During this 18-month study, researchers spoke with and listened to over 1,600 parents, teachers, and experts about the needs of Hispanic American students. Results indicate that Hispanic Americans had significant vitality, desire, ambition, and determination, and want to provide opportunities for their children. However, Hispanic students are far…

This report analyzes information from 12 Educational Flexibility Partnership Demonstration (EFD) program state reports submitted to the U.S. Department of Education in spring 2000. The EFD program helps schools and districts implement educational reforms and raise student achievement by providing increased flexibility in implementing federal…

This paper explores the federal role in the development of state accountability systems for secondary school achievement. The first section of the paper examines seven suggested proximate causes for the poor performance of U.S. secondary school students. This section concludes that the causes for the relatively poor performance of U.S. secondary…

This almanac provides information about the major participants in external quality review in higher education, listing recognized regional and national accrediting organizations, specialized and professional accrediting organizations, and state agencies, with contact available for each organization and agency. An overview section: discusses the…

Since a new federal policy for higher education may be formulated soon, the author notes that federal policy is necessarily political with the government having to weigh competing claims for its limited resources. Higher education, therefore, has a responsibility to unite in formulating its own policy that will be in the best interests of society.…

The author contends that the prime danger posed by the trend toward greater accountability is that the responsibility for the outcome of social service intervention may have come to be seen almost exclusively in terms of worker accountability to agency management. (Author)

Charged to reconsider what indicators would capture and convey important truths about education and learning, the National Center for Education Statistics' Special Study Panel on Education Indicators wrote a 1991 report that rejected most conventional notions of indicators. Instead, they focused on learner outcomes, institutional quality, school…

Assumptions and theories underlying grants peer review as a way to select research proposals for funding and its usefulness as an evaluation methodology are explored. Issues arising from the operation of peer-based systems at the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health are examined. (SLD)

Pioneer district/charter-school contracts try to balance the quest for autonomy with accountability requirements. Districts' experiences in three states (Colorado, Oregon, and Wisconsin) and their chosen navigation tools offer clues to developing productive processes and relationships for negotiating successful contracts. A sidebar defines the…

The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, the 2001 reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, has become a symbol of all things good and bad in education. While the basic concepts of the legislation--accountability for results, research-based education programs, increased parental options, and expanded local control and…

There can be little doubt that there is wide variation in the rigor and quality of state standards and assessments. Moreover, it is clear that the vast majority of states have set their academic achievement bar far lower than federal standards, as measured by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Since No Child Left Behind (NCLB)…

Under the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), every school is subject to the controversial mandates for annual test score gains contained in the federal law. The law represents a profound change in the relationship between the federal government and state and local education agencies regarding who controls education and has direct implications for…

Limited to periodical literature, this annotated bibliography on school finance contains 81 references grouped in 5 categories: (1) policy and politica issues, (2) federal government, (3) state issues, (4) aid to nonpublic schools, and (5) accountability. Following the bibliographic citations, annotations range from 4 to 15 lines and conclude by…

It is only in recent years that educational evaluation has become institutionalized. The present spate of reporting and the accepted belief in the necessity to evaluate can be traced to the 1965 passage of the massive Elementary and Secondary Education Act--the first major social legislation to mandate project reporting. This case study in policy…

Office of Management and Budget Circular A-21 governs the accountability of indirect cost reporting for institutions of higher education. The University of Louisville's development of a timely and accurate space inventory per A-21 prescription is described. (MLW)