Proposed an accountably model that addresses the challenges of allowing school districts to choose the specific strategies they use to measure student performance and evaluated this model using data from multiple sources for all school districts in Florida. Findings identify three strategies that would be useful for this type of accountability…

Explains that universal access to education has created a student body more diverse and less academically prepared for college. States that higher education, when viewed as a business, has shifted much of the learning responsibility from the student to the teacher. Offers guidelines for maintaining ethical standards of conduct in sociology…

Eight educators comment on Deborah Meier's prescription for rebuilding public trust in public education. (Author)

Discusses whether linguistics can meet the challenge of accounting to the general public for the practices and beliefs of lawyers and other professionals. The article emphasizes that members of the professions, such as lawyers, doctors, and psychiatrists, are judged by their interaction with processes having real world outcomes, e.g., trials and…

Describes the system of external institutional evaluation in Netherlands universities, distinguishing between the organizations conducting the assessment itself and the follow-up. The primary assessing organization is a private one, funded and governed by the 14 universities, and uses discipline-based assessment teams. The follow-up assessment is…

Discusses the increased need for school counselors to document their achievements and demonstrate their competencies by compiling and maintaining a portfolio. Recommends the use of portfolios for school counselors, outlines methods for developing them, and suggests a variety of uses for them. Includes appendix outlining portfolio contents. (KW)

Describes 20/20 analysis procedures (which uses the 20th and 80th percentiles to identify students at the margins who need adapted instruction). Also examines cross-categorical programming, costs, needs for efficiency, accountability, and labeling. A methodology using computerized, multiyear 20/20 analyses to estimate school effectiveness…

Maintains that America's lowered expectations about education are not a loss of previous American virtues but neither are they a "culture of indulgence" as Damon suggests; they are simply adaptations by the populace to the difficult job of getting along in a highly competitive world. (MDM)

Effects of student poverty and location on school accountability scores were examined using hierarchical linear modeling and data from 1,115 Kentucky schools in 171 districts. Positive effects of nonmetro location were found, but they did not erase the strong negative effect of poverty. Projections indicate that equitable excellence will not be…

This article discusses the 6-E Report Card, a tool that provides a quantitative evaluation of instructional programs based upon a unique decision-making model that meets objectives by measuring excellence, equity, efficiency, effort, effectiveness, and ethics. Programs are assessed for their ability to meet or exceed predetermined performance…

Research indicates that teachers are the main influence on student achievement. However, standards and accountability related to teacher preparation, certification, and competencies are inconsistent. The National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education has developed a more rigorous system of standards and procedures for teacher preparation.…

Describes the current assessment policy context in primary education in Ireland and analyzes the perspectives of teachers, policymakers, and parents. Reveals the need for the various interest groups to clarify the purposes of assessment and to recognize that different purposes may require a different mode of assessment. (Contains 32 references.)…

Although a narrowing gap exists between technology haves and have-nots in public schools, many schools are turning their energies toward discrepancies in teacher training and knowledge, home computer access, technology support, and the availability of quality online curricula and material. Lists eight online resources. (MLF)

Describes an EdVisions Cooperative made up of eight small charter schools in Minnesota. EdVisions, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, provides charter schools with guidelines to develop teacher-driven professional accountability systems linked to project-based learning for students. (PKP)

Contends that special education's process-based accountability system--one that relies on procedural rules, exhaustive documentation, and legal threats as the only means of holding schools and educators accountable--is ineffective. Proposes that schools shift from a process-based accountability system to one driven by results with a focus on…