Based on a study of five major school systems, concludes following about site-based management: it is a reform of entire system; it will lead to real changes only if it is basic reform strategy; it will evolve over time and develop distinctive characters, goals, operating styles; it requires rethinking of accountability; parental choice is…

The Nampa (Idaho) school board has strong written policies on administrative accountability; teacher recruitment, supervision, and evaluation; the district instructional model; and inservice training for administrators and teachers. (Author/MLF)

To oversee superintendent performance, school boards can take three key steps: (1) assign accountability for managing the board-superintendent relationship to a standing committee; (2) the committee and the superintendent can agree each year on the specific leadership challenges; and (3) annually conduct an indepth assessment of the…

Elected school boards' skeptical eyes can guard against bad management practices and ensure that different voices get heard. Problems with board governance are a product of too little democracy. A democratic reform strategy would make board elections partisan, hold them on the same day as elections for more prominent state or national offices,…

This article argues that standardized tests mandated by No Child Left Behind Act will not produce improved learning opportunities and outcomes. It offers three recommendations for changing educational practices and the law: Districts and states must emphasize assessment for learning; districts should implement new forms of accountability; people…

Discusses efforts by a number of states to comply with the standards and accountability requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act. Focuses on the challenges and costs of creating new tests and presents the timeline through 2014 for compliance. (Contains 11 online resources.) (WFA)

Proponents of charter schools hope to break the logjam that has stymied school reform. Some school districts issue charters to groups of interested teachers, parents, or community members and hold them accountable for administering a school and achieving specific student goals. However, charter schools may fail to deliver high-quality programs or…

As Minnesota's experience shows, school choice is not the panacea that John Chubb and Terry Moe have proclaimed. However, introducing a marketplace into public education helps create the accountability that school reformers have sought, even as it diminishes the necessity for prescriptive mandates. When students choose their schools, they…

The only way public schools can keep up with the economic facts of life is by learning how to educate virtually all students to a much higher standard at current costs. Three contemporary models of school accountability are the systems used in Kentucky, Chicago, and Edmonton, Canada. (MLF)

Provides tips for helping the public understand a school district's budget. Describes necessary parts of a simplified budget presentation and the $100 budget. Highlights a management-information software package called In$ite, developed by Coopers & Lybrand in conjunction with the US Chamber of Commerce. (LMI)

A dozen schools in Colorado opened their doors to professional performance auditors to evaluate their effectiveness and efficiency. The audit reports recommended finding precise costs of functions, programs, and operations; minimizing duplication; and increasing accountability. (MLF)

Deplores inconsistencies between the realities of today's technologically driven, information-age world and the static, constraining boxes in which state-initiated, accountability- focused reforms hold American education. We must reconceptualize schooling, curriculum content, time, grade levels, and achievement to allow more informal,…

Effective schools research indicates that a good plan for school improvement grows out of the school and the school system in which it will be used. Outlines 11 components of a school system's improvement plan, and current educational trends to take into account in developing the plan. (MLF)

Disappointing high-stakes test results matter far less than the type of future citizens that schools produce. Citizenship values (teamwork, leadership, and neighborliness) are not assessed well by multiple-choice exams. Poor performers should not be segregated, data should be reinterpreted, and remediation should stress tutoring interventions, not…

To assess student achievement, states use a variety of accountability tools including school report cards, effectiveness scores, and school rankings. Responses from all 50 state departments of education showed that 19 states rank schools on their effectiveness as part of the state's accountability system. Three states use test scores alone for…