Systemic efforts to implement data-based decision making at the school and classroom level face several challenges. First, most data available within district information systems are limited to what has been deemed important for the operational needs of schools and the district. Second, educational organizations have little experience integrating…

This guide for current and prospective adult educators is a comprehensive, practical conceptual framework for planning, designing/implementing, and evaluating/accounting for adult education programs. Chapter 1 describes the programming process. Chapter 2 describes 13 nationally recognized models of the adult education programming process, the…

A parent objects to a curriculum that includes a unit on Greek gods, arguing that it violates the separation of church and state. As a teacher or administrator, how should you respond? This type of issue is one most educators will have to confront eventually, in addition to other hot-button issues such as zero-tolerance policies, drug and alcohol…

A teacher and mother of a child with mental retardation examined the history and current status of the inclusion movement. A review of the historical background considers the origins of special education, the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975, major court cases, and requirements of the 1997 amendments to the Individuals with…

The Southern Regional Education Board has embarked on a yearlong study of educational leadership in light of states' new accountability systems and standards. The effort aims to answer questions raised by this changing leadership role: What do we want school leaders to know and be able to do to improve student achievement? How can these qualities…

There are many issues that cannot be handled completely in any code of ethics, and casebooks have been developed to help provide some clarification. The general intent of casebooks is to help educate counselors, counselor educators, and counseling researchers. Some specific objectives of this second edition include promoting the discussion of…

The Standards Implementation Design (SID) system is a comprehensive framework for analyzing school performance, planning for improvement based on the analysis, implementing the improvements, and evaluating results. It is designed to engage school personnel in introspection about student achievement as related to curriculum, the teaching and…

This report describes Philadelphia, Pennsylvania's, Alliance Organizing Project (AOP), which organized parents and families of Philadelphia's public school students to become full partners in Philadelphia school reform. It is one of five case studies in the Indicators Project on Education Organizing, which identified eight indicators of the impact…

This book acknowledges the current state of affairs in and provides a practical approach to current leadership theories as applied to the many duties of a physical education leader, taking into consideration the various individuals who currently assume leadership roles in the profession. There are 13 chapters in four parts. Part 1, "Where to…

The National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) was commissioned by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) to conduct a study of primary, secondary and special maintained schools in England to assess the use of data in teaching and learning. The study sought to identify how data is used to promote learning in primary, middle,…

This report presents the case-study findings from a cross-state investigation focused on Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee, intended to deepen understanding around the influence of high stakes accountability on teacher learning and the capacity of districts and schools to support instructional practices…

The process of accreditation review in the U.S. serves two primary functions: quality assurance and continual improvement. The experienced educators who voluntarily serve on accreditation teams apply common standards of quality that serve students and meet public accountability expectations and offer suggestions and recommendations for…

On April 5, 2005, the Georgetown Public Policy Institute released its first of several reports on the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program. The 100+ page report describes the characteristics of the initial group of participating students and their families and offers important first-year comparative data. Moreover, the report provides important…

Standards for Special Education, amended June 2004 requires school boards in Alberta to identify and deliver effective programming for students with special education needs in grades 1-12. It promotes consistent and enhanced quality of educational practice within the province, so that irrespective of location, students with special education needs…

This paper describes the background of various accountability systems, discusses policy issues related to the use of educational accountability information, and offers a history of the school-accountability law in Nevada. The paper concludes that because policymakers continue to express concerns about uniform measurements and comparability, it is…