School accountability systems have been roundly criticized for their narrowness, being largely informed by standardized achievement scores. With the passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act, accountability systems may become more multifaceted in coming years. This study examines pilot results of an alternative school quality framework--one…

The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), like other state education agencies, recognizes that a key lever to turning around low-performing schools is the quality of instruction and thus embeds a schoolwide instructional quality measure into its monitoring process. Massachusetts' schoolwide quality instruction…

The Commissioner of Education for Massachusetts discusses progress in desegregation, educational opportunity, and educational quality in that state, and calls for greater community outreach in an effort to rebuild a social commitment to public education. (GC)

Teacher educators and others concerned with the present-day school reform movement may profit from a consideration of the leadership styles, psychological make-up, motivation, work habits, and personal charisma of some of the reformers of the past century. This paper examines the work of Horace Mann and attempts to juxtapose elements of his…

A study examined the participation of K-12 teachers from an urban school district in ongoing reform efforts, initiated under Massachusetts' 1993 Education Reform Act. The study's purpose was to identify the initial factors underlying changes in teacher attitudes, factors encouraging use of a new educational model, and the impact of reforms on…

This paper reports on one Massachusetts teacher educator's work as a substitute teacher in local urban and suburban public schools. His goals were to assess diversity within today's classrooms, be better informed as a teacher educator, gain new clarity about teacher roles, understand the changing role of school administrators, and re-establish his…

This study examined the impact of state budget cuts on public colleges and universities in six states, focusing on the effects of such cuts on institutional priorities and plans, tuition and fees, and educational quality. Five state higher education finance officers, 12 state college or university system finance officers, and 98 college or…

The paper examines parent involvement in the governance of schools. Five structures that incorporate elected parent representatives in consultative and decision-making committees established by law are discussed: (1) School Improvement Councils (Massachusetts); (2) Boards of Governors (England and Wales); (3) Counseils d'etablissement (France);…

The literature on strategic planning, and the capabilities of Massachusetts system of public postsecondary education were assessed, as part of a 1981 leadership seminar. Teams from all public postsecondary education institutions in the state reviewed the basic concepts of strategic planning; critically analyzed the environment external to their…