Educational institutions have neglected an urgent need to prepare workers for high-skill, high-performance jobs. Among the challenges states face are the following: (1) strengthening the basic skills achievements of all students, especially those from disadvantaged environments; (2) linking schools, colleges, communities, and work; (3) assessing…

The Perkins Act requires states to adopt systems of outcome-based standards and measures of performance for judging the success of local vocational programs and guiding program improvement. Criteria for the design of states' systems of performance measures and standards include the following: the measures should be defined clearly and precisely;…

Conditional deregulation of federal elementary and secondary education assistance programs, that is, waiving one or more program regulations in return for some additional accountability, has been proposed in recent years and endorsed by the Bush administration. The "America 2000" legislation proposes a broad authority for conditional…

The Neighborhood Schools Improvement Act (H.R. 3320) was ordered to be reported by the House Committee on Education and Labor on October 17, 1991. This report provides an introduction to the "systemic statewide reform" concept, on which H.R. 3320 is largely based, plus a summary of the bill, and a discussion of selected issues related to…

This report summarizes current literature on trends that dramatically affect collegiate institutions. The following demographic changes are discussed: (1) increase in female enrollment; (2) decrease in enrollment of 18-year-olds; (3) increase in median age of students; (4) decline in enrollment and continuation of blacks; (5) increase in…

The National Advisory Council on Educational Research and Improvement sponsored a conference to take a close look at the practical ways in which education is being reformed, and perhaps transformed, with the assistance of private-sector advice and innovations and with certain business disciplines. Following are the titles and authors of the papers…

The Program Assistance and Approval System (PAAS) is an attempt to fulfill the needs of the 1978 Louisiana Educational Accountability Act regarding improvements in schools and/or educational programs. The system is designed as an onsite review to (1) determine the degree of implementation of program standards, (2) assess areas of need, and (3)…

The proceedings include conference welcomes by Leon R. McCarrey and Peter J. Krueger, six papers, a list of conference participants, and proceedings of previous meetings. "Higher Education: Beacon or Mirror," by Keith Goldhammer, traces the history of higher education and its purposes, calling for renewed efforts to increase its quality…

Despite special programs, new technology, curriculum revisions, and compensatory education programs, there has been little improvement in the quality and results of urban education. Better accounatability, research, and staff training, all areas in which the urban university can influence public education, are central to the resolution of urban…

Focusing on implications for teachers, this document reviews significant research and the current status of career education. The information is divided into eight sections. An introductory section discusses the criticisms of the education system which formed the basis for the career education movement. The next five sections contain brief…

This address focuses primarily on educational technology and the need to improve student learning by improving the effectiveness and efficiency of instructional materials. Due to the need for better educational materials and for procedures to ensure their continuous improvement, a National Institute of Education to conduct research in this field…

The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) is President George W. Bush's education reform law passed by Republicans and Democrats in Congress. This flier, in both English and Spanish, details 10 facts concerning NCLB to inform parents as to the goals of the Act and how they will affect their child's school. The flier highlights how the Act: (1) gives…

This Howard Community College (HCC) (Maryland) 2001 Progress Report makes assessments and recommendations in the following areas: (1) creating a world class learning organization; (2) collaboration with other educational organizations; (3) collaboration with business and industry; (4) economics and workforce development; (5) preparing students as…

This paper argues that the federal government's role in vocational and technical education (VTE) should include a greater emphasis on systematically testing promising strategies and interventions and subjecting them to rigorous evaluations of their effects, implementation, costs, and benefits. Section 1 presents a rationale for rethinking the…

The papers brought together in this volume are a selection from among those presented at the seminar organized in Kuala Lumpur, in July 2002 by the Asian Network of Training and Research Institutions in Educational Planning (ANTRIEP). The network consists of institutions whose main mandate includes training and research in educational planning and…