The ABC Accountability Plan in North Carolina elementary and middle schools focuses primarily on the average growth shown by groups of students on end-of-grade reading and mathematics tests. Average test results for a group of students at the end of a year are compared to scores for the same students at the end of the prior year. Two levels of…

"Accountability" and "assessment" are terms that are frequently misused and misunderstood. This document is intended to stimulate conversations about assessment of and accountability for student learning, to raise assessment issues that may prevent improved student learning, and raise awareness about the relationship between assessment and…

The annual Survey of State Student Assessment Programs (SSAP) summarizes what is happening in statewide assessment programs and identifies trends in assessment. The two volumes of this report contain a wealth of information about assessment in the statewide programs. Usually, each question in the survey has a corresponding data table, although in…

This report presents information about the state of higher education in Illinois. In November 2000, the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education issued the first National Report Card that gave Illinois an overall grade-point-average of 88.8, the best in the United States. Nevertheless, the state could not rest on its laurels, and…

The tables in this document are based on data collected through the National Survey of America's Families (NSAF), a household survey conducted as part of the Assessing the New Federalism project. The project is national in scope, but has selected 13 focal states for intensive study. These tabulations are based on the 1997 round of the NSAF. They…

Volume 1 of the fall 1997 annual survey tabulates information about each state's assessment program during the 1996-97 school year. This volume contains the survey sent to state assessment directors, which was completed by representatives of all 50 states, and a summary table that lists the types of programs in each state. A list of state…

This report presents, in chart form, information about the accountability reports and indicator reports from each state. State education staff were asked to identify and update descriptions of all current state reports that provide accountability or educational indicator information for K-12 education. As of August 1999, all state agencies except…

The "2011 State Preschool Yearbook" is the newest edition of our annual report profiling state-funded prekindergarten programs in the United States. This latest "Yearbook" presents data on state-funded prekindergarten during the 2010-2011 school year as well as documenting a decade of progress since the first…

In response to a request from the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA), the Research Triangle Institute (RTI) conducted a study to examine the feasibility of developing functional status measures for planning and implementing services to consumers in the State-Federal Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) Services Program. To investigate this…

This report presents data for the 1994-95 academic year on state-funded student aid in 13 tables. States awarded over $3 billion in student aid to over 1.8 million students, an increase of 8 percent over 1993-94. Of this award, 78 percent was need-based aid to undergraduate and graduate students, while 13 percent was non-need-based, and 9 percent…

Large gains in scores have been observed over the first years of the Kentucky Instructional Results Information System (KIRIS) program. The extent to which these gains in scores indicate that student learning improved was evaluated. Previous studies have suggested that KIRIS score gains might be appreciably inflated, something that might result…

This report provides information regarding identification and education of gifted children in Ohio, based on data obtained from school districts on June 15, 1990. The report presents data on the number of gifted children who were identified, who received services in state-funded units, who received services in locally funded units, and who did not…

This report documents results of a survey of the 52 members (the 50 states, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico) of the National Association of State Scholarship and Grant Programs (NASSGP) which collected data concerning state-funded programs of scholarship or grant assistance for postsecondary students. Text sections present a summary and…

This study examined the benefits and costs of supported employment programs in Illinois during the first 2 years of operation. Benefits and costs were considered for 394 individuals enrolled in 1987 and 519 individuals enrolled in 1988, from three revenue perspectives: that of society as a whole; that of the supported employees; and that of the…

This paper presents data derived from the mandatory follow-up evaluation of Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) participants for the 13-week period following termination. Data cover the first three quarters of Program Year 89, that is, persons who terminated their involvement with JTPA between July 1, 1989 and April 30, 1990. It focuses on the…