Discusses the quality of school-level data collected as part of state accountability systems, including the reliability and validity of school-level test scores as a measure of the value added by schools to student learning, outlining ways that these data can be usefully analyzed; illustrating challenges inherent in doing so; and discussing…

Examines the principal assessment process in measuring accountability for facilitating academic improvement. The article raises several conceptual and methodological issues on developing principal assessment models, provides data on issues in the development of evaluation models for principal assessment, and presents a basic model for principal…

This article examines a conflict that arose in 2004 between a federal court's oversight of desegregation and the implementation of the public school choice provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act in Pinellas County, Florida. School system leaders challenged the statute on the grounds that it would likely disrupt a controlled-choice plan…

Explores the consequences of integrated choice/accountability policies for school organization and governance, examining the constitutional context of school authority, identifying historical trends in the exercise of authority by various stakeholders, presenting a model for understanding governance today, describing school choice and performance…

Examines turbulence in U.S. education, explaining how today's changing educational policy environment causes new frustrations. Suggests that federal, state, local, and site- level are current sources of indecision and struggle that have implications for today's choice of direction concerning inquiry and leadership for public education. Discusses…

Examines California's Public School Accountability Act within the K-12 policy and political context, asserting that the new accountability imposes a new regulatory scheme on California's schools that adds to the "regulatory baggage" schools already carry. Suggestes that simply adding one more layer of regulation without reassessing the…

Describes a large-scale Canadian assessment program which attempted to embed an improvement orientation into assessment by emphasizing how large-scale assessment contributes to learning. The paper investigates the impact of the assessment on how schools addressed accountability and improvement after the program had been in place for 2 years,…

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) requires states to test specified subjects and grades, to establish minimum performance standards for students, schools and school districts, and to provide assistance and impose sanctions on schools and districts that do not meet performance goals as a condition of receiving federal aid. NCLB builds on…

Describes results from a 3-year study of charter schools in Alberta, Canada. Case studies of Alberta's 12 charter schools (involving document review, interviews, observations, and surveys) indicated that parents, teachers, and students were very satisfied with the schools, and there were steady levels of student enrollment. Most of the schools…

Extension of contract scope has influenced local educational policy in two ways. It has decreased control by politically accountable officials, and it has created a potential roadblock to political responsiveness towards inner-city community groups. (JN)

Reviews selected literature on administrative evaluation and focuses on four topics: (1) linking principals to school effectiveness as an outcome; (2) increasing awareness of school contextual indicators affecting leadership and effectiveness; (3) the effects of structural reform on the principal's role; and (4) assessing principal's performance…

Describes a model that ties school principal evaluation to accountability for outcomes and is based on the interaction of principals with the social system of schools. Also discusses the leader/school interaction as an evaluation framework and the importance of effective work relationships. (GLR)

Discusses what is known about cooperative performance incentive (CPI) plans, which are award programs that offer teachers and other school staff pay bonuses for achievement of specific schoolwide educational objectives. The paper describes and compares existing CPI models worldwide, analyzes their impact on student learning and school practices,…

The integration of planning and assessment procedures into educational administrative routines is viewed in relation to school surveys, a criteria-based means for measuring the operational efficiency of a school system. The school survey movement in the United States, characteristics of public school surveys, and the educational planning process…

Two major assumptions concerning the future of American education focus on the difficulty in achieving bureaucratic and corporate reform and the correlation between school problems and societal problems. Other noteworthy issues include: (1) productive roles for individuals; (2) changing roles of American families; (3) teaching of values; and (4)…