The "Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies" (PIAAC) is a cyclical, large-scale study of adult skills and life experiences focusing on education and employment. Nationally representative samples of adults between the ages of 16 and 65 are administered an assessment of literacy, numeracy, and problem solving in…

The paper describes social studies skills of students age 9-adult as assessed by the 1971-2 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Project. NAEP organized skill exercise items around two subthemes: (1) obtaining information, including raising questions, seeking answers, identifying sources of information, and using standard reference…

This paper introduces a modification to the Rule Space diagnostic classification procedure to allow for processing of response vectors that contain missing data. Rule Space is an approach to diagnostic classification that involves characterizing examinees' performances in terms of an underlying cognitive model of generalized problem-solving…

British employers' perceptions of the key skills needed by young workers and all employees were examined through a national study that involved a large-scale survey of 193 employers and in-depth interviews with a subsample of 46 employers selected to be representative from the standpoints of firm size, sector, region, and employment of young…

This paper makes a case for the development of several indirect indicators of national progress in reaching the collegiate attainment objective of the National Education Goals of 1990. These indicators would be developed concurrently with a proposed performance-based assessment to be administered to a national sample of graduating college seniors.…

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reports on the status and progress of educational achievement in the United States. Based on its surveys, "The Nation's Report Card" provides comprehensive information about what students in the United States can do in various subject areas. The framework for the 1990 mathematics…

In the 1992 mathematics assessment of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), approximately one-third of the questions and about half of the student response time were devoted to questions asking students to construct their own responses. Regular constructed response items required a short answer with a problem solution, while…

A nationwide longitudinal study was undertaken by the Higher Education Research Institute in Los Angeles to study the impact of Exxon Education Foundation's Resource Allocation Management Program on the 49 institutions receiving grants under the program. The focus was the behavioral consequences of management changes for administrators, staff, and…