A recent five-state project, the National Forum on College-Level Learning, has demonstrated that learning, higher education's most important product, can be assessed in ways that make interstate comparison possible, that these assessments are consistent with other information known about the states, and that the results can be useful to…

The nation's higher education community is watching, waiting with anticipation to see the outcome of Virginia's 2005 Restructured Higher Education Financial and Administrative Operations Act (Restructuring Act), which amounts to a significant renegotiation of the relationship between the Commonwealth of Virginia and its renowned public colleges…

This testimony by the Director of Education and Employment Issues of the Health, Education, and Human Services Division of the General Accounting Office (GAO) is based on a number of GAO studies of substance abuse and violence prevention programs for youth. The testimony focuses on: (1) the information available about substance-abuse and…

This book articulates a process by which schools and districts can design their own standards-based system of education and provides models for implementing standards-based education. Chapter 1 describes the history of and impetus for the standards movement. Chapter 2 addresses such issues as: Where will the standards come from? What type of…

Much of the recent discussion on basic education finance in Latin America points to a decline in education funding and to problems in the political economy of the education sector. This paper presents findings of a study that reviewed the existing framework for education finance and proposed a more organic linkage between education finance and…

This book, which is designed to help adult educators in all settings determine the effectiveness of the teaching and learning occurring in their programs, uses real-life case studies to illustrate the application of an evaluation and accountability model based on the principles and concepts of popular education. The book begins with a preface…

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 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…

This report examines the design and operation of efforts by several states that are implementing initiatives to improve low performing schools, drawing out lessons that could be applied in Tennessee. It focuses on why initiatives in Kentucky and North Carolina deserve attention; core ideas shaping Kentucky's and North Carolina's programs; what…

In 1998, the Kentucky General Assembly called for a new testing system known as the Commonwealth Accountability Testing System (CATS) to determine how much children are learning in school. This brochure tells the basics about Kentucky's system of public education. The "Core Content" document describes what students should know and be…

This technical report presents issues related to defining and applying accountability systems for young children, including those with disabilities. It notes that reaching shared perspectives on definitions of accountability systems and their constituents remains complicated by the number of levels to which such systems can apply (e.g., child-,…

In response to a state supreme court decision that the state's system of schooling was unconstitutional, the Kentucky legislature passed the Kentucky Education Reform Act of 1990. In December, 2000, a Louisville conference brought together educators, policymakers, and researchers to discuss research findings and lessons learned during 10 years of…

The Columbia Group is a network of nine state-based organizations that are committed to promoting education reform. Each of these organizations exists and works in a specific and unique environment. Group members are essentially small nonprofit organizations with full-time staffs. The significant success that Columbia Group organizations have had…

In 1998, the Network expanded its project in Connecticut to a series of 10-day workshop. The Network brought together representative 12-member teams from eight Title I elementary schools to learn about successful research-based reform models and best practices. The teams designed a 3-year Reform Blueprint with goals and objectives, including…