The University of California at Los Angeles, in attempting to respond to state legislators' demands to redirect teaching and research to match society's needs, has faced substantial administrative challenges. A Responsibility Center Management model for strategic institutional planning has failed to produce desired changes and has tended to…

An authority on student assessment says the ability of public schools to meet federal expectations will depend on the instructional sensitivity of the tests in use. Offers a six-step blueprint for carrying out a public-information campaign about NCLB tests. Lists websites for two reports by five national education associations on instructionally…

Reviews policy changes in the field of teacher training and qualifications in England since 1983 for elementary/secondary teachers, higher education faculty, and further education teachers. Concludes that the government's piecemeal approach to teacher training and development has created some serious anomalies, particularly in the situation of…

Discusses federal educational policies for educational reform and improvement based on standards, student assessment, and accountability. Topics include the No Child Left Behind initiative; standardized tests; the Elementary and Secondary Education Act; the role of learning technologies; distributed learning; infrastructures for learning…

Discusses how child-centered educational philosophies, including Montessori, share positions differing radically from those of the educational standards movement. Focuses on adult-set goals and standards, social promotion, external motivators, demands for more challenging work, and standardized tests. Reports that children in child-centered…

Discusses factors for authentic collaborative learning with computers. Highlights include software design, social environment, preparatory activities, accountability structures, and group assignment rationale. Discussion highlights advantages of collaborative learning and the alternatives of individual and large group computer-based environments.…

The second in three-part series on how the principals in 10 low-performing/high-poverty schools met the challenge of Florida's 1999 high-stakes testing and accountability initiative. Examines the challenges principals faced in trying to build organizational capacity from three perspectives: principals' beliefs and values, "it takes a whole…

Offers advice for colleges intending to undergo software conversions, asserting that sufficient resources are key to a smooth process. Describes the conversion process at Palomar College (California) in 1997, when Palomar purchased PeopleSoft enterprise-wide software in response to Y2K compliance issues. Stresses the ongoing need for training and…

Argues that standards-based education reform has shifted the focus of school finance from equity to adequacy. Requires an explicit connection between the funding provided to schools and the results produced in terms of student learning. (Contains 19 references.) (MLF)

Thirteenth Bracey report on the condition of public education begins and ends with the No Child Left Behind Act. Includes commentary on vouchers, charter schools, high stakes tests, Edison Schools, and educational assessment. Includes recipients of Bracey Golden Apple Awards, such as "The Breath of Fresh Air, Geoffrey Nunberg Award."…

To oversee superintendent performance, school boards can take three key steps: (1) assign accountability for managing the board-superintendent relationship to a standing committee; (2) the committee and the superintendent can agree each year on the specific leadership challenges; and (3) annually conduct an indepth assessment of the…

Discusses forces behind the pressure for teacher educators to comply with California's State Bill 2042 (which emphasizes standards and accountability for teacher education), examining the role of the Business Roundtable (BRT) in education reform and noting why corporations should instill this form of accountability. The BRT proposes nine essential…

Profiles charter schools in the Broward County (Florida) School District. Identifies when schools were chartered, the length of the charter, the nature and extent of student participation, average daily attendance, student withdrawals or transfers, and the results of norm-referenced tests, state achievement tests, and college entrance exams. Also…

Elected school boards' skeptical eyes can guard against bad management practices and ensure that different voices get heard. Problems with board governance are a product of too little democracy. A democratic reform strategy would make board elections partisan, hold them on the same day as elections for more prominent state or national offices,…

This article argues that standardized tests mandated by No Child Left Behind Act will not produce improved learning opportunities and outcomes. It offers three recommendations for changing educational practices and the law: Districts and states must emphasize assessment for learning; districts should implement new forms of accountability; people…