This study examined New York City public high school students' views and experiences on issues ranging from academics to safety to social services. Two-thirds believed their schools had either stayed the same or worsened over time, while one-third believed they had improved. Two-thirds were confident they would graduate. Students were fairly…

This paper discusses current school reforms and their role in addressing barriers to student learning. Providing all students an equal opportunity to succeed requires more than higher standards and greater accountability for instruction, better teaching, increased discipline, reduced school violence, and an end to social promotion. It also…

This catalogue has been created as part of the UCLA Center for Mental Health in Schools' effort to compile and disseminate a set of resources useful to addressing barriers to student learning. This resource packet categorizes and provides contact information on organizations focusing on children's mental health, education and schools, school-based…

A fundamental ideal of our democratic republic is that every person has some way through which she/he can participate in decisions which directly affect her/him. To some extent, most teachers are able to recognize this ideal in their private lives. It seems logical that this realization would also carry over and prevail in an individual's working…

This paper reports on the development and implementation of the quality audit, a methodology designed to help school systems examine their capacity for change using the principles of total quality management as a framework for analysis. Total quality management stresses the importance of continuous improvement of organizational processes,…

In the Spring, 1996, issue of "CRESST Line," E. Baker and R. Linn commented that, in efforts to measure the progress of schools, "the fluctuations due to differences in the students themselves could conceal differences in instructional effects." This is particularly true in the context of the evaluation of adequate yearly…

In June 1996, 348 students received diplomas from two high schools in Saginaw, Michigan. To determine these graduates' activities nine months after graduation, 188 of them were telephoned and asked about post-secondary education, employment status, and perception/evaluation of their high school education. The results of that survey are reported…

Although early childhood education is important for all children, research suggests that it is particularly important for low-income and educationally disadvantaged children. Of the 53 Austin Independent School District (AISD) elementary schools that provided prekindergarten education, five Title I schools with full-day prekindergarten programs…

Educational paraprofessionals can provide strong, multidimensional support for students' academic success. The first part of this book presents information on roles for education paraprofessionals in effective schools, focusing on the history of paraprofessionals as multifaceted members of the schools staff, the work of paraprofessionals, how to…

To better conceptualize educational effectiveness, a comprehensive model (Creemers 1994) that takes as a point of departure the differences in the learning results of students was developed. To explain the differences in outcomes, this paper introduces more formal characteristics--consistency, cohesion, constancy, and control--for effectiveness in…

In response to the increasing use of state-based performance indicators for postsecondary education, a study was undertaken to review the reliability and validity of state-level indicators in the Florida Community College System (FCCS). Data were collected from literature reviews and the 1996 FCCS Accountability Report, detailing outcomes for 17…

The 24 chapters of this collection discuss contemporary approaches to using student learning gains to evaluating teachers or schools. The four methods considered are: (1) the Oregon Teacher Work Sample Methodology (chapters 2 through 6); (2) the Dallas Value-Added Accountability System (Texas) (chapters 7 through 11); (3) the Tennessee Value-Added…

This book describes ways in which schools can rewrite the social/educational contract so that more and more of the population can be educated at higher standards. The book advocates a new way of thinking about education, beginning with the notion that all children can learn. In order to craft a new system, schools must develop an aim and they must…

This report summarizes a study that analyzed the state education accountability reports of 48 states and Washington, DC, and the inclusion of students with disabilities in the accountability systems. Extreme variability was found to exist in the reporting practices across states and there was little information on students with disabilities. Only…

This guide is designed to provide basic guidelines and points of reference for participation in discussions on policies and practices related to the inclusion of students with disabilities in large-scale assessment programs. The results of a survey of statewide assessment programs are discussed, including findings that very few states currently…