This document presents an executive summary of the 96-page "Leading Learning Communities: Standards for What Principals Should Know and Be Able To Do," a guidebook for those who care about creating and supporting quality in schools. It is an operating manual for school leaders that features new strategies to help principals structure and support…

Contends that strides have been made toward fair representation of music in public education. Asserts that the results of the Goals 2000 and the national effort of the Music Educators National Conference will bring a new era. Discusses the national standards and three challenges to the music education. (CFR)

Argues that the conscious originating motives for both market-oriented and uniform standards approaches to improving the quality of teacher education may not guarantee the effects of such policies in the real world of real schools, noting that such reforms may have dangerous consequences unless efforts are situated within an honest analysis of…

An Austrian elementary teacher in a Tyrolean mountain village, who spent a year in the United States learning about the education system, provides her viewpoint on Austrian education in an interview. The teacher discusses the Austrian tracking system as a principal means of achieving educational quality. She believes that as long as the Austrian…

This paper was prepared for the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment and Training Taskforce on Teacher Quality & Educational Leadership. It covers the following broad areas: (1) How can a national definition of "Good Teaching" be developed, and what should it include?; (2) What should a "National Standards…

The teacher standards movement and effective schools research movement both proclaim that all students can learn, irrespective of family background, wealth, gender, or ethnicity. Effective schools research promotes seven correlates as core to schools where students learn and achieve: clear school mission, high expectations for success,…

Maintains that the Music Educators National Conference (MENC) achieved an important symbolic victory by being a primary developer of the National Standards for Arts Education. Presents and discusses five issues related to the Goals 2000 program in general and the standards related to music education in particular. (CFR)

Reviews the history of the national standards movement. Discusses the standards developed by the Task Force on Standards of the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS). Describes the content and format of the NCSS standards, how they could be used, and what resources are necessary for effective implementation. (CFR)

Discusses elementary teacher education in Brazil, examining problems teacher educators face (e.g., lack of direct communication between theoretical studies and the practical world and lack of inclusion of practical knowledge and expertise developed by successful teachers). Current educational policies are discussed, looking at: implementation of a…

The development of a National Framework for Quality in early childhood care and education in Ireland is the main focus of the work of the Centre for Early Childhood Development and Education. A central element of the brief for this groundbreaking initiative is that it must have relevance for all settings where children aged birth to six are…

Although many factors combine to make a successful school, most people agree that quality teachers and school principals are among the most important requirements for success, especially when success is defined by the ability of the school to raise the achievement of its students. The central question for this study is how the quality of the…

This document proposes a direction and strategies for using a total quality management approach to develop and implement standards for evaluating vocational education students and assessing programs throughout Michigan. Discussed in part 1 are the following: the terms "standards,""assessments," and "certification";…

Research shows that teacher quality may be one of the most significant factors in student achievement. This report includes five chapters that focus on: (1) "Introduction and Executive Summary"; (2) "Coordinating K-12 and Higher Education to Support High-Quality Teacher Preparation" (e.g., coordinating teacher candidate experience in K-12 and…

This publication examines the relationship between K-12 and postsecondary education, calling for greater policymaker attention to inter-level issues. The document examines the growing relationship between K-12 and postsecondary education, citing some recent initiatives to connect these two levels of education; most importantly, it argues that such…

Questions how England's Secretary of State for Education uses the Teacher Training Agency (TTA) to define and control inservice teacher competency requirements, suggesting that this leads to teacher deprofessionalization. Recommends identifying threats to professional autonomy and preventing the TTA from moving to the next phase of regulation. (SM)