This reference manual guides users in developing or amending school improvement plans for the 1993-96 Performance-Based Accountability Program (PBAP) of the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. The PBAP was established with the passage of the state's School Improvement and Accountability Act (1989). In addition to establishing a…

This plan presents the procedures to be followed in the administration of the Florida College-Level Academic Skills Test (CLAST) for the 1994-95 academic year. The document specifies the responsibilities of the Department of Education, the technical support contractor, and individual institutions. The plan does not include procedures needed in…

This essay grew out of a discussion of a gathering of college and university trustees and presidents, and it suggests that current changes in the higher education landscape demand a new look at accountability and the role of trustees in the governance and management of institutions. Discussion of restructuring notes how the range of meanings…

The 49 member colleges in the Illinois Community College System provide annual reports on improvements in productivity to the state community college Board. This document summarizes the improvements reported by the colleges for fiscal year 1995. Following a brief introduction, the first section summarizes the college productivity reports in the…

This guidebook includes information compiled by the "Audit Manual" committee of Community College Internal Auditors (CCIA) from several California community college districts regarding their internal auditing practices. The first section of the guidebook discusses the purpose of internal audits, indicating that audits assist members of…

The Association of Teacher Educators (ATE) Commission on Quality Standards and Enhancement of Teacher Education was commissioned in 1993 to study and disseminate information on the status and effectiveness of college/university-based preservice teacher education programs. This document summarizes the contents of the Commission's full report. The…

Charter schools have emerged as the latest model for school reform. This handbook contextualizes the emergence of the charter-school concept by examining both the broader political shift in educational governance toward local control and the more specific movement in school reform toward greater institutional autonomy and school-based change. The…

The Montgomery County (Maryland) public school system has started using assessments other than multiple-choice tests because it is felt that this will provide school staff with better information about the success of the instructional program. One of the ways assessments can provide better information is by having teachers score student papers.…

A basic tenet of the effective-schools movement is that all children can master the basic skills needed to be successful in school. Today, the twin notions of equity and excellence strongly drive the school-reform movement. This book examines the effective-schools movement as a school-reform philosophy and renewal process for the present and…

Traditional efforts to reform education have not succeeded because the education system has resisted major change. Achieving meaningful reform will require educational restructuring, and this restructuring will have to be based on competition, which is a basic fact of every other profession. For this reason, many states are moving to adopt…

Increasingly, community colleges and universities are called upon to provide comparable information on their students despite differences in institutional mission and student attendance patterns. To help colleges and universities respond to this need, the Joint Commission on Accountability Reporting was formed to develop uniform reporting formats.…

In the midst of the current concern for system reform and effective services there is renewed attention to the effects of categorical funding as the predominant method of allocating resources for children and their families. This paper presents a historical view of categorical funding for services to children and families. It explores the policy…

The 104th Congress seems intent on reforming the financing of federal programs and, in the process, devolving more authority for the design and delivery of supports and services to states and communities. This paper reviews the experience and lessons from the Reagan block grants of the 1980s, highlighting the similarities and differences between…

As part of a self-examination of institutional integrity, Fox Valley Technical College (FVTC), in Wisconsin, undertook a project to identify a set of institutional values and determine the extent that they were exemplified in the college's practices and relationships. The six institutional values were identified as integrity, collaborative…

In an effort to prepare for a North Central Association accreditation visit, Henry Ford Community College (HFCC), in Michigan, developed and implemented a decentralized and faculty-driven assessment plan. First, a faculty member was assigned to begin the groundwork for the assessment plan and an Instructional Assessment Committee was formed to…