Within the educational reform debate, there is general agreement that the development of high academic standards is an important first step toward improving academic outcomes. This report highlights the standards initiatives being implemented in Colorado, Delaware, Minnesota, and South Carolina. All four states have made substantial progress in…

These combined proceedings summarize presentations of two conference programs designed to address state-mandated student achievement issues. Dr. Terrel Bell delivered the keynote speech at a teleconference focusing on a broad perspective of competency testing. He discussed testing problems, as well as positive aspects such as comparison, diagnosis…

Representatives from Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas discuss the issues surrounding teacher and student competency and accountability. For each state, they review legislative policies and actions and the programs of the state education department regarding the use of competency and accountability standards. The…

This document presents a report of a 1992 workshop on teacher development and educational reform. The meeting focused on how various state teacher policies could be integrated into a coherent and comprehensive statewide teacher-development system. Following the executive summary, this report contains two main sections. The first sets the context…

The State has primary responsibility for public education. It should be the priority for each State legislature, State Board of Education, and chief State school officer to consider what methods can be employed to meet equal opportunity/ desegregation standards, to devise and implement strategies to overcome deficiencies, and, thereby, to assure…