Presents eight assumptions to help people understand quantification not only as it is traditionally approached--as a method of measuring reality--but also as a method of shaping reality. The categories we use in creating statistics change the way we perceive the world. (Author/IRT)

Relying on federal legislation to ease data burdens will only slow the growth of the problem. Educators can seize the initiative by improving the internal capabilities of their agencies and by promoting more careful deliberation within the external processes that generate the demands. (Author/IRT)

Discusses four complementary interventions required for principals to improve classroom visits: Provide clear, grade-specific curriculum proficiency targets; develop results-oriented, teacher team-planned curriculum units; adopt Japanese lesson study approach to teaching; and use data to improve teaching and learning. (PKP)

For over 40 years, Hodgkinson has confronted education demographics problems. He explains his major concerns; shifting views on standards and assessment; effects of students' home backgrounds; need for curriculum diversity; and the misleading notion of monolithic leadership. Now is the worst time for a uniform standards movement. (MLH)

Recent studies have argued that there is a dropout crisis in the U.S. But the authors in this article, find that this contention is based on flawed analyses of inadequate data. Using a much wider range of sources, they conclude that the situation is not nearly so dire as is commonly believed. (Contains 14 endnotes.)

Fournier, coordinator of the School Achievement Indicators Program (SAIP), claims that score differences are associated with linguistic and gender differences. These results have long been substantiated. The expectation-setting process has little reliability or validity. SAIP does not help teachers, and should not determine what students learn.…