This issue of the quarterly newsletter of the Institute for Research on Educational Finance and Governance contains five articles summarizing five papers on the regulation of education that were originally presented at the institute's Law and Education Seminar. Each summary was written by the author of the original paper. David Kirp's article…

The purpose of this study was to examine the state level, district level, and school level education accountability data that were made available on selected State Department of Education Web sites in 2000-2001. The issues of interest were: (1) differences in reported indicators on the education report cards produced in Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky,…

These three newsletters for 1998 highlight the following topics and issues. The March newsletter features an article on streamlining the transfer ready model, which includes an equation to find the transfer directed rate and the transfer ready rate. The new transfer ready model is divided into three categories, the beginning cohort, the transfer…

In this publication are three short articles on successful school practices. "Learning Is the Outcome; Test Scores Are Just the Measure" describes test-preparation efforts in Mesa, Arizona, public schools. The district has instituted a program to assist principals and teachers in aligning curriculum, instruction, and assessment, and in…

This document contains four issues from volume 9 (1999-2000) of the St. Petersburg Junior College (SPJC) Office of Institutional Research Research Brief. Number 1 (September 1999), "Comparison of Faculty Adjunct Salaries in Florida Community Colleges", contains 2 tables. Table 1 shows the top five community colleges in adjunct salaries…

Five articles in this special issue present the approaches to accountability found in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, Quebec, and Newfoundland, provinces that represent 85% of all Canadian elementary and secondary school students. The articles are then discussed by representatives of four national Canadian educational associations. (SLD)

This article grew out of a roundtable of national leaders in higher education which explored the role of the academic department in serving as both a force for institutional change and a link to the scholarly world of disciplinary knowledge and practice. The essay argues that the principal threat to the academy is its own fragmentation, with…

As part of a qualitative study of education reform in four rural Kentucky school districts, this report examines instructional changes that have occurred in the upper primary grades as a result of the Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA). Researchers interviewed 13 principals, 37 teachers, and 14 eighth-grade students; observed 73 teachers working…

This brief describes new requirements for vocational education program improvement and evaluation mandated by the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act of 1990. Recommendations to enhance the impact of program improvement and evaluation activities are included. The first two sections discuss developing new state…

This theme issue of "Update on Gifted Education" brings together accounts of diverse efforts being made to encourage excellence and equity in schools. A dialogue with Lionel R. Meno, Commissioner of Education in Texas, stresses how services for gifted students fit into the larger picture of addressing the needs of all students, examines…

This theme issue addresses school reform, focusing on accountability, attrition, public-supported private education, equitable education, and schoolwide reform. "School-Student Performance and Accountability" (Jose A. Cardenas) discusses what constitutes good performance in school; the shifting emphasis among the input, output, and…

The critical thinking movement is responding nationwide to the challenge of teaching thought processes to students. This volume contains 10 articles addressing critical thinking and the instruction of higher-level thinking skills: (1) "Critical Thinking: What, Why, and How," by Richard Paul; (2) "Teaching Critical Thinking across the Curriculum,"…

Accountability, in the sense of educational efficiency, has popular political appeal in Australia. Yet there is urgent need for Australian educators to influence how accountability is to be defined and to determine how it is to be implemented at the school level. One useful definition of accountability, satisfactory to both teachers and the…

This collection of articles includes the following: "Introduction: Volume 13: Meeting the Accountability Challenge" (Maria Cora); "New Accountability Rules Pose Dilemma for Programs" (Steve Reuys); "Layers, Brushes, and Multi-Lane Highways: Examining Accountability in a Non-Traditional Program" (Marie Cora); "The Adventure Continues" (Janet…

Each of the four issues of the newsletter of the Texas Association for the Gifted focuses on a theme: leadership, evaluation and assessment, curriculum issues, and accountability issues. Issues usually contain theme-related major articles, columns by the Association's president and executive director, a column examining related research, answers…