This paper--part of a collection of 54 papers from the 48th annual conference of the Education Law Association held in November 2002--discusses high-stakes testing. Specifically, it examines the high-stakes testing program in Chicago public schools, a grade-promotion policy that uses a standardized test as the primary basis for promotion. Although…

The primary organizational structure for a city's schools is the district. Its critics, however, consider that dysfunction was designed into school districts structure by virtue of their history. District structure was built on the notions that intelligence was innate, that the "scientific management" model produced optimal results, and that…

This paper describes the vision and goals of the School Communities That Work task force. This group envisions a new kind of school district: the local education support system. It marshals all of a city's resources to provide schools, students, and teachers with needed support and timely interventions; ensures that schools have the power and…

LEAP 21 (Louisiana Educational Assessment Program for the 21st Century) is an integral part of the Louisiana school and district accountability system. In the school year 1999-2000, students in Grade 8 took LEAP 21 English Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies tests. For LEAP 21, student scores are reported in terms of five…

This report provides information on activities during the 2000-2001 school year involving exceptional students in Idaho. Highlighted are the use of performance goals in key areas and results of an extensive self-assessment of early intervention services and special education services. Data are presented separately for students with disabilities…

This Howard Community College (HCC) (Maryland) 2001 Progress Report makes assessments and recommendations in the following areas: (1) creating a world class learning organization; (2) collaboration with other educational organizations; (3) collaboration with business and industry; (4) economics and workforce development; (5) preparing students as…

This paper argues that the federal government's role in vocational and technical education (VTE) should include a greater emphasis on systematically testing promising strategies and interventions and subjecting them to rigorous evaluations of their effects, implementation, costs, and benefits. Section 1 presents a rationale for rethinking the…

This paper makes recommendations for developing the next generation of state accountability systems for postsecondary vocational education (PVE). It focuses on the need to improve the core indicators for PVE; reduce the burden and improve the value of Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Amendments of 1998 (Perkins III)…

The federal Migrant Education Program provides supplemental instruction and support services to migrant children through grants to states under Title I, Part C, of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The reauthorization of Title I in 1994 contained new requirements that Title I schools help students meet new state standards developed for…

The purpose of the paper is to provide evidence that the Transfer System in British Columbia (BC) has been effective and therefore accountable for the public funding that supports that system. The paper attempts to show: (1) the multi-faceted nature, breadth and depth of research that has been conducted to determine the effectiveness of the BC…

The papers brought together in this volume are a selection from among those presented at the seminar organized in Kuala Lumpur, in July 2002 by the Asian Network of Training and Research Institutions in Educational Planning (ANTRIEP). The network consists of institutions whose main mandate includes training and research in educational planning and…

These discussions of performance-based student assessment provide a record of a decade-long exploration of unsettled issues in assessment. The first section provides the elements of a basic rationale for performance-based assessment, while the second section contains accounts of efforts to develop new performance-based systems in one city and four…

The creation of publicly financed but relatively independent public charter schools may be the most vibrant force in American education today. This fastback presents findings of a national study that examined the outcomes of charter schools. Data were collected through site visits to 43 charter schools in 7 states (Arizona, California, Colorado,…

This study examined the attitudes of state education policymakers and campus representatives in regard to performance funding and budgeting in public higher education. A mailed survey of 916 state education policymakers, campus administrators, deans, and faculty senate chairs in nine states was conducted in December 1996, and a follow-up telephone…

This report describes and compares the inclusive assessment and accountability systems of Maryland and Kentucky, with a focus on components, scoring methods, reporting practices, data use, participation of students with disabilities, testing accommodations, and implementation considerations (including cost and training issues). Maryland and…