Discusses ways to assess how well team organizations are functioning and contributing to the total operation of the middle schools that use team structures. Considers whether teaching teams determine course content, and school support for teams; also considers teacher training in team operations and the level of understanding and commitment…

Examines the administrative and organizational practices in a selected group of secondary vocational schools in Turkey from the point of view of school administrators, teachers, and industrial managers. Finds that the Turkish vocational education system is characterized by a centralized, top-down bureaucracy, which inhibits innovative capacity.…

Asserts that the recent emphasis on quality assurance in higher education, particularly with its sometimes confusing mixture of components, can do a disservice to effective education. (EV)

Studied basic professional demographic information about school district assessment coordinators and determined the current professional development and training needs of local district assessment coordinators in Washington state through surveys completed by 109 (37% of the sample) Washington assessment coordinators. Results show many differences…

Two school districts in Washington State are seeing fundamental shifts in the learning process by using technology as a tool to support data-centric instruction. An effective student-assessment strategy includes comprehensive information about student progress, analysis of assessment information so specific instructional strategies can be…

Why the standard error must serve as a standard against which educational gains are measured is discussed from a policy analysis perspective, considering technical and policy levels. An online discussion of the issues in the use of the standard error is transcribed and attached. (SLD)

Health care providers now have collective responsibility for clinical outcomes, so professional continuing education should emphasize collaborative generation and application of knowledge. Continuing education professionals should act as performance consultants implementing the principles of organizational learning that, combined with individual…

Discusses the history of educational testing in Canada in the 1990s and the failure of provincial governments to give meaning to school accountability. Uses Winnipeg's Glenlawn Collegiate High School as an example of a school that assessed its own performance honestly by talking to students and graduates, then drew on findings to initiate needed…

Discusses the contrast between assessing achievement for samples of students and the high-stakes testing of all students. High stakes tests can entail harmful direct effects for some individuals and harmful side effects for others. Discusses student engagement in school as a key element of effective schooling. (SLD)

Describes rationale and attributes of local assessment program to augment statewide testing programs. Describes several steps to develop and implement a local assessment program, including setting priorities and goals, meeting with state officials, developing budgets and funding sources, forming development teams, providing professional…

This study was conducted to provide further information regarding factors associated with educational evaluation, using a qualitative approach. Fifty-five interviews were carried out with school principals. The results of the present study supported the notion that the qualitative methods could provide information that quantitative procedures…

From cherry-picked data through tortured statistics, Mr. Bracey sets the story straight on the past year in education.

Library media specialists can help achieve several goals of the No Child Left Behind Act. Of particular importance is helping students to achieve high test scores, as this would influence the level of federal funds meted out to schools.

An analysis of recent publications in the field of school effectiveness studies shows that virtually no contributions have been made in that knowledge domain with respect to the effectiveness of Christian schools. To address this shortcoming--while keeping the undesirability of a package approach to Christian education in mind--a…

Systematic procedures for quality assurance and improvement through evaluation have been in place in Western Europe since the mid 1980s and in Germany since the mid 1990s. As studies in Europe and beyond show that multi-stage evaluation procedures as the main quality assurance instrument for evaluation of teaching and learning in higher education…