This issue of the Canadian quarterly "Transitions," in French and English language versions, examines the prevention of youth crime, with a specific focus on activities, trends, and research dealing with Canadian families. Major articles in this issue are: (1) "A Snowball's Chance? Communities and Families Working to Prevent Youth…

The 1995 Mississippi "Report Card" provides an index of information about elementary and secondary education in Mississippi. Information in this report was collected from the state's 149 school districts and 4 agricultural high schools to increase the understanding of the opportunities available to districts and to increase local support…

Art education in The Netherlands, which had been dominated by an expressive approach that emphasized creative self-expression, has recently changed its emphasis to reflect a discipline-based approach and the wish for more accountability in art instruction. Final examinations have been produced for secondary art classes, with the testing of art…

The last two decades have seen an increase in the demand for information about school effectiveness. For this paper, school effectiveness is defined as the value-added effectiveness. Value-added indices measure achievement over and above what would have been expected from attendance at a comparable school. They assess school effectiveness after…

Designed to aid in the development of goals and objectives for California's City College of San Francisco (CCSF), this atlas provides data on student outcomes, institutional finances, and other accountability information for 1993-94 through 1995-96, with longitudinal data included where available. Following a brief introduction and the CCSF…

The perspectives in these essays present an examination of the Kentucky educational reform effort, with an examination of its rationale, various facets, and the reactions to its implementation. The ambitious assessment system includes multiple-choice and open-ended items, performance tasks, and portfolio assessments. The following are included:…

A forum on inclusive schools, developed cooperatively by 10 national organizations, focused on the experiences of 12 schools and school districts across the United States and Canada. Twelve features are identified as characterizing inclusive schools: (1) a sense of community; (2) leadership; (3) high standards; (4) collaboration and cooperation;…

A preliminary investigation has been made of some claims regarding alternative assessment. Using the California Learning Assessment System (CLAS)--Middle Grades Mathematics Performance Assessment as a platform, the study examined how alternative assessment operates in actual practice. Early findings are presented in the following areas: (1)…

This report summarizes the 1990-91 State Performance Reports for the Chapter 1 (Education Consolidation and Improvement Act) local education agency (LEA) program and the Chapter 1 State Agency Neglected or Delinquent program. Chapter 1 represents the largest investment in elementary and secondary education of the Federal government. With the…

This report identifies what Iowa teachers say must be done to transform schools comprehensively. Recommendations in the key areas of time, authority and responsibility, evaluation and accountability, and early childhood education, are offered. In regard to these recommendations, three major elements have the greatest leverage for change:…

New Mexico State University-Alamogordo's (NMSU-A) Institutional Assessment and Strategic Planning (IASP) process is designed to identify what the institution is doing, what the community is doing that may affect NMSU-A, how well NMSU-A is achieving its mission and purposes, and what the college should do in the future. The IASP is an integrated…

This report, emanating from New Mexico State University-Alamogordo's (NMSU-A) Institutional Assessment and Strategic Planning (IASP) process, presents information pertinent to NMSU-A's planning process for 1993-1996. Following a brief introduction and the IASP Committee cover memo, the report highlights seven high-priority institutional issues:…

The role of ethics in institutional management and instruction and the need for ethics codes have been identified as major issues currently facing community colleges in the United States. In general, ethics codes represent professional ideals, serving as guides for behavior and establishing principles of performance. A study was recently conducted…

It is time to revise the Chapter 1 program to prepare disadvantaged children to meet the challenges of the National Education Goals. The Chapter 1 program must be aligned with larger reforms to develop higher standards for student performance and greater accountability. The gap in achievement between disadvantaged and other students means that…

In 1986, the Southern Regional Education Board Career Ladder Clearinghouse reported that 29 states were implementing, or had mandates to develop, career ladder or teacher incentive programs based on student performance. The 50-state survey reported on here revisits the issue of teacher and school incentive programs. The report provides a framework…