Whether to adopt national standards and tests has long been a subject of lively debate in the United States. With 47 states now participating in the Common Core State Standards Initiative, and a commitment from Education Secretary Arne Duncan to allocate hundreds of millions in stimulus funds to the development of common tests, the country is…

In setting performance standards for schoolchildren, the school system not only announces what students must know; it specifies what it presumes it can teach. Tests of competency should be merely a monitoring device to indicate whether the system is meeting its obligation to students. (Author)

In a review of statewide plans for assessing student learning at institutions of higher education, this paper argues that assessment, carefully planned to focus on students, can lead to an improvement in the communication and understanding between the academy and the polity. A brief section on the role of statewide assessment places it in a…

This publication is a guide for institutions of higher education as they work with their federally supported State Postsecondary Review Entity (SPRE) to establish 15 standards for review. SPREs are established by state governments at the direction of the federal 1992 Reauthorization of the Higher Education Act. They conduct and coordinate review…

Through state-supported day care programs for employees' children, incentives for industry-supported programs, and careful review of the regulation of child care providers, states are beginning to meet the growing demand for quality child care facilities. In 1984, 34 states considered or adopted changes in policies regulating day care providers.…

This study identifies the current status of state policies on distance education in a sample of states and identifies changes in federal, state, and local roles in developing policies that may encourage more efficient and effective use of technology for distance learning. The study identifies and analyzes policies in key areas which are now, or…

Historical perspectives concerning accreditation in postsecondary education, the structure of accreditation, and possible future roles for the process are examined. It is suggested that the interplay of four groups provides a basis to consider the possible future in the field of accreditation. These groups are: state government responsibilities…

Describes one statewide process of basal series selection and outlines the concerns of eight groups involved in the process. (FL)

Establishment of a national-state system of world-class occupational skill standards is a first step in restructuring adult vocational-technical education and job training programs. Occupational skills standards provide the necessary foundation for addressing three major state policy issues: the state's proper role in private work-based training,…

To ensure that school districts and schools meet acceptable performance levels, many school districts and states have enacted various accountability policies. Two of the most controversial approaches to accountability are reconstitutions of schools and state takeovers of school districts and schools. For each approach, this policy brief presents…