In an effort to expand research on effective and ineffective schools into the area of student attitudes, this study examined the cognitive, as well as the noncognitive scores for two groups of Pennsylvania schools that had been identified as effective or ineffective. Cognitive and noncognitive data were available for all 500 school districts for…

Accrediting associations assess colleges in order to find out what has been accomplished, and to find out how it might be better accomplished. Assessment of educational outcomes can be a useful way to demonstrate the success of alternative means. However, accrediting agencies do not rely exclusively on outcome measures, since they only assess what…

The need for goals in postsecondary and higher education is discussed. It is suggested that the development of statewide goals can serve as a means of making postsecondary education accountable to the public without resort to increased control and regulation. The process being used in Georgia to develop statewide goals for postsecondary education,…

Some observations are presented on a social indicators approach to statewide educational assessment. The context of the observations is the Oregon Department of Education model for educational planning. Much of what is said can also be applied to educational planning and program evaluation at the federal level or in large school systems. For the…

That teachers should be held accountable for conducting the best possible instructional processes, not for guaranteeing learning, is the view of the National Education Association (NEA). Because of the inadequate nature of tests of student achievement, the diverse nature of student populations, and the various conditions affecting learning, the…

Why focus on art instead of on some other discipline to approach intercultural understanding? This paper argues that because art is about the spirit, the self, the soul, the things that people think are important, it should be the key choice. To lay the foundation for this argument, the paper addresses art as communication of core values and…

The relationship between higher education and government has been described as an ongoing series of social contracts, the expectation that higher education should provide a return to society for the public investment given. This study focused on whether state planners for higher education in five states are expecting institutions to demonstrate…

Providing an overview of the Outdoor Education Workshop provided by the Georgia Migrant Education Program to give migrant students and staff an opportunity to learn new skills which they can then share with other migrant children upon their return to the regular school setting, the paper briefly discusses the administrative steps necessary when…

In May 1997, the Maine Legislature passed a comprehensive document that delineated expected educational outcomes for students, known as the Learning Results. This paper describes the components and philosophy of Maine's standards-development process. The Learning Results are based on Peter Senge's system model, which asserts that adoption of a new…

Matches between questions in the Kentucky Instructional Results Information System for 1995-96 (KIRIS96), the Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills, Fourth Edition (CTBS4), and the California Achievement Tests, Fifth Edition (CAT5) and the Kentucky Academic Expectations as they are defined in the Kentucky curriculum framework were studied. Each…

Three new indicators of psychometric quality for objectives-based statewide assessments are proposed. These measures provide indication of the stability of reported data on item and objectives mastery, the validity of assessment items for members of various cultural groups, and the convergent validity of prescribed objectives mastery scores. The…

A statewide effort to identify stressors in state-level social service institutions in Iowa led one state health agency to establish a stress management project. A pilot program singularly focused on communication as the key tool in reducing stress and managing stress. A longitudinal study surveyed agency employees at the Iowa Veteran's Home in…

The model used by National Assessment for data gathering and reporting on the Citizenship area is described, and the potential uses of the model for state and local assessment, curriculum development, and accountability purposes are discussed. The study was carried out using papers and reports from the National Assessment of Educational Progress,…

Objectives and components of British Columbia's Year 2000 program are described in this paper. Purposes of the program are to develop educated citizens and a learner-focused system. The curriculum acknowledges the many influences on learning and the multifaceted spheres of literacy. The restructuring of basic programs--primary (K-3), intermediate…

The role of the state government in higher education assessment is clearly expanding as both the state's interest and investment in higher education grows. Currently, patterns of state involvement vary widely--from indirect incentive programs to direct legislation or regulatory action. Institutional assessment and the resulting reform must be…