Today's accountability systems place the blame on schools for inadequate student academic achievement, which seems unfair to many people. They believe that family background and the socioeconomic mix of students in the classroom exert such a strong influence on student learning that teachers and schools can have only a limited effect. Important…

For over fifty years, speaker after speaker ? university presidents, business leaders, Presidents of the United States ? have praised our system of higher education as the finest in the world,but even as we bask in the afterglow of past achievements a starker reality is emerging on the horizon. For the first time in decades the United States no…

This guidance provides States with detailed information about how best to use and implement alternate achievement standards. The development of alternate achievement standards for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities and their use for making adequate yearly progress (AYP) decisions is authorized under a Department regulation…

In creating this report the Task Force gathered information by conducting site visits; communicating with numerous individuals, including victims; reviewing the Department of Defense survey data; reviewing Academy and Service policies, reports, and data; consulting with subject matter experts; and communicating with related committees and task…

This report is the seventh analysis of state reports conducted by the National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO) to examine the extent to which states publicly report information about students with disabilities in statewide assessments. Descriptions of statewide testing systems are presented and examined as to whether these systems included…

The state-administered grant program authorized under the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (AEFLA), enacted as Title II of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) of 1998, is the major source of federal support for adult basic and literacy education programs. The purpose of the grant is to provide educational opportunities to adults sixteen and…

In 1996, the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) began implementing a new school accountability policy designed to improve student performance by providing a combination of consequences and support to low-performing schools. The center point of the accountability system, the Chicago school probation policy, designates schools as being on probation if…

Dealing with flexibility--or its converse, the extent of standardization--is fundamental to alignment, assessment design, and interpretation of results in fully inclusive assessment systems. Highly standardized tests make it easier to compare (performances, students, and schools) across time and to common standards because certain conditions are…

The purpose of this briefing paper is to review common approaches to performance evaluation in accountability systems, in order to recommend a workable approach for California Community colleges, as the system seeks to meet the requirements of district-level accountability required by AB 1417. The recommendations within this paper capture commonly…

Recently, the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) revised its standards for annual gifts and campaigns. The purpose was to erase ambiguities, establish tighter definitions for certain types of gifts, and ensure greater clarity about best management practices. In addition, the effort created a reliable database of campaign…

When individuals or groups join together to work toward a common goal, a partnership is formed. Successfully reaching the goal requires mutual cooperation and a sharing of responsibilities. While carried out in different ways, the principles used to satisfy personal and business partnerships are much the same. Parents are the child's first and…

State accountability systems and the federal No Child Left Behind Act have put additional demands on schools and teachers to improve teacher quality and improve student achievement. Many researchers (e.g., Cohen, 1996; Corcoran & Goertz, 1995; Floden, 1997; Newman, King, & Rigdon, 1997) have argued that such improvements will require a…

The promise charter schools hold for public school innovation and reform lies in an unprecedented combination of freedom and accountability. Underwritten with public funds but run independently, charter schools are free from a range of state laws and district policies stipulating what and how they teach, where they can spend their money, and who…

The Secretary of Education's Commission on the Future of Higher Education asks colleges and universities to become more accountable to the public, more accessible to students from the broad spectrum of society, more proactive in responding to international competition, and more purposeful in reducing their costs. This report is the latest in a…

The National Research Center on Learning Disabilities produced this guide to assist state education agencies in working through the many issues associated with developing specific learning disability (SLD) identification policies and procedures. An introductory section describes current understanding of the issues surrounding SLD identification,…