Tests effectiveness of the Perceived Quality Assessment Instrument and examines whether compensation incentives for 360 Iowa school superintendents influence a school system's perceived level of quality. The instrument was valid. Performance pay incentives were not vindicated by this study. (Contains 34 references.) (MLH)

Explores how knowledge of assessment results can be developed in public schools, identifies what types of data and information are useful in school improvement, and develops a framework for effective evaluation and decision making for lasting reform. Constructing knowledge for improvement depends on clear policy expectations and aims, high-quality…

Explores research on principals' teacher evaluation competence, focusing on rating skills, student achievement impact, classroom observation effects, improvement strategies, and monitored performance. Teacher evaluation is frequently ineffective because of improperly selected purposes, excessively complex criteria, faulty or missing theory and…

Despite efforts to produce comparable results for all groups of children over the years, inequality in educational outcomes persists. Equity audit explores school system operations and characteristics against five quality control standards: direction and planning, curriculum design and delivery, consistency and equity, assessment and evaluation,…

The equity audit is a new tool with remarkable power to identify, analyze, and evaluate a given school districts' quality control. In three case study school districts located in urban areas of New York, North Carolina, and Arkansas, considerable inconsistency and incongruity were documented in student placement practices, promotion and retention…