The Flint (Michigan) Community Schools developed a four-phase School Improvement process model. In Phase 1 (Commitment), school district and administrative support were obtained and pilot schools were selected (one elementary and one middle school). The principals of these schools and one teacher representative from each received training in…

An integrated system of academic and vocational-technical education is vital to the well-being of students and the nation. Approaches to integrated programs include requiring more academic coursework of vocational students; including academic skills in vocational courses; and integrating the entire high school. Key activities for successful…

Assessment systems to measure high educational standards emerged as the major theme at the 1996 conference of the National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing (CRESST), "Moving Up to Complex Assessment." This feature article, providing a summation of the proceedings of the conference, reports that the…

Intended to assist practitioners in vocational education in improving program planning and evaluation, this paper provides an overview of needs assessment, which is a method of acquiring evaluative data required by the Vocational Education Amendments of 1978 (P.L. 94-482). The first two sections discuss various definitions of educational needs…

Long-range planning is becoming increasingly important for educators in today's rapidly changing society. This bulletin accordingly presents a step-by-step model for school districts to use in developing and successfully implementing a long-range plan. Chapter 1 introduces long-range planning and suggests ways of getting district personnel…

Factors that can powerfully affect an educator's ability to manage school change are culture, leadership, and readiness. Movement from bureaucracy to community, from isolation to collaboration, involves cultural changes. Managing the change process within a cultural context is influenced by the structural, human resources, political, and symbolic…

The National Consortium on Inclusive Schooling Practices (1996) developed a framework to analyze state and local policies and their effects on school inclusion. The framework focuses on standards-based systemic reform across six major policy areas: curriculum, student assessment, accountability, personnel development and professional training,…

Educational indicators are statistical input/output measures providing information on the health of the educational system. This report for the consideration of the Council of Chief State School Officers characterizes the current state of educational indicators as in "shambles." It proposes a three phase framework for developing a sensitive and…

From 1980 to 1991, the University of Alberta undertook systematic reviews of all its academic and support units mostly for program improvement purposes, but also to acquire information for planning and budget decisions. This report responds to a 1988 request to examine the University's 1980-1988 experience with program reviews and to recommend…

One educational change that is beginning to take hold is the use of alternative ways of testing and assessment, often referred to as authentic assessment. Advocates of authentic assessment believe that conventional testing is distorting educational goals, while authentic assessment can foster good educational practices. In fact, many educators…

Those involved in early childhood development must recognize that many of their most cherished beliefs about what is best for children are cultural constructions. This book focuses on quality in large-scale programs for disadvantaged young children in a variety of cultural settings. Chapter 1, "Changing Childhoods," discusses issues…

An editorial and articles are presented on a European unit/credit system for modern language learning by adults. The contents are as follows: "A European Unit Credit System" by J. L. M. Trim; "The Analysis of Language Needs: Illusion--Pretext--Necessity" by Rene Richterich; "Learning a Language Is Learning to Communicate" by D. A. Wilkins; "The…