Cover -- Preface -- Contents -- Figure and Tables -- Summary -- Acknowledgments -- CHAPTER ONE -- Introduction -- Accountability in Education -- Other Approaches to Educational Accountability1 -- Accountability in Other Sectors -- Organization of the Monograph -- CHAPTER TWO -- Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award Program -- Background -- The Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence4 -- Education Criteria for Performance Excellence5 -- Organizational Performance Results -- Strategic Planning -- Information and Analysis -- Process Management -- Evidence on the Baldrige Framework: Effects on Performance -- Validating the Framework -- Effect on Operating Performance -- The K-12 Educational Sector Experience with the MBNQA -- Winners of the Baldrige Award in Education -- Chugach School District (CSD), Alaska7 -- Pearl River School District (PRSD), New York8 -- Other Users of the Baldrige Criteria -- Implications for Education -- Institutional Self-Assessment May Be Inherently Beneficial -- The Baldrige Process Supports Accountability -- Educators May Find It Difficult to Understand and Translate the Criteria -- Some Caveats -- CHAPTER THREE -- Toyota Production System/Lean Manufacturing -- Overview of TPS/Lean Manufacturing -- Focus on the Value Stream -- Standardization -- Worker Empowerment -- Evidence for Effects of TPS/Lean Manufacturing on Production and Workers -- Worker Empowerment or Worker Exploitation? -- Applying TPS/Lean Manufacturing to Education -- Implications for Education -- Greater Focus on Value Streams Could Improve Educational Outcomes -- Worker Empowerment Could Improve Educational Practices -- TPS/Lean Production Must Be Used as a Complete System -- Closely Translating TPS Practices to Education Is Challenging -- CHAPTER FOUR -- The Job Training Partnership Act and the Workforce Investment Act.

Overview of the Job Training Partnership Act -- Performance Standards -- Performance Incentives -- How JTPA Worked in Practice -- Measures of Performance -- Effects on Provider Behavior -- Overview of the Workforce Investment Act2,3 -- Early Implementation of the WIA -- Implications for Education -- Explicit Performance Objectives May Produce Mixed Outcomes -- Data Collection Alone Does Not Drive Improvement -- Educational Systems Should Use Multiple Measures of Performance -- The JTPA Framework Highlights the Need to Adjust for Differences in Ability -- CHAPTER FIVE -- Accountability in the Legal Profession -- The Nature of Professions -- Overview of Accountability in the Legal Profession -- Professional Authority -- Controls on Entry -- Alternative Legal Training -- Professional Responsibility -- Addressing and Protecting Client Concerns -- Collective Self-Regulation -- Lawyer Discipline System -- Market Forces -- Applying the Legal Model to Educational Accountability -- Implications for Education -- The Knowledge Base in Education is Not Yet Sufficiently Well-Regarded for Professional Accountability -- Professional Accountability and Alternative Certification Can Coexist -- Educators Should Foster a Sense of Public Responsibility -- Educators Would Need Methods of Self-Policing and Self-Regulation -- Professional Accountability Is Complemented by Market Accountability -- CHAPTER SIX -- Clinical Practice Guidelines in the Health Sector -- Background -- Health Care Guideline Development -- Topic Selection -- Identification of Decisionmaking Group -- Gathering the Evidence -- Decisionmaking Process -- Dissemination of Guidelines -- The Effect of Guidelines on Health Care Practices -- Applying the Concept of Practice Guidelines to Education -- Implications for Education -- Practice Guidelines Could Address Variations in Teaching Practices.

Guideline Development Would Be Limited by the Lack of Scientific Evidence -- Educators Need a Common System of Classification to Develop Guidelines -- CHAPTER SEVEN -- Risk Adjustment Methods in Health Care Accountability -- Making Fair Comparisons -- How Risk Adjustment Is Done -- Limitations -- Applying Risk Adjustment to Education -- Current Uses of Risk Adjustment in Education -- Implications for Education -- Risk Adjustment in Education May Be Controversial -- Risk Adjustment Requires Agreement About Outcomes and Measures -- Identifying Risk Factors Accurately Requires Extensive Data -- Educators Should Understand and Accept the Risk-Adjustment Model -- CHAPTER EIGHT -- Health Care Report Cards and the Public Release of Data -- Facilitating Improvement by Means of Information -- History of Health Care Report Cards and Public Release of Data -- How Report Cards Have Affected the Health Care Industry -- Health Care Organizations -- Physicians and Clinicians -- Consumers -- Mixed Reactions to Health Care Data Reporting -- Public Release of Data in Education -- Implications for Education -- Performance Report Cards Work Best with Competition -- Publicizing Performance Data May Have Undesired Consequences -- CHAPTER NINE -- Conclusions -- Enhancing Effective Accountability in Education -- Broaden Performance Measures -- Make Sure Performance Goals Are Fair to All Students and Schools -- Develop Standards of Practice in Promising Areas and Encourage Professional Accountability -- Develop an Integrated, Comprehensive Strategy to Help Schools and Districts Improve Their Performance -- Final Conclusions -- References.