This paper first proposes a definition for outcome-based education (OBE) and then identifies questions that challenge the assumptions of OBE. In so doing, it sets the agenda for an honest debate on issues of policy, process, and assessment. OBE calls for a shift from an emphasis on inputs to an emphasis on performance standards for all students.…

Educational leaders may recognize the promise of a performance-based educational system, but often are wary of confronting well-orchestrated special interest groups who oppose the change. This paper provides a basis for dialogue on both the promise of outcome-based education (OBE) and the challenge it presents to educational leaders. It argues…

Traditional approaches to education use the level of inputs as a measure of effectiveness. Outcomes-based education (OBE) is based on the concept that educational success should be measured by what students learn, rather than by what they are taught. As a systems-level restructuring tool, OBE calls for success for all students, not just academic…

This paper summarizes research on ways to measure a school's instructional climate. Four areas of inquiry revolve around accomplishment, recognition, power, and affiliation. Because a school's instructional climate has a significant impact on student learning, the study of instructional climate is important. Three sets of conditions to examine…

This report describes a program for increasing student readiness for and achievement in mathematics. The targeted population consists of third grade students in an expanding suburban community and kindergarten students in a culturally diverse urban community, both located in Northern Illinois. The problems of achievement in and attitudes towards…

This book of essays sets forth Eisner's theories of aesthetic intelligence, or theories that rethink the connections among art, literacy, research, and evaluation. The book is divided into four sections of four essays each. The first section, "Cognition and Representation," explains how the process of education expands and deepens the kinds of…

This policy brief provides background information to state leaders as they play an increasingly visible role in reading programs. It focuses on understanding how children learn to read; on clarifying what research says about effective reading approaches; on why so many students are not reading successfully; and on identifying what policymakers can…

This annual plan identifies the key strategies and performance measures for the Department of Education (ED). The plan focuses on strategies for achieving the ED's mission, which is to ensure equal access to education and to promote educational excellence, and it discusses the department's four goals that support this mission: (1) help all…

This volume of the Department of Education's (ED) annual plan contains the program-performance plans to support efforts to reach the department's four goals. These four goals are as follows: (1) help all students reach challenging academic standards so that they are prepared for responsible citizenship, further learning, and productive employment;…

This handbook is designed to guide readers in developing a local assessment of the community's progress toward the National Education Goals. It is organized around those questions that the National Education Goals Panel has used to measure national and state progress in its 1991 report. Information in the introduction includes the history of the…

This book presents the complete proceedings (written presentations as well as transcriptions of oral presentations and group discussions) of a national symposium on alternative assessment in the language arts. Oral presentation titles are: "Current Issues in Alternative Assessment" (Roger Farr); "Whole Language and Evaluation: Some…

A cognitively based theoretical framework for the assessment of domain competence is proposed. The basic thesis is that to be knowledgeable one must know how the important concepts of a domain are interrelated. This thesis implies that any valid assessment of knowledge must capture these structural properties. The implementation of a structural…

Information on evaluation planning for the Community Junior Secondary School (CJSS) system in Botswana is presented in this monograph. The papers were used within the Ministry of Education's Department of Curriculum Development and Evaluation as part of the Junior Secondary Education Improvement Project (JSEIP). The first two chapters describe the…

This report contains standards of the Missouri School Improvement Program that outline the state's vision and expectations for quality schools. The expectations are nonprescriptive to allow each school district the flexibility and responsibility to provide quality education. The standards are presented in three sections: resource standards,…

This document provides guidelines designed to provide an interactive process for schools and communities to meet students' learning needs. The process, called The Protocol, is designed to ensure that restructuring schools in California focus on students' learning experiences, assess their accomplishments, and provide input from education…