The purpose of this policy study was to report descriptive research on state-level policy and frameworks for accountability systems of alternative education in the United States. The six states; California, Colorado, Texas, Florida, Oklahoma, and North Carolina; identified in the 2010 Jobs for the Futures policy analysis of alternative education…

Teacher effort, a critical component of education production, has been largely ignored in the literature due to measurement difficulties. Using a principal-agent model, North Carolina public school data, and the state's unique accountability system that rewards teachers for school-level academic growth, we show that we can distill effort from…

The main intention of the Community College Virtual Summit, as stated by Troy Justesen, assistant secretary for vocational and adult education, was to explore four critical issues facing community colleges: (1) Two- to four-year transitions; (2) Adult and nontraditional students; (3) Accountability; and (4) Leadership. These were selected as the…

Since the 1996/97 school year, the state of North Carolina has awarded bonuses of up to $1,500 to teachers in schools that exhibit test score gains above certain thresholds. This article reviews the details of the bonus program, describes patterns of differences between schools that qualify for bonuses of differing amounts, and presents basic data…

This paper describes the development of teacher- accountability systems in North Carolina. It explains how state officials in the 1960s finally realized that the education of the citizenry was essential to the state's economic development. Initial efforts in school reform focused on the curriculum, but it soon become clear that simply writing new…

Under the School Improvement and Accountability Act (SIAA) of 1989, North Carolina school districts developed plans for educational improvement. During the 1989-90 school year, 134 school districts developed responses to the SIAA, and all included differentiated teacher salary/pay plans. These pay plans are analyzed, and several generalizations…

Since 1946, four major efforts to improve educational outcomes through shifts in governance have occurred in North Carolina. The 1989 reforms were characterized by an increase in rhetoric about local control and initiatives, teacher involvement, and school-based management. This paper surveys the last 50 years of educational reform policy in North…

This paper outlines the moral underpinnings of results-oriented accountability, drawing on lessons learned while teaching a seminar on accountability and highlighting the development of accountability policy in North Carolina. The paper notes that contemporary thinking about results-oriented accountability "reeks" of moral judgment. It…

In this paper we summarize the findings from five separate papers, with the goal of providing a more complete picture than is normally possible in a single paper, of the extent to which the variation in teacher characteristics contributes to minority achievement gaps. All five papers are based on a rich administrative data set that includes…

This paper is part of a collection of 54 papers from the 48th annual conference of the Education Law Association held in November 2002. It discusses teacher evaluation by principals. Specifically, it presents findings of research that examined the nature of policy creation at the local board level in response to accountability legislation in North…

The paradox of site-based school management with use of standardized tests or instructional management systems that restrict teacher choices was evident in one school district in North Carolina in which measurement of student success has centered on student performance on state-mandated tests. A study was conducted to see if students whose…

The Vocational Competency Achievement Tracking System (VoCATS) in North Carolina is a competency-based instructional management system that allows the collection of data on student performance achievement before, during, and after instruction. A preliminary pilot study was conducted to evaluate the implementation of the VoCATS program with…