Four papers follow and document the progress of the Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing in understanding questions related to alternative assessment based on case studies in three elementary schools. The research questions include consideration of the logistical constraints that must be respected in developing…

This monograph has been developed as part of an intensive, 3-year study of five local school districts engaged in general and special education reform. The purpose of the study was to examine how educational reforms were being defined and implemented at the local district and school levels, particularly with students with disabilities. The…

This annual report provides an overview of major initiatives and accomplishments of the New Mexico Commission on Higher Education in implementing the policy directions identified in "Planning for the Class of 2005: A Vision for the Future." It begins with a specification of Commission responsibilities and outlines its legislative agenda…

In September 1990, the Commission on Work Force Excellence was established to increase Mississippi's economic competitiveness and improve worker opportunities. The commission sponsored an evaluation of the diverse enterprise of the state's secondary and postsecondary vocational education system. Eight findings resulted from the study. First, the…

Statewide planning for higher education and the approaches that states take to budgeting and accountability are reviewed in this monograph. Statewide planning involves identifying problems and collecting relevant data, analyzing interrelationships among variables, and choosing the most desirable alternatives to reach objectives. State-level higher…

Proceedings of a 1981 joint conference sponsored by the Southern Association for Institutional Research (SAIR) and the North Carolina Association for Institutional Research are presented. The conference theme was the practice of institutional research. Contents include preconference workshop reports, speeches, abstracts of papers, and reports of…

Based on the 1981 seminar of the Leverhulme Programme of Study into the Future of Higher Education, papers are presented that propose an agenda for institutional change in higher education, based on demographic, economic, social, and political forces of the decade. In "The Challenge of Change," Leslie Wagner considers the interaction…

This status report outlines the progress of the California Community College Finance Project. Working papers, models, and alternative proposals are reviewed in four areas: mission and function, finance, governance, and management. Priorities in mission and function are stated in terms of the characteristics and educational needs of the nearly 1.3…

A performance funding policy adopted in Tennessee in 1979, which recognizes and rewards instructional performance through the state funding formula, is described. The schedule permits institutions to earn an additional 2 percent of their educational and general appropriations based on an evaluation of institutional instructional performance on…

Factors involved in the planning, development, and review of degree programs, as well as features of traditional and alternative approaches to improving degree programs, are examined. After considering terminology and different philcsophies of education, attention is directed to the importance of program structure and the necessity of considering…

This guide to school management is based on a systems approach in which well defined procedures and processes provide the basis for improvement and renewal of existing educational programs. The process begins with needs assessment. School climate, students' social behavior, discipline, and academic achievement are assessed, along with the level of…

"Higher Education Counts" is an annual accountability report on Connecticut's state system of higher education. As required under Connecticut General Statutes Section 10a-6a-b, each constituent unit of higher education must submit an accountability report to the Commissioner of Higher Education each year by January 1st. The Commissioner,…

This report provides background information on California's academic standards, resources and funding mechanisms. Its findings point to relatively low levels of school spending, a gap between academic standards and school resources, a finance system based on previous funding levels rather than actual school resources and their costs, and questions…

This research brief summarizes a report by Heather Rose, Jon Sonstelie, Ray Reinhard, and Sharmaine Heng, "High Expectations, Modest Means: The Challenge Facing California's Public Schools" (2003) [ED497508]. The full report provides background information on California's academic standards, resources and funding mechanisms. Its findings…

Building on the strengths and shortcomings of modernist views of organizations and leadership, this discursive paper enters the national conversation among scholars and practitioners about what constitutes the core of their knowledge and practice. It provides a discussion of three national themes about the core of educational…