Speculates about how opportunity-to-learn (OTL) standards might be defined and used at federal and state levels and, in the process, to better understand why OTL standards have become so controversial. The author discusses OTL within the context of The Goals 2000: Educate America Act and how the standards might be used and what they should…

Five criteria for judging college or university performance indicators (PIs) used to guide strategic decision making are outlined. The criteria address: purpose; alignment of PIs throughout the organization or system; alignment of PIs across inputs, processes, and outcomes; capacity to accommodate a variety of evaluation methods; and utility in…

Examines the role of the states in evaluating career colleges, indicating that state oversight is a response to demands for accountability related to student achievement and the use of financial aid. Suggests that the overall result of state monitoring may be a forced convergence of career and community colleges. (17 citations) (MAB)

Reported the regrets of intellectually gifted subjects to determine if the nature of their regrets mirrored those reported by the general population. Analysis of survey responses of subjects (mean age=74) revealed that, like the population as a whole, they harbored more regrets of inaction than regrets of action. (RJM)

Includes three articles: the first presents rules and regulations from the "Federal Register" that focus on educational effectiveness in postsecondary institutions; the second discusses the appropriateness of various research methodologies for assessment and accountability of reference services; and the third examines data collection…

Discusses the current state of Canadian high schools. Examines the goal of competitiveness as a national policy and the debate over the purposes of education. Explores (1) a greater emphasis on basic subjects; (2) the use of performance indicators; (3) the demand for accountability; and (4) dropout rates. Argues that an economic agenda for…

True educational restructuring requires a vision of learning, examples of visionary school-level restructuring, and a coordinated plan at the local, state, and national levels for inviting and helping schools accept choice, responsibility, and accountability. One strategy calls for site-based flexibility and development of educational innovation…

Four responses and a rebuttal are presented to EC 603 716, focusing on "protections" from the state for individuals with mental retardation, the vulnerability of individuals with mental retardation, the need to take individual abilities into account, and the unusual uncertainty in determining the justice of the verdict imposing the death penalty.…

Ensuring the integrity of the intercollegiate athletics program is a fundamental responsibility of the college president. The institutional research professional should lead in designing, coordinating, and maintaining an athletics information support system, and support staff should conduct analyses and prepare special reports as needed to shape…

Opponents depict outcome-based education as an unproven one-size-fits-all experiment. Uncompromising attacks, principally from conservative Christian groups and tradition-minded parents and educators, are obstructing meaningful reform and costing some superintendents their jobs. Sidebars show how certain districts responded to the backlash, decode…

Metal detectors and increased security alone cannot curb violence in today's schools. To reduce school violence in the nation's capital and elsewhere, the home, community, and schools must unite to support young people and teach them responsibility for their actions. One program, the Student Efficacy Initiative, helps students resolve conflicts…

Argues that the Canadian Department of Indian Affairs, while espousing a policy of "devolution" of control to Indian bands, continues to contain and control Indians and Indian lands by failing to provide needed information to band administrators. Describes categories of information needs and the development of information systems…

Discusses Greenfield's fourfold contribution to the study of decision making. Greenfield strengthened the legitimacy and respectability of case studies and argued that the individual was the beginning point of organizational analysis. He also fused two polarities in educational administration studies (the social sciences and the humanities) and…

In Britain, the pressure to develop financially efficient further education systems and satisfy formula funding criteria has required that policy be informed and validated via quantitative methodologies that gather, code, and analyze numerical data. This trend must be counterbalanced by qualitative research methodologies (case study and…

Presents a methodological model for orienting teacher researchers. The grounded theory approach is examined, noting it may not be a valuable paradigm. An alternative is proposed which uses quality criteria for professional action as the criteria defining research. Teacher research must concentrate on developing reflective features of professional…