Recognizing that the literacy demands that students now face require their active involvement in their own learning, this book considers a wide variety of ways to encourage that involvement. The book describes how teachers' practices foster literacy communities in their classrooms that can help students achieve the standards for the English…

The Assessment Bridge uses four major components to span the gaps between testing, curriculum, and change. The book focuses on the context in which educational testing operates and suggests a view of testing, not as a narrowing of the curriculum, but as a way to deepen teachers involvement in creating the ideas that must be assessed so that…

This book addresses problems facing U.S. schools, discussing the role of parental involvement and how social class pervades the school system. It suggests there are actually three school systems, with serious inequities among them (one serves the well-to-do and privileged, plus a few exceptional students from lower social classes; another provides…

This book presents guidelines to help teachers design and conduct grading practices that help students feel in control of their own academic success. After an introduction, the 12 chapters are: (1) "Linking Grades"; (2) "Using Performance Standards"; (3) "Grading Individual Achievement"; (4) "Sampling Student Performance"; (5) "Changing Grades";…

The purposes of this book are to help teachers understand the rationale and nature of the current emphasis on U.S. education on standards and to provide classroom teachers with guidance on the many ways the standards movement might affect their classrooms. Approaches to implementing standards may be organized into two general categories, indirect…

This book explores the link between school character and school improvement. It focuses on the construction of a schooling system based on layered loyalties and shared accountability, ideas that build on local initiatives and concerns without compromising the interests of stakeholders. Chapter 1 examines the role that culture plays in providing a…

Since 2001-2002, standards-based accountability (SBA) provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) have shaped the work of public school teachers and administrators in the United States. NCLB requires each state to develop content and achievement standards in several subjects, administer tests to measure students' progress toward…

Helping teachers envision how math standards can be integrated into the secondary classroom, this book presents engaging activities and ready-to-use lessons aligned with NCTM content and process standards. This user-friendly book by mathematics educator Timothy J. McNamara is filled with a generous collection of lessons for each of the ten NCTM…

This publication offers an update in concise form of pertinent information for teachers, administrators, librarians, counselors, and other school personnel on certification requirements. Recommendations of regional and national associations regarding school staff responsibilities and school policies are presented, as well as current addresses for…

American public education has gradually evolved from a focus on the "disciplined mind" attainable by only a few to a focus on observable outcomes, purportedly attainable by all. This book offers a historical study of assessment, standards, outcomes, and criticism in U.S. public schools. Chapter 1 provides a selective history of education, focusing…

This volume was commissioned to mark the centennial of the North Central Association (NCA) of Colleges and Schools in 1996. It reviews the organization's history and explores the internal culture of the NCA, the role of accreditation, and the unique relationship between educational voluntary associations and the federal government. The book sees…

A framework for designing academic standards and for refining these standards through a curriculum- design process is provided in this book. The book is intended as a step- by-step guide than can be picked up and followed by any interested educator. Chapter 1 begins with a brief discussion concerning the need for standards and examines several…

This yearbook offers a view of the key elements of schooling in the 21st century, outlining the nature of the change process that will be needed to create such schools. These key elements are drawn from the experience of educational reform in several countries and reflect a growing consensus about which elements will help all schools achieve both…

This book describes the kind of education system that is needed for the future. The text originated with a study that involved 21 leaders in business, education, government, and other fields who identified more than 250 characteristics that would enhance schools' capability in preparing students for a global knowledge/information age. Followup…

This history focuses on three main themes to examine the selective function of American college admission policies between 1870 and 1970: (1) admission policies in the context of social and institutional change; (2) the ability of higher education institutions to absorb new constituencies; and (3) the concept of selective admission, or policies…