Describes a project to develop and implement a system of followup for Alabama's secondary agribusiness education terminees (graduates and dropouts). Describes the objectives of this project, the instrument, and the sample, return, and results of the first Occupational Patterns and Program Assessment Survey (of 1973-74 terminees). (HD)

Reports findings and recommendations from the Tadlock Report, a study designed to gather and analyze information on career education programs and activities supported since 1970 by the Illinois Division of Vocational and Technical Education. Also discusses activities of the Illinois Career Education Steering Committee and the development of a…

This article discusses two issues relating to assessment of preschool children: (1) whether assessments should be attempted; and (2) the issue of what is a "good" assessment. General impressions from a review of the literature and from personal experience are preschool assessment is desirable and can be useful. (Author)

Inservice training is considered the first priority in curriculum development. Education of teaching staff through conferences, committees, and the establishment of a school resource center is discussed. (RW)

Comments on the effects of the national accountability drive on the teacher. Briefly reports on the results of one accountability program in one school district. (Author/RK)

Of all the achievements of the Communist system in Yugoslavia, one of the most spectacular is the extraordinary growth in the number and size of universities. This growth is examined in terms of expansion, finance, equality of opportunity, decline in staff quality, reform, academic standards, and political ramifications. (LBH)

This essay defines and delineates the boundaries of some major concepts related to education and pluralism and suggests programmatic and policy implications to help educators to clarify, specify, and evaluate their goals as related to ethnicity and pluralism in American society. (JD)

A survey of 242 administrators and staff examined 12 dimensions of school restructuring in 4 rural South Dakota school districts. Results indicate that restructuring efforts positively impacted learner outcomes, curriculum, instruction, and assessment. However, the dimension of time had not been reconfigured to better accommodate learner needs and…

Describes the use of portfolios, which include student test scores, GPAs, samples of class work, and student surveys, as tools for assessing student ability and success at the Colorado School of Mines. Discusses the strengths and weaknesses of portfolio assessment as well as instructional and institutional changes brought about by the evaluation…

The effects of prior knowledge and progress assessment on learning behaviors and motivation were studied in the context of self-study by students at the Open University of the Netherlands. Results with 1,482 adult students show their positive appreciation of assessments for student support but less appreciation of feedback received by mail. (SLD)

This paper examines educational assessment systems in Canada and the United States, especially participation or nonparticipation of students with disabilities in provincial, state, or national assessments. Canada's lack of a national assessment system and U.S. lack of guidelines regarding participants and allowable accommodations for its national…

Describes the goals and structure of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and presents some of the results from a 1992 Mathematics NAEP Assessment as an example of the program's utility. Further highlights ways in which background data collected by the NAEP can be helpful in interpreting assessment results and monitoring…

Applies to public education the principles that begin to explain why some organizations become great and others do not. States that an organization is able to achieve greatness only by pushing in an intelligent and consistent direction for years and even decades. (MLF)

The author asserts that as attrition rates across the country continue to increase, colleges must examine and evaluate programs that contribute to the problem. Educational delivery systems, such as tracking, contribute to attrition and risk because they stimulate negative self-concepts in students, foster resentment and misconduct, and do not…