A war rages over outcome-based education. There is one primary reason for the OBE backlash: the mastery outcomes are often vaguely worded and associated largely with the affective domain. Supporters'"Aquarian" and "Nostalgist" fallacies do not help. A twofold policy embodying high, uniform, but sensible standards and…

In this article, the author discusses how today, local educators have less freedom than ever. When the federal government anointed some research "scientific" and declared the rest unworthy, it narrowed local choices and helped big publishing. When NCLB created an exclusive list of programs and textbooks that could be purchased with federal monies,…

As public employees, educators should expect to be held accountable for their use of public funds. Nonetheless, the various state governments and now the U.S. Department of Education have implemented high-stakes achievement testing as the nearly singular approach to accountability. While these accountability efforts vary in a number of ways,…

A response to criticism by researchers House, Rivers, and Stufflebeam published in the June Kappan. (Editors)

Examines Michigan's model of educational accountability and concludes that, because there appear to be few guidelines in educational policy and practice regarding who is responsible for what, to whom, and by what means, it is inadvisable to adopt the current model of accountability. (Author/IRT)

Drawing on a realistic model for evaluating compensatory education effects, Chapter 1 staff members have developed a workshop series aimed at improving the effectiveness of local Chapter 1 programs. Improvement efforts are to be data driven, research based, team centered, locally controlled, systematic, and focused on student outcomes. (20…

While the Department of Education boasts lower of school dropout rates, graduation rates are also decreasing in some areas. Although the percentage of students graduating on time has remained unchanged, the percentage of noncompleters who eventually get a high school diploma (through a GED or alternative program) increases yearly. Inadequate…

The 21st-century elementary principalship demands more than a compendium of skills. Qualified individuals are not applying, due to inadequate compensation, job-related stress, and time fragmentation issues. Meeting state-mandated standards while addressing child-welfare problems requires that schools regain importance as hubs of communities. (MLH)

Response to article in December 2000 "Phi Delta Kappan" by James Scheurich, Linda Skrla, and Joseph Johnson in support of the Texas Accountability System. Discusses flaws in the article's historical possibilities thesis and the inaccurate characterization of accountability as a dichotomy. Advocates Coalition for Authentic Reform…

This article asserts that the health of public schools depends on defining a new model of accountability--one that is balanced and comprehensive. This new model needs be one that involves much more than test scores. This article outlines the premises behind this argument asking for what, to whom, and by what means schools should be held…

The research reported here is part of a larger effort focusing on how schools in Florida are responding to a new accountability system with many of the same provisions as NCLB. It briefly describes publicly reported information on school performance in Florida since the inception of the A+ Plan, and then, using evidence gathered from case studies,…

This article argues that while accountability is the watchword of overseers, too often it is the bane of the overseen. At its best, it reflects a prudent concern for good stewardship and responsible management of necessarily scarce resources; at its worst, it becomes a form of mindless hector-ing, in which careful oversight gives way to invective…

Perhaps more than any other formulation, the question "What should students know and be able to do?" has shaped both the parlance and practice of education over the past decade. Ushering in an era of standards and accountability, this widely intoned question has precipitated the most massive reform American education has experienced, with no part…