David T. Conley

Facilitative Power and Nonstandardized Solutions to School Site Restructuring.

This article explores how administrators and teachers in 16 schools used facilitative power to develop nonstandardized site-specific restructuring programs as part of a statewide school improvement effort. Legislatively mandated teacher leadership of site activities generated changes in the authority and accountability structures of the schools. Both principals and teachers exercised facilitative power including resource acquiring, synergy creating, monitoring, networking, information distributing, lobbying, and modeling behavior. At most sites, school visions or missions were developed collaboratively and gradually and provided collective guidance. Each of the schools had shown evidence of readiness to change before beginning its school improvement project.

College and Career Readiness Assessment: Validation of the Key Cognitive Strategies Framework.

In this study, the authors examined the psychometric properties of the key cognitive strategies (KCS) within the CollegeCareerReady™ School Diagnostic, a self-report measure of critical thinking skills intended for high school students. Using a cross-validation approach, an exploratory factor analysis was conducted with a randomly selected portion of the sample (n = 516) and resulted in five reliable factors: (a) problem formulation, (b) research, (c) interpretation, (d) communication, and (e) precision/accuracy. A confirmatory factor analysis was conducted with the remaining sample (n = 808). Goodness-of-fit indices indicated acceptable model fit. The five-factor solution is consistent with earlier validity studies of the KCS framework. Implications for use by high school personnel in evaluation of instructional programs and as a value-added assessment are discussed.

Development and Initial Validation of a Measure of Academic Behaviors Associated With College and Career Readiness

In this cross-validation study, the authors examined the psychometric properties of a measure of academic behaviors associated with college and career readiness intended for high school students. An exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted with a randomly selected portion of the sample (n = 413) and resulted in four reliable factors: Goal-driven Behaviors, Persistence, Study Skills, and Self-Monitoring. A confirmatory factor analysis was conducted with the remaining sample (n = 610). Goodness-of-fit indices indicated acceptable model fit. Follow-up analyses revealed significant differences in factor scores among 9th grade students according to gender and race but no significant differences between students in grades 10 through 12, showing the measure functions similarly across students for the most part and particularly for students approaching graduation. Implications for use as a value-added assessment in secondary environments are discussed.

Reactions from the Field to State Restructuring Legislation

Can state legislatures mandate fundamental school reform when local control is prevalent and other legislative actions and policies may not be consistent with the goals of reform? This article examines teacher reactions to an Oregon law (H.B. 3565) designed to restructure public education around Certificates of Initial and Advanced Mastery and other changes. Over 2,000 educators in 92 schools completed surveys to determine their attitudes toward mandated reforms. Their reactions can be categorized as cautious support for the ideas contained in the reforms tempered with skepticism that the reforms can be implemented successfully. Individual schools varied greatly in their responses, but demographic groupings did not. States that mandate change may have to provide systematic supports-funding, demonstration projects, networks, consultation services—that enable educators to interpret, adapt, and act upon state mandates at the site level, and that are compatible with and supportive of the structures and strategies that emerge in schools.

Student Ownership of Learning as a Key Component of College Readiness

This article considers the importance of ownership of learning as a key component of college readiness. The article is organized around two conceptual models. The first is a four-part model of college readiness that includes key cognitive strategies, key content knowledge, key learning skills and techniques, and key transition knowledge and skills. The second is a five-part model of ownership of learning that consists of the following elements: motivation and engagement, goal orientation and self-direction, self-efficacy and self-confidence, metacognition and self-monitoring, and persistence. Finally, the article concludes with a discussion of the role and importance of ownership of learning and makes the case that these elements can and should be taught to all students, and particularly in settings where an achievement gap exists.

Rethinking the Senior Year

The final year of high school education as it is currently designed presents numerous challenges to students, teachers, and administrators. This article describes strategies to help school administrators rethink the senior year so that high school seniors can make the transition from school to work and/or college more smoothly and successfully. A national report on the senior year is summarized and its recommendations reviewed.

Oregon's Quality Education Model: Linking Adequacy and Outcomes

This article describes the Oregon Quality Education model (OQEM), an adequacy funding model that attempts to connect the resources provided to schools with the student-learning outcomes that should result. The OQEM employs “prototype schools” to delineate the elements and costs of a quality education. Local school districts retain the ability to develop their own instructional programs but must be as effective as the prototype schools. The OQEM specifies quality indicators that ascertain how effectively the prototype schools are assumed to be functioning. Outcome measures set by the OQEM use performance on state assessments to establish the learning that results from the prototype schools. The OQEM connects several key components of state education policy: funding, school improvement, system performance, and accountability. The model illustrates how state and local control can be balanced within a framework that defines state responsibility to fund education adequately and local responsibility to deliver quality programs accordingly.

Eight Steps to Improved Teacher Remediation.

Time and energy spent on remediation will pay divi dends. When done properly, it can improve the climate within a school by demon strating commitment to excellence.

The Evaluation Report: A Tool for Teacher Growth.

These writers reviewed teacher evaluation reports from a midsize school district. After analyzing teacher and administrator evaluation reports over a period of several years, a number of patterns emerged. These generalizations, along with some observations gleaned from practice, form the basis of this article.

District Performance Standards: Missing Link for Effective Teacher Evaluation

Clearly defined performance standards and effective means for evaluating teacher fulfillment of these standards can help ensure competent teachers,