This paper responds to Resolution 9.05 Fall 2007, calling for an update of the Academic Senate's 1996 paper Program Review: Developing a Faculty Driven Process in the light of recent accreditation changes and other emerging issues. This paper has been written to expand on the best elements of the 1996 paper and to stand on its own without…

This study examined practices of teachers in Wake County Public Schools' (WCPSS) middle school Algebra I classes. Regression analyses of standardized state testing results allowed for identification of the most effective and least effective Algebra I teachers. The study used surveys, observations, and focus group interviews to compare and contrast…

"High Schools That Work" is an effort-based school improvement initiative founded on the conviction that most students can master rigorous career/technical and academic studies if school leaders and teachers create an environment that motivates students to make the effort to succeed. HSTW is the nation's first large-scale effort to engage state,…

Effective school studies, for the most part, have focused on different individual school-level independent variables influencing student achievement and have largely neglected examining contextual variables within the school or school community that may evolve as a result of responding to statewide accountability pressures, including examining how…

The impact of competition on academic outcomes is likely to depend on whether parents are informed about schools' effectiveness or valued added (which may or may not be correlated with absolute measures of their quality), and on whether this information influences their school choices, thereby affecting schools' market outcomes. To explore these…

This paper looks at underlying patterns of school effectiveness through analysing a GCSE examination data-set over a period of ten cohorts (1993-2002) in one very large English school district. Both value added and raw score approaches were explored by employing different statistical multilevel models to examine time trends of school and pupil…

Like other public schools, California charter schools are judged primarily by one measure: student test scores. Though necessary, the Academic Performance Index and Average Yearly Progress scores can't assess charter schools' broad dimensions of student learning, program effectiveness and school operations. The state's accountability system…

Which factors promote student transfer from California Community Colleges (CCC) to baccalaureate-granting institutions? How do community college practices support this transition? Which student behaviors and characteristics particularly facilitate their movement to four-year colleges and universities? The Research and Planning Group for California…

This study examined the impact of NISL's [National Institute for School Leadership's] Executive Development Program for principals on student achievement in Pennsylvania schools between 2006-2009. Roughly half of the NISL-trained principals started the program during the 2007 school year and completed it in the 2008 school year, whereas the other…

The professional teaching and learning cycle (PTLC) is a professional development process in which teachers collaboratively plan and implement lessons aligned to their state standards. This process is an important part of the Working Systemically approach, designed by SEDL to improve a school system's capacity to increase student achievement.…

Purpose: Despite the importance of principals' satisfaction with their school's performance (PSS), few empirical studies have addressed the components and predictors of principals' satisfaction with their school. The purpose of this study is to identify the most salient components of PSS among school satisfaction indices, districts'…

This document presents findings from a congressionally mandated study of school-based reform, which developed in tandem with congressional interest in making the Chapter 2 program more focused on school-improvement efforts. Data were obtained from a survey of a nationally representative sample of 1,550 school districts; mail and telephone surveys…

Since the late 1980s, education reformers in the United States have emphasized "restructuring" of schools. This book synthesizes 5 years of research conducted by the Center on Organization and Restructuring of Schools (CORS). From 1990 to 1995, the center analyzed data from the following sources: (1) the School Restructuring Study (SRS), an…

The school-review process in New South Wales (Australia) serves an accountability function to inform communities and the New South Wales Department of School Education about the success of school programs and to support schools in their efforts to improve student learning. This paper focuses on the school-development function of reviews. In…

As part of a follow-up of 1993-94 graduates, Piedmont Virginia Community College (PVCC) conducted a study of graduates' employers to determine their satisfaction with graduates' job skills, performance, and academic preparation. Surveys were sent to 43 employers of graduates who were not self-employed and who gave permission for their employers to…