School improvement is a continuous, systematic process to enhance student learning, improve educational opportunities, and increase the effectiveness of the educational programs and services provided to students. The Missouri School Improvement Program (MSIP) is an ongoing process that includes assessing the strengths and needed improvements in…

Concern for the quality of undergraduate education and its graduates has been a recurring topic of conversation in the literature and the workplace. Student involvement has been identified as a major factor that contributes to improvement in student learning. Recent emphasis on the need for excellence in higher education has increased the use of…

Are states setting high expectations for student learning? To answer this question the Council for Basic Education (CBE) evaluated the rigor of mathematics and language arts standards in the United States. This report is divided into the following sections: (1) Context for the Study; (2) Rigor in State Standards; (3) Issues Affecting the…

This study examined the extent to which students with disabilities are included in accountability systems in states in which there are high stakes for educational systems. Conducted through a World Wide Web search of states' education Web sites and direct links to their Web sites, the study examined the indicators on which states collect…

A study examined state Individualized Education Program (IEP) forms to determine the extent to which they include documentation of standards and assessments. All 50 states were asked to send their IEP Forms and to indicate whether they were required, recommended, or simply sample forms. Out of the 41 states with IEP forms, only 5 states…

This paper argues that it is time to think differently about assessing the role of educational technology in the teaching and learning process. The first section addresses the question, "What is learning?" The second section examines the purpose of education. The third section discusses the knowledge base needed to apply educational…

Papers presented at the annual meeting of the New Zealand Council for Educational Research present diverse views on assessment in the context of proposals for national testing in primary schools in New Zealand. Also of widespread interest as the conference was developed was the restructuring of secondary school examinations. The papers are: (1)…

This is Western Iowa Technical Community College's Fact Book for the academic year 1999-2000. It provides general information, enrollment trends, a student profile, financial information, and a section on student success. Data presented in this document are drawn from a variety of sources, including the 10-day enrollment reports, IPEDS, College…

The assessment model described in this guide was initially developed by a team of fifth-grade teachers who wrote objectives of integrating social studies and language arts. It helps the teacher guide students to create a task-specific rubric that they use to evaluate their own and peers' work. Teachers review the student evaluations, determine the…

This document contains raw data on the various issues affecting the pre-K-12 community. The information was collected from Lexis-Nexis, legislative staff, state newsletters, school board/teacher associations, and various media. The issues presented here are in alphabetical order and are divided under three headings: state name, status of the…

This workbook is part of a series devoted to all areas of charter-school development. The third of five workbooks, it focuses on assessment and accountability and examines such issues as academic accountability, fiscal accountability, public/parental accountability, rule compliance, assessment and evaluation, financial management, developing a…

This brief policy paper outlines considerations that school district personnel should address in determining the inclusion of students with disabilities in state and district testing and the use of alternate assessment for certain students with disabilities. It notes that the decision to include or exclude a student from state and district testing…

Findings are reported from a 50-state survey of state assessment and accountability systems conducted by the Consortium for Policy Research in Education in 2000. A four-step process was used to collect and verify data for the preparation of state profiles. Nine common layers of accountability have been identified: (1) a statewide system of…

Educational standards and accountability are at the center of an ongoing national debate on school reform that began almost 20 years ago. This debate has raised fundamental questions about school effectiveness and the strategies educators should use to boost student learning. This book provides a closer look at these questions and seeks to answer…

This document is the first in a series of annual, faculty-designed supplements to Nassau Community College's (NCC's) (New York) manual, "Concepts & Procedures for Academic Assessment." The supplements are intended to provide faculty a forum through which they can communicate assessment designs and the impacts of those designs on…