By setting academic standards, America takes its first critical step toward providing a plan that will create an excellent educational system for the 21st century. It is important for those working on standards and those educating students with disabilities to work together as standards are being developed. Four kinds of standards need to be…

A survey of 197 regular education teachers representing 35 states indicated few changes in structural arrangements or adaptive instruction as a function of having handicapped students in their classes. Elementary and secondary level teachers completed a 2-page survey which explored the use of other adults in the classroom, size of instructional…

This paper defines key educational outcome terms, discusses national and international practices in the assessment of educational outcomes, describes activities of states in outcomes assessment, notes objectives of the National Center on Educational Outcomes, and delineates major considerations in the development of a comprehensive system of…

This guide is intended to help develop and implement an outcomes assessment program at the school, district, or state level. An introduction summarizes the purposes of this approach to assessment, which focuses on results rather than process. A four-step process is outlined. The first step is to establish a solid foundation for assessment efforts,…

The monograph summarizes findings from two research areas: teacher effectiveness and teacher decision making practices. Paradigms for research on teaching, characteristics of an effective teacher, generalizations about teachers' decision making, decision making models, and the relationship of teacher self-efficacy and teacher behaviors are…

A study of 13 national and state data collection programs examined the exclusion of students with disabilities from data collection programs evaluating student educational outcomes. Eight recommendations are offered for improving the collection and reporting of information in state and national data collection programs. (Author/CR)

This report discusses the findings of a study that analyzed 115 public reports from state accountability offices and state special education offices to investigate how students with disabilities are doing academically and nonacademically. A framework developed by the National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO) was used to organize results.…

Students with disabilities have been excluded to an unreasonable extent from large-scale assessment programs at the national, state, and local levels. One implication of this exclusion practice is that students who are left out of assessments tend not to be considered during reform efforts. Another implication is that estimates of performance are…

Results in study 1 indicate teams spent twice as much time discussing academic information as behavioral information; little time was spent discussing physical or medical data. In study 2 nearly all of the meetings were devoted primarily to classroom data, scores on achievement tests, and scores on intelligence tests. (Author)

Ninety-nine parents of students with special needs who participated in Minnesota's 1990-91 open enrollment program responded to a survey item which asked for their comments on their child's participation in the program. Twelve broad topics were identified within the content of these responses: teacher/administration attitudes,…

Discusses Opportunity to Learn (OTL) standards, with special emphasis on alternative perspectives on OTL precepts, and primary positions advocated about OTL standards. Examines concerns about students with disabilities and current proposals regarding the measurement of OTL. Concludes with a discussion of the implications of OTL standards for…

Describes a consensus-building meeting, in which stakeholders representing students attending alternative schools, teachers and directors from alternative schools, high school teachers, directors of special education, and university teacher trainers participated. Participants reviewed and reached agreement on important indicators of educational…

Based on the findings of a 1998 conference on the new assessment and accountability requirements in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), this report discusses critical issues that surround the assessment provisions included in the 1997 IDEA amendments and contains recommendations related to state and district-wide assessments…

This report discusses the findings of a study that compared identified desirable characteristics of state accountability reports with 20 accountability reports generated by 7 states. Desirable characteristics included (1) clarity (the intended audience, statements of purpose, a description of the population being reported on and the states'…

A survey was conducted of Minnesota families of students with disabilities (n=60) and without disabilities (n=60), and responses were compared to identify practices related to public school choice. Results indicated that the media were the primary source of information for families of general education students, while principals and teachers were…