Traditional assessment, grading, and student-recognition practices are partly responsible for the low levels of student effort pervading American schools. Two improvement-focused systems for student accountability and recognition that have been field tested are presented: The Incentives for Improvement Program (Baltimore, Maryland) and the Windham…

This article provides an overview of policymaking in relation to state and local district testing and accountability and concludes by identifying continuing policy issues and strategies for local implementation of standards-based secondary education that aligns with current testing and accountability policies. Governance models for curriculum…

This study examined the effects of personal accountability and personal responsibility instructional treatments on elementary-age, urban, at-risk physical education students. A multiple treatment (ABAD, ACAD, ADA, control) behavior-analysis design was implemented across four distinct matched class settings to determine the separate and combined…

This article examines the need for preparing highly qualified teachers and the challenge of preparing future generations of citizens. Examining the historical antecedents of "highly qualified," beginning with the 1954 "Brown" decision, I ground my position on the role of schools and colleges of education in preparing educators…

Despite small steps of progress, issues of legitimacy and worth are still barriers inhibiting systemic change in physical education. Even with the call for reform in physical education (Rink, 1993), few comprehensive school reform efforts have included physical education, for at least two reasons. First, physical education is not considered a core…

The status of higher education in Maryland in 1975 and 1985 is compared, with attention to enrollments, student qualifications, programs, faculty, funding, quality, accountability, and the role of higher education in society. Data on opening fall 1984 enrollments and changes from 1983 are provided for Maryland community colleges, state colleges…

The month-long teacher strike in 1987 was the impetus for a wave of reform efforts directed toward the Chicago, Illinois, school system. State legislation of far-reaching reforms, the governor's vetoes, and a subsequent reconvening of the legislature resulted in a restructuring and decentralization of the school system. Many of the reforms are…

Discusses controversial changes in educational policy resulting from the government's restraint program to control public sector spending and from the broader movement to reform public schooling. Outlines the causes of restraint and its immediate and long-term effects on public education. Emphasizes the shift to provincial control of decisions…

Steps are needed to foster in faculty a renewed sense of collective purpose toward society. Communication gaps between policymakers and faculty have exacerbated a separation between higher education and society. Specific proposals may create a fiscal and structural environment to channel nascent faculty cooperation and entrepreneurial tendencies.…

Investigates the validity and reliability of performance assessments using data from over 300 fifth and sixth graders. Results demonstrate the gap between the reality of measurement through performance assessments and the political rhetoric that would institute these assessments in a national examination system in the immediate future. (SLD)

An empirical test of a method of teacher evaluation by predicting student performance and comparing it with actual outcomes is described. Results from 6,249 urban fifth graders in 103 schools suggest that teachers can be evaluated in this way and that the best and worst teachers can be identified. (SLD)

Assesses critical thinking teaching models, including skill development, problem-solving, logical thinking, multiaspect, and information processing approaches. Stresses creating open classroom environments where critical thinking that fosters effective, thoughtful decision making can flourish. Argues that teaching can and should be less…

Community leadership roles taken by African-American educators between 1795 and 1954 are reviewed, including biographical sketches of several prominent Blacks. Educators were major figures in African-American movements toward specific cultural objectives. (SLD)

For 2 decades, policymakers have pretended that bureaucratic, state-imposed standards, testing, and sanctions will fundamentally raise all schoolchildren's academic achievement and create productive citizens. The losers have been children of the poor, working class, and undereducated. Policymakers are holding schools and children accountable for…

Sometimes, state requirements really are helpful, resulting in projects that positively affect teachers and students. The requirement for school districts and area education agencies (AEAs) to submit annual progress reports (APRs) to the state, based on student data, resulted in a technology project with wide-reaching implications. Using the…