The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) was signed into law in 2001, fueled by bipartisan concern about the standardized test scores of U.S. students in comparison with their international cohort and dissatisfaction with gaps in achievement between certain student groups--low income, English-language learners, special education, and students of…

Four options for state standards are advising curriculum and instruction, measuring accountability, prescribing curriculum and instruction, and assessing construction of artifacts. The fourth option may be the best way to accommodate state influence while allowing teacher creativity and autonomy. (SK)

Although the regulation of the counseling profession has been sought and accomplished in most states, it is questionable whether the public is best protected by state regulation. Offers an alternative to governmental regulation of specialties. (JPS)

In less than 25 years, licensure laws on counseling have been passed in 41 states and Washington, D.C. Although much progress has been made regarding certification and licensure, many problems remain. Provides a reaction to certification and licensure issues. (JPS)

This paper offers options to state policymakers interested in a P-16 system of educational reform. P-16 systems are attempts to create a coherent, flexible system of public education that stretches from preschool through the fourth year of college. The range of options for policymakers is broad and depends on existing state programs and plans. The…

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)

While state curricular mandates may bring compliance, the notion that they can change what happens between teachers and students in the classroom is inherently wrong. States must set broad goals, establish broad outcomes, hold districts accountable through periodic reviews, and also devote ample resources and energies to those ends. (MSE)

The role of the state government in higher education assessment is clearly expanding as both the state's interest and investment in higher education grows. Currently, patterns of state involvement vary widely--from indirect incentive programs to direct legislation or regulatory action. Institutional assessment and the resulting reform must be…

Offers a critique of "Transforming the State Role in Undergraduate Education: Time for a Different View," by the Education Commission of the States. Urges community colleges to develop research models to assess output, affirm the importance of teaching and learning, reward excellent teachers, and reassess the educational enterprise's hierarchy.…

Licensing requirements are often regarded as minimum standards that result in only a basic level of care. In fact, the minimum standards that licensing requires can be as high or low as licensing rules permit. Further, in almost all cases, licensing requirements provide a foundation upon which higher standards can be built. The relationship…

Evolution of "quality" in higher education as an institutional concept is traced, and differences between approaches at the institutional and state levels are explored. Contrasting approaches in Florida and Illinois are examined, particularly in the case of Miami-Dade Community College (Florida). Contribution of the different approaches…

This paper reviews the development of the public monopoly of degree-granting institutions of higher education in Ontario, Canada. It examines arguments for private universities which suggest improved accessibility, diversity, and quality and finds the arguments to be insufficiently strong. A recommendation is made for improvement of Ontario's…

The proposal by the Louisiana State Superintendent of Education that non-public schools use a new public high school examination for graduation is described as an unwarranted regulation that threatens the pursuit of excellence and scholarship in private education. The proposed state exit examination is considered to be intrusive and inconsistent…

The concept of "educational adequacy" may have its origin in the U.S. Supreme Court's 1973 decision, San Antonio v. Rodriquez, that the state's responsibility is to provide not equal education but an "adequate minimum educational offering," so that students will have the "opportunity to acquire the basic minimal…

This report contains the principle addresses on the conference topics of the relationships between education for the professions and practice, and between professional examinations and practice. Remarks of commentators about the addresses are also included. In the first speech, essential components of professional education are discussed. The…