Cites evidence that questions the conclusion in Skrla and others article that Texas test-based accountability system has improved educational equity and social justice for racial minority students. (PKP)

Skrla and others rejoinder to Klien and Haney wherein they agree in part and disagree in part with points raised in both commentary responses. Reiterate their support for potential of test-based accountability systems to improve educational equity and social justice for racial minority students. (PKP)

Analyzes how two national agendas in teacher education reform (deregulation and professionalization) are publicly constructed and debated, using public documents from each side and the arguments of the advocates themselves. Suggests that despite very different agendas, both discourses revolve around the establishment of three interrelated warrants…

Suggests that Canada's public education system continues to successfully enculturate and educate students of varying abilities and vocational aspirations. Claims that if the Ontario Literacy Test succeeds in undermining public confidence in the present system, the Harris government will have set the stage for the system's demise by creating a…

Discusses school governance systems and describes governance overhauls in two large urban school districts, Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, focusing on role of mayor in improving troubled public education systems. Identifies benefits and shortcomings of approach, concluding mayoral control can make a difference but right combination of…

Analysis of other national systems of education identified factors that may explain the low ranking of U.S. students in achievement. Other nations emphasize clear priorities and accountability, school autonomy over personnel and operations, teacher discretion over teaching methods, and more time spent studying. (SK)

Argues that conventional approaches to teacher training and certification deter interested and talented people from entering the teaching profession. Suggests combination of alternative certification programs and school-level accountability may help to increase the supply of quality teachers. (PKP)

Discusses Edina School District's School Profiles composed of multiple indicators from student achievement assessment results, school demographic data, and survey responses. Focuses on student, staff, and parent surveys, and shows how the surveys were developed, presented, and used by the schools to support comprehensive and ongoing efforts to…

Compared with minimum competency tests, curriculum-based external exit exams provide better measures of students' achievement levels. Analysis of Third Mathematics and Science Study data shows that 13 year-olds from exit-exam countries are ahead of nonparticipating countries. Effects on college enrollment, job success, and test scores are…

Seeks to clarify the concept of fiduciary responsibility in higher education. Explores who possesses fiduciary responsibility; whether it is the domain of policy makers or extends to faculty, faculty unions, and students leaders; whether it applies to only certain or to all administrators; and what the demarcation line is between duty,…

One of the outcomes of regular education reform in Australia has been the development of a national testing program for school students. This article examines the degree to which students with a disability participate in this testing, and the extent to which the testing of students with a disability may help to achieve the National Goals of…

Accountability has become synonymous with standardized testing in many Western countries such as Canada, the United States, Great Britain and New Zealand. Schools and districts are increasingly ranked based on their students' performance on standardized tests. Unfortunately, standardized testing measures possess a number of limitations that…

In this article, the authors compare Islamic schools in three countries: the United States, the Netherlands, and Belgium. In each country, the authors take care to situate Islamic schools within the broader context of educational policy and practice. In particular, the authors examine the mechanisms for funding, choice and control, noting that for…

Schools gather, store and use an increasingly large amount of data. Keeping track of everything from bus routes to building access codes to test scores to sports equipment is done with the help of electronic database programs. Large databases designed for budgeting and student record keeping have long been an integral part of the educational…

Teaching is hard, no matter where someone teaches. But for teachers in schools beset by poverty who have to find ways to motivate, discipline, and (with any hope) educate students whose odds in life are stacked against them, teaching is extremely hard. It is not surprising, then, that any effort to place additional pressure on teachers, many of…