The need to assess students' educational needs and progress is explored, and minimum standards that local school districts must meet to be in compliance with classification and accreditation standards of the State Board of Education are specified. There are three major uses of assessment results: instructional, guidance and counseling, and…

This book addresses the issue of quality in vocational education in the United Kingdom. Part 1 explores the concept of quality in relation to vocational education and discusses the managerial and industrial perspectives on quality. Included in Part 2, which examines quality in the context of students as clients, are the following articles:…

This book presents the full array of assessment methods available to the classroom teacher in an interesting and engaging format, broadens the preservice and inservice teacher's understanding of related assessment issues, and places assessment in a meaningful context. The text, which was developed for an introductory course in classroom…

This document consists of the 19 articles published in the Electronic Journal "Education Policy Analysis Archives" for the year 1996: (1) "The Achievement Crisis Is Real: A Review of 'The Manufactured Crisis'" (Lawrence C. Stedman); (2) "Staff Development Policy: Fuzzy Choices in an Imperfect Market" (Robert T.…

This final report of the Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS) describes how the United States can prepare young people as well as workers already on the job for productive work in the 21st century. Following an executive summary, Part I, Learning a Living, describes the economic choices facing the United States, defines the…

This document consists of the 10 issues of "The Teaching Professor" newsletter published in 1991. This newsletter provides forum for the sharing of research findings, observations, instructional strategies, and opinions on subjects pertaining to college level teaching and college faculty. Multiple subjects are discussed in each issue and are often…

This report describes the aggregated reading and mathematics performances of students in years 5 and 7 in urban Northern Territory (Australia) schools on the Primary Assessment Program (PAP) tests. The aggregated results are encouraging, with apparent gains in some reading tests over the preceding year, and no evidence of decline in the others.…

This study examined the extent to which data are available for 77 indicators for all students, including students with disabilities, at the school completion level. Data managers from 36 states or territories reported that data are available for indicators in the Presence and Participation domain and the Contribution and Citizenship domain, but…

States use many high-stakes assessments to make decisions about individuals. These tests may be criticized by those who believe that their purpose or application is discriminatory. Because litigation is time consuming and costly, it is advantageous for states to plan assessments carefully to maximize legal defensibility. This handbook is designed…

The United Kingdom has a history of performance assessment even for accountability purposes, as the public examinations (standardized achievement tests) at age 16 demonstrate. What the country does not have is a strong history in the area of equity. Debate and policy-making, when concerned at all, have been concentrated on equality of opportunity,…

A study of second language instruction for vocational purposes in Scotland is reported. It used case studies to investigate: (1) teaching approaches currently used; (2) assessment of foreign language skills for vocational purposes; (3) evidence of the effectiveness of different teaching approaches; and (4) approaches considered most effective by…

Jersey City State College (New Jersey) developed a local evaluation model to assess all salient aspects of the institution's basic skills program. The college's Academic Foundations Program was implemented to address the needs of urban educationally disadvantaged students. It includes faculty and staff development and research, freshman course…

This paper describes the process by which Dallas County Community College District (Texas) developed and operationalized a student typology for assessing student outcomes. The purpose of the typology is to assist in identifying at risk students and increasing their chances of academic success while simultaneously allowing for the diversity of…

State activities to collect information on program outcomes for students enrolled in postsecondary vocational education were examined in spring 1990. A multistage process, beginning with a review of state reports and legislation, was followed by telephone interviews with state officials. The average number of respondents per state was five.…

This report presents the detailed results of the compilation of an overview of state activities related to measuring the outcomes of postsecondary vocational education. Chapter I provides background to the study. Chapter II describes the methodology used for the development of the overview, including discussions with experts, the information…