This research reports on the efforts of six middle school and high school science teachers in a public school district in New York City to balance innovative teaching methods and strategies with the New York State Learning Standards and Regents requirements. More specifically, this research examines the factors that influenced the implementation…

Describes a program developed to help school principals understand the importance of school library media specialists based on "Information Power." Explains modules on academic achievement and school libraries, information literacy and academic standards, library collections and flexible access, and revitalization and evaluation of…

Online communities are meeting places for learners on the Internet designed to facilitate interaction and collaboration among people who share common interests and needs. Most participants are drawn by an opportunity to share a sense of community with like-minded strangers, regardless of were they live. School communities can be distinguished by…

In this chapter, the author attempts to help the reader see beyond the current state of affairs in terms of the relationship between classroom assessment and accountability and to consider some wider perspectives and possibilities. Hopefully, this will also help the reader step into the spirit of the discussion that is inherent in the chapters…

This article analyses the increasingly diverse and sophisticated critique of "outcomes approaches" in vocational qualifications; critique which has now moved well beyond the early claims of reductivism and behaviourism. Avoiding a naive position on extraction of points of consensus, this article attempts to extract key issues which have…

Over the past twenty years American education has seen many changes, and most notable have been those related to accountability and assessment. One aspect of these changes has been the movement toward more specified student learning outcomes. In discipline after discipline content standards have been developed outlining that which students should…

"National Science Education Standards" (1996), published by the National Research Council, recommends that students learn to explain Moon phases and eclipses by the time they graduate from eighth grade. It is clear from the research literature, however, that misconceptions about Moon phases and eclipses are widespread and resistant to change, even…

The South Australian Certificate of Education (SACE), introduced in 1992-93, is a credential and formal qualification within the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF). SACE was recently subjected to a review that led to a series of significant recommendations. These recommendations came out of a process that began with the Review Panel…

This study focused on a particular course entitled Raising Standards in Writing and attempted to discover if it did impact on pupil attainment and change teachers' practices. The course was provided by a Local Education Authority and used National Literacy Strategy materials. It was developed in the context of the British government's concern…

When the author became the principal of Citrus Middle School in 1998, it was the lowest performing school in the district. Students from Citrus were viewed as largely under-prepared, often read below grade level, had high drop-out rates, and were responsible for a significant amount of the gang activity on the school campus. She was also told that…

In this age of greater school accountability, some the country's larger comprehensive high schools have lost their allure with the public. Because of significant achievement gaps between White and minority students, many of these schools have been blamed for not meeting the needs of poor and disadvantaged students. Detractors point out that these…

More than a decade has passed since Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics (NCTM 1989) and Professional Standards for Teaching Mathematics (NCTM 1991) were published, and the question of whether students' learning of mathematics has improved during that time has frequently been asked. Scores on the mathematics assessment of the…

This article describes a successful alternative school located in northwest Wyoming. Students who attend this school need an atmosphere that is accepting of their differences and allows them to express themselves without fear of ridicule or punishment. These children are looking for a safe, secure place to complete their education, a place where…

Helping schools create environments where all students can learn is a worthwhile mission for schools big and small. Both multi and single site districts agree that providing equitable and meaningful learning opportunities for every student is essential, but find this challenging and difficult. What are the systemic factors that limit educators in…

This article focuses on the construction of dyslexia in higher education and explores the nature of negotiations between students, lecturers and academic institutions over diagnosis, support and assessment. Disabled students are now entitled, under the terms of the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA), to reasonable adjustments in assessment.…