If rewards are to be used as a school-reform tool, their formats must be more closely tailored to the organizational characteristics of schools and to the purpose of improving teaching and learning. This paper describes lessons learned from Kentucky's collective incentive system, the Kentucky Instructional Results Information System (KIRIS). The…

A 1994 national survey collected copies of 36 states' student outcomes, standards, or goals documents. Two states, Florida and Indiana, and the District of Columbia included information related to goals, outcomes, standards, or indicators that could be compared to the National Center on Educational Outcomes for Students with Disabilities (NCEO)…

This investigation mapped the correspondence between indicators at the post-school level included in the comprehensive system of educational outcomes and indicators developed by the National Center for Educational Outcomes (NCEO) and indicators included in select national data collection programs. The NCEO model articulates outcomes and indicators…

One factor thought to contribute to the underutilization of mental health services, especially among rural Americans, is the stigma attached to mental illness and the associated help seeking process. This study investigated the effects of an instructional unit on mental illness and related issues on rural adolescents' concept of mental illness and…

This book argues that all school efforts should be focused on results. It elaborates on the simple conditions that favor results, briefly discusses the theory behind the conditions, and demonstrates, using examples from schools, how other schools can begin to successfully replicate the conditions. Following the introduction, chapters 1-3 describe…

Recent research in the visual arts has resulted in the development of a range of methods for assessing student learning. Theoretically based in cognitive conceptions of learning, assessment systems discussed in this paper have been applied in practice. Possibilities for the art teacher to apply such assessment methodologies directly in the…

Students in Israel who wish to enter institutes of higher education are required to hold a matriculation certificate. Matriculation exams are therefore high-stake and stressful. In 1993 the Minister of Education appointed a committee to consider reforming the matriculation policy. This paper describes the political and societal aspects of the…

This paper contributes to the body of knowledge on new forms of assessment by examining the impact of teacher involvement in the scoring of standards-based performance assessments. Researchers studied 250 of 500 teachers who participated in a New York state project to pilot new state assessment prototypes. The National Center for Restructuring…

This paper describes an approach that states and local districts might use to develop a coordinated assessment system so that information collected at state and local levels about programs under Title I of the Improving America's Schools Act (IASA) would be complementary and not redundant. The reauthorization of Title I provides a unique…

The quality of the academic standards in America's public schools is one of the pressing issues on the minds of parents and the public. This document, the second annual report by the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), examines how many states are committed to setting common academic standards and analyzes the quality of the standards against…

The quality of the academic standards in America's public schools is one of the pressing issues on the minds of parents and the public. This document, the third annual report by the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), reports on how many states are committed to setting common academic standards and analyzes the quality of the standards against…

The Tasmania Department of Education and the Arts commissioned policy research in February 1992 to identify forms of accountability preferred by stakeholders. This paper describes the policy-research project that sought to clarify the accountability processes and the criteria for collecting data and improving the quality of learning, teaching, and…

The time has come to shift the focus from the "what" of knowledge (content) to the "how" of learning (processes). This book is the third in a series of three books in the Process as Content trilogy. The book offers suggestions and strategies for educators beginning the journey of transferring education into a process-oriented paradigm. The book…

This study examines the linguistic features of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) mathematics test items and investigates the significance of language-related variables for NAEP's assessment in the content area of mathematics. The continuing increase in the number of language minority students in classrooms nationwide has…

This study aims to evaluate the degree to which the achievement level descriptions adopted by the National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB) for the 1992 assessment in mathematics accurately represent what students at a given achievement level can do. NAGB descriptions of the levels were used to form lists of statements about what students at a…