The second in three-part series on how the principals in 10 low-performing/high-poverty schools met the challenge of Florida's 1999 high-stakes testing and accountability initiative. Examines the challenges principals faced in trying to build organizational capacity from three perspectives: principals' beliefs and values, "it takes a whole…

Offers advice for colleges intending to undergo software conversions, asserting that sufficient resources are key to a smooth process. Describes the conversion process at Palomar College (California) in 1997, when Palomar purchased PeopleSoft enterprise-wide software in response to Y2K compliance issues. Stresses the ongoing need for training and…

Argues that standards-based education reform has shifted the focus of school finance from equity to adequacy. Requires an explicit connection between the funding provided to schools and the results produced in terms of student learning. (Contains 19 references.) (MLF)

Thirteenth Bracey report on the condition of public education begins and ends with the No Child Left Behind Act. Includes commentary on vouchers, charter schools, high stakes tests, Edison Schools, and educational assessment. Includes recipients of Bracey Golden Apple Awards, such as "The Breath of Fresh Air, Geoffrey Nunberg Award."…

To oversee superintendent performance, school boards can take three key steps: (1) assign accountability for managing the board-superintendent relationship to a standing committee; (2) the committee and the superintendent can agree each year on the specific leadership challenges; and (3) annually conduct an indepth assessment of the…

Discusses forces behind the pressure for teacher educators to comply with California's State Bill 2042 (which emphasizes standards and accountability for teacher education), examining the role of the Business Roundtable (BRT) in education reform and noting why corporations should instill this form of accountability. The BRT proposes nine essential…

Profiles charter schools in the Broward County (Florida) School District. Identifies when schools were chartered, the length of the charter, the nature and extent of student participation, average daily attendance, student withdrawals or transfers, and the results of norm-referenced tests, state achievement tests, and college entrance exams. Also…

Elected school boards' skeptical eyes can guard against bad management practices and ensure that different voices get heard. Problems with board governance are a product of too little democracy. A democratic reform strategy would make board elections partisan, hold them on the same day as elections for more prominent state or national offices,…

This article argues that standardized tests mandated by No Child Left Behind Act will not produce improved learning opportunities and outcomes. It offers three recommendations for changing educational practices and the law: Districts and states must emphasize assessment for learning; districts should implement new forms of accountability; people…

Discusses efforts by a number of states to comply with the standards and accountability requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act. Focuses on the challenges and costs of creating new tests and presents the timeline through 2014 for compliance. (Contains 11 online resources.) (WFA)

Discusses the case of Krizek v. Board of Education of Cicero-Stickney Township High School (ND, IL, 1989). A federal district court determined that a school district could dismiss an untenured teacher for classroom conduct not prohibited in advance (showing students an R-rated movie) but deemed inappropriate later. (SM)

Discusses the controversy over school reform that calls for the decentralization of power. Explores school-centered decision making by discussing the following two perspectives: (1) child-centered/school restructuring; and (2) empowerment/accountability. Considers possible resolutions to their differences. (JS)

A "high-stakes" test can directly and powerfully influence how teachers teach and students learn. Six principles that describe the negative consequences of measurement-driven instruction are discussed, and the effect of these consequences on student and teacher behavior, as well as the test itself, is outlined. (IAH)

A random survey of 208 colleges and universities investigated perceived changes over 10 years in students' use of the academic grievance and due process mechanisms to resolve course evaluation disputes with faculty members. Findings showed increase in the number of academic grievances, suggesting that students are demanding more accountability in…

Reports on recent changes in examination policy and practice in China, England and Wales, the Federal Republic of Germany, France, Japan, Sweden, the United States, and the Soviet Union. Identifies and discusses some significant trade-offs arising from the implementation of examination policy. Discusses four nearly universal dilemmas of…