Periods of executive change provide an ideal time for the development of planning efforts for public school systems and for self-examination of the system's strengths, weaknesses, and long-range needs. In the anonymous school system under study, the new superintendent's application of general systems theory to school district management entailed a…

This case study is part of a broader research project examining state policies and governance structures that span K-12 and postsecondary education. Florida has implemented some of the most sweeping education governance changes of any state; all levels of education are housed in the Department of Education, which is overseen by a commissioner who…

This review of early childhood education and care (ECEC) in twenty OECD countries describes the social, economic, conceptual and research factors that influence early childhood policy. These include increasing women's labour market participation; reconciling work and family responsibilities on a more equitable basis for women; confronting the…

The purpose of "Focus" is to provide coverage of poverty-related research, events, and issues, and to acquaint a large audience with the work of the Institute for Research on Poverty by means of short essays on selected pieces of research. This issue contains the following articles: (1) Changing poverty and changing antipoverty policies…

This collection of 38 articles, reprinted from "Emergency Librarian," addresses critical elements of school library media program development and implementation, organized by seven areas: foundations; the school context; role clarification; information literacy; collaborative program planning and teaching; program development; and…

This document presents the reports of the Colorado State Board of Education appointed task forces on the Education Profession, the Family and School, and School Time. The task force on the Education Profession made recommendations in the following areas: personnel preparation and certification, recruitment and retention of education personnel, and…

In April 1984, more than 350 parents, teachers, principals and administrators from major urban school systems in Massachusetts met to define what an "excellent" desegregated urban public school system should be. This conference report, following excerpts from a keynote address by John E. Durkin, documents seven workshops which focused on…

Eighteen projects funded by the Elementary and Secondary Education Act Title III, and providing funds to public school districts to demonstrate the feasibility of educational innovations, are described in this booklet developed as a dissemination project by Title III in Oklahoma. Programs described are said to have the common theme of increased…

This first annual report on the "Condition of Education in Ohio 2004" provides in-depth data about the students who are served by Ohio's elementary and secondary educational system and how well they are performing. This report provides educators, policymakers and researchers with a comprehensive picture of Ohio's kindergarten through…

A needs sensing project was conducted to identify the general needs of the field of career and technical education (CTE), dissemination activities, and major forces in the environment judged likely to influence education in the foreseeable future. The need sensing took place with networks developed in regions assigned to the five primary partner…

This publication is a guide for districts and schools moving toward a standards-based educational system. The information is based on a model developed in California. Chapter 1 explores the concepts and research underlying standards-based education. Chapter 2 guides the reader through standards, tests, and accountability measures. Developing a…

In this article, the authors describe various rationales for accountability testing programs over the past century. This history forms the backdrop for current test-driven reforms, including Public Law 107-110, the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), which was signed into law in January 2002. The goals of the authors are first, to illustrate…

Current national efforts at education reform rely largely on the use of standardized testing, the cornerstone of federal education policy as a result of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001, with its requirements for regular testing of all students and demonstrations of adequate yearly progress on tests by all schools. The challenges…

Education in both England and the United States has undergone a profound change over the last two decades as part of neo-liberal and neoconservative political reforms. The reforms have been characterized by efforts to standardize the curriculum, to implement standardized tests in order to hold students, teachers, and schools accountable, to…

Eleven separate addresses made by the Assistant Secretary of Education for Educational Research and Improvement during the period April-August 1990 comprise this document. Arranged chronologically, it includes two addresses before the American Educational Research Association in April and others as follows: (1) to Javits Grant recipients on May…