This is a report on the Qualitative Use of Evaluative Systems and Techniques (QUEST) program used by Pensacola Junior College (PJC) (Florida) to assess, integrate, and improve institutional effectiveness. The program focuses on 12 major institutional functions: strategic planning, academic programming, facilities planning, college operations,…

This study examined the perceived role and performance of online learning, related faculty concerns and training, administrative/institutional issues, student attitudes and performance, and instructional design. Thirty-nine Midwestern community college employees (33 faculty and 6 administration/staff members) and 48 students participated in the…

The articles in this issue of Learning Quarterly, published by the Centre for Curriculum, Transfer, and Technology (British Columbia), discuss the relationship between assessment and learning. Assessment can be used for three purposes in education: (1) to evaluate and credential (grade); (2) to determine institutional effectiveness; and (3) to…

This document consists of nine consecutive issues of the quarterly newsletter of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges' Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC). Major articles appearing in these issues are: (1) Eligibility Requirements Revisions Completed; (2) New Accreditation Standards Adopted; (3) ACCJC…

Many changes have occurred in techniques used to appraise student achievement in social studies, and these new approaches may put teachers in a better position to notice the progress of individual students and then plan for sequential learning. Some of the deficiencies of traditionally used standardized tests have been overcome through the use of…

Whether increasing reliance on policy-driven assessment for accountability and control of educational institutions is actually sabotaging long-term goals and purposes of the schools is explored, questioning whether current practices of high-stakes testing are anathema to real education values. The distinction between policy-driven assessment and…

A study was conducted in England in 1997 to consider materials that were available to support students making a transition from compulsory education to the study of mathematics in noncompulsory post-16 education. This report on the study also contains an outline of the basic structures of the English education system and its assessment provisions.…

This report is the third analysis of state reports conducted by the National Center on Educational Outcomes to determine what types of information are provided on students with disabilities in state education reports. For this analysis, 170 reports were collected between March 1999 and August 1999 from state accountability offices and state…

This is a book about the organization of teaching, the connections among the tasks of teaching and among the teachers themselves and about faculty motivation and commitment. Emphasis is placed on the following seven domains: (1) pedagogy; (2) research; (3) lecturing; (4) leading discussions; (5) mentoring; (6) curricular-cocurricular integration;…

In 1998, the Stanford Achievement Test Series, Ninth Edition, Form TA (Stanford 9) was administered to Virginia students in grades 4, 6, and 9 as the norm-referenced component of the Virginia State Assessment Program. As in the previous year, from 93 to 96% of Virginia's students took the Stanford 9, although the first administration was taken by…

This report summarizes accountability activities and initiatives submitted by Illinois' 48 community colleges in their Accountability/Program Review reports. The three primary sections of this report include Accountability Special Focus Areas, Analyses of the Results of Fiscal Year 1999 College Program Reviews, and State-Level Initiatives. Topics…

This paper discusses the formation of collaborative high schools in Ohio and presents several incentives that the state's General Assembly might offer to encourage the formation of these schools. A collaborative high school is a high school shared and operated by two or more city, local, or exempted village-school districts. The report explores…

Although assessment has been an activity at Germanna Community College for some time, it has not been a vehicle for integrating efforts within the college to meet its mission. This policy statement was written in order to make assessment a year-round opportunity for all faculty and staff. The assessment process should begin with the establishment…

The centrality of assessment for facilitating thinking, reasoning, and problem solving is well-documented and indisputable. Less apparent is how to create informative, yet practical measures for classroom use. Clearly, the changing of assessments alone will not in and of itself improve learning; teachers' beliefs and practices will need to be…

Maine's approach to assessing state standards, the Learning Results, has been to use a combination of state and local measures in building a "comprehensive assessment system." The state test, the Maine Educational Assessment (MEA), was revised in 1999 to align more closely with content standards and performance indicators established in…