As part of the Atlanta Public School System, the Downtown Learning Center (DLC) uses personalized learning contracts to thwart potential dropouts and classroom troublemakers. Voluntary admission, screening by a student/staff committee, and parental approval precede the general agreement which details school attendance and work commitments. In…

This document provides the necessary instructions and forms for submission of a rapid learning center performance contract proposal as part of a 4-year dropout prevention program. Contract performance proposals are to embody mathematics and/or reading, and to involve students enrolled in grades 7-12 who are two or more grade levels deficient in…

Accountability as a concept refers to little more than "common sense" management wherein outcomes of various programs and practices are measured, and this information is used as feedback for making appropriate changes and recording progress. The core of the Kalamazoo accountability model is the development of a management information…

This looseleaf publication updates an earlier report. Some of the pages contain new laws enacted since the first report was completed. The report provides tables showing the status of accountability legislation as of the fall of 1972 and texts of the actual bills or laws in a State-by-State format. The facets of accountability that the laws cover…

Contract learning is an invaluable tool in organizational learning and management development. A contract can incorporate teacher-directed learning (TDL) and self-directed learning (SDL), as appropriate. Substantial research has revealed the power of SDL; the trick is to harness this learning for the benefit of the organization. The literature on…

An annotated list of 38 resources is provided to help administrators, faculty developers, and faculty in designing effective renewal interventions for senior faculty. Topics include research on senior faculty, personnel policies (tenure, growth contracting), program strategies (mentoring, team teaching, motivation), and assessment of institutional…

In the University of California (Davis) Program in College Teaching, graduate teaching assistants develop and fulfill contractual agreements for faculty-guided investigations into their disciplines, with supporting individualized activities about practices and issues of college teaching. Aspects of the program's development and effectiveness are…

This study, with 4 parent-child dyads in which the children (ages 9 to 11) exhibited substantial homework problems, found that goal setting and contingency contracting produced significant improvements in children's homework accuracy. Two of the subjects showed substantial improvements in on-task behavior. Parents rated the procedures highly.…

In this article, the author describes how Cato-Meridian, a 450-student rural high school in the New York State, successfully implemented a new cocurricular eligibility policy that integrated after-school activities with student academic accountability. The program created data that drove decisions about student life and student-teacher interaction…

A performance curriculum communicates with students, teachers, administrators, counselors, and taxpayers. Its heart is a series of statements which explain in observable terms what the teacher will accept as evidence that what is to be learned has been learned. Such statements allow: true teacher-pupil understanding; individually diagnosed and…

In regard to the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA), the National Commission for Employment Policy: supports the states' current ability to establish and operate programs that best meet their needs; believes the role of the private sector in developing, operating, or overseeing job training efforts should not be reduced; and strongly supports…

This manual provides information needed by persons supervising students serving in professional internships as part of the Vocational Education Studies Program at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. Internships consist of real-world experiences in education, training support, and management occupations, such as curriculum developer,…

The Northern Kentucky University Bachelor of Science in Applied Sociology and Anthropology (ASAN), which is described in this report, involves a strong liberal arts background combined with a thorough preparation in social science research skills. ASAN students take introductory and basic methods courses in sociology and anthropology, applied…

Legal issues relevant to experiential learning are identified to help program administrators know when to seek expert assistance and advice. Much of the law of experiential learning is based on specific statutory provisions and decisions. The student involved in experiential learning may assume certain learning outcomes very different from those…

The Master of Arts programs in Human Development and Education at Saint Mary's College (Minnesota) arose in response to a need felt by many involved in the helping professions for a nontraditional approach to graduate education. The program is designed to develop competence in understanding one's own growth as well as that of others with whom the…