The College Outcomes Evaluation Program, a New Jersey assessment plan, is intended to serve as an official blueprint for improving state higher education. It outlines specific goals for gauging quality but gives institutions leeway to carry them out. (MLW)

In the midst of national education reform and in line with efforts to describe national standards for school mathematics, Texas is taking an aggressive role in reforming mathematics in the public schools. Ways that Texas schools, the Texas Education Agency, and the State Board of Education are addressing the dramatically changing needs of…

State policymakers have the following options in attempting to ameliorate the high school dropout problem: (1) additional money; (2) general aid or targeted aid; (3) incentives or mandates. Research findings on the effect of each of those options are summarized and suggestions for state policies are made. (PS)

Approximately 60,000 Delaware public school students in grades 1 through 8 and in grade 11 were administered a battery of achievement tests as part of the state-funded Delaware Educational Assessment Program (DEAP) in 1986. This was the second administration of the Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills (CTBS), in reading, language arts, and…

Compliance with South Carolina's Basic Skills Assessment Program (BSAP), involving test administration and instructional monitoring, was on schedule for the 1983-84 school year. Results of readiness tests given to over 50,000 first graders showed 72.6% "ready" to begin formal instruction. Teachers were given materials for areas in which…

This report was compiled to serve as a reference on assessments of achievement in pre-college mathematics. Patterns of mathematical assessments are discussed in terms of the history and nature of assessments of achievement, the relationship between assessment and minimum competency testing, and the current status of state assessment programs.…

Excerpts from the first "Bulletin" of the President's Commission on Foreign Language and International Studies and an outline of the coordinator's presentation to the Chicago hearing are presented. The objectives of the commission include recommending means for directing public attention to the importance of foreign language and…

This document represents a plan for educational improvement within Alabama, and proposes the following four goals for higher education (2- and 4-year postsecondary institutions) in the state: collaboration, access, quality instruction, and research and economic development. Each goal is followed by specific, measurable objectives which serve as…

This document summarizes results of province-wide achievement tests given in Alberta, Canada in June 1987. These tests evaluated student achievement in third grade science, sixth grade mathematics, and ninth grade social studies. The test questions for each subject area reflected Alberta's curriculum specifications for that subject. The grade 3…

Practical and technical advice is provided for staff responsible for planning evaluations of Educational Consolidation and Improvement Act (ECIA) Chapter 1 migrant programs at the state level. The report is limited to evaluating achievement gains in basic skills; this is, however, acknowledged as only one facet of a comprehensive migrant program…

This memorandum discusses a number of recommendations proposed for changes in the Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP). The Higher Level Assessment Study Group discussed ways to further MEAP testing goals: expand testing into additional subject areas, for every pupil, on a cyclical basis; set higher standards encouraging student…

During April, 1986, approximately 60,000 Delaware public school students in grades 1 through 8 and in grade 11 were administered a battery of achievement tests as part of the state-funded Delaware Educational Assessment Program (DEAP). The Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills (CTBS) in reading, language arts, and mathematics was administered. In…

The California Assessment Program (CAP) collects a wide range of achievement and demographic data to help local schools and districts improve their instructional programs. Tests in the areas of English/language arts, mathematics, history-social science and science designed by California educators are administered to students in grades 3, 6, 8, and…

Two reports on the current status and future trends of state assessment programs are presented. Among the results summarized for 1977-1978 and also presented in chart form for the 41 states which administer testing programs are: 19 programs are mandated by state legislatures; 22 programs test all students in the grades or ages assessed;…

Florida state legislation has mandated the evaluation of its compensatory education programs. The Florida Accountability Act of 1976 called for minimum basic skills testing in grades 3, 5, 8, and 11 (subsequently amended to grade 10). In 1977, the Florida Compensatory Education Act mandated remedial programs for students performing below the…