In the Australian state of Victoria, virtually all decisions about spending, curriculum, and personnel are made at the school level. Victoria's experience in developing a system of school-based management (SBM) and shared decision making offers a perspective on school reform efforts in the United States. Underlying the school restructuring trends…

Questions and answers on North Carolina's Senate Bill 2, the School Improvement and Accountability Act, are presented in this booklet. General information about governance, assessment, and funding is provided in the first section. The next section explains setting specific student performance targets in the form of performance indicators. The…

This paper describes New Jersey's efforts to measure the performance of local school districts, efforts which include developing indicators of success and monitoring guidelines and certification standards. Specifically, this report compares and contrasts the ways in which local districts responded to being placed in "Level III"--a…

This article examines the role of the Board of Education and its relationship with the community it serves. (RC)

The Serrano decision provides an opportunity to create an equitable school finance system that guarantees every child in California a quality education. No major financial reform is likely unless the current system is declared unlawful. Published by California School Boards Association, 800 9th Street, Suite 201, Sacramento, California 95814.…

Principles for public school finance are outlined with respect to an equitable allocation of educational resources by the state. The argument is advanced that equal dollars per pupil is a practical, reasonable, acceptable and attainable initial basis for school financing. Objections to the equal dollars scheme are considered, leading to an…

This document examines one important means of achieving accountability in a state's education system: the introduction of statewide education indicator systems, monitoring such aspects as the performance of students and the various factors affecting that performance. This report is divided into three sections. The first section describes the…

The call for limits on the enrollment of students in classes has continued to grow during the past decade despite questions regarding whether class size really makes a difference in instructional effectiveness. The purpose of the research reported here is to establish what the states have actually done to reduce class size in kindergarten through…

Separate schools were introduced into Ontario between 1841 and 1867 when Upper Canada was joined with Lower Canada to form the United Province of Canada. The school acts of 1841 and 1843 outlined the basic arrangements by which either a Roman Catholic or a Protestant minority might establish a dissenting separate school board. Since the School Act…

The 4-day school week offers solutions to the financial and instructional problems often faced by small rural schools. Two southern Oregon schools implemented the 4-day school week on a trial basis in 1982-83 and, along with five eastern Oregon districts, continue to use this schedule today. The primary purpose of the change to a 4-day week was…

This report is one in a series of papers documenting, analyzing, and interpreting changes in federal educational policy since President Reagan assumed office in January 1981. The focus of this report is the future of educational policy. The root problem examined deals with electoral policies and the apparent apathy of the public. Results of polls…

This study examines the effects of the 1979 Oregon Property Tax Relief Plan on 1980-81 school district budget decisions by comparing the available tax relief, the school expenditures, and the tax levies in the state for the years 1975-81. The history of direct and indirect property tax relief in Oregon is sketched for the years prior to 1979; the…

The report is an outgrowth of a study of three residential schools operated by the Illinois Department of Rehabilitation Services (DORS). The schools are the Illinois Children's School and Rehabilitation Center (ICSRC), for severely physically handicapped or health-impaired, the Illinois School for the Deaf, and the Illinois School for the…

This report presents the results of various California community college financial audits and reviews for fiscal year (FY) 1987-88. Section I explains the scope, purpose, and procedures of annual financial audits, which are conducted to evaluate financial statements, encourage sound fiscal management practices, ensure proper use of public funds,…

The profession of educational administration may find its best route to a unified improvement by way of increasing reflective thought and analysis of the work, coupled with the recognition of real-life politics that makes negotiation and compromise an absolutely essential part of that development. Data were generated from a survey that was…