Literacy and economic development are inextricably linked in the literature, often with little examination. There are five rationales for this relationship: economic objectives, social objectives, political objectives, endogenous pressures, and exogenous pressures. To achieve both understanding of literacy and improved literacy programming, better…

This paper uses systems theory and force field analysis to evaluate the potential for combining special education with America 2000 national educational strategy and goals. A brief history of educational reform attempts is followed by an explanation of systems theory and the school as a social system. Force field analysis is used as a tool for…

This report describes a project which developed and implemented a process for the ongoing identification of national information needed for improving programs and services to infants, toddlers, children, and youth with disabilities. The process involved creating a polling panel of stakeholder groups, creating a list of national program information…

As part of the Directory of Innovations Series, this volume provides information about programs and practices for educational improvement and school restructuring. It provides brief overviews of about 150 high school or district-wide programs with descriptions of the following: (1) goals; (2) location; (3) demographics; (4) how it works; (5) how…

In the current environment of global economic restructuring, changes in work and employment, and large-scale immigration to the United States, adult basic education (ABE) is facing demands that it be accountable for its performance by demonstrating its success in terms of student and societal outcomes. The increasing calls for ABE to develop a…

This semiannual report to Congress summarizes the activities of the Department of Education's Office of Inspector General (OIG) for the 6-month period ending September 30, 1997. The OIG gave Congressional testimony regarding the modernization of student-financial-assistance-information programs, the Loan Consolidation process, the Federal Direct…

This study examined the attitudes of State Higher Education Finance Officers (SHEFOs) in regard to performance budgeting and performance funding of public higher education. A telephone survey of all 50 SHEFOs or alternate officers was conducted in June 1998, and the results were then compared to a similar survey conducted in April 1997. It was…

The Wyoming Community College Commission was established in 1951 as a result of a legislative act to extend the offering of higher education beyond the secondary level in qualified school districts. Seven community colleges were created by the Commission, resulting in a system that presently continues to serve thousands of citizens and their…

Reform of New Zealand schools has been ongoing since 1988, when the Task Force to Review Education Administration recommended devolution of managerial control, within national guidelines, for each of the country's 2,700 state school boards of trustees with a majority of elected parents' representatives. Reforms instituted since 1989 across all…

This speech by U.S. Secretary of Education Richard Riley discusses how education is improving as the country moves into the 21st century. Section 1 sums up the United States' history of giving millions of Americans the education so long denied to them (immigrants, minorities, individuals with disabilities, and women). Section 2 examines a new…

Aspirations for the Chicago School Reform Act of 1988 and more recent accountability efforts for the central office indicate that the Chicago Public School (CPS) system needs a credible system for charting academic improvement. The annual systemwide reports of student test scores are crude and sometimes seriously biased indicators for making…

The system of high-stakes accountability in the Kentucky public schools raises the question of whether teachers and administrators should be held accountable if test scores are influenced by external factors over which educators have no control. This study investigates whether such external factors , or "contextual effects," bias the…

This paper describes the processes that one school district, the Visalia Unified School District (California), went through in establishing a standards-based assessment and accountability system using multiple methods. First the district's standards-based assessment and accountability system and the methods used to establish it are described, and…

Selected current readings in the area of school reform are presented. Seven selections in "The Front Lines" focus on current developments in educational change in the political arena. A section on "Charter Schools" contains eight readings on the development and implementation of charter schools. A section titled "School…

The focus of these forum proceedings is education reform and the power that teachers hold to shape lives. Questions addressed by attendees included: Why the simultaneous renewal of schools and schools of education? How do we achieve reform? How do we assure the implementation of John Goodlad's agenda for change outlined in "Teachers for Our…