Background: In this article we address some of the challenges posed by the development of national assessment systems and discuss the need for high quality information on trends in attainment; support for school improvement processes and ways in which learning should be enhanced through valid assessment. Purpose: Key elements are explored,…

When Palmdale School District and Pivot Learning Partners entered into their first contract in 2006, neither organization foresaw the magnitude and complexity the relationship would take over time. Pivot Learning Partners (formerly known as Springboard Schools) is a non-profit service provider that first entered the Palmdale School District…

This paper contains findings of a study that investigated the extent to which three schools nationally recognized for their change efforts could provide evidence of systemic change. The conceptual framework was developed from the following sources: (1) the effective-schools movement; (2) structural reform; (3) the middle-school movement; (4)…

The 1995 "School Improvement Network Directory" is part of a series designed to facilitate information exchange and support among schools and districts involved in long-term school-improvement efforts. The directory provides information about 260 schools working with the school-based-management process, Onward to Excellence (OTE), to improve…

Over the past 25 years, much educational research in the United States has focused on effective schools. This paper presents findings of a study that examined the characteristics of Japanese education, which is often considered effective by American researchers. It compares features of the Japanese education system to characteristics of effective…

This paper examines how students' reading and mathematics achievement gains over the high school years are influenced by the size of the high school they attend. Analyses of three waves of data from the National Educational Longitudinal Study of 1988 used hierarchical linear modeling methods to examine three questions: (1) which size high school…

Because public schools do not randomly assign students and teachers across schools (a methodological utopia), multilevel evaluation methods which account for student and school contextual and practice variables in their natural settings provide the most rigorous means for showing empirically what is actually happening in school classrooms.…

Over the past few years, New Jersey's Middlesex County College (MCC) has placed an inordinate amount of attention and effort on the issue of student transfer to four-year institutions. Although attention to traditional academic goals is important, MCC's stated mission also addresses other important segments of the college's market. The college has…

In spring 1992, Florida's Pensacola Junior College mailed the Two-Year College Form of the American College Testing (ACT) Student Opinion Survey to the 557 students who had earned an Asociate in Arts degree (AA), an Associate in Science degree, or certificate in fall 1991. The survey sought information on the graduates' reasons for selecting PJC,…

Although many studies have concentrated on the principal's role in changing school culture, few have noted which norms of school culture were manipulated by the principal. This paper presents findings of a study that identified the effect of the principal upon school culture in two elementary schools in a county of a rural mid-Atlantic state. Both…

There is a strong need to understand, monitor, and enhance educational quality. This paper reports on a project that developed a framework of indicators for monitoring educational quality in Hong Kong primary schools. The framework was developed through various case studies and 2 large surveys of over 200 Hong Kong primary schools (involving over…

For the past 12 or so years, policymakers, educators, and community members have been working to improve student achievement by reforming the public education system. However, progress has been slower than desired, and questions persist about which reforms return the most benefit for the money, time, and effort invested. This report summarizes…

This paper presents findings of an action-research study that examined the characteristics of schools in eastern Kentucky that were recognized as effective by the State Department of Education. Eighteen students who were in an educational leadership class at Morehead State University, and who held teaching or administrative positions in Kentucky…

If an effective school is defined as a school that causes student improvement on a number of important educational outcomes, the problem of identifying effective schools becomes one of establishing legitimate predictions of student performance and comparing those predictions to actual student or school outcomes. In attempting to identify effective…

Three federal initiatives--Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), the Goals 2000: Educate America Act, and the School-to-Work Opportunities Act--are working together to assist secondary schools in meeting current challenges. This pamphlet describes a two-volume book that presents a mix of research-based ideas and promising…