Discusses how technology-enhanced service-learning can help teachers address national standards. Describes a three-step process (preparing students for service- learning, reflecting on the experience, and taking action through communication) to strengthen service-learning. Uses the Internet to enhance environmental community projects. Includes a…

Criticizes the Grade 11 Social Studies Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP), stating that it lacks incentives for all students; is not truly an exit examination; drives changes in local curriculum; and is too heavily grounded in structuralist assumptions. Appeals for a progressive redirection of the Social Studies MEAP. (CMK)

Criticizes the National Standards in World History because they do not consider what American high school students need most to learn about world history given the limited time allotted to each subject. The author argues that the standards minimize the intellectual and political history of the West, poorly conceptualize the 20th century, and…

Describes the development of the North Central Association, from the early reactive measures to the more proactive efforts of the Commission on Schools, such as the implementation of outcomes accreditation (OA) in 1985. Argues that, with OA, changes in instruction, curricula, or organization are necessarily related to student performance and…

Presents fictitious first-person accounts detailing three forms of accreditation used by the North Central Association (NCA): one-time examinations, evaluations, and Outcomes Accreditation. Indicates that, after its first 60 years, the NCA replaced examination with self-study and peer review evaluations, which in turn were replaced by Outcomes…

This paper addresses issues concerning nationally prescribed tests and tasks in relation to the National Curriculum for England and Wales and the assessment of primary-age students with special educational needs. (DB)

This article introduces a series of 12 papers on mathematics instruction for students with learning disabilities (LD). It discusses educational trends that have implications for mathematics instruction, research in LD and mathematics instruction, and components of effective mathematics instruction. Tables summarize the standards of the National…

Explains why the national standards effort in education failed, discusses the existence and diffusion of current standards, and describes how credible national level standards might be developed. Development recommendations include brevity; concentration on skills required for student advancement; the need for review, revision, and field testing;…

Development of quality-assurance mechanisms for course and program offerings delivered internationally is lagging; only the United States, Australia, and Hong Kong have taken steps to regulate the quality of such imported or exported offerings. A nongovernmental organization, the Global Alliance for Transnational Education, created in 1995, will…

Abraham Maslow's needs hierarchy proposes that people must satisfy their "deficiency" needs (for food, safety, love, belonging, and esteem) before they can move toward growth and achievement. Schools should help all students meet standards, stress rate of improvement, and report scores on school-climate measures. (MLH)

State and federal policymakers have recently upgraded accountability rules, thrusting school leaders into uncharted, uncomfortable territory. In this scenario, principals must adopt flexible, facilitative leadership styles, model core school values, develop organizational capacity, accept heightened public scrutiny, and represent the school's…

The question of validity, or how high-stakes tests are being used and interpreted, threatens to undermine the entire standards movement. Joint standards developed by three professional associations say decisions affecting students' life chances should not be based on test scores alone. Objectivity and teaching to tests are real concerns. (MLH)

Reports that in 1999 the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) established a task force to develop competency standards for higher education. Paying particular attention to learners of all levels, adaptable standards were developed that directors of learning resources centers can adopt as part of their institutions' strategic…

Discusses individualism and the outcomes of liberalism. Highlights the pedagogical beliefs of egalitarian liberals and libertarian liberals and their differences. Discusses the current curricular and behavioral renorming of public education. (CMK)

Describes a large-scale Canadian assessment program which attempted to embed an improvement orientation into assessment by emphasizing how large-scale assessment contributes to learning. The paper investigates the impact of the assessment on how schools addressed accountability and improvement after the program had been in place for 2 years,…