Describes a system employed by a middle school to improve performance scores on the Comprehensive Testing of Basic Skills (CTBS), through aggressive attitude changes, to ensure fiscal and other benefits. Notes characteristics of the approach, including realistic goals, student involvement, student responsibility, community involvement, student…

Recounts the experiences of Kansas social studies educators in designing and implementing a workable assessment instrument that would meet state requirements. The design emphasized five characteristics (thematic orientation, skills emphasis, social studies perspectives, variety of resources, and community orientation) constructed around a…

Describes the current South African university curriculum and degree structure, and proposes a new, more flexible model of academic progression that aims to improve articulation within the university system and between vocational/technical and higher education. The model is also intended to satisfy an emerging labor market need for more graduates…

The 1994 revised accreditation standards of the American Optometric Association's Council on Optometric Education (COE) are described briefly. The standards cover program mission, goals, objectives, and outcomes; administration; resources and facilities; faculty; clinical residency; curriculum; clinic management and patient care policies; research…

Describes the "Information Power: Partnerships for Student Learning" (1998) guidelines and their significance for school library media specialists. Discusses standards in three broad areas (information literacy, independent learning, and social responsibility), roles and responsibilities of media specialists technology integration,…

Discusses the existence of three curricula in medical schools (formal, informal, and hidden) and suggests that educators and administrators investigate the hidden curriculum by examining four areas: institutional policies; evaluation practices; resource-allocation decisions; and institutional "slang." Needed reforms in accreditation standards are…

Australian college students (n=338), faculty (n=49), and administrators (n=21) completed measures of attitudes toward disabled persons and responded to a list of possible adaptations for a hypothetical college student with quadriplegia. Results indicated overwhelming support for the student's college attendance and receipt of adaptive equipment,…

Few educators today would argue with statements about the growing diversity of the children being educated in most schools. There is acceptance and often celebration of this diversity, including the growth and dispersal of the population of children and youth from diverse linguistic backgrounds, but there are also concerns about the ability to…

For the past two decades, China's economy has grown rapidly, averaging an astonishing 9 percent every year. One result of this growth has been the demand for more and better educational opportunities at the postsecondary level. In response, the Chinese government, which holds a tight control over its highly centralized education system, introduced…

At present, there appear to be only two prerequisites for entry into a music teacher education program at most institutions: a minimum academic grade point average and sufficient musical competence to be admitted to the school of music. These seem overly minimal, and serious suggestions have been made regarding additional essential requirements.…

In 2003 the first nationally-comparable science assessment was designed, developed and carried out under the auspices of the national council of education ministers, the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA). In 2006 a second science assessment was conducted and, for the first time nationally, the…

Researchers and policymakers have pointed to the lagging scores of eighth graders on international, national, and state assessments as evidence that students are not prepared to meet high academic standards and that middle grades reform is needed. In response to these concerns, educators have introduced reforms designed to provide middle-level…

In this paper, a companion piece to "Strategic Designs: Lessons from Leading Edge Small Urban High Schools" (ED544382), the authors analyze small high school spending in three urban districts--Baltimore City, Boston, and Chicago--to understand whether it is higher than in larger schools; if it is, why it is different; and the policy…

Despite the fact that the early reading proficiency for all children has become a national mandate captured in both the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the poor performance of America's fourth graders on national examinations of reading proficiency indicates that the nation is far from…

At the heart of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) is the call for all students to be "proficient" in reading and mathematics by 2014. Yet the law expects each state to define proficiency as it sees fit and design its own tests. This study investigated three research questions related to this policy: (1) How consistent are various…