Just for the Kids-the nonprofit group best known for making school-level accountability data available in an innovative, user-friendly website-is now teaming with the Education Commission of the States and the University of Texas to launch the National Center for Accountability. The Center hopes to create databases like the one in Texas-which allows parents and researchers to identify high-performing schools and to compare schools with similar socioeconomic characteristics-in other states and to expand research into what makes schools succeed, as well as studying all aspects of accountability and ways of closing the achievement gap. For more see "Center would focus on schools," by Linda Wertheimer, Dallas Morning News, August 9, 2001, http://www.dallasnews.com/texas_southwest/438453_accountability.html To check out the outstanding Just for the Kids website, surf to http://www.just4kids.org
