This booklet sets out the state standards for students in Wyoming public schools for succeeding in the Fine and Performance Arts in grades K-12. Five standards are defined for benchmark grades 4, 8, and 11: (1) creative expression through production; (2) artistic perception; (3) aesthetic valuing; (4) historical and cultural context; and (5)…

This book provides a perspective on what standards for learning mean for daily practice in public education, offering teachers and administrators a four-part structure for organizing classrooms for teaching to the standards and giving teachers specific strategies for helping students reach the higher requirements. The four practices combine all of…

A growing number of schools are exploring the prospect of applying for funding to implement a Comprehensive School Reform (CSR) model. But the process of selecting a CSR model can be complicated because it frequently involves self-study and a review of models to determine which models best meet the needs of the school. This study guide is intended…

This information brief explains principles of universal design as an approach to providing access for students with disabilities to the general education curriculum. The premise of universal design is that environments and products should be designed for maximum usability including flexible curriculum and learning environments to allow students…

This collection of papers focuses on the public conflict that surrounded the debate over reading and mathematics education in the 1990s. The 14 papers are: (1) "Introduction" (Tom Loveless); (2) "The Roots of the Education Wars" (E.D. Hirsch, Jr.); (3) "Mathematics Education: The Future and the Past Create a Context for Today's Issues" (Gail…

This study examines the process through which the Commission on Public Secondary Schools of the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC/CPSS) accredits the public high schools of New England. The commission is one of five that compose the association. Recent efforts of government agencies to hold schools accountable by testing…

Rural schools that reorganize themselves as genuine learning communities can develop and maintain a professional development process that benefits staff and students. Key components of a learning community are trust, respect, and collegiality. In schools that have become learning communities, teams of educators work collaboratively in structures…

This study used a regression discontinuity design to examine the causal effect of summer school and grade retention on student achievement. In 1996, the Chicago Public Schools instituted an accountability policy that tied summer school attendance and promotional decisions to performance on standardized tests, which created a highly non-linear…

Redefining the federal government's role in kindergarten through grade 12 education, the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 is designed to close the achievement gap between disadvantaged and minority students and their peers. The act is based on four principles, the first of which is stronger accountability for results, entailing creation of…

This paper analyzes research on accreditation, licensure, and certification standards that have impacted teacher education programs, providing a historical perspective of how and why standards came about in teacher education and examining each of the standards bodies in teacher education: the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education…

This case study describes how an ordinary urban school, Loganville High School of Loganville, Georgia, reversed its pattern of low performance and became a Georgia School of Excellence by committing to a serious pursuit of whole-school improvement. Strategies included eliminating low-level classes, raising graduation requirements, involving…

This booklet lists six model content standards in theater arts for elementary and secondary school students in the state of Colorado. The six standards cited in the booklet are: (1) Students develop interpersonal skills and problem-solving capabilities through group interaction and artistic collaboration; (2) Students understand and apply the…

This report on state and district educational assessment programs suggests that, rather than being a threat, these assessments can be an important avenue to equity and excellence for English language learners with disabilities. It begins by examining some of the original ideas behind standards-based education, such as how current federal…

The U.S. has always had regional differences. Today the regions may be difficult to distinguish, but from 1800 to 1860, those lines clearly existed. While each region, North, South, and West, remained dedicated to the American Dream, each attempted to reach the dream in significantly different ways. This lesson, which revolves around an 1839…

This document discusses the institutional self-study accreditation of De Anza College (California). Highlights include: (1) De Anza's student enrollments from 1990-1998 averaged around 24,000; (2) female students continued to comprise slightly greater than half the population; (3) students with disabilities increased by 50%; (4) the ethnic…