The Polish school education system makes a distinction between two types of assessment: (1) Intra-school or internal assessment; and (2) External assessment. The idea of introducing external examinations into the Polish school education system emerged in 1992. This was directly inspired by study visits to the United Kingdom and the Netherlands…

The "Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act of 19981" (commonly referred to as "Perkins," "Perkins III," or "the Act" and referred to hereafter as "Perkins III") requires, in Sec. 113(c)(3)(C), that the secretary provide the appropriate committees of Congress copies of annual…

This report discusses the use of performance indicators (PIs) in higher education, focusing on definitions, frameworks, examples, and implications for universities. It notes that demands for accountability have led to intense interest in university performance measures, and that early indicators simply described the university or the system and…

Contrasts between constructed response items and stem-equivalent multiple-choice counterparts typically have involved averaging item characteristics, and this aggregation has masked differences in statistical properties at the item level. Moreover, even aggregated format differences have not been explained in terms of differential cognitive…

This evaluation of the Des Moines Public Schools' Department of Human Resources Management (Iowa) focuses on five main areas: context, input, process, product, and future needs. Context evaluation examines the personnel functions of the district which include recruitment, employment, discipline, discharge, development, training, assignment, and…

This document presents data on the student performance of North Carolina students for the year 1994. Section 1 traces the development of school and student accountability measures, outlines the implementation of actions designed to enhance program equity throughout the state, and describes specific program and student performance standards as they…

In April 1993, the Assistant Director-General of the quality-assurance review program in New South Wales, Australia, established guidelines, called "best practices descriptors," to provide schools with collaboratively developed statements that reflect the characteristics of an effective school or classroom. The statements will provide a…

This paper describes a project undertaken for the Swiss National Science Foundation to investigate the efficiency of the Swiss education systems. The project entailed a literature review of current international trends in school-effectiveness and school-improvement research; a survey of 57 researchers in 10 countries; a survey of researchers in…

This book argues that schools are doing a better job than is commonly portrayed by the media and various commission reports. However, it cautions that schools must move beyond incremental improvements. One need not assume school failure to propose school reform. Chapter 1 examines limitations of the research that has portrayed a national…

This project was designed to solicit parental perceptions of Caroline Street Elementary School (Saratoga Springs, New York) in terms of Effective Schools, a method of assessing school improvement. Families (n=334) were asked to provide their perceptions regarding correlational characteristics identified as vital to successful school programs:…

Although there is disagreement among educators about performance standards and their relationship to student performance, performance standards are central to the reforms under way in many states and large school districts, including Philadelphia. They are also mentioned explicitly in the Goals 2000: Educate America Act and in the re-authorization…

This booklet provides suggestions for possible sources of information for each of the student performance indicators listed in the National Center on Educational Outcomes' conceptual model for students in fourth grade, including students with disabilities. The model has eight outcome domains, each with several outcomes and indicators of outcomes.…

This report presents general criteria for authentic pedagogy, instructional activities rooted in a primary concern for high standards of intellectual quality, as well as more specific standards that can be used to judge the quality of assessment tasks, classroom lessons, and student performance. Examples are given of tasks, lessons, and student…

This report describes the process of establishing the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Achievement Levels-Setting (ALS) to formulate expectations for the geography and U.S. history assessments in 1994 for grades 4, 8, and 12. The volume includes the following: (1) "List of Tables"; (2) "List of Figures"; (3)…

The Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) was organized in 1981 as the accrediting agency responsible for reviewing and evaluating counseling and student affairs practice in higher education programs against a set of nationally recognized standards. The CACREP accreditation process incorporates a pattern…