In an interview, Educational Testing Service (ETS) President Gregory R. Anrig proposes making the standardized testing industry publicly accountable through adoption of standards modeled on guidelines established by three major professional associations. He also discusses criticisms of the testing industry and the future development of ETS. (PGD)

The environment most characterizing today's public schools is continuous change, spurred by increased demands for performance and accountability. However, discontinuous change, in which organizations must question basic operating assumptions, is imminent. Continuous learning must be built into an organizations' fabric and it needs acceptable…

External assessments for accountability may be taking precedence over other educational assessment purposes and are beginning to direct teaching and learning in schools. Four common concerns include teaching to the tests, narrowing instructional focus and allowing tests to determine curricula, deemphasizing higher order thinking skills, and…

School board and community have only two ways to achieve accountability: by prescribing teaching methodology and establishing expensive supervisory superstructure to enforce it; or by establishing desired learning outcome standards and products and requiring professional staff to develop plans to achieve them and criteria to evaluate results.…

The "ideal" principal is facing a world of decentralized school structures, increasing and changing environmental boundaries and roles, less homogeneous schools, closer contact with stakeholders, and a market-driven view of education. Principals should view themselves as environmental negotiators, not merely school-system managers.…