Information was gathered about how Technical and Further Education (TAFE) agencies throughout Australia were implementing and using performance indicators. The context of TAFE's perceived mission and corporate goals were considered. A history of the development of national performance indicators in TAFE was compiled. The project drew heavily on…

In 1988, in preparation for its 10-year reaccreditation, Howard Community College (HCC), in Maryland, undertook a comprehensive examination of its long-range planning process and formulated a number of strategic priorities. As part of HCC's customer service priority, two survey instruments, Quality Evaluation of Service Trends (QUEST) and the…

Since 1988, state governments have been required to collect quarterly from private sector employers gross earnings by Social Security numbers, industry of employment, and county of employment. A study was conducted of 13 states' efforts to use this wage record database as a tool for improving educational accountability and assessing the impact of…

This paper challenges the current conventional policy view of time as a critical resource for learning. After reviewing literature on the subject, the paper analyzes the contribution of instructional time to learning using data from primary schools in Pakistan. The principal finding reported in this paper is that the amount of contact time between…

The effect of alternating criterion-referenced tests (CRTs) with norm-referenced tests (NRTs) when evaluating schools was studied in a sample of 242 Louisiana public elementary schools accounting for over 18,000 third graders tested in 1989. The study used five separate multiple regression models, each producing studentized residuals used as…

In January 1990, the Leon County (Florida) School District decided to develop an attitude survey focusing on effective school components and school improvement areas. Using focus groups, this survey was accomplished through a steering committee of parents, students, teachers, and community members, with input from school and district…

A study was conducted to provide a better understanding of the nature and the operation of the institutions in which exemplary vocational education programs exist. The study employed an interpretive ethnographic design that sought meaning and understanding from within the context of the setting. Twenty-five institutions offering exemplary…

This book evaluates the role of federal and state legislatures in subsidizing higher education and keeping college affordable for Americans of all economic and social backgrounds. It provides evidence to examine whether America's financial resources are being used as effectively as possible in higher education investments. Further, it examines the…

This handbook focuses on parent, student, and staff responsibilities as they relate to the achievement of an excellent and equitable education for all students. Equity should be a major concern of all schools as an approach to teaching that extends through the grades. Responsibilities are listed for school staff members (administrators and…

Wisconsin educators and education policymakers participated significantly in the development of the state's Blueprint for Excellence. The Blueprint's 20 standards are an integrated set of minimal expectations brought together for the purpose of making schools more effective for all students. To help school district decisionmakers review activities…

In February 1990, a study was conducted by the Rancho Santiago College (RSC) Research Committee and Planning Council to assess institutional effectiveness, using college climate as one correlate of RSC's success. A staff morale survey instrument, distributed to all full- and part-time faculty and staff, yielded an overall response rate of 36%, and…

Beginning with a review of traditional perspectives on educational leadership, the link between effective principals and school effectiveness, and the bases of social power, this document goes on to report on a 1986-87 study conducted to determine how the types of power used by principals relate to school effectiveness. Subjects were…

The contemporary preoccupation with academic achievement may overlook the importance of preserving students' self-worth. Rankings of students are too often linked to judgments of moral worth; instead, the promotion of equal dignity in four areas (material well-being, individuality, communal affiliation, and wholeness) must form the broad goals of…

Currently there is a strong movement to make schools more effective by raising the quality of instruction, program design and organizational management. This paper reviews recent research in adolescent development as a major focus for determining the success or failure of specific practices in secondary schools. Factors of school effectiveness are…

This review summarizes and analyzes the body of research on the characteristics of effective schools in addition to early input-output research, which implied that the determinants of student achievement lay chiefly outside the control of the schools. Chapter 1 discusses patterns in the results of input-output studies, including research…