Audits and inspections in the area of the Department's internal operations show that it must establish effective accountability for its contractors and employees. The work concluded during this reporting period shows inadequacies in oversight, monitoring and accountability by Department management and staff. A summary of audits and inspections…

This document provides an understanding of the South Carolina Technical College System, System office vision, missions, and values as well as an overview of key strategic goals of the system as a whole. The report was compiled by the State Board for Technical and Comprehensive Education. The six goals that guide the system are ensuring excellence…

Providing clear and timely information will be a key to holding public support for the improvements the No Child Left Behind Act promises. To have an impact, this information needs to be presented on the publics terms. This report contains data on recent public opinion about education issues, gathered from several polls conducted by national…

This brief article reports information gathered at a symposium on issues and challenges in assessment and accountability for adult English language learners, hosted ny the National Center for ESL Literacy Education (NCLE). Teachers, program administrators, researchers, test developers, and policy makers gathered to discuss the field's vision for…

The Department?s financial statements, which appear on pp. 115?119, received an unqualified audit opinion issued by the independent accounting firm of Ernst & Young LLP for the third consecutive year. Preparing these statements is part of the Department?s continuing efforts to achieve financial management excellence and to provide accurate and…

This paper examines the current state of outdoor education in primary schools in England and Wales and presents arguments to counter current constraints on its provision. Within the national curriculum, outdoor education has been interpreted in the sense of "outdoor and adventurous activities" and, as a result of recent pruning, is now…

This paper describes an evaluation of Children Achieving, a systemic reform agenda designed to improve the Philadelphia public schools. Led by a dynamic superintendent, David Hornbeck, and central office personnel, Children Achieving focused on school-level accountability and significant increases in funding for public education. Between the…

The great paradox of school reform, according to the author of this short speech, is that, on the one hand, states mandate that student performance must improve; on the other hand, states do not act to improve the performance of educators. Even when the policies are the most progressive and the standards of the state are of the highest quality,…

This report presents findings of an analytical study on student achievement in charter schools and the effect of state accountability regimes on charter-school performance. Data for the study were gathered from a literature review and test scores from 1999 to 2001 of both charter schools and regular public schools. The data were collected from…

This publication is concerned with how to keep schools safe. The spring 2001 issue "New Study Reveals Prevalence, Harm of Bullying" (Ira Pollack) discusses a study about bullying based on data collected in 1998 by the World Health Organization's Health Behavior in School-Aged Children survey of 15,686 students in grades 6 through 10 and sheds…

This document, the thirteenth annual report of the North Carolina Community College System, details the critical success factors of students in the state's community colleges. The report is the result of a process undertaken to streamline and simplify accountability reporting by the Community College System. The purpose of the report is two-fold.…

The ASCA National Model reflects a comprehensive approach to program foundation, delivery, management and accountability. The model provides the mechanism with which school counselors and school counseling teams will design, coordinate, implement, manage and evaluate their programs for students' success. The publication provides a framework for…

This report presents information from a national survey commissioned in January 2002 by the Public Education Network and Education Week. The poll examines the attitudes of American voters towards public schools and reveals what they want politicians to do about education once they are in office. Overall, Americans assign great value to public…

This fourth annual study reports on state practices in 1999-2000 concerning reporting on the participation and performance of students with disabilities in statewide assessments. Unlike previous reports, the unit of analysis was the state assessments rather than all publicly available print reports. The report describes the assessment systems used…

This paper is a case study of Kentucky's attempt to fix not only failing schools but a failing public school system. It reports on the policy making and implementation conundrums of the debate over Kentucky's high stakes accountability system. As a political policy analysis, the study relies on documents, media reports, and interviews with key…