The purpose of this paper is to inquire into the developmental directions and tasks of the School Based Curriculum Management (SBCM) system. The concept of the School Based Curriculum Management can be considered as a subsystem to School Based Management. The logics behind the SBCM system are autonomy, accountability, effectiveness, creativity,…

A pressing need exists within the field of early intervention and early childhood special education to identify and measure outcomes for young children and their families as a result of participating in publicly funded services. This article identifies critical issues for state administrators; providers, families, and researchers to consider when…

In this article I argue that the current high-stakes testing accountability model is an assistencialist model, derived from deficit thinking paradigms. Such models, like the No Child Left Behind Act, sanction low performance with serious consequences for students and educators. Drawing from Freire, I propose an anti-assistencialist accountability…

Since the inception of the No Child Left Behind legislation, school districts have been faced with a growing need to gather, analyze and monitor more data than ever before in the management of school performance. Accountability mandates also have placed a greater emphasis on gleaning the most granular types of information from these large sources…

Foreseeabililty is defined as the school officials' ability to predict or anticipate that a certain behavior by teachers may prove harmful to students. Once this determination is made, proper steps must be taken to prevent harm to students. Failure to act responsibly may prove costly. Certainly it is foreseeable that a teacher who sexually…

This article reviews changes in the accountability landscape that have occurred for foundations in recent years and several precedents for foundation performance assessment. The authors then present a model of portfolio assessment that is used for organizational accountability and learning. This model, which was piloted in 2002 and 2003 for the…

The purpose of this study was to determine whether Florida elementary school administrators believe the state's testing program is taking public schools in the right direction. Questionnaire responses from principals and assistant principals show that the majority of administrators believe the testing program is not taking schools in the right…

Schools face major challenges today that have been created by reform initiatives and expectations from Florida and federal legislation. This article focuses on the impact of accountability mandates on student achievement through the responses of central Florida school administrators at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. They were…

The implementation of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) federal legislation in 2001 exemplifies extreme reaction to an escalating public unrest with educational systems over the past several decades of "educational reform." Effective public relations and communication with stakeholders is threatened during this time of increased public…

An in-depth, 2-year instrumental case study considered the degree to which ongoing reflection, within the context of mentoring relationships and administrative portfolio writing, supported the development of administrative leadership practice within an Administrative Leadership Academy: Entry Year Program. By observing the ways in which entry-year…

Adopting a post-structuralist and critical perspective, the author situates The Ontario Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology Act, 2002, often referred to as the New College Charter, and its developing Ministerial bodies regarding curricula at the colleges, in discourses of standardization, neoliberalism and globalization. Of concern is the…

A contextual understanding of general education classroom teachers' reasons for a student's referral for special education services provides insight into this initial step in the identification process. The philosophy of social constructivism (Bruner, 1987; Freedman & Combs, 1996; Vygotsky, 1978) provides a backdrop for the underlying…

Purpose: This paper aims to identify what counts as successful school leadership within a Norwegian context. Design/methodology/approach: The paper uses multi-site case study methods as a methodological approach. In selecting cases the first strategy included schools appointed as "good practice schools" by the Ministry of Education and…

In regards to the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), the emperor is not wearing any clothes. The author contends that this bill uses impressive sounding buzz words and phraseology with which one can hardly disagree, but in essence it offers no new innovations or does nothing to improve the fundamental quality of education. This bill is not based on…

In recent years, an increasing number of districts have turned to district education foundations (DEF) for added fiscal support. Similar in many ways to university development offices, DEFs are privately operated, nonprofit, tax-exempt organizations that solicit funds from individuals and businesses and then distribute these funds to public school…