This white paper examines the roles that various levels of government play through legislation, policy, and other initiatives that support quality alternative education programs to reconnect youth to education and the workplace. It raises issues for policymakers at all levels to consider in facilitating the development of expanded alternative…

Northwest Evaluation Association regularly conducts studies of alignment between the RIT scale and the scales used for statewide achievement tests. In recent years, educational experts have put increasing emphasis on the need for triangulation of student achievement information in order to assure that important educational decisions are based on…

The proceedings of the 24th annual meeting of the Psychology of Mathematics Education North American Chapter (PME-NA) contains research reports, plenaries, and poster presentations. Papers include: (1) "What Do We Believe about Teacher Learning and How Can We Learn With and From Our Beliefs?" (Deborah Loewenberg Ball); (2) "Toward Evidence for…

This is a report on the 2000-2001 community college courses offered in conjunction with high schools in the state of Arizona. The purpose of the partnership between the two types of institutions is to offer community college instruction to high school students. The students must be admitted to the community college in order to enroll in the…

This paper makes the case that, as implemented so far, there has been an inverse correlation between innovation and accountability in statewide assessment systems. The higher the stakes attached to the assessment results, the more conservative the assessment methodology ultimately used. Case studies of two state assessment programs were carried…

Community colleges must often analyze and report rates for outcomes, such as transfer to four-year colleges. A single, summary rate may be an invalid measure of its achievement in the transfer goal if the summary rate ignores the real difference in enrollment composition at different institutions. California's community colleges embody a very…

This report is third in a series of reports that present the California Community Colleges district- and college-level Management Information System (MIS) baseline information for two fiscal year periods, 1998-99 and 1999-2000, specific to the systemwide Partnership for Excellence performance goals. The Partnership for Excellence is a mutual…

The Assessment and Planning for Programs and Services (APPS) process at West Valley College (WVC) (California) is intended to improve the success of students by ensuring that they have access to the highest quality instruction and support services. APPS requires that programs and services submit a full report every 4 years, with annual updates.…

This document is a report on the spring 2001 survey of graduates at San Antonio College (Texas), regarding their academic and overall experience at the institution. Other objectives of the survey include evaluating programs and implementing strategies to improve graduation rates. The college issued 370 surveys to graduates; 360 were returned for a…

This document is a report of the audit of Higher Education Services Corporation's (HESC's) audit of the Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) at Nassau Community College (New York). A randomly selected sample of 200 out of 20,062 student TAP awards certified by the community college was reviewed and analyzed. Findings determine that the community…

This book describes students' accumulation of literacy and enables teachers to assess students independently of standardized tests. The "Profiles" includes scales and reporting formats, sample materials, guidelines for assessment, and norms. Reporting software issued separately complements this book. The chapters are: (1) "What Is a…

Truckee Meadows Community College (TMCC) conducted a campus-wide faculty and staff survey in September 2000. The survey was designed to collect the opinions and perceptions of TMCC employees in relation to the college's mission and direction, instructional and learning environment, and the general working atmosphere. The surveys were distributed…

This report discusses the effort put forth by the University of California (UC) at Davis and California's community colleges to reinvigorate and strengthen transfer student academic success. The report offers information on the Transfer Opportunity Program (TOP), Transfer Admission Agreements (TAA), and Transfer Articulation Agreements that exist…

The enrollment in North Carolina Community College System's (NCCCS) distant-learning courses in 1999-2000 totaled 44,349, an increase of 11,000 compared with 1998-99. During its 2000 legislative session, the North Carolina General Assembly passed a special provision requiring the NCCCS to conduct a study of funding methods and delivery of distance…

A number of studies suggests that the small size of many rural schools gives their students, especially the poorest, a leg up on academic achievement. This notion is supported by the standardized test results presented in this report, from a sample of the primarily small schools participating in the Rural School and Community Trust, a national…