Glenn Smith, APPA's Vice President for Professional Development, had the honor of introducing the closing panel discussion at APPA's annual conference in Boston last July--a discussion centered on the theme "Inventing Our Future." Previous general plenary sessions and related breakout sessions had explored the challenges people face in these…

During the author's travels all over the United States speaking to a wide variety of audiences, and his visits with leadership groups in the Middle East and Far East, he has encountered diverse audiences who share his concern that the majority of students are leaving high school without the skills that matter most--even in those school districts…

Hollow reforms, like proposals that emphasize get-tough accountability over support for educators and widespread choice over quality neighborhood schools, enjoy their share of supporters. As the author watched the choice and accountability movements gain momentum across the nation, she concluded that curriculum and instruction were far more…

In 2005, Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings convened a panel of 19 leading educators, educational bureaucrats, and corporate leaders to examine the state of postsecondary education. Members sought solutions to problems in four areas of concern: access, affordability, quality, and accountability. The commission completed a final report, with…

In this article, the author discusses how educators can set the context of assessment conversations by looking at "well-lighted sites" for valuable, though certainly introductory, explorations that can set the stage for the more probing and more complex assessment work to come. The author suggests that in initial assessment conversations, it may…

The recommendations of a national committee on the organization, quality, and efficiency of Australian universities are reviewed. They cover accountability, flexibility, and efficiency of operation. Implications for the future of universities, especially small ones, are discussed. (MSE)

The author recently served on a five-member international review panel for Saudi Arabia's National Commission for Academic Accreditation and Assessment. The panel's mission was to evaluate the Arab Open University against the commission's accreditation criteria to determine if the university should be eligible for King Abdullah's national…

Notes on a 1980 seminar for members of statewide coordinating and governing boards are presented as part of an inservice education program. Speakers and participants spoke on such topics as the relations among universities and governments in a time of increasing accountability, institutional reactions under conditions of fiscal stress, and…

Five criteria for judging college or university performance indicators (PIs) used to guide strategic decision making are outlined. The criteria address: purpose; alignment of PIs throughout the organization or system; alignment of PIs across inputs, processes, and outcomes; capacity to accommodate a variety of evaluation methods; and utility in…

In this article, the author discusses current challenges to the idea of teamwork in fine arts teams, redefines the terms team and collaboration using a business management perspective, discusses the success of effective teams in the business world and the characteristics of those teams, and proposes the implementation of the business model of…

Guidelines for North Carolina public schools that are interested in developing and submitting plans for outcome-based education (OBE) pilot programs for the years 1993-94 and 1996-97 are offered in this document. The OBE program is based on the premise that all students can learn and focuses on the expectations for achievement necessary for…

To further expand the planning and resource allocation component of vocational education, evaluation should be incorporated into the process. Future legislation should contain evaluation elements that measure the outcomes that vocational education should be achieving to justify the funds expended. (LRA)

Notes that effective advocacy for children must build bridges between those who know most about and care most for children, those who are the powerful, and policymakers whose decisions affect the children's lives. Suggests that state-based, statewide child advocacy programs are most efficient and most effective. (ET)

Relations between colleges/college governing boards and statewide coordinating boards, and alternatives to coordination, are considered. The history of statewide coordinating boards is briefly sketched, and it is suggested that current conditions and trends require both state and institutional responses. Among the issues are declining enrollments…

This article examines early implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act's (NCLB) accountability provisions. Theoretically, the author explains how executing education policy in the United States requires federal officials to employ tactics designed to assert control over state implementers while persuading them to adopt federal priorities as…