Statewide performance assessments have gone in and out of vogue for over 30 years. While embraced as authentic representations of student work, they often prove burdensome for standardized assessment purposes. They can be a strong addition to a balanced assessment system--when implemented well for the right purposes. State policymakers looking to…

High school computing education reform efforts have been ongoing across the United States, particularly in the past decade. Although national Computer Science (CS) for All initiatives are promising, states retain control over education policies. Recent computing education reform efforts in the state of Maryland (U.S.A.) focused on providing every…

State implementation of new standards (revising, adapting, and adopting new standards) is a significant undertaking. Such an effort at the state level requires extensive support, planning, and resources. Implementing new state standards also requires the support of multiple education leaders--governors, legislators, state departments of education,…

This report provides six mini-case studies of higher education policy reforms enacted in other states, exploring the important role that state policy leadership played in developing, promoting, and implementing these policies aimed at improving higher education outcomes, and discussing the relevance of each reform effort for California. This…

At the request of the Education Reform Project of the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland, the National Council on Teacher Quality undertook an analysis of the teacher policies in the Baltimore City Public Schools. Its analysis looks at the teachers' contract, school board rules and state laws. It also collected personnel data from the…

This book demonstrates through case studies and expert analyses the impressive educational gains children can make when the best educational research, policy, and practice are aligned. This volume is a valuable resource to aspiring leaders, educational researchers, and current practitioners and a must-read for anyone who cares about the public…

The structure and governance of education in Maryland from early childhood through the graduate school is described in a report to the governor. A summary is included of the commission's views of education, as well as a brief review of the status of education, a proposed structural reform, and a series of recommendations. The recommendations deal…

This article describes the typical life of Caitlin Heidemann, a student representative at the Anne Arundel County Board of Education. Caitlin's post was created by the Maryland General Assembly in 1975 to ensure that a student perspective factors into decisions. She has one-eighth of the say over every issue that comes before the board--from…

Profiles of the 14 states of the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) provide information on the structure of these states for public postsecondary education and budgeting. For each state, the following areas are discussed: state-level coordinating and/or governing agency, institutional governing boards, state board for vocational education,…

The development, implementation, and modification of the Montgomery County (Maryland) Public Schools' Quality Education/Racial Balance Policy of 1975 provides the case example of how experts and the specialized knowledge they employ are part of the educational politics of a postindustrial community. In the existing literature, there are competing…

In keeping with a primary mission of Maryland community colleges--to provide comprehensive continuing education for state residents--the State Board for Community Colleges encourages each college to provide a broad range of courses and services to meet the unique needs of respective service area residents. The Board also recognizes that state…

This conference report on militancy in education contains papers presented by experts in collective negotiations and seeks to present a balanced point of view of collective negotiations by involving teacher organization representatives, school administrators, school board members, and university faculty members. Topics covered include problems in…

Approaches to articulation/transfer in several states and some individual colleges and universities are examined. Guidelines and/or policies from state commissions, agencies, or systems of higher education in Rhode Island, Maryland, Illinois, North Carolina, and South Carolina are described. In Rhode Island, a transfer guide presents broad policy…

The state of Maryland is the subject of this case study on the awarding of academic credit in local educational agency (LEA)-Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) programs. Three focuses of the report are descriptions of the existing LEA-CETA programs in Maryland that award academic credit and the related local policies and practices,…

This report identifies issues in Maryland postsecondary education concerned with quality, effectiveness, access, diversity, and efficiency. It first provides a brief overview of the system, including information on headcount, the number and types of institutions, demographic trends, the labor market, and financing. It then addresses the following…