This unit is designed to provide school psychologists with information helpful in consulting with teachers and counselors who have questions regarding the career and vocational needs of students. It is intended to help the school psychologist assist teachers and counselors to be effective in assessing the needs of students in their particular…

Intended to provide the Portland Public Schools Curriculum Department documentation of the second-year kindergarten implementation and to provide kindergarten teachers data to support the development of a readiness continuum and placement criteria, this report furnishes a detailed explanation and survey of the Writing to Read program, an…

The report presents results of a computer summary of Sacramento City Unified School District data on high school level dropouts for the four school years from 1980 to 1984. The district dropout rate fluctuated mildly from 1980-83; from 1982-83 to 1983-84, however, there was a drastic decline in the dropout rates. Each regular high school showed a…

A cognitive process approach is applied to this discussion of the nature and relationship of skills, thinking, and social studies knowledge. To make understanding explicit, the paper addresses: (1) the meaning of cognitive skills and their role in thinking; (2) generic versus specific skills; and (3) implications for the National Assessment of…

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) has the potential to become a national data system and to meet the rapidly expanding needs for educational information. Historically, NAEP has had the objectives of providing relevant information for federal, state, and local policymakers; establishing a research database; and monitoring…

Four topics related to mathematics testing for the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) are discussed: (1) mathematics achievement; (2) past NAEP approaches; (3) needed changes; and (4) a new conceptual basis for profiling mathematical performance, including recommendations for strengthening current practice. The basic strategy for…

The writing objectives and the measurement specifications presented in this document are congruent with the Texas State Board of Education Rules for Curriculum. The objectives are provided for teachers and for test developers involved with the preparation of the Texas Educational Assessment of Minimum Skills (TEAMS) tests. As of 1985-86 academic…

A review of work on the concept of language needs and on analytical models useful for study of modern language instruction brings together psycho-educational and technical perspectives. The concept of need is examined, and the most common theoretical models of language needs and need models in an institutional context are outlined. The study of…

Data from the Stanford Test of Academic Skills Level I, administered to 10,910 tenth graders in Hawaii in Fall, 1985, are analyzed. The purposes of this report are to provide information on the effectiveness of the mathematics program in the high school, including the identification of deficiency areas and recommendations for improving…

In the early 1970s, the Speech Communication Association, with the support of a grant from the Axe-Houghton Foundation, sponsored the National Project on Speech Communication Competencies. The final report of that project was published in 1976 by the National Textbook Company under the title "Developing Communication Competence in…

This survey of American kindergarten programs and practices was conducted in April 1985 on a random sample of 2,965 schools nationwide. Survey instruments were mailed to one kindergarten teacher and to the principal in each of these schools, with a response rate of 36 percent for teachers (1,082) and 41 percent for principals (1,228). The teacher…

A study of rural community colleges in Minnesota and Michigan was conducted to determine to what extent the colleges were fulfilling their stated purposes, whether Minnesota's centralized state community college system is as responsive to community needs as Michigan's decentralized system, and the major criteria identified by community college…

A child's neuropsychological assessment entails the examination of the neurological integrity and functioning of a child's brain and the child's concommitant behavioral responses. This paper reviews the use of two major assessment batteries: (1) the Halstead-Reitan Neuropsychological Tests that measure basic sensory and motor functioning as well…

This is the second of three technical reports that focus on the hiring and evaluation of educational personnel in Illinois. Practices used by colleges and universities to recruit, select, and assess prospective educational personnel at the undergraduate level are presented in this report. A questionnaire was sent to persons responsible for all…

Written at the request of the presidents of the New Mexico Association for Community and Junior Colleges as a means of informing the deliberations of the legislatively appointed Higher Education Reform Committee, this position paper outlines the history, mission, and function of New Mexico's community colleges, branch colleges, and…