Explains how the North Central Region's Commission on Institutions of Higher Education certifies quality and encourages improvement. Traces the evolution of the commission's emphasis on assessment, highlighting its "Statement on Assessment and Student Academic Achievement," the essential elements and implementation of an assessment…

In 1988, Indiana adopted a system of performance-based accreditation for its public schools. This article summarizes a study to describe the program's planning and implementation processes, evaluate program effects, and determine whether relationships exist among successful school improvement and planning and three elements identified in the…

This article examines why pupils' perspectives should be considered in development of residential school services and explains how pupils' perspectives can be accessed. Findings from a study of two British residential schools for boys with emotional and behavioral disorders found that the elements of schooling most valued by students were respite,…

Explores 194 principals' role perceptions, expressed in guided interviews conducted by educational-administration graduate students. Principals described planning procedures as collaborative and said priorities were shaped by school or student results on objective success indicators. Ensuring school safety, good teaching, and effective community…

Schools attempting to transform themselves by adopting desirable characteristics generally fail because they have skipped a long, difficult self-discovery process involved in becoming effective schools. Leadership may be as simple as knowing oneself, envisioning alternative realities, being persistent, and building everyday relationships. (MLH)

Distinguishes between the different 'themes' of educational reform in developing countries over the past 30 years: (1) planning/management and efficiency reforms; (2) quality reforms; and (3) curricular reforms. Discusses planning/management and efficiency reforms and quality reforms in detail. Provides references. (CMK)

Explored the beliefs of parents, teachers, and administrators regarding characteristics of effective elementary schools. Data from searches of journal articles, textbooks, and online materials indicated that though there was much variability in effective school characteristics, many effective school indicators were consistent across the three…

A study conducted in an Illinois metropolitan school district explored four dimensions of school-based management implementation: school leadership, school climate, student achievement, and community involvement. Survey data from 176 teachers, 42 parents, and 6 administrators revealed that length of program involvement positively influenced…

Describes the experience of administrators, teachers, and students in the first two years of Silver Oak Elementary School, a new school with technology-rich classrooms in San Jose, California. Highlights technology planning, problems resulting from technology use, parent involvement, teacher technology training, district envy, and teachers…

Assesses the "value added" by schools to the academic progress of students aged four to seven years. Finds that gender, socioeconomic background, English-as-a-Second-Language, and school composition affect student achievement. Notes that raw, as opposed to value-added, results can give misleading impressions of a school's effectiveness.…

Argues that in debates about the value of preschool in the United Kingdom, there has been no clear distinction between the appropriateness of different education and care settings for young children's learning and the effectiveness of different curriculum models. Examines findings on curriculum content and features of teaching and learning.…

Nationally, rural students in grade 8 outperformed their nonrural counterparts on the mathematics section of the 1996 National Assessment of Education Progress. Fourteen states had significant rural-urban differences in mathematics achievement, but seven favored rural students and seven favored nonrural students. This pattern was related to six…

Using data from the National Education Longitudinal Study, the achievement growth of students in magnet schools, Catholic schools, and secular private schools was compared to that of students in public comprehensive schools during the first two years of high school. Some advantages of magnet schools and Catholic schools are discussed. (SLD)

Reviews 1980-95 empirical literature on the relationship between the principal's role and school effectiveness. Examines conceptual underpinnings of several theoretical models to study the role, the relationship between models and investigation methods, and the nature of principals' influence. Principal leadership and school goals indirectly…

Studied the relative effectiveness and efficiency of private and public schools in Chile, which instituted a national voucher plan in 1980 using national achievement figures and financial data. Nonreligious voucher schools are marginally less effective than public schools in predicting academic achievement in fourth grade; Catholic voucher schools…