This report was prepared to provide information on school evaluation practices to the education community and the general public. It is intended to assist individuals in selecting school evaluation models that assess the dimensions and components of a school that are considered most relevant and most related to school improvement. Work on the…

Previous research has not statistically analyzed the teacher and classroom structural characteristics related to the quality of Head Start. This study developed, tested, and validated a model to identify the characteristics and beliefs of Head Start teachers and teacher aides and the classroom structural dimensions associated with Head Start…

This book reports on the outcomes of an international policy-research project concerned with how power is used in education to construct and discharge obligations among stakeholders. The collection of articles suggests how such processes might better serve educational ends. The research examines how the politics of education at the site and…

This paper examines whether graduate record examination (GRE) scores are a legitimate assessment tool for measuring institutional accountability and effectiveness that is, how well its graduates will do after having attended the institution for four or more years. Following a discussion of the various pros and cons of using the GRE as an…

This report summarizes a study that analyzed the inclusion of students with disabilities in the accountability systems of 48 state education accountability reports and that of Washington, D.C. Extreme variability was found to exist in the reporting practices across states and there was little information on students with disabilities. Eleven…

This report discusses the findings of a study that analyzed 115 public reports from state accountability offices and state special education offices to investigate how students with disabilities are doing academically and nonacademically. A framework developed by the National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO) was used to organize results.…

This report discusses the performance of students with disabilities on the Kentucky Instructional Results Information System (KIRIS) on-demand assessments. These assessments, which consist of constructed response or essay-like questions over the period of 1992-93 through 1995-96, are part of the regular KIRIS assessment, which also includes…

Each year, Johnson County Community College (JCCC, Kansas) conducts follow-up studies of students who completed a JCCC career program during the previous academic year. This report summarizes findings, based on both graduates' and their employers' satisfaction with JCCC, for the follow-up study of the class of 1996-97. Out of a list of 573…

Impressed with the vital importance of an effective public education system to the future of the Commonwealth, a group of involved business activists formed the Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education (MBAE) in 1988. The purpose of the MBAE was to help bring about systematic improvement of Massachusetts' elementary and secondary education…

Findings of a study that examined the situation in which minority students in an advanced arts and sciences high school program received low or failing grades are presented in this paper. Students who had been good students in their home schools received low or failing grades in the mathematics and science program at the Center for the Arts and…

This booklet presents information on how total quality management can be applied to school systems to create educational improvement. Total quality management offers education a systemic approach and a new set of assessment tools. Chapter 1 provides a definition and historical overview of total quality management. Chapter 2 views the school…

Lack of educational progress of Hispanics and other language minority students has very important implications for special education as these students are very likely to be referred for special services. Language minority students are overrepresented in programs for the learning disabled, and, with the exception of Asian students, are…

This paper reports on research that was designed to produce a limited number of assessment standards judged by experts as the most important standards in the practice of quality assessment in undergraduate higher education. The study collected the opinions of a group of national assessment experts and employed a modification of the Delphi…

Findings from a study that sought to determine the degree to which effective schools are uniformly effective for all students regardless of socioeconomic status (SES) are presented in this paper. Data were derived from a large nationally representative set of 989 schools that were involved in the National Education Longitudinal Study (NELS) of…

This study focuses on school report cards as an accountability tool, and on how their use interacts with one of the most persistent problems facing the public education system, i.e., the continuing underachievement of minority students. The paper looks specifically at the issues concerning the desirability of reporting student performance by race…