Describes the college accreditation processes in the United States within the larger context of state, federal, and institutional accountability and reviews some of the continuing debates over ways to improve accreditation. Notes key issues (gathering evidence and using expert judgment) receiving attention by accrediting agencies in recent years.…

Reports on a qualitative study which focused on perceptions and attitudes of a cross section of the University of Bradford (United Kingdom) staff with respect to the use of open and distance learning. Topics include lifelong learning, accountability, learning methods and technologies, flexibility, effective change practices, and policy…

In the literature, discussions of staff development (as a top-down decision-making model) have shifted to teacher-centered professional growth. Components include teachers as learners, reflective decisionmakers, collaborators, and accountability experts. Creating a culture of learning and involving teachers in strategic decision making are…

Examines the link between educational leadership in schools and students' performance. Educational leadership is a determining factor in student success. A leader must define and communicate the school's mission; plan, organize, supervise, and evaluate curriculum and teaching; foster a positive climate for learning, with clear student…

Addresses the increasingly critical need for accountability in English language teacher preparation. The English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) profession has fallen short in recent years and will continue to do so without better coordination of professional development in both academic preservice settings and in English-Language-Teaching (ELT)…

Addresses the need to provide adequate justification for claims made in Teaching-English-as-a-Second-Language (TESOL) research, examining interaction between the pragmatics of doing research for higher degrees and the philosophy of science. Argues that although there are no simple choices for researchers, the issue of warrant is a potentially…

Standards-based reform is about setting standards and measuring attainment in criterion-referenced ways. Assessments should measure and monitor students' current achievement and progress over time. As Massachusetts testing deficiencies illustrate, assessments must stress longitudinal over cross-sectional designs, valued performances, developmental…

In the Los Angeles Unified School District, 64 percent of its 660 schools increased their norm-referenced test scores from 1998 to 1999. Success stems from a clear, districtwide approach to standards-based learning and broad-based communication about student and school gains. Bancroft Middle School's results-driven approach is profiled. (MLH)

This article analyzes how Kentucky and Maryland have addressed basic issues in developing alternate assessment for students with disabilities who cannot be included within regular state and local district education assessment and accountability measures. Issues include why they chose the formats, standards, and implementation systems they did and…

In one California high school, learning to learn is a measurable outcome assessed by all students' participation in graduation by exhibition. Students must meet state requirements and demonstrate learning prowess by publicly exhibiting their skills in math, science, language arts, social science, service learning, and postgraduation planning. (MLH)

Discussion of trends in the accountability movement in higher education considers accountability versus autonomy, effects of massification, limitations of public expenditures, measuring institutional performance in the United States and United Kingdom, emerging performance-based reforms, and commonalities among performance-based systems. Notes…

Suggests a new role for researchers in higher education, a teaching role requiring the researcher to make findings relevant, useful, and understandable to practitioners. Considers the educational role of individual researchers, educational accountability of the research community, and accountability measures for educational research. (Author/DB)

Teacher Work Sample Methodology is described as one piece of an accountability system for the initial preparation and licensure of teachers that includes evidence of student learning. The underlying tenets of the methodology and of the whole idea of accountability systems are explored. (SLD)

Describes a first-year college composition course and the daily preparatory writing assignments, "inquiry response papers," that form its core. Describes how these assignments, in which students respond to their homework reading, have led to a collaborative, dialogic classroom where students realize and express their own voices, and have fostered…

In Minnesota, imperial forces would implement a controlling, if well-intentioned system designed to make teachers and students conform to standards not of their choosing. Based on outcome-based education precepts, the proposed reform ideas are retreads of tried and untrue conservative concepts with a history of failure. When minimum expectations…