The purpose of the National AEM Center's Quality Indicators with Critical Components for Higher Education is to assist institutes of higher education, both at the system and campus level, with planning, implementing, and evaluating dynamic, coordinated systems for providing accessible materials and technologies for all students who need them. The…

This handbook describes the responsibilities of district and school assessment coordinators in the administration of the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA). This updated guidebook contains the following sections: (1) General Assessment Guidelines for All Assessments; (2) Writing Specific Guidelines; (3) Reading and Mathematics…

The article surveys the various state-level evidence-based practice (EBP) implementation challenges and strategies adopted for children, youths, and families. The federal government also supports EBP through development and intervention research, training and technical assistance, and evaluation of different planning and implementation strategies.…

The Oregon Statewide Report Card is an annual publication required by law (ORS 329.115), which reports on the state of public schools and their progress towards the goals of the Oregon Educational Act for the 21st Century. The purpose of the Oregon Report Card is to monitor trends among school districts and Oregon's progress toward achieving the…

This report is an overview of events that have taken place over the last 4 years to further efforts to make the arts part of what every schoolchild learns in every grade. The report recounts how the Arts in Schools Basic Education Grants (AISBEG), a targeted federal pilot project of the National Endowment for the Arts, has stimulated change at the…

Developed to share information presented at a Southwest Educational Development Laboratory Regional Exchange (SEDL/RX) conference, this document includes reports and related materials on educational computing applications in southwestern school districts and states. Basic computer terminology is defined, and software evaluation instruments are…

The Colorado Department of Education undertook the establishment of an educational quality database that would contain the information necessary for measuring the effects of various efforts at educational improvement. Five major planning concerns had to be resolved before the database itself could be established. First, it was determined that…

This report on the TMT (Training Modules for Trainers) Project, part of the Special Discretionary Grant Program developed by the Michigan Department of Education (MDE) in response to the need for coordinated training activities, begins with a discussion of the emerging problem of upgrading teachers' computer literacy skills. A description of the…

This paper delineates the purposes of a symposium that was based on a major study of the California School Improvement Program (SIP). The problem of increasing the capacity of schools to implement reform efforts is conceptualized. To explore this issue, a conceptual framework was developed, based on the case study and survey data from the first…

The final report describes major activities accomplished during the 1981-82 project year to develop a comprehensive plan in New York State for handicapped children, aged 3-5, and to accelerate services to handicapped infants through Regional Early Childhood Direction Centers (RECDC). Briefly discussed are the processes for the following outcomes:…

In the past 5 years, each state in the Southeastern Regional Vision for Education (SERVE) region (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, and South Carolina) developed virtual libraries that provide citizens access to licensed databases. This guide describes each state's offerings including the methods of access, resources, and…

In recent years, parents have benefited from a significant expansion of educational options for their children. Parents have many more opportunities than just a few years ago to choose from an array of public school options, including charter, virtual, and magnet schools. Expanding educational options for parents is one of the hallmarks of the…

Several of the major considerations involved in implementing a statewide testing program are discussed. The test results provide information which influences the educational enterprise in matters of curriculum, instruction, guidance, and accountability. Tests to be used in an assessment program must be developed by the administering agency when…

The Oregon Statewide Report Card is an annual publication required by law (ORS 329.115), which reports on the state of public schools and their progress towards the goals of the Oregon Educational Act for the 21st Century. The purpose of the Oregon Report Card is to monitor trends among school districts and Oregon's progress toward achieving the…

In response to 1986 state legislation calling for improvements in college effectiveness and accountability, the California Community Colleges began various efforts to promote the evaluation of matriculation. One effort, the Matriculation Local Research Options Project, was formed in 1989 to develop models for local evaluation of matriculation and…