Addresses the changing nature of social studies assessment and its importance as a curriculum component. Offers a brief history of social studies assessment and discusses the present stance on assessment and evaluation. Considers assessing student discourse in group settings and ensuring individual accountability. Provides guidelines for utilizing…

Traces development of educational accountability in California; examines role of state political leadership; considers impact of requirements of reauthorized Elementary and Secondary Education Act. (PKP)

This brief article notes a trend toward more reactive school administration practices in response to increased regulatory requirements and identifies problems encountered by special education administrators contributing to this reactive approach. It reports on one school district's proactive development of a "Unified Support Services Process and…

Discusses need for reinventing state education finance systems to provide adequacy and equity aligned to standards-based reform. Provides initial specifications for "The New Finance." Examines in depth approaches for determining a base spending level considered adequate for the average child to reach high educational standards. (Contains…

Discusses some of the challenges presented by standards-based reform, problems in designing accountability policies that serve learning, creation of fair and equitable accountability systems, standards-based initiatives that serve teaching and learning, and support for teachers and high-quality teaching. (Contains 22 references.) (PKP)

Discusses government directives linking availability and dissemination of information resources and improved public access with results (strategic planning, goals/objectives, performance indicators, customer service, standards/plans) and other issues (funding and performance-based budgets, government and deficit reduction, and government…

Discusses the benefits and means of implementing a Tribal Code of Education, which establishes a framework for accountability for schools within a tribe's jurisdiction and ensures that tribal children receive a quality education. Describes the development and implementation of such a code, addressing problems that may be encountered, such as lack…

Describes the advantages of charter schools, which are started by individuals or groups in the community and can set their own educational agendas and goals. More states are passing or expanding charter school laws every year. Benefits include autonomy, site-based management, increased parental involvement, and increased teacher control.…

Since teachers have the most direct, sustained contact with students and considerable control over the teaching/learning climate, improving teachers' knowledge, skills, and dispositions is critical to enhancing student achievement. Professional development must also address schoolwide professional community and school program coherence. Two…

In August 1999, Allendale County (South Carolina) Schools were taken over by the state. The rural school district, which is remote, poor, and racially segregated, has consistently had the worst test scores in the state, and little was being done to improve the situation. The district's problems and beginning efforts to address them are described.…

Analyzed information from 14 charter-granting agencies (CGAs) to understand the challenges they have faced in their roles as charter school gatekeepers. CGAs use diverse strategies to meet their responsibilities, but in many cases the processes by which charter schools will be held accountable have not been well-developed. (SLD)

Traces the development of Dutch educational policy since the compromise of 1917, by which private and public schools were given equal financial support. Examines the extent to which neoliberal reforms of the 1980s brought about radical changes in the Dutch education system, focusing on increased autonomy, freedom of school choice, privatization,…

Examines dilemmas of educational accountability and why large-scale assessment of student achievement has come to dominate educational reform policy. Provides a brief history of large-scale assessment in education in Canada. Looks at both expected and unexpected consequences of large-scale assessment and calls for educators and politicians to…

School systems have recently experienced a dramatic shift toward the use of large-scale assessment to improve school performance. Discusses the ways in which external assessment may benefit education, the need for multiple measures of various dimensions of school success, and guidelines for using assessment to create a dynamic cycle of continuous…

Responds to Goodlad's article, arguing that the institutional regard in which schools of education are held and their long-run operational prospects cannot be separated from broader policy issues (e.g., the education system's accountability and incentive agreements). Only the development of an empirically based ability to discern good teaching can…