This ERIC Digest was adapted from the Association for Childhood Education International's (ACEI) 1991 position paper on standardized testing. Since the publication of "A Nation at Risk" in 1983, standardized testing programs have expanded greatly. Tests may be of pencil-and-paper or performance-oriented varieties. The purposes of tests…

This report focuses on assessing the quality of undergraduate education. A framework for thinking about the topic is provided, followed by a discussion of the ways in which the educational context is typically organized and student achievement is typically measured, with suggestions for new indicators and measures. The significance of contexts and…

This report to the U.S. Congress reviews monitoring activities of the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) in regard to formula grant programs. The study looked at dates of the most recent monitoring visits to the state education agencies and calculated key steps in the monitoring process, such as the time from visit to issuance of the…

Ways of rethinking school financial policy issues are examined in this report. This rethinking has evolved from growing recognition of two related principles: school finance as part of public finance; and policy formation as a product of commitments and constraints. Principles of public finance, commitments and constraints are described. Five…

This book approaches the theory and practice of assessment with an overview of the condition of American higher education, addressing its scope, objectives, and diversity. From that base, the book explores the challenges which society poses to campuses in terms of justification of expenditures and demonstration of tangible outcomes. It discusses…

Competing norms for justifying actions and decisions in teaching and their effects on the curriculum and teacher learning are discussed. Interpreting teaching as a moral action, this paper argues that a personal orientation (personal practice, feeling, or beliefs) removes teacher action and decisions from the realm of objective and professional…

This paper argues that school boards give away too much in contract negotiations with teacher associations without making sure the concessions they make result in higher educational quality. Educational administrators' general lack of expertise in labor relations, the author maintains, tends to lead to low quality contracts. Reviewing 11 articles…

Hearings are presented on the proliferation of interstate guarantee arrangements in the area of student loans, and the effect of such arrangements on student access to loan capital. Topics include: the desirability of establishing territorial monopolies for student loan guarantee agencies, the views of the Higher Education Assistance Foundation…

One of a series of units on business designed for secondary school students, this packet examines the issues concerning business responsibility for safe products. Teacher and student materials are provided in separate sections. The teacher's guide presents an overview of activities and objectives, five detailed lesson plans, answer keys,…

Academic program review is analyzed in regard to purposes, process, schedule and timing, criteria, and decisions. Attention is also briefly addressed to the organizational entities that oversee the process of state-level program review. The purposes of program review are linked to budgeting decisions, mission delineation, and potential program…

The traditional funding model of the Cooperative Extension System has been stretched to its limits by increasing demand for information and programs without concurrent increases in funding by the public sector. As the social, economic, and political environments have evolved and become more complex, extension is often asked to apply the expertise…

This report is part of a study of school districts in British Columbia (Canada), and deals with school district ethos--interest in defined focal areas--both as a measure of school district quality and as a potential predictor of student achievement. The study concentrates on one of these focal areas--holding schools accountable through monitoring.…

This document describes the Adult Literacy Information and Evaluation System (ALIES), which is the management information system for New York City's citywide adult education program expansion effort begun in 1984. Chapter 1 describes the organization's creation in order to provide timely and reliable information to funders about the effects of the…

This document describes the data collection and analysis design used by the Adult Literacy Information and Evaluation System (ALIES), which is the management information system for New York City's citywide adult education program expansion effort begun in 1984. Chapter 1 describes the system's background. Chapter 2 explains five issues that…

California State Proposition 98 requires the governing boards of California school districts to prepare and issue an annual School Accountability Report Card for each elementary and high school under their jurisdiction, beginning in the school year 1989-90. The report card must assess a minimum of 13 specified conditions. This manual provides…