An alternative high school teacher examined whether her students could be motivated to achieve higher performance levels, testing a theory that performance would improve if students were asked to meet detailed standards rather than be rewarded for class attendance and assignment completion. The experiment had mixed results. (Author/SM)

Examined the impact of a standards-based instructional method, designed by the Center for Research on Education, Diversity & Excellence (CREDE), on the achievement of at-risk American Indian 8th graders studying mathematics. Results indicated that students instructed in a manner consistent with CREDE's standards had greater achievement than…

This article highlights alternate assessment scoring and reporting in Delaware and Indiana. Delaware's alternate assessment portfolios are scored by two third parties using a multidimensional rubric. In Indiana, lead teachers use a rubric similar to that used in general education assessments to score alternate assessment electronic portfolios.…

In this article, the authors aim to present and discuss competing accountability approaches, or models, designed to systematically indicate how a school's students are performing academically. Within the framework of the current federally mandated accountability legislation, increased interest in models measuring school performance has caused…

Facilitating participatory processes in graduate leadership classrooms appears to be a natural precursor to students modeling the development of democratic environments in their future work. Doing so, however, might require the involvement of students in a variety of activities heretofore the domain of professors. One example of such a democratic…

What sorts of instruction do students experience in high school English? Most research findings rely on small-scale, localized contexts. The purpose of this study is to provide a national portrait of high school English by documenting its overall quality on several dimensions that are theoretically important. In addition, the study examines…

This study investigated the criteria for admission to teacher education at 50 National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) accredited undergraduate universities. These universities varied in geographical location, public and private affiliation, and size of student enrollment. The study analyzed and evaluated admission criteria…

This study examined higher education institutions' compliance with Standard IIB, Criterion #35 of the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE), which focuses on arrangements the teacher education program has made with school districts to provide assistance to its graduates who are first year teachers. Data were obtained from…

Findings of a study that sought to determine teachers' and principals' perceptions concerning state-mandated testing are presented in this paper. Data were gathered through interviews with 30 fifth- and sixth-grade teachers and 12 principals in 3 states--Tennessee, Illinois, and New York--where statewide testing has been implemented for 30 years,…

Over the past 3 years, the Mathematics Department of Grossmont College, in California, has examined the issues of course standards, instructor grading variability, and course placement. In 1990, a study was conducted to determine if the Elementary Algebra instructors with lower pass rates had higher standards, and if their students had a higher…

Relevant policy issues for early childhood special education (ECSE) programs to consider in the areas of exit decision making and follow-up procedures are identified in this report. These issues were generated through extensive naturalistic case studies of four ECSE programs located in urban, suburban, and rural communities and were selected to…

The Learning Assessment Retention Consortium of the California Community Colleges distributed two questionnaires to all 108 California community colleges to determine practices related to academic standards and matriculation. Study findings, based on responses from 68 colleges to the academic standards survey and 70 colleges to the matriculation…

When the College Level Academic Skills Test (CLAST) was mandated in Florida, a schedule of incremental increases in the required passing scores was legislated. The 1986 passing standards were scheduled to be increased in 1989. This change was projected to reduce by half the number of students admitted to upper-level status at Florida's colleges. A…

In 1983, the San Jose/Evergreen Community College District Board of Trustees asked that all courses be given appropriate levels of reading, writing, and math prerequisites. Minimum competencies (generally 9th grade English reading and writing skills) were assigned to almost all district courses. A study was conducted to determine the degree to…

A model for faculty development in colleges of education was developed based on the research on school planning, program and staff development, and school assessment. A needs assessment instrument was developed to identify training needs of principals in instructional leadership roles, and the instrument was revised to assess training needs of…