"No Child Left Behind" ("NCLB") requires that parents receive certain information about their child's education, as well as the overall performance of the child's school on state tests in reading, math and science. "NCLB" gives funding for early childhood learning; allows for more spending on each student, especially disadvantaged students; and,…

The purpose of this paper is to stimulate discussion of how to measure the educational progress of Students with Disabilities (SD) and English Language Learners (ELL) students who are deemed unable to sit for the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) assessment, even with accommodations. As NAEP has become more relevant as a state …

This book focuses on contemporary accreditation, why it matters, and how it can be done effectively. The author covers historical background, getting started, strategies for achieving accreditation, and visions for future academic success, with examples and case studies. Accreditation is the primary way of ensuring the quality of higher education…

The global movement to improve education by decentralizing governance and financial management and by holding school personnel accountable for outcomes aligned with standards extends even to traditionally centralized systems in Asia. The author explores research questions related to how resources are acquired, who decides how best to use resources…

The Office of Indian Education (OIE) helps support local education agencies, Indian tribes and organizations, postsecondary institutions, and other entities in their efforts to address the unique educational and culturally related academic needs of American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/AN) so that these students can meet the same challenging…

Over the past 6 years, 28 states have authorized the creation of charter schools as an alternative form of public education. This policy brief examines the goals and implementation issues specifically related to teaching and learning. It presents findings of a study that explored how learning communities were created and sustained in 17 charter…

This paper describes an evaluation strategy designed to assess the efficacy of an education system at the district level. The strategy provides a measure of accountability that takes into account the potential effects of demographic variables. The study focused on Bellevue Public Schools (Washington), a medium-sized district near Seattle with an…

The Missouri School Improvement Program is designed to promote excellence in the public schools of the state. Missouri has a dual responsibility for the quality of education provided its citizens. This document outlines the state's vision and expectations for a quality school. The standards are organized in three sections: resource standards,…

This book explores the practice of testing. Two postulates are assumed: that student assessment should improve performance, rather than just monitoring it, and that testing should be only a small facet of assessment. The first chapter, "Introduction: Assessment and the Morality of Testing," considers what assessment is and how it differs from…

Thirty-two states now have some form of accountability legislation that requires the reporting of school and school system performance indicators. This study examined the Alabama State Report Card to determine whether its information is sufficient to inform the public, legislature, and the media about the achievement of each school and school…

This report analyzes state statutes authorizing a new approach to the organization of elementary and secondary education in the public sector, the "outcome-based,""contract," or, as it is now commonly called, "charter school." Charter school statutes create an alternative legal framework for the formation of public schools by permitting a state…

As part of an ongoing project to determine how effectively school psychological services promote student mental health, learning, and welfare in San Diego City Schools (California), accountability studies were conducted. A previously developed planning model guided the process. During the 1995-96 school year, school psychologists gathered data…

This book sets the stage for competency domains by reviewing the context in which school psychological services are delivered and how school psychologists are educated. The book focuses initially on the altered social, political, and economic context for education and the practice of psychology in schools. The book then analyzes the ways in which…

This paper examines the development and use of performance indicators in higher education, focusing on the experience of Queen's University (Ontario). It reviews factors influencing the development of performance indicators, such as the growing concern for accountability in public higher education and the university community's apparent inability…

Unlike many proposed educational reforms in the United States, charter schools enjoy support from policymakers across the political spectrum, making such schools a major focus of public school reform among educators and legislators. The origin of charter schools and how these schools are affecting education is the subject of this background paper.…