The National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality (NCCTQ) was launched in 2005 as part of a comprehensive system of content-based technical assistance to support states in implementing the priorities of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. NCCTQ's mission is to support Regional Comprehensive Centers (RCCs), states, and other education…

Decentralization and an increased emphasis on community and parent participation represent significant education reform trends over the past decade. These reforms take place in the context of increased emphasis within Education for All (EFA) on improving education quality and outcomes and on strengthening accountability for results. They require…

This handbook is an introduction to Lisbon Agenda and it is presented as a basis for ESIB's (The National Unions of Students in Europe) concerted work on the European Union's all-embracing strategy that is changing the parameters of the education systems. The reason for the existence of this handbook is the necessity to coordinate the work on all…

A checklist for critiquing participatory planning and evaluation projects is introduced. Under the legislative mandate of "Florida Blueprint 2000: A System of School Improvement and Accountability," Florida schools must reorganize before the year 2000 by involving and connecting stakeholders in improvement processes. Every public school…

The usefulness of authentic assessments as formative tools for teachers is well documented and supported. However, when educational institutions use these assessments as summative tools for evaluating programs and meeting accountability needs, several problems emerge. One set of problems relates to the difficulty of fitting authentic assessments…

This paper addresses the educational, technical, legal, and practical challenges states must confront as they consider the content of the assessment, its technical quality, the capacity of educators and the public to use the results of the assessment, the benefits and additional complications of performance testing, and the overall tension betwen…

At Stephen F. Austin State University (Texas), focus group research was conducted to determine research needs and to inform the development of a new educational research center. Four graduate research assistants and a professor in the Department of Educational Leadership formed a study group to review the literature on focus groups and…

Penn State York has a history of collaboration with the York community. The campus became involved in two university-community collaborative efforts to identify and take action to resolve living and learning needs of children and teachers in York County. This article presents stories of two initiatives, and the lessons that emerged from reflection…

Interest in the debate about quality management has grown substantially in recent years. Educators of adults want to improve their practices: they are searching for new ways of measuring success that are inclusive and which take account of views of different interest groups. This article examines the involvement of stakeholders in the management…

Perspectives of students and parents in their roles as stakeholders in the teacher evaluation process were determined. In conjunction with the Expected Student Achievement (ESA) project of the Kentucky Career Ladder Commission, interviews were conducted with 23 parents and 59 high school students using a modified Focus Group Interview technique.…

Serving as a vehicle for raising the profile of and thereby gaining recognition for the important research and development work being conducted in Canada in support of children and families, the "Research Connections Canada" series compiles research and/or development papers as well as background papers, analytical literature reviews,…

Researchers examined the way selected Australian organizations understand and enact the notion of a learning culture. The diverse approaches that have been used to foster the learning cultures revealed through the case studies confirmed that the concept of a culture of learning was not a homogenous one. The study revealed that embedding a culture…

This is the second Corporate Plan which HM Inspectorate of Education (HMIE) has produced since moving to Agency status in 2001. It covers the period 2004-07 and has been developed in consultation with stakeholders and HMIE's own staff. It will form the basis for judging their performance over that period. HMIE's first three years as an Executive…

Educational contracts define the parameters of teacher obligations to students, parents, and other stakeholders freeing teachers to design and implement instruction rather than trying to fulfill roles (counselor, social worker, parent) best filled by other stakeholders. Describes analogous contracts used in the business world and provides examples…

Outsiders (i.e., regulators, adjudicators, and "messiahs") frequently arrive with insistent demands for school change. The demands of these interest groups should not be set ahead of those of legitimate stakeholders at the school level. Having some interest at risk and commitment are characteristics that distinguish stakeholders from…