In April 1999, the (Australian) Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs established a taskforce on making educational equality for Indigenous peoples a national priority; enhancing the performance and monitoring framework for the National Indigenous Education Strategic Initiatives Programme (IESIP); and developing…

The most important burden of charter schools is the need to demonstrate that the instruction they provide actually benefits students. They can hire their own teachers, make their own tradeoffs between spending on administration and teaching, locate anywhere in the community, and let parents know in advance what a child must do to succeed in the…

This document is a compilation of annual data profile tables, Perkins measures, and institutional effectiveness measures and standards for South Texas Community College, 1998. Data highlights include: (1) total annual enrollment in 1996-97 was 11,508 (872 white; 29 black; 10,526 Hispanic; 69 Asian; 9 Native American; 3 international; and 81…

This comparison of standards-based reform with rural school improvement efforts that emphasize locally responsive, place-based curricula reveals differences and similarities in the two movements. The standards-based movement is focused on setting state and national standards that all students must meet, suggesting a common curricular focus. Most…

This study examines the quality of California's K-12 education, discussing how the system protects mediocrity and how to improve educational quality in the state. It explains that what most ails the teaching force is that excellent teachers are not rewarded for superior work, and failing teachers are rarely held accountable for poor performance.…

This paper uses data collected from the 50 states in year 2000 by the Consortium for Policy Research in Education (CPRE) to describe how states are holding schools accountable for student performance. The data collection process focused on policies in place during the 1999-2000 school year. Profiles prepared from this data represent the policy…

This paper summarizes results of telephone interviews with key personnel at 19 (out of 22) agencies receiving grants under the Center for Mental Health Services program, one part of a 5-year evaluation study examining the impact that utilizing measurable outcomes has on service systems. This component focused on the conceptualization and…

The emphasis of school psychology on prevention, early intervention, assessment, collaboration, and problem solving requires counselors to have a tremendous range of evidence-based knowledge. This publication, divided into two volumes, is designed to provide a comprehensive reference for school psychologists on contemporary research and…

This report is presented in compliance with Florida statutes regarding educational outcomes and accountability. It reports on Pensacola Junior College, and includes statistics for the following areas: (1) enrollments; (2) retention and success rates for AA degree; (3) retention and success rates for AS degree; (4) transfer performance; (5)…

This study on accountability designs for underperforming schools focuses on probation as a tool for policy. Findings are based on the analysis of state performance data, the reading of approximately 100 school improvement plans, and the study of 11 focal schools in Maryland and Kentucky. Test-score data from Maryland show that probation is…

The first issue of the Educational Policy Reform Research Institute's (EPRRI)publication, "Policy Updates," introduces the Institute and briefly reports on three key elements of accountability. It notes that EPRRI investigates the impact of educational accountability on students with disabilities and on special education. The Institute…

More than 2,100 charter schools serving more than 500,000 students operate in 37 states and the District of Columbia. This book contains a report of a study that examined the first 10 years of the charter-school movement. The study addressed the following questions: (1) What students do charter schools serve? (2) Are charter-school teachers more…

This brief paper is a presentation that preceeded another case of considering the ongoing dialogue on the advantages and disadvantages of centralized and decentralized school-improvement processes. It attempts to raise a number of questions about the relationship between state-designed standards and accountability initiatives and change and…

After more than 10 years into the charter-school movement, a fundamental issue remains to be addressed, according to this paper. The issue reduces the charter movement down to its basic core premise, which is effectiveness. The question for all stakeholders is how effective is the charter-school model. Evaluation within the context of the…

This paper explores how new accountability policies interact with culturally relevant teaching at the classroom level. When teachers are under the constraints of accountability and student testing policies, are they able to adopt and practice culturally relevant pedagogy in their classrooms? Previous research indicates that high-stakes…