This exploration of community college financing applies selected constructs and theories from the field of economics to the question of public financing of two-year vocational/technical and general education programs. First, the criteria of efficiency and equity are explained in terms of their use by economists in judging the appropriateness of…

Determining how many students drop out of school and why they leave is not easy. The definition of a "dropout" varies from school district to school district, and the mobility of students makes counting them accurately nearly impossible. In an effort to define dropouts in a way that can be applied uniformly across the country, a…

A report by the president of Northeast Missouri State University (NMSU) is presented. After discussing academic standards, five challenges that face higher education are considered: adjusting institutional goals to meet social change, renewing the emphasis on quality, helping students fulfill their potential, expanding the financial support for…

The development and structure of the Profile of School Excellence (PRO-S/E) are described, and the needs for which the PRO-S/E was developed are explained. A product of the Appalachia Educational Laboratory (AEL) in West Virginia, the PRO-S/E has been involved in evaluation and improvement planning and intervention for 25 urban and regional school…

The High Level Seminar on Educational Achievement in Asia and the Pacific was organized in collaboration with the UNESCO Regional Office for Education in Asia and the Pacific (Bangkok, Thailand). The objectives were to exchange information and experiences on educational assessment at the primary and secondary school levels; to review major…

This study evaluated the national network of Technical Assistance Centers (TACs), which provides technical assistance in evaluation and program improvement to state and local educational agencies responsible for implementing programs under Chapter 1 of the Education Consolidation and Improvement Act (ECIA). The U.S. Department of Education…

The use of indicators as tools for educational improvement is discussed. National indicators are limited in breadth and depth and are neither sensitive to differences across states nor detailed and specific enough to be useful to states. For indicators to contribute to the goals of local educational improvement, local agencies must define their…

About 30,000 students in Grades 1 through 12 in Jackson, Mississippi, were studied to determine the effectiveness of instruction for all major social groups represented by the student population during the 1986-87 school year. The California Achievement Test and course grades were used to obtain core data. Demographic data were obtained for…

Data from the Current Population Surveys (CPS) conducted by the Bureau of the Census in March 1986 and 1987 are presented, with tabulations and a short discussion of the basic trends provided. Summary data on years of school completed by age, sex, race, and Hispanic origin are shown for 1986 and 1987. The detailed tables present data on years of…

To determine the analysis of variance among different assessments of teaching competencies shown by preservice education students as student teachers, 32 undergraduates certified in 1985 and 42 from 1986 were studied. Data were obtained on their self-evaluations of 25 teaching competencies. Evaluations by their cooperating teachers (35 in fall…

Eleven articles on the evaluation of educational television (ETV) in South Africa are provided. Under the heading "Theory" are: (1) "The Meaning of Evaluation and Its Practice" (D. Nevo); (2) "Criteria for Evaluating ETV: A Theoretical Framework" (R. Israeli); and (3) "Sources of Evaluation Criteria in Education,…

This manual, which is provided as a resource for Illinois School Districts and which incorporates some of the materials in the Alaska Department of Education's Assessment Handbook, is designed to meet the requirements of Public Act 84-126 and to help practitioners develop student assessment plans of local usefulness. Areas covered in the…

Guidelines for examiners administering the School Climate Survey (SCS), the Teacher Satisfaction Survey (TSS), the Student Satisfaction Survey (SSS), and the Parent Satisfaction Survey (PSS) of the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) are provided. These four surveys are the initial result of research/development efforts by…

The history of assessment in South Dakota, the creation of the Assessment Program Team at South Dakota State University (SDSU), the rationale and purpose of assessment programs, and the initial findings from a 6-month assessment team analysis of assessment data at SDSU are highlighted. The data were collected during the first 2 years of SDSU's…

This is the first in a series of six monographs developed to help school district and building staff use and report Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP) test results. Determining the meaning and use of previous and current test results is a necessary part of a complete reporting process. The two major ways to use MEAP results are student…