The Secretary of Education's most recent report on educational quality argues that American schools have not improved enough. Issues addressed include trends in standardized test scores, strengthening curriculum content, assuring equal intellectual opportunity, establishing an ethos of achievement, recruiting and rewarding good teachers and…

In 2000, the National Education Goals Panel examined the conditions that help ensure school success, conducting a series of four field hearings nationwide to find evidence of success and to understand why schools were succeeding. Participants at the hearings included students, teachers, parents, principals, superintendents, university presidents,…

The first section of this booklet discusses the union role in assuring teacher quality, focusing on the teacher development continuum (preservice preparation, entry level standards, induction programs and the granting of tenure, standards for granting tenure, and continuing professional development) and the union role in assuring quality teaching…

This document presents and explains the Institute for Experiential Learning's Standards of Excellence for Experiential Education through Internships, which were developed to generate a discussion in the higher education community on the academic standards that should serve as benchmarks for assessing the elements of good practice in internship…

A ranking of 229 universities in the United States provides survey information concerning academic reputation, student selectivity, faculty resources, financial resources, retention, alumni giving, college entrance examination scores, freshmen's high school rank, acceptance and yield rates, student/faculty ratio, expenditures per student, class…

Focusing on national policy and practice, this paper suggests key recommendations for consideration in the context of standards-based reform, including: produce teachers who are multiculturally literate; re-assess ability grouping and tracking practices; reduce K-3 class size and elementary and secondary school size; expand and improve federal…

This 2006 Annual Joint Report of the State Board of Education and the Tennessee Higher Education Commission identifies four joint priorities and nine associated goals addressing areas of need in both student learning and educator development for the advancement of education in Tennessee. The joint priorities and initiatives focus on points of…

New Jersey's urban--or "Abbott"--schools have improved at the preschool and elementary school level, but lag when it comes to middle and high school performance. These are the key findings of an Abbott Indicators Project report entitled, "The Abbott Districts in 2005-06: Progress and Challenges." The report was prepared by…

This advisory report presents 18 recommendations for cost sharing, cooperation among institutions, and meeting future demands for higher education in Ontario. A framework for public policy is offered which stresses the themes of excellence, accessibility, and responsibility and urges differentiation in strengths among colleges and universities, a…

The fourth annual report on Florida's progress toward excellence in the State University System is presented. A total of 20 "indicators" of quality were used; they include the following seven national measures of efforts toward reaching the upper quartile of state university systems: (1) average full-time faculty salaries, (2) number of…

The fifth annual report on Florida's progress toward excellence in education within its state university system describes the status of the system according to 20 indicators of quality. They include the following seven national measures of efforts toward reaching the upper quartile of state university systems: (1) average full-time faculty…

An initiative to promote excellence in South Carolina's higher education system is presented by the State Commission on Higher Education in two documents. The first is a descriptive summary of rationales and recommendations in six areas. The second document is a report which includes and expands the material of the first document. Twenty-five…

In the Caribbean, vocational education is provided through both formal and nonformal educational programming. An excellence-oriented vocational teacher education program to prepare individuals to teach in the educational system of the region should incorporate training in the history and philosophy of vocational education, instructional…

American education is not as inadequate as public opinion indicates. The literacy and skill of American youth are higher today than forty years ago because of our high achievement standards and commitment to equal educational opportunity. These opposing principles have been reconciled by the diversity encouraged in institutions, teachers, and…

The quality of college programs at 13 U.S. military bases and the activities of various agencies for maintaining quality control were evaluated. Based on site visits to military bases in the continental United States and Hawaii in 1978, some academic programs appeared to have few standards and practices that promote quality. It is claimed that…