The strengths and weaknesses of the traditional external quality controls exerted by government and accrediting bodies to monitor colleges and universities are examined, along with the importance of institutional self-regulation. Government involvement in American higher education is traced historically, showing that until recently the oversight…

Administrative decision-making encompasses three levels on which increasing legal challenges and liability and their implications need to be considered. At the local level, this may involve violations of procedural due process. A second level concerns state laws and regulations. Line administrators, who frequently make decisions on programs,…

Federal funds are an essential component to the fiscal vitality of higher education; however, in recent years the award of these funds has been contingent on complying with federal regulations. This monograph explores the nature of regulatory practices to determine if federal regulations have altered governance patterns or infringed on…

A discussion by endorsers of the American Association of University Professors' (AAUP) 1940 statement on academic freedom and tenure is summarized, including the topics of academic accuracy watchdogs, government constraints on academic freedom, irregular faculty appointments and periodic review, special issues at church-related colleges, and the…

The Safe and Drug Free School and Communities Act of 1994 authorizes funding at federal, state, and local levels for school-based drug-and violence-prevention programs. This General Accounting Office (GAO) report reviews the following: (1) accountability measures required at the federal, state, and local levels (by the act); (2) activities used by…

The Hearing before the Committee on Education and the Workforce was held May 20, 1999. The hearing lists statements by educators, elected officials, and the Colorado Commissioner of Education on the Academic Achievement for All proposal, the Straight A's proposal. This proposal gives states a choice: they can either continue operating federal…

This report presents guidelines for secondary school principals for including students with disabilities in large scale educational assessments. In the summer of 2001, a focus group of 13 administrators were brought together to share these promising practices for ensuring that students with disabilities participate in state and district-wide…

Colleges, universities, and the government have been trying to find the appropriate balance between autonomy and accountability, restraint and regulations. It is suggested that decisions should be made at the appropriate level within an organization, and over-regulation costs more in diminished creativity than could be saved through tight…

Factors contributing to the growing federal regulation of United States colleges and universities are explained, and regulation's impact in the areas of student aid, race relations, scientific research, environmental protection, and age discrimination are discussed. It is argued that a balance between institutional autonomy and accountability must…

This article first explains the legal basis of the movement to integrate students with disabilities into general education classrooms, including federal statutes, regulations, and judicial standards of case law. It then examines policy initiatives to include students with disabilities in systems of accountability and educational assessment. A…

The ways in which accountability issues have affected federal-university relationships, particularly in the area of academic research, are examined. Lessons university administrators have learned since issuance of Office of Management and Budget Circular A-21 in 1958, Congressional hearings on the operations of the National Institutes of Health…

This publication is a resource guide to the regulations governing the use of federal Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act of 1990 dollars. Chapter 1 gives an overview of the audit process and the handbook. Chapter 2 covers the key elements in each section of the Perkins Act. Chapter 3 provides an overview of all…

Since the adoption of the Professional Code in July 1973, the Quebec government has been taking a more active role in regulating what are termed "professional" activities. Two major factors account for the reform nature of the new legislation: (1) the assertion that the main function of professional corporations is the "protection…

Indicators of school-level achievement, such as the percentage of students who are proficient in a particular content area, are subject to random year-to-year variation in much the same way that the results of an opinion poll will vary from one random sample to another. This random variation, which is more pronounced for a small school, should be…

This study on accountability designs for underperforming schools focuses on probation as a tool for policy. Findings are based on the analysis of state performance data, the reading of approximately 100 school improvement plans, and the study of 11 focal schools in Maryland and Kentucky. Test-score data from Maryland show that probation is…