Provides a personal narrative of Sanford J. Cohn's educational and professional experiences, entry into the Arizona North Central Association's (NCA's) State Committee, and view of the future of NCA's schools. Suggests that Outcomes Accreditation moves assessment to the teachers, inviting their participation in establishing meaningful student…

Deems continuing education practitioners at the leading edge of community college education, highlighting their flexibility, responsiveness, inclusiveness, and appreciation of diversity. Considers the role of continuing education practitioners in college planning, institutional effectiveness documentation, improving access, collaboration with…

For schools implementing school effectiveness models, a generic school improvement program stressing clearcut goals and actions may prove valuable. One program stresses student achievement and competency but also measures student socialization and school improvement in problem generation. Leaders include the principal and internal coordinator;…

Total Quality Management (TQM) is a helpful tool to assist boards and administrators in improving schools. However, to leap into the quality movement without broad-based support and a critical mass of believers is risky. Presents 20 questions to answer before deciding to initiate TQM. (MLF)

Educational research should closely reflect the relatively turbulent world of schools and the micropolitical processes therein. Common research themes in England include response to change, establishment of new working relationships and new roles for local education agencies, marketing influences, curriculum management reforms, and quality control…

Reviews management-competence and school-effectiveness research, explores similarities, and discusses each area's contribution to education management. A major problem for both approaches is finding a balance between general descriptions of good practice and the particular needs of specific schools at particular development stages. General…

Baker and Riordan express disappointment with Father Greeley's sharp comments concerning their September 1998 "Kappan" article. Their major point was that 1990s Catholic schools are no longer educating the disadvantaged, due to changing demographics. Father Greeley's second rebuttal deplores Baker and Riordan's gratuitous scholarship and…

Tests an educational-effectiveness model by reanalyzing a large-scale dataset containing (Dutch) elementary school data of subsequent student cohorts, their teachers, and their schools. Researchers found some expected positive achievement effects of individual classroom and school factors, but these were unstable across school subjects and student…

Reviews literature on benefits of family involvement and barriers to its implementation. The literature supports a family-involvement model stressing six types of involvement (parenting, communication, volunteering, learning at home, decision-making, and community collaboration) developed by Johns Hopkins University's National Network of…

In fall 1999, teachers of two Wisconsin elementary schools met to discuss setting specific goals that are strategic, measurable, attainable, results-oriented, and time-bound (SMART). Commonly used in government and industry, SMART goals are now helping educators evaluate their instructional processes and programs. (MLH)

Studied the joint influence of school and district size on school performance in 367 schools with 8th grades and 298 schools with 11th grades in Georgia. Findings show substantial cross-level influences of school and district size at 8th grade and weaker influences at 11th grade, with equity effects strong at both grades and with a distinctive…

Although South African educators can learn much from the emerging international literature on school improvement, apartheid's legacy has produced numerous difficulties. There are three major adversaries: an ill-defined moral purpose of education, shifting relationships, and lack of ownership. Supported by collaborative structures, schools must…

In a large-scale study of 94 (British) secondary schools' ability to promote academic achievement, researchers conducted case studies of six outlier schools and questioned headteachers and deputies about effectiveness processes. Results reveal considerable support for previously cited effective schooling characteristics. Pupil behavior and…

Explores whether standards-based reform can drive school improvement using data from two Canadian monitoring systems to illustrate the main points. Outlines some of the dilemmas associated with monitoring and offers suggestions about how to tighten the link between monitoring and learning. Whether performance based assessment increases student…

An evaluation of the Primary Education Quality Improvement Project in Indonesia illustrates that combining the knowledge base and methodology of educational effectiveness research and cost-effectiveness analysis provides fruitful possibilities for future theoretical/practical developments in both approaches. PEQIP positively affected student…