Providing information on assessment and institutional effectiveness programs in South Carolina, this two-part document describes the use of performance indicators (PI's) and presents state guidelines for institutional effectiveness. The first part discusses assessment in South Carolina, indicating that institutions are required to develop measure…

Since the 1960s, schools have relied on federal and state programs to provide the extra resources and services needed to help certain categories of disadvantaged students catch up with their classmates. While many credit these categorical programs with expanding educational opportunities, increasing numbers question the effectiveness of this ad…

California's charter-school legislation took effect January 1, 1993, and authorized the creation of up to 100 charter schools. By the end of the year, 44 charter schools were either operating or being planned. This document offers an initial look at California's charter schools. A total of 34 schools responded to a survey of the state's 44 charter…

Using agency theory, this paper analyzes schools, particularly career schools, in the Stafford Loan Program for student incentive to graduate and pay off their loans. Agency theory focuses on the roles of information and incentives when a principal and an agent cooperate with respect to the utilization of resources. The analysis examines the…

The urgent need to improve big city schools has been a powerful incentive to adopt accountability systems. The following types of accountability systems may exist alongside each other: (1) political; (2) legal; (3) bureaucratic; (4) professional; and (5) market. Bureaucratic accountability is a "top down" system that holds teachers…

There is a need to improve teachers' ability to process and communicate information about student learning. In Australia, literacy is an important area in which to assess educational effectiveness. The community will continue to demand evidence of the schools' success in this area. Educators need to define the literacy goals, standards, and levels…

This report addresses the main issues of reform for intercollegiate athletics and suggests solutions. The first chapter introduces the core of the report's interest: the place of athletics on the nation's campuses and the imperative to place the well-being of the student-athlete at the forefront of the concerns. The second chapter presents…

Problems in accountability assessment are examined from a unique perspective by considering the prices paid as a result of the use of secret tests (tests comprised of items drawn from non-publicly available item banks). This report is a compilation of the following articles: (1) "The Social, Intellectual, and Psychological Prices of…

Three broad themes run throughout restructuring reforms: decentralization, collaboration, and accountability. The California Legislature recently established a statewide school restructuring demonstration program to help determine whether California educators can make restructuring work. This analysis examines the concept of school restructuring,…

A historical overview of political events in Illinois that led to the establishment and implementation of a performance accountability system, school report cards, is presented in this report. The discussion shows that although statewide events influenced policymakers, local conditions and ethos also affected the result. The educational…

The effects of large-scale improvement projects and the trend toward decentralization on the principal's role in primary and secondary schools in Belgium are explored in this paper. Particular focuses are on the ways in which sociopolitical change influences the nature of school-level leadership and on strategies that principals use in response to…

Accreditation as a phenomena was probably initiated in this country in 1784 when New York formed its Board of Regents. Generally, however, it is the voluntary regional and professional associations that approve programs, although states may be involved. The first regional association was founded in 1885 and the first professional association…

This document examines various ways for school districts to inform taxpayers about positive educational programs in order to convince them that a particular public school system is worth the investment. A school district needs to create good public relations in order to "sell" taxpayers on an educational program. Thus educators must show that they…

Teacher evaluation procedures, if ineptly accomplished, are potentially vulnerable to litigation (which most school districts can ill afford), because there is no consensus as to what constitutes effective teaching; hence the validity of rating systems and/or reliability of observations is open to challenge. Accordingly, the evaluation policies…

This article reviews a number of guidance evaluation materials and programs presently in use in terms of Stufflebeam's CIPP model. Some materials were simple evaluation instruments; others were as comprehensive as process guides for the planning, development, and application of a complete systems approach evaluation. (Author)