The Hart Act, recently adopted by the state of California, mandates that school districts establish mechanisms of assessing minimal competencies in secondary education before students may receive a diploma. In this report, assemblyman Gary Hart, the bill's author, and Don McKinley, chief deputy to the Superintendent of Public Instruction, discuss…

This report describes activities and achievements of a project that developed and evaluated the Demand Writing Instructional Model (DWIM), a comprehensive writing program for students with learning disabilities (LD) and low-performing students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds in inclusive general education classrooms. The…

This paper describes the background of various accountability systems, discusses policy issues related to the use of educational accountability information, and offers a history of the school-accountability law in Nevada. The paper concludes that because policymakers continue to express concerns about uniform measurements and comparability, it is…

This report addresses issues concerned with reporting educational results for students with disabilities, identifies principles to guide reporting practices, and offers recommendations. The report notes that there are many purposes for reporting and that reporting information on students with disabilities is important because it ensures that they…

This manual covers thirteen different topics relevant to the education of students with disabilities in the era of educational reform and standards-based education. Sections include: (1) "Raising Standards of Learning: and Students with and Standards-Based Education Students with Disabilities" (Janet R. Vohs, Julia K. Landau, and Carolyn…

This document is a review of the literature on educational accountability and the presentation of a model of accountability developed by the National Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASDSE). Current literature is reviewed in terms of definitions, relationships to past educational reform movements, and critical issues that…

Early childhood educators are increasingly concerned about the trend toward national standards and national testing. This article addresses issues of assessment in the early years of schooling, prekindergarten through third grade--a period when active, engaged, hands-on learning is most appropriate. Documentation of a kindergarten project on a…

Surveys a number of clinical doctor of philosophy, clinical doctor of psychology, counseling, and school psychology doctoral programs to ascertain the importance of various admission criteria. Reveals that, while some programs favor a terminal master's degree, the clinical programs viewed them negatively. Briefly discusses other admissions…

Provides a historical overview of the activities designed to standardize and/or improve civics education. Briefly reviews reform movements, guidelines, and educational studies contributed by private institutions or the government. Lists the eight objectives for political science developed by the Committee on Pre-Collegiate Education in 1971. (MJP)

Recommends including essay questions on state economics examinations to prevent misclassification of students. Briefly reviews the literature arguing that certain groups of students do poorly on multiple choice tests. Discusses California's experience with adopting a combined-format type test. (MJP)

The reform legislation in the State of Illinois requires each district to articulate learner outcomes in six areas of education. Separate provisions of the law require increased assessment and reporting by the states and local districts. Deficiencies in the reform program, and the State Board of Education's implementation of the program, are…

A study investigated use of various test accommodations for 3,025 third-graders, 2,990 seventh-graders, and 796 eleventh-graders with disabilities in Missouri. Three accommodations (extended time, small-group administration, and read-aloud) accounted for nearly all of the students using an accommodation. Students using one accommodation were…

The Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) Leadership Curriculum Modules support leadership preparation redesign efforts in many universities and school districts across the country. The school practices and change processes necessary to improve the school as a system and its curriculum and instruction are the topics that drive this curriculum.…

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is one part of a comprehensive assessment system that is evolving in the United States. In the view of the NAEP Technical Subgroup for the National Education Goals Panel, the NAEP should be an independent, statistically rigorous longitudinal measure of educational attainment in the essential…

This publication presents five essays by teachers on accountability, particularly the descriptive review format for elementary and secondary education. Following a brief foreword, an opening essay, "Children's Values and Standards: Investigating Sources" (Cecelia Traugh), describes issues of teacher and student values and standards which…