has been accomplished and what remains to be done in QPA is detailed in this two-volume report. It was found that teachers working together were at the center of improvement. Schools where…

The charter-school movement is a diverse and confusing collection of values, motives, beliefs, and assumptions. To help ease the confusion surrounding charter schools, an outline of the general purposes of the charter-school movement and the values behind these purposes are presented in this booklet. The intent is to provide a structure for…

This guide summarizes research conducted at Colorado's Poudre School District (PSD) to develop guidelines for the desired performance outcomes from employing sustainable educational facility design, and it suggests approaches for attaining them. The guide also provides case studies and references to further investigate opportunities on specific…

This document describes the Virginia Community College System (VCCS) Core Indicators for the Perkins III Core Performance Standards and Measures. Core indicators and measures include: (1) student attainment, measured by academic and technical skills; (2) completion, measured by graduation rate; (3) placement and persistence, measured by placement,…

The document describes San Antonio College's (Texas) strategic goals and objectives for 2000-2001. San Antonio College's comprehensive planning and evaluation process monitors the achievement of college-wide goals and initiatives supporting the college's Vision and Mission Statement and the Alamo Community College District's Strategic Plan. The…

The Institutional Report Card of Corning Community College (CCC) (New York) presents data on traditional indicators of effectiveness common to many institutions, such as graduation, success, and employment rates, as well as student satisfaction. It also includes results of the State University of New York's (SUNY) Student Opinion Survey and…

A study was conducted to determine whether the characteristics of an applicant's school or college can be used in an assessment of his or her potential in higher education. To reduce the complexity of the analysis of school performance effects, the study was restricted to 18-year-old college entrants A-level qualifications to degree courses in…

This study continued the evaluation of the Collaborative Coaching and Learning (CCL) initiative in Effective Practice (EP) Schools in the Boston Public Schools, Massachusetts by examining the practices and outcomes of the second year. First year data led evaluators to conclude that the CCL model was basically sound and that it showed promise for…

This report discusses the pilot phase of the implementation of Collaborative Coaching and Learning (CCL) in the Effective Practice schools of the Boston Public Schools. The report begins with a review of the challenges that content/literacy, whole-school change, and mathematics coaches encountered in the pilot implementation, including those of…

This presentation reports on three waves of reform efforts for school effectiveness and improvement in Hong Kong, and analyzes related challenges and issues with the hope of drawing international implications for ongoing research and reform efforts in different parts of the world. These three waves represent paradigm shifts and different…

This study was conducted to measure value added school effects in a Northwest urban public school district using a two-level hierarchical model. The model consisted of two student-level variables (prior achievement and eligibility for federal free or reduced-price lunch) and three school variables (percentage of students eligible for free or…

This report reviews data generated during the first 3 years of California's Class Size Reduction (CSR) implementation. It focuses on a subpopulation of students who have had anywhere from zero to 3 years of reduced class-size experience, beginning in the first, second, or third grades, with some having returned to large classes in the fourth…

The Texas Successful Schools Study examined the educational practices, school characteristics, and educator characteristics that contributed to the success of seven high-performing elementary schools with high proportions of limited-English-proficient (LEP) and economically disadvantaged students. This technical manual further elaborates the…

Among the most challenging and complicated issues facing individual charter schools is the matter of accountability. It is difficult to know how a charter school is actually performing, mainly because much of the desired data about the school do not exist. This guide aims to overcome the lack of good accountability information by presenting a…