Designed as a reference tool for use at state and local levels by administrators, teachers, and parent groups, the document consolidates research on special education, school and classroom effectiveness, and other indicators of effectiveness and quality into a consistent format. Introductory material orients users, and contextual factors…

Pursuant to legislative mandate, this report presents the results of the Commission for the Review of the Master Plan for Higher Education's reassessment of California Community Colleges (CCCs). Section 1 provides introductory material highlighting the CCC changes which the Commission believes to be necessary to achieve the goals of universal…

A bibliography of materials authored or coauthored by Lyman A. Glenny from 1951 through 1981 on the role of the state in the governance of higher education is presented. Topics include the following: quality and accountability and statewide review procedures; the role of the state in the governance of higher education; response to stress at 10…

Public policy issues relating to federal assistance to colleges struggling to survive in the 1980s are addressed. Special challenges to postsecondary education result from declining enrollments, inflationary cost spirals, and lack of public confidence in education. Questions are raised in regard to the following five public policy alternatives,…

Topics from the Williams Committee Report and implications for Monash University and Australian higher education are considered. After considering strengths and weaknesses of the report, attention is directed to the potential for growth in higher education, contracting and recurrent education, access/selection and attrition, efficiency and…

Extracts from the papers and position statements presented at the National Conference on Achievement Testing and Basic Skills are provided in an attempt to capture both the diversity and the consensus among the participants. Six sessions are summarized: (1) achievement tests and basic skills: the issues and the setting--by Harold Howe II; (2)…

Discontent with public education is feeding a movement to make private education public policy, with potentially disastrous results. Unionization and bureaucratization of the public schools has lessened their effectiveness and disaffected parents feel increasingly that public schools do not offer children social mobility and the opportunity for…

A discussion of the age of accountability in American education is presented. The point is made that this new element is causing many educators to think more precisely about their goals, how they can be achieved, and how they can determine the degree to which they have been achieved. State laws are appearing and school policies are being defined…

The State Board of Education and the Michigan Department of Education are about to publish letter grades for each of the state's 4,015 public elementary, middle and high schools. These grades are part of "Education Yes!", Michigan's new school accreditation system. The familiar ABCD/F grades of their youth will provide parents and the…

A study examined educational attainment among Latino students in the six-county San Francisco Bay Area. California's Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) Program results for 1998-99 were used to assess student achievement in reading and mathematics for grades 4, 7, and 10. Data were also collected on enrollment, dropout rates, percentage of…

This collection of conference papers includes: (1) "Using Market Forces to Make Title I More Effective" (Marci Kanstoroom and Tyce Palmaffy); (2) "Making Economically Grounded Decisions about Comprehensive School Reform Models: Considerations of Costs, Effects, and Contexts" (Jennifer King Rice); (3) "Does Title I Money…

This document provides the Side-by-Side Comparison, a tool to assist early care and development programs receiving funds from both Head Start and the California Department of Education to prepare for state and federal program monitoring reviews and to conduct self-evaluations. The instrument is designed to be used for the California coordinated…

This document shares lessons learned related to states' strategies to improve accountability. Case studies describe promising practices or particular strategies within an accountability system that have operationalized six standards identified by the National Association of State Boards of Education. The introduction discusses accountability and…

As part of their ongoing accountability and program improvement initiatives, Illinois colleges annually conduct a survey of occupational program graduates. This report provides statewide information from graduates of selected occupational programs regarding the effectiveness of their community college experiences. Data for the report were obtained…

Teaching portfolios, now largely used for evaluation of college teaching, can also be viewed as a form of action research, opening their use to other purposes, including examination of institutional, faculty, and student needs and demands; the dynamics of race, gender, and sexuality in structuring classroom interactions; and the relationship of…