These three newsletters for 1998 highlight the following topics and issues. The March newsletter features an article on streamlining the transfer ready model, which includes an equation to find the transfer directed rate and the transfer ready rate. The new transfer ready model is divided into three categories, the beginning cohort, the transfer…

The Tennessee Board of Regents systemwide report card and individual report cards for each of the 14 community colleges are presented. The purpose of developing this report card was to respond to the public's increased calls for accountability in higher education. The report cards--47 in all, one for the system and one for each of the 46…

This paper provides a survey of accountability-related activities in states outside of California, summarizes the variables used, provides information on the advantages and disadvantages of various accountability systems, and suggests some policy recommendations that have been made in other states implementing performance-based funding. This…

This handbook provides guidance for California educators to help them implement a standards-based education for young adolescents. The book contains helpful information for school personnel about what they need to know and do to make standards-based education a success. It examines such issues as school culture, classroom organization,…

In enacting new teacher quality provisions in the Higher Education Act, Congress intended to increase clarity and consistency of public reporting about the status of teacher education programs and ensure that states establish accountability measures for teacher preparation institutions. Beginning in 2001, states must report yearly data on six…

The conceptualization of equity as student learning and accountability as testing performance provided the theoretical framework for this study. The purpose of this analysis was to explore the relevance of school and social variables on student performance across 4 years in a school district in Kentucky. Multiple regression analyses were used to…

This presentation by North Carolina Governor James B. Hunt discusses the need to get students engaged in their communities via service learning. Service learning reverses student disengagement by giving them responsibility for their own learning. This provides real-life contexts for learning, prepares students for citizenship through involvement…

This document presents standards for educational accountability systems that represent models of practice derived from three perspectives: research knowledge, practical experience, and ethical considerations. These standards should be conceived of as targets for state and local systems and as criteria to judge proposed models of accountability…

The New York State Council on Children and Families is charged with acting as a neutral body to coordinate the 13 health, education, and human services agencies within the state to promote children and families' well-being. The Council uses the Touchstone accountability framework to facilitate the development of state and local service systems…

The National Literacy and Numeracy Strategies (NLS and NNS) represent a major government initiative to improve classroom practice and pupil learning in literacy and mathematics in primary schools across England. National targets were intended to increase the percentage of 11-year-olds reaching Level 4 in annual assessments for English and…

In this publication are three short articles on successful school practices. "Learning Is the Outcome; Test Scores Are Just the Measure" describes test-preparation efforts in Mesa, Arizona, public schools. The district has instituted a program to assist principals and teachers in aligning curriculum, instruction, and assessment, and in…

This paper highlights the utility of the "third wave" of school equity cases that began to take shape subsequent to funding cases. These cases challenged the adequacy of public education systems, as measured not only by funding, but by educational content and other factors. The cases attempted to create a concrete mandate for an adequate…

Patterns of low-income student mobility were examined in rural upstate New York, along with impacts on and responses by communities and schools. Analyses of state-level school district data were combined with surveys and interviews with school district administrators. The study focused on 136 persistently poor districts (consistently in the bottom…

Kentucky has been implementing test-based accountability for almost a decade, making it a good site for studying the effects of the milepost testing model. In 1996, a study was undertaken of the impact of standards-based assessment on classroom practices in Kentucky. Kentucky teachers (n=365) were surveyed about their classroom practices and other…

This report explores changes in school policies and practices resulting from an externally mandated, high-stakes testing program. It is based on a study that investigated one Minnesota school district's transformation following the passage of a 1993 law mandating a results-oriented graduation rule. The paper outlines the role of testing programs…