Florida's School Improvement and Educational Accountability program is described in this guidebook. Part 1 explains the what, why, and how of the plan, which seeks to improve student performance by defining expectations and outcomes. Chapters provide information on the following: social and demographic changes in the state; the Education…

Two provisions in Title I--maintenance of effort (MOE) and supplement not supplant (SNS)--are designed to limit the extent to which federal funds can be used to replace state and local resources. To assess the quality of oversight of these provisions, the General Accounting Office (GAO) determined how Arizona, California, Florida, Indiana,…

Florida's Performance Assessment System for Students with Disabilities (PASSD) is a response to growing demands that students with disabilities be included in school evaluation and accountability efforts through alternate assessments. Chapter 1 introduces PASSD and provides background information. It notes that the focus of PASSD is noncategorical…

A judicial decision on issues raised by state diploma denial found that competency testing of Florida's high school students as a graduation requirement violated due process by not providing students with adequate notice. The court prescribed some degree of curricular validity to determine whether the test covered materials actually taught.…

Notes that effective advocacy for children must build bridges between those who know most about and care most for children, those who are the powerful, and policymakers whose decisions affect the children's lives. Suggests that state-based, statewide child advocacy programs are most efficient and most effective. (ET)

Presents findings of a 5-year study of U.S. educational finance. Analyzes spending patterns across 50 states and examines staffing patterns and expenditures across curriculum areas in California, Florida, and New York. Although this century has seen a major investment in public education, funding has been distributed unfairly and used…

Governor Jeb Bush and a Republican-dominated legislature have legislated a sweeping revision of the Florida education code that could qualify 150,000 of the state's 2.3 million public-school students for vouchers. A convenient diversion from true school reform, Bush's Opportunity Scholarship Program will be judged unconstitutional. (MLH)

In this era of educational choice, school accountability, research-based practices, and commercial competition--illustrated by but not exclusive to No Child Left Behind--some schools, public and private, make claims that resemble false advertising and that some parents rely on, to their disappointment and even detriment. Moreover, the laudable…

This document updates "Accommodations: Assisting Students with Disabilities. A Guide for Educators," published by the Florida Department of Education (FDOE) in 2003. This document is written to assist school district personnel and parents when making decisions about the use of accommodations by students with disabilities in instructional…

Stakeholder surveys conducted as part of the development of an accountability and assessment system for five charter schools in Miami-Dade County and Broward County, Florida, revealed high positive response regarding high expectations, school climate, basic skills instruction, and monitoring student progress. The lowest overall rating revealed…

The school superintendent for Duval County (Florida) describes his experiences in developing a school-based management organizational structure. The following elements are involved: (1) funds are allocated to schools based on needs of children in schools, (2) specific educational objectives for a school are set by people associated with the…

In response to the demand for accountability in higher education, colleges have adopted business techniques of planning and management systems in the form of Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Evaluation System (PPBES). The system approach to educational administration consists of three interrelated concepts: (1) input, (2) process, and (3)…

A collage of excerpts about the Florida Minimum Competencies Testing Program. (Author/MLF)

This paper explores what lessons can be learned from the experiences of states that instituted NCLB-like accountability systems prior to 2001 (here called first-generation accountability systems). It looks at the experiences of three smaller states (Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina), four larger ones (California, Florida, New York, Texas), and…

Interest is growing in planning and implementing new systems of holding child and family services accountable for results. The Results-Based Accountability (RBA) Project at the Harvard Family Research Project (HFRP) has supported and built upon recent state efforts to develop these new accountability systems for child and family services. The RBA…