Systems to periodically evaluate the performance of K-12 schools are, broadly speaking, of two kinds: "inspection," the paradigm of England's OFSTED (Office for Standards in Education); and "accreditation," originally developed nearly a century ago by what are now the U.S. regional accreditation agencies. In the past decade…

Education reform is nothing new; however, from the authors' point of view, the tension between assessment and accountability is at an all-time high. Currently, 48 states administer state-mandated tests and 36 states publish annual report cards on school performance. As a nation, Americans are faced with a political and educational situation in…

Assessment currently plays a critical role in American schools and society, in tasks ranging from ranking schools' effectiveness, to determining individual placement, to planning instruction. The purpose of the study was to gather data about the formal and informal assessment instruments and processes used by professionals in deaf education.…

The British Labour Party has continued to make progress on education, following two broad policy paths and adopting a pragmatic approach that does not attempt to force these to cross or converge. One path is that of the quasi market inherited from the previous Conservative administration; the other is characterised as "intervention" to…

In this chapter, the authors review the literature on partnership evolution to offer strategies for developing collaborative evaluator-client relationships. They begin with a brief introduction to partnerships and their approach to client relationships. A synthesis of the literature on partnership evolution is provided and applied to the…

This paper explains the current reforms in basic and higher education in the Philippines. Specifically, internal and external enablers in the educational environment were reviewed as justifications of the reforms both at the national level as well at the individual teacher. The reforms were treated in the light of four perspectives in the…

In this essay, former secretary of education Rod Paige depicts the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) as the culmination of more than half a century of urgent but largely unheeded calls for reform of the nation's public education system. He explains the rationale for the design of NCLB and responds to several criticisms of the legislation, including…

Top state and local leaders in Maryland announced a plan last February to lend Baltimore $42 million to help the city's financially troubled school system. The money was used by Baltimore school leaders to address what they called a cash-flow emergency for that school year. Money helped pay employees' salaries for the rest of that year, and helped…

This article talks about President Bush's aims of seeking accountability in high school as well as other educational goals. President Bush begins the crucial stretch of his bid for a second term with plans to build on the No Child Left Behind Act by expanding educational accountability in the high school grades. Mr. Bush stressed a theme that…

In most discussions of "what works" in education, the focus is on rules (such as class size limits) or on programs and their various components. These are clearly important. No matter what the reform, implementation is key. This article discusses five challenges to achieving and sustaining social and intellectual engagement in implementing…

The appropriate age for students to begin school is an issue of debate for educators, administrators, and parents. Parents worry that young children may not be able to compete with older classmates; schools worry that young students will not be able to meet rigorous academic standards associated with school accountability. Past literature is…

To create an education pipeline capable of moving all students through to an advanced level of skills and credentials and connecting young adults to the well-paying jobs being created in Massachusetts, two challenges deserve the special and immediate attention of state leaders: (1) Substantially increasing the percentage of the state's low-income,…

The Colorado Preschool and Kindergarten Program (CPKP) began as the Colorado Preschool Project in 1988 when it was authorized to serve 2,000 four and five year olds in need of language development. The General Assembly created this program in recognition of the need to adequately prepare children with specific at-risk factors to learn. The intent…

This paper reports on the final phase of a three-part study on the status of instructional supervision within several New York City public schools. In the first parts of the study the researchers found, through extensive use of surveys (questionnaires and interviews), that centralized educational reform had serious consequences for instructional…

This is an opportune time for researchers in higher education to examine policy via cross-state comparative analyses. Momentous court, legislative and policy developments that impact state-level higher education policy are emerging at a rapid rate. The states have emerged as postsecondary policy innovators in the areas of student financing,…