Discusses principles to use in evaluating online university courses, including student-faculty contact; cooperation among students; active learning, including course projects; prompt feedback; time on task, including the need for deadlines; high expectations; and respecting diverse talents and ways of learning. (LRW)

Lee Shulman's vision of good teaching includes nurturing students' moral and spiritual development, civic engagement, and socialization. High-stakes tests do not embody standards. When evaluating and rewarding teachers, mentoring and monitoring functions should be separated. National Board for Professional Teaching Standards improvement incentives…

This article describes three potential levels of accountability for providing certain types of support for families in early intervention and preschool programs for children with disabilities: providing the legally required services for families, providing services that are considered recommended, and achieving certain outcomes as a result of…

This reaction to an article (Bailey, 2001) that describes three potential levels of accountability for providing family support in early intervention and preschool programs, recommends articulating inclusive and functional family support outcomes and developing outcomes that describe growth toward a long-range goal but also allow for individually…

This reaction to an article (Bailey, 2001) that describes three potential levels of accountability for providing family support in early intervention and preschool programs, comments on the role of the families at each level. The need to include parents in the development of procedures and guidelines for evaluation is stressed. (Contains five…

Explains how Baltimore County secondary school libraries increased their funding and staffing levels. Discusses a partnership with Towson University for staffing needs; the role of technology; the development of online learning modules; marketing efforts; state standards for library collections; and collection analysis criteria. (LRW)

A retrospective study of 46 individuals with autism analyzed outcome data using, first, classical definitions of outcome and, second, a reconceptualization based on criteria of competency and quality of life. Four case studies of young adults doing well illustrate the multitude of variables that impact on long-term outcome. (DB)

Interviews with 102 families of preschool-age children with developmental delays identified 4 subgroups reflecting variations in parents' views of the impact of their child on the family's daily routine. These subgroups, in turn, were related to different domains of family adaptation or accommodation. Utility of the typology for early…

Describes a study that investigated the quality of interlibrary loan services in Canadian public libraries from the library's and the user's perspectives and then compared results. Measures of interlibrary loan performance are reviewed; an alternative conceptualization of service quality is discussed; and SERVQUAL, a measure of service quality, is…

One means of establishing the validity of performance-based assessments is to determine whether the criteria for basic competencies on performance tests are reasonable in relation to expected (nationally normed) age-level performance. Links between performances on three assessments in Michigan and the Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills illustrate…

A certification system for college faculty must effectively balance supply and demand, be criterion-referenced, choose criteria that command community confidence, be known throughout the market in which a given faculty member will operate, protect academic freedom, and provide a visible mark of distinction for faculty. While such a system has…

A discussion of prepaid college tuition plans, operational in a dozen states, finds that they have proven viable but present problems in three areas: (1) their structure must not redistribute state resources to the relatively wealthy; (2) participation may create pressure on admissions policy; and (3) state legislatures may see the accumulated…

The input model of assessing public education must be clearly understood before educators embrace an output assessment model. Most school finance legislation has been inequitable, favoring students in predominantly white school districts. However, the disadvantaged suffer most when implementing state outcomes-based accountability systems.…

The ways that users of the modern library select and move among its services can be investigated and the picture so obtained complements that obtained from surveys on the effectiveness of individual services. A methodology is described that aids in the acquisition and analysis of data on the order of use of information services (applicable to any…

The legal activity in federal courts related to affirmative action indicates a strong possibility the Supreme Court will abolish affirmative action in college admission. Such a decision would inevitably alter the landscape of higher education. Campus diversity will have to be achieved without using race or ethnicity to offer preference to some at…