The Adult Learner Competencies Project included literature and consultation with adult education practitioners in Pennsylvania to establish competencies that can be used by all Adult Basic and Literacy Education (ABLE) providers in the state. The lists that were developed through the project, and which form the major part of this document, are…

A history of education in the state of Wyoming, along with a description of recent legislative initiatives, are presented in this paper. It opens with statewide reorganizations begun in the 1960s that unified school districts and equalized property valuation. A decade later a court order ruled the system inequitable and new laws provided for a…

In large-scale assessments, some amount of background material is generally collected. Background questionnaires in the National Assessment of Educational Progress are the subject of this report. Most of the questions in NAEP background questionnaires have asked about course taking patterns and course content, but it is argued that the material…

This report summarizes, institution by institution, what each of the 17 public colleges and universities in Virginia have learned from formal assessment programs in the biennium ending in 1996 and how the institutions have used that information to improve their programs. A two-page spread for each institution includes a narrative which describes…

This report summarizes information gathered during an interim study of the Schools' TeleLearning Service (STS), a cooperative effort of the Nebraska State Department of Education (NDE) and the Nebraska Educational Telecommunications Commission (NETC) to provide instructional television programming for students in Nebraska. The study, which sought…

An intensive college English Literature course provided a special learning opportunity through its innovative reading and writing assignments. From the beginning, students learned by individually selecting, finding, and reading texts and writing descriptive reports intended for class sharing and interaction. The final project involved a formal…

A review of the growing population of students receiving special education services in Florida and the extent to which these students are included in statewide assessments concluded that participation has improved slightly but had not met its goals. The report begins by providing statistical information on the special education population and then…

Howard Community College uses the Quality Evaluation of Service Trends (QUEST) Survey to ask its employees to evaluate themselves and each other in terms of the quality of service they render to their various constituencies each year. Results of the 1999 survey include: (1) of the 51 service areas listed, 34 improved their ratings over the last…

This book is intended for practicing or aspiring faculty who are interested in a learner perspective. It can be used individually or collectively in orientations, graduate teaching seminars, and faculty development seminars. Recognizing that most college faculty learned to teach using the lecture method, and that while the lecture method is not…

Involving U.S. students in community service activities is one of the objectives established under the third National Education Goal for the year 2000, which seeks to prepare students for responsible citizenship. Trends suggest that the percentage of U.S. high school seniors who participated in community affairs or voluntary work in any given year…

There is currently much interest in the assessment of student achievement in public schools. This guide to forms of assessment discusses some of the most common tests and their uses. Standardized tests are described, and some of their limitations are outlined. State-mandated tests are common, and, because the creators of such tests are removed…

This monograph reviews issues in research on the effects of using accommodations for students with disabilities who are included in educational assessments, particularly state and district assessments. Following an introductory overview, a section provides background on the need for good research on accommodations. The paper then defines commonly…

Three commonly used means of assessment of student achievement are discussed. First, standardized tests are often used to assess student achievement. These tests are developed by professional testing and measurement specialists who are completely removed from the local student and classroom. There are many objections to the use of standardized…

This guide shows how to make assessment authentic and meaningful in chapters that outline the "hows" and "whys" of assessment. In addition to suggestions for making assessment enriching and informative, the book includes a CD-ROM that contains reproducible forms. The chapters are: (1) "Trust and Risk"; (2) "Instruments: Assessment Drives…

This report examines the performance of students transferring from Austin Community College (ACC) (Texas) to one of three four-year institutions: the University of Texas (UT) at Austin, Southwest Texas State University (SWTSU), and Texas A&M University (TAMU) in College Station. The majority of ACC students (63%) transfer to UT. On average,…