Holding Schools Accountable

School Administrator, May, 1997 by Barbara Devlin

In a time of rising expectations of schools and increasing competition for resources, the Brookings Institution has compiled a timely collection of research articles into Holding Schools Accountable: Performance-Based Reform in Education, edited by Helen F. Ladd, professor of public policy studies and economics at Duke University.

Three articles focus on performance-based incentive programs, two at the state level and one at a large district level. Another two explore the relationship between public and nonpublic school choice and performance. One article observes that, while accountability testing primarily measures the performance of regular education students, increased spending on special education has decreased the proportion of total dollars spent on regular education.

Other articles describe the costs and educational impacts of class size, teacher education, and teacher training, as well as three alternative school reforms: the Accelerated Schools Model, the Success for All Program, and the School Development Program.

(Holding Schools Accountable: Performance-Based Reform in Education, edited by Helen F. Ladd, Brookings Institution Press, 1775 Massachusetts Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036-2188, 1996, 382 pp., $42.95 hardcover)