This report describes the current spending priorities of the Milwaukee (Wisconsin) Public Schools (MPS) and suggests how the same amount of money could be better spent on educating children. The report's major findings include the following: (1) of an average $6,451 expenditure per MPS pupil in 1989-90, only 26 percent finds its way into the…

This report presents a plan for an Educational Assessment and Accountability System for Hawaii. The purpose of this plan is to provide an analytical as well as a descriptive account of the condition of public education in Hawaii. It is meant to be a vehicle to provide the means by which educational outcomes can be examined in light of contextual…

The Student Right-to-Know and Campus Security (SRKCS) Act, voted into law in late 1990, requires colleges and universities to disclose graduation rates and statistics on campus crime. For institutions offering sub-baccalaureate vocational and technical degrees, the Act supersedes Track Record Disclosure (TRD) Regulations requiring institutions to…

Findings of the National Commission on Testing and Public Policy concerning problems in testing are reported. Recommendations are proposed for restructuring educational and employment testing to help people develop their talents and become more productive, and to help institutions become more productive, accountable, and just. Over a 3-year…

Issues that were raised during the student unrest years of the 1960s and 1970s and that still are pertinent to the social order of American colleges and universities are considered. It is suggested that higher education has no legal purpose to alter society and does not have the power or means to reshape it or even to resolve any basic social,…

A brief overview of the recommendations of the National Commission on Student Financial Assistance is presented. The Commission was asked to answer 24 congressionally determined questions, and to report its findings on each within 2 years. Major findings and recommendations are presented concerning: satisfactory academic progress, the in-school…

An approach to integrating formative evaluation into externally-mandated program reviews in higher education is suggested. Externally-mandated reviews are generally concerned with the summative evaluation of academic programs. The first step is to classify the mandated program review criteria using a two-dimensional model. This model is based on a…

To investigate school districts' responses to fiscal constraint, this study examined the relationship between districts' expenditures per student and allocations of funds to instructional, support, and administrative costs. Budget allocations, as indicators of the districts' priorities, were compared for 1978-79 and 1981-82 in 46 Oregon school…

A plan for studying management procedures that structure the relationships between federal agencies and federally-created research and development (R&D) organizations is discussed. The objective is to identify the types of federal management approaches, examine these approaches from the perspective of their relative emphasis on accountability…

The view that values play a crucial role in how principals conceptualise and interpret school leadership is not new. However, very little of the research underpinning this view has been conducted in developing countries. Drawing on qualitative case study research into how principals in Jamaica conceptualise school leadership, this paper explores…

The New Jersey Vocational Needs Assessment Project was designed to determine the needs of industry and business for those areas where public vocational education serves as the primary training agency. Information was obtained from school questionnaires and employer questionnaires and interviews. References to six critical issues were most…

This book gives an account of the present use and status of performance indicators in British higher education, set against the developing literature and experience of performance indicators in the United States and other countries. The book provides a critical survey of the range of devices being proposed but also points to possible patterns or…

This report describes the process undertaken at Midland Technical College (MTC) for developing and implementing an institutional effectiveness assessment project using student outcomes measures as an integral part of the assessment methodology. First, the report presents the background to the project, reviewing MTC's involvement as a model…

Nine papers and associated remarks constituting the proceedings of the 1988 Norstar Conference concerning the assessment of performance in higher education, and two prefatory papers are presented. The prefatory papers are: (1) "A Context for Change: The Reform Movement in Higher Education" (Judith M. Holtan); and (2) "Models of…

Intended for persons concerned about public policies for exceptional children and those engaged in creating public policy, the book provides guidelines and examples of appropriate policies for exceptional children. Considered in Section I are the varying rights that advocacy groups have won for exceptional children in the legislatures, courts, and…