Eight issues in planning and implementing outcomes-focused assessment are presented including: multiple measures are more desirable than a single standardized examination, faculty involvement is essential, performance-based funding should be derived from additional resources, etc. (Author/MLW)

Examines the Carnegie report in terms of three themes: (1) distrust of teachers; (2) commitment to teacher autonomy that is conditional on achieved results; and (3) a conception of teacher accountability focusing on student performance rather than professional practice. Concludes that the implicit view of the teacher is one of an assembly-line…

Maintains that the major dilemma of the Holmes Group Report is that improving teachers both is, and is not, by itself, the way to improve education. Raises several questions which the report ignores and offers a synopsis of scholarly literature regarding teacher education. (DH)

Criticizes "A Nation at Risk" as an agenda for conservative reaction, not reform. Comments on the underlying assumptions and implications of the Holmes and Carnegie reports. Concludes by suggesting alternatives for more substantive reform. (DH)

Attempts to understand educational quality have created an ever-increasing set of measures and approaches. Issues regarding assessment of student learning, teacher effectiveness, and school effectiveness are discussed. (MT)

Recognizes the need to monitor the actions of schools toward ethnic minorities and outlines ways in which it can be done. Discusses the planning, problems, and techniques of monitoring, concluding that schools must offer action beyond access and must study whether minority students are being well served. (GEA)

Five priorities on the national agenda are detailed: language competency among adults, the need for a common metric for language skills, determination of the most effective language teaching method, more integrated language instruction, and critical examination of the practice of teaching European languages to the neglect of other languages. (AMH)

The ultimate concern that faces teachers of economics in Great Britain is how their pupils will fare in the externally assessed examinations at the secondary level. This article puts in historical perspective the recent moves toward centralized control of the assessment of the curriculum. (RM)

An assessment of educational quality involves the selection of the relevant elements of the educational system, the assessment of their quality, and the weighting to be attached them. The concept of educational equality can be interpreted at three levels: equality of educational provision, educational opportunity, and group educational outcomes.…

Defines productivity as the ratio of outputs to inputs. Describes ways of using productivity measures in comparing instructional approaches, program implementations, and longitudinal trends. Offers cautions about potential misinterpretations of productivity comparisons, using a hypothetical analysis of the productivity of four specific…

Argues that quality is measured by outcomes. Lists potential measures for high school quality. Considers problems and approaches to the assessment of quality-with-equity. Suggests tempering performance expectations according to germane input characteristics, evaluating the range of programs offered, and addressing the issue in terms of…

This checklist of criteria is intended to assist school system personnel in better determining the effectiveness of their educational programs in the area of citizenship education. (RM)

The California Commission on the Teaching Profession was formed to review California's teaching profession and to make recommendations concerning any aspects of the profession. The issues of teacher preparation and licensing, equity, school management, and working conditions are briefly discussed. (DF)

A statistical model is proposed that describes the determination of an educational outcome variable as a nonlinear function of explanatory variables defined at different levels of a survey data hierarchy, such as students and classes. The theoretical and practical derivation of the model is discussed, and an example is given. (Author/BW)

From the Assessment of Performance Unit (APU) in Britain, illustrative comments of 11- and 15-year-olds concerning mathematics are presented. Sex differences in attitudes and in test performance are also given. (MNS)