SREB states were among the first in the nation to set comprehensive state academic standards for K-12 schools. Setting these initial standards was only part of the job. Getting these standards right and keeping them right may be the most important task facing public education today. If state standards are too low, many public school graduates will…

This monograph offers a realistic look at current trends in student achievement in science education, the participation of underrepresented populations, and the many factors that serve to sustain them. In addition, it offers new insights and concrete suggestions for change based on the analysis of recent reports and promising field-based studies.…

California is experiencing a critical shortage of nurses -- a shortage that is likely to increase in the coming years (Coffman & Spetz, 1999). Although much of the nation is also experiencing similar shortages, California's shortage is more severe than that of any other state in the nation (Bureau of Health Professions, 2002). Most analyses of…

Opportunities for online K-12 education are expanding dramatically throughout the United States. This paper describes some of the organizational models that have been developed to provide online education to public school students, including their key strengths and challenges. The review is intended to help state and local school officials weigh…

This brief report provides information about a very significant education reform program and tax increase, commonly known as Proposition 301. Coverage includes the history leading up to the ballot measure approved by Arizona voters in November 2000, its status approximately one year after it went into effect, and its prospects over a 20-year life…

This annual report highlights information on school performance and improvement in Hawaii's public schools. The report profiles noteworthy academic events, trends, and outcomes at two organizational levels: state and complex. Featured are tables, figures, and narrative sections related to demographic, financial, and educational performance. Also,…

Teaching mathematics in a multicultural scholastic context is a current research theme in countries where the phenomenon of immigration is becoming important. There is a project being carried out in some southern European countries which aims to identify the needs of maths teachers in the lower secondary schools. The theoretical framework of the…

This report describes the procedures and results of the full-scale implementation of the B&B:93/03 study. Students who earned a bachelor's degree in 1992-93 were first interviewed in 1993 and then subsequently in 1994 and 1997. This is the final follow-up interview of the B&B:93 cohort, 10 years following completion of the bachelor's…

One valuable ingredient that is missing from common teacher practice is the measurement of ongoing student performance in the classroom in a way that supports improvement in student performance and in teacher instruction that can be shared with parents, teachers, and other professional colleagues. Treatment-only designs (TODs) with self-recording…

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), often called the "Nation's Report Card," is the only nationally representative, continuing assessment of what U.S. students know and can do in various subject areas. NAEP provides a comprehensive measure of students' learning at critical junctures in their school experience. The…

In testing, educators have two competing intentions. They want to be fair in allowing students to demonstrate what they know without creating testing conventions and formats that let students pretend to know. Teaching-the-test literature shows that test scores can be inflated, meaning that they can go up without a generalized increase in…

This annotated bibliography of 66 resources was developed as part of a federally funded project in Minnesota to promote the participation of students with limited English proficiency (LEP) and students with disabilities in the Minnesota Graduation Standards. Specifically, the project is encouraging participation in the Basic Standards Exams of…

This volume for instructors contains general information about gender equity in mathematics, science, and technology (MST) education, teaching activities, learning assessment materials, and suggestions for action research projects to be carried out for students. The second volume for students contains source materials for use with various…

This book presents a rationale for learning-centered assessments in schools and an overview of the tools, techniques, and issues that educators should consider as they design and use assessments focused on learner needs. The proposals in this book are based on the premise that assessment should be deliberately designed to improve and educate…

This book discusses how to use everyday data to create strategies for educational improvement in schools. It provides users with a process for building a performance indicator system, identifying the most important aspects of a school's innovational efforts and traps to avoid that may lead to misinterpretation of data. The introduction identifies…