The centerpiece of former Governor Elliot Spitzer's education reform agenda was a set of performance agreements between the state and designated needy school districts. Known as Contracts for Excellence, or C4E, these agreements would eventually be linked to over a quarter of the new state aid proposed in the governor's first budget. C4E districts…

Presents a report of the Association of Departments of English's (ADE) investigation of issues and procedures concerning assessment in English departments. Offers advice to educators, based on information from department chairs and colleagues. (TB)

Coordination of roles of academic departments, evaluation units, and institutional planning units is advocated as an effective approach to evaluating educational program and student performance outcomes. A model to effect this coordination is described in terms of purposes, characteristics, and structure. In the process model, four guideposts,…

Curriculum touches all members of a school's community. It is not surprising that something of great importance is influenced by many groups. At this crutial time, school boards should define their role in curriculum and encourage positive change based on sound decisions regarding what knowledge, skills, competencies, attitudes, and values…

The Council of the Great City Schools prepared this report to summarize findings and recommendations that the organization's Strategic Support Teams made during visits to the Richmond Public Schools in the Fall 2003. These teams were requested by the Richmond schools' superintendent and funded by the U.S. Department of Education to review school…

Literature was reviewed on minimum state standards related to teacher preparation and performance and on effective teaching. The review revealed that there was generally little or no relationship between effective teaching and requirements for minimum grade point average, screening tests, and general education courses. (IAH)

It is the theme of this paper that economic prosperity and public education are inseparable; yet, both are lacking in Louisiana. The lack of excellence in education is a liability for stimulating and accelerating the growth and diversification of business and industry. In particular, educational mediocrity is evidenced in the following: (1)…

Standardized tests often produce results that are inaccurate, inconsistent, and biased against minority, female, and low-income students. Such tests shift control and authority into the hands of the unregulated testing industry and can undermine school achievement by narrowing the curriculum, frustrating teachers, and driving students out of…

Recommendations are presented for a new form of school governance in British Columbia that takes into account current research on effective schools. In the model described, the provincial government provides the funding, sets the core curriculum, standards, and outcomes, ensures standardized measurement and reporting, and supports field research.…