Goals 2000: Educate America Act, Title III. Fifth Annual Report, 2000.

Overview & Synopsis

Idaho has made substantial progress carrying out its State School Improvement Plan under the direction of the Idaho State Board of Education and the Idaho State Department of Education, and with funding under the Goals 2000: Educate America Act. Three major areas of accomplishment provide the basis for continuing improvement activities. The first area is the revision and implementation of the Idaho Statewide Strategic Plan to create a "seamless" education system involving public elementary and secondary education, the State Department of Education, professional-technical education, higher education, and Idaho Public Broadcasting. The second area includes expansion and strengthening of the State Testing Program, a result of which is the creation of achievement standards for each grade level indicating sequentially based expectations of student achievement along with appropriate grade-level indicators of student knowledge. The third area involves development and implementation of state achievement standards whose first phase, the "Skill-Based Curriculum Project," is now complete. The state board is currently in the process of hiring an assessment specialist consultant whose primary goal is to develop a statewide assessment program for the K-12 public-school system. Appendixes A and B list subgrant awardee project summaries for fiscal years 1998 and 1999, respectively. (RT)