This overview contains annual evaluation reports of State Advisory Councils on Vocational Education (SACVEs) in 57 states and territories as well as an analysis of what, on a national level, the reports seem to say. Part 1 is the overview analysis of SACVE annual reports. It focuses on 10 relatively common issues or concerns: funding, leadership…

Describes how school districts can use microcomputers for financial modeling in order to conduct a logical and rational school closure analysis. (MLF)

SABIS International Charter School was among 24 Commonwealth charter schools included in a study undertaken by the Office of the Inspector General in March 1998. The Office identified weaknesses in the contracting practices, procurement procedures, and financial management. Findings include: (1) the Board of Trustees did not employ sound business…

This paper examines the purposes and criteria of statewide program evaluations in higher education, focusing on the development of program evaluations in Illinois, and presents new statewide criteria for program approval and review. It also discusses the role of the Illinois State Board of Higher Education in approving and reviewing programs at…

Decentralization is no longer the dominant reform strategy in the Chicago (Illinois) Public Schools. The Chicago School Reform Amendatory Act of 1995 redesigns the school governance arrangement so that power and authority are now integrated among city officials, school boards, local school councils, and a Chief Executive Officer. To examine how…

Public and private college participation in program review activities of 45 state-level higher education agencies are classified as either reactive, advisory, formative, or voting, depending upon institutional access to decision making. Such access had important ramifications for the issue of reciprocity in conducting reviews and implementing…

Examines principal and teacher response to the implementation of a systemwide student promotion policy in Philadelphia (Pennsylvania). Concludes that although principals and teachers may agree in principle with promotional standards, conflicting values may interfere with implementation. (FMW)

State and federal governments have appropriated increasingly greater portions of decision-making policy from local school boards. This chapter discusses the politics and governance of local school districts, summarizing three major theoretical perspectives (decision-output, competition-participation, and dissatisfaction theories) and relevant…

Political acumen has become survival skill for school leaders. By staying abreast of developing social issues and anticipating local action, school executives can orchestrate community effort, take lead, and develop plan featuring broad citizen involvement. Advice is provided for playing new game and becoming less isolationist. Sidebars show how…

School boards should not interfere with student newspapers, beyond disciplining libelous journalists fairly. Instead of censoring articles, school boards and administrators should allow student journalists to make mistakes and pay later. If a lawsuit results from an irresponsible article, the school pays only if it controls. Rebecca Jones's…

U.S. and British school leaders are preoccupied with many of the same issues, including the curriculum and its assessment, the reporting of pupil achievement and use of raw scores, site-based management, parental choice as a quality lever, small schools, the school board's role, and different approaches to quality improvement. Overemphasis of…

Advocates hail privatization as an effective, cost-efficient tool for school boards in meeting their wide-ranging obligations and diverse responsibilities. Critics see privatization as movement away from a publicly owned and operated institution with broad citizen support to a hollow structure that compromises public education's goals. A sidebar…

In a high-quality professional development system, goals are student-centered, focused on learning, and incorporated into teachers' daily routine. School boards can foster this model by ensuring that professional development is aligned with student learning needs and district improvement plans and by providing sufficient resources. (MLH)

This article examines the language games played by superintendents as they work with school boards and community activists to craft school policy. We begin by examining the role of language in problem definition and the agenda-setting process. We then examine how political culture and the media affect problem definition. We argue that school…

This Massachusetts Senate committee study examined public endowment fund development at public institutions of higher education in the state in comparison with institutional development at institutions in other states. The study used data from the Massachusetts Attorney General's Division of Public Charities, from colleges and universities, from…