The fourth document in an eight-part series on a task-based management system for special education programs describes the need for and development of the Behavioral Characteristics Progression (BCP), a tool for relating educator tasks to pupil progress as based upon learner objectives. The BCP is an array of 1,800 behavioral characteristics of…

This paper illustrates how changing emphases and trends in education have led to a reformulation of notions of assessment and an awareness of the limitations of current measurement technology to deal with newer conceptualizations. Discussed are: 1) the antecedents of learning and the transactions which take place during the learning process, as…

This School Personnel Utilization battery is designed to help evaluate school staffing models (see TM 001 210). The battery itself contains three instruments. A Components Analysis instrument was devised to study the question of comprehensiveness. The second instrument, a Constraints Checklist, was developed to determine the extent to which the…

The Carroll County Competency Based Teacher Certification (CBTC) Project is a cooperative effort of the Carroll County School System and the School of Education, West Georgia College, intended to develop a plan for identifying and measuring teacher competency areas and related teacher behaviors, and the extent to which these teacher behaviors…

This document compares the operating effectiveness and costs associated with Whatcom Community College (WCC), a non-campus educational system, to estimated alternative costs of a traditional campus operation for WCC. Comparative data were obtained by using three other colleges as proxy institutions for a hypothetical campus-based WCC. Among the…

The Mathematics Accountability Model (MAM) Project has succeeded in the development, implementation, evaluation, and dissemination of a completely individualized learning program for basic and higher order math skills. Student interest and achievement in the MAM Project are well documented exemplars of its success. It is recommended that the…

A research project conducted during the 1976-77 academic year in the Baltimore City Public Schools is investigating the effect providing staff development to teachers on how to teach with learning hierarchies will have on students' achievement scores and rate of learning. Twenty teachers participating in the study are taking a year-long course on…

Identifies differences between primary school teachers in England and France in the areas of conceptions of accountability, teacher role in relation to parents, and the nature of teaching. Proposes six broad themes based on teachers' perceptions of their work: collectivism/individualism, universalism/particularism, role…

Explores the relationship between mandates for educational excellence and more rigorous standards and the community college's role in providing access to educational opportunity for all students. Underscores the difference between accountability-based assessment and compliance-based testing. (DMM)

The forms of university-industry relationships, the advantages to the various parties involved, and the potential conflicts and tensions are outlined. Some guidelines for finding solutions and new modes of interaction are suggested. (MSE)

Several issues facing the measurement community were brought on by the recent emphasis on stricter educational accountability measures. These testing issues include the limits of test scores, effects of testing on instruction, proper test use, importance of the test content, and defining the basics in education. (EGS)

Research findings, supported by other research projects, identify the elements relevant to school improvement as school focus, school autonomy, and staff development. A chart based on three recent major literature reviews provides a comprehensive listing of supportable assertions regarding unusually effective institutions. (MLF)

"Harvard Education Letter" is published bimonthly at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. This issue of "Harvard Education Letter" contains the following articles: (1) Adding Value to Student Assessment: Does "Value-Added Assessment" Live Up to Its Name? (Anand Vaishnav); (2) No Adolescent Left Behind?…

This report documents the Connecticut Department of Higher Education's efforts to investigate and document best practices in assessing student achievement as measured by workforce success. That effort is part of a five-state project to Define Best Practices for Responsible Accountability Models in Higher Education funded by a U.S. Department of…

Significant improvements in student learning require real change at the heart of instruction: the interaction of students and teachers around the content to be learned. This paper suggests a set of design specifications for strengthening this interaction of student, teacher and content and increasing student performance across a school district.…