To ensure that school districts and schools meet acceptable performance levels, many school districts and states have enacted various accountability policies. Two of the most controversial approaches to accountability are reconstitutions of schools and state takeovers of school districts and schools. For each approach, this policy brief presents…

This collection of papers describes the process of creating a standards-based teacher education program through strong collaboration among arts and science, education, and P-12 faculty members and administrators. The Standards-based Teacher Education Project (STEP) was designed to help teacher education programs ensure that their graduates know…

This teacher's guide and student guide unit contains supplemental readings, activities, and methods adapted for secondary students who have disabilities and other students with diverse learning needs. The materials differ from standard textbooks and workbooks in several ways: simplified text; smaller units of study; reduced vocabulary level;…

This issue focuses on how special education fits into standards-based reform and contains the following featured articles: (1) A New Vision for Special Education Accountability (Martha L. Thurlow and Jane L. Krentz) charts the change in special education accountability as it moves from the old focus on Individualized Education Program teams; (2)…

Except for school construction, there is no legislation to guide implementation of the programs and reforms ordered by the New Jersey Supreme Court in the landmark "Abbott v. Burke" case. Instead, in its 1998 "Abbott V decision," the Supreme Court directed the Commissioner of Education to provide standards and procedures to…

This report offers a comprehensive account of Thomas B. Fordham Foundation's sponsorship policies and practices, including a history of its sponsorship efforts, as well as individual profiles of all Fordham-sponsored schools in Ohio. Included in the profiles are in-depth descriptions of each school's educational program, school philosophy, and…

The purpose of the NMSBA technical report is to provide users and other interested parties with a general overview of and technical characteristics of the 2006 NMSBA. The 2006 technical report contains the following information: (1) Test development; (2) Scoring procedures; (3) Calibration, scaling, and equating procedures; (4) Standard setting;…

This study investigated the experiences and behavior of eight African American students participating in an experimental Arabic second language course in an inner city middle school. Data were drawn from student and teacher journals and two videotaped class sessions, one in an early stage and one in a late stage of the two-semester course.…

This guide provides information about the U.S. Department of Education's latest initiatives, updates specific programs for schools and teachers, and lists services and resources. The introductory section provides information on the Department's seven priorities as outlined in President Clinton's fifth State of the Union Address, on President…

In 2000, the National Education Goals Panel examined the conditions that help ensure school success, conducting a series of four field hearings nationwide to find evidence of success and to understand why schools were succeeding. Participants at the hearings included students, teachers, parents, principals, superintendents, university presidents,…

This book examines the realities of educational change from the perspective of reform-minded teachers, focusing on how the professional work of teachers mediates the translation of the new educational orthodoxy into sustained and enhanced levels of student learning. The book charts the perceptions and experiences of 29 teachers in grades 7 and 8…

State leaders are using complex accountability systems, composed of standards, assessments, public reporting, rewards, and sanctions, to raise student, school, and district achievement. The public strongly supports making academic standards more challenging, despite a lack of consensus on content and outcomes. Some states may revise standards…

This report presents findings on a series of surveys conducted from 1998 through 2002. The findings: (1) Parents, teachers, and students believe that setting standards and enforcing them promotes learning; (2) standards and promotion policies have changed in recent years, and attitudes about local schools have improved; (3) the majority of parents…

This paper looks at how the necessary technology skills have changed over time and how those changes affect the ways in which technology skills are taught and assessed. It reviews how educators' views of technological fluency are shaped by both the "pull" of technology--increasing technical power and applications that affect what workers…

In 1997, a skills task force began a 2-year process of gathering input from English employers and post-16 education and training practitioners and formulating a national skills agenda. The agenda's goals included instilling a culture of lifelong learning in the United Kingdom, better anticipating the evolving skill requirements of employment, and…