In the seven years since former U.S. Secretary of Education William Bennett helped develop "virtual charter schools" that provide educational programs to charter school students via the Internet (Kafer, 2003), the number of these schools has rapidly increased. At least 90 (or around 3%) of the almost 3,000 charter schools in operation in…

The charter school movement is a lightning rod of controversy for many in the education community. The debate over these schools often appears to be driven by theory and ideology, with little information on how the reform itself is affecting students. Claims and counterclaims often leave parents, educators, and policymakers confused. This…

This paper takes on the question of whether and how school authorizers should be held accountable for their own performance. The author presents reasons why scrutiny and accountability are needed not only for schools but also for chartering agencies, identifies what types of accountability are present now, and offers ideas for ways accountability…

The Texas example illustrates the challenge faced by today's charter movement: how to meet growing demand while maintaining quality. Its considerable progress is sometimes obscured by headlines about the few schools at the top that generate enormous excitement and world-class achievement and the few at the bottom that use their autonomy for unwise…

This report describes the technical quality of a measure of the quality of classroom assignments piloted in the Los Angeles Unified School District's proposed new accountability system. The measure was developed by the Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing (CRESST). For the study, 181 teachers were sampled from 35…

Every Kentucky school is expected to achieve the goal of proficiency on the states Accountability Index by the year 2014. Many schools may not reach the proficiency goal in time without a broad, multifaceted approach to enhance educational outcomes. This study explored the possibility that expenditures for different purposes can become a policy…

The Council of Chief State School Officers worked with state departments of education to compile this summary document on the current status of state education accountability and state education indicator reports. The summary is designed to provide state-by-state information (all 50 states, the Department of Defense Dependants Schools, the Virgin…

This document presents three different views of accountability to address state needs as their departments of education design, improve, or review their state accountability and reporting systems. The first of three sections presents the system-design decision process as a linear sequence of ten steps from defining the purposes of the…

This report explores the Cleveland voucher program and its impact on Cleveland students, discussing the key questions that parents, the public, and policymakers are asking. It reviews how vouchers are funded, the actual cost of vouchers to taxpayers and the state, and what choices are really available to students whose families opt for vouchers.…

Maryland's 1988 Higher Education Reorganization Act established an accountability process that requires the governing boards of public colleges and universities to submit annual performance accountability reports to the Maryland Higher Education Commission. In 2001, the Commission approved major changes in the accountability process and…

This paper presents information from a project that examined what Japanese and U.S. teachers valued most about the culture of teaching and learning in each others' countries. Teachers participated in global partnership schools in which they had the opportunity to directly observe all facets of school operation in the other country. Data come from…

This booklet contains two statements from the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges (AGB). The "Statement on Institutional Governance" encourages all governing boards and chief executives to examine the clarity, coherence, and appropriateness of their institutions' governance structures, policies, and practices. It presents…

This paper examines the current status of standards and assessment in California, focusing on the system's successes and failures, and on how professors of educational administration can be involved and of assistance to administrators and teachers in this endeavor. At this time, the California accountability system and other mandated factors have…

This booklet outlines Mississippi's plan for raising student achievement. It discusses how Mississippi tried to avoid the problems that other states encountered when they tried to raise standards without strengthening core educational components, such as curriculum and teacher support. Mississippi called on hundreds of teachers to rewrite the…

This document reports on a research project held in 2005, which looked to see how performance indicators related to area needs. It shows the results of research across four Learning and Skills Council (LSC) areas, with contributions also from national stakeholders and other witnesses. Findings include: (1) Performance indicators are regarded as…