In 1989, a study was conducted to assess college and vocational preparatory programs in Florida's community colleges and at Florida A & M University. With respect to college preparatory programs in Florida, the study looked at organizational structure, state-level coordination, student placement, enrollment, student characteristics, program…

An assessment model at King's College (Pennsylvania) is described, which involves redesigning the general education core curriculum with competency-based measures. The new learning plan for the core curriculum establishes graduation competencies and regular monitoring of student progress. The plan supports a value-added approach to curriculum and…

An initiative to promote excellence in South Carolina's higher education system is presented by the State Commission on Higher Education in two documents. The first is a descriptive summary of rationales and recommendations in six areas. The second document is a report which includes and expands the material of the first document. Twenty-five…

The Delaware Educational Assessment Program publishes annual results from the California Test of Basic Skills by district, school, and grade (1 through 8 and 11). A statewide computer information system was developed to manage the testing program, the massive 10-year longitudinal database, and the information requests received. The Delaware…

Trends on U.S. campuses as of 1986 are reported, with attention to campus actions on assessment and early campus responses to national reports calling for educational reform. Also considered are faculty hiring practices, perceptions about institutional status, changes in enrollment and finances, and international components of academic programs. A…

Drawing from existing records, documents, and data files, this report provides a comprehensive assessment of the status of vocational education in California's community colleges. Part I offers an executive summary of the study, including major factors affecting the status of vocational education in community colleges, key findings,…

Educational needs characteristic of programs in Bureau of Indian Affairs schools or schools receiving Johnson-O'Malley funds on 16 reservations across the United States were presented with suggestions for meeting these needs. The needs were (1) increase academic engagement from the observed one-third of time intended for instruction; (2) increase…

This paper outlines the goals, design, implementation and results of a project of the State Education Assessment Center of the Council of Chief State School Officers to develop state indicators of the condition of science and mathematics education in elementary and secondary schools. The goals of the project include: (1) improving the quality and…

The current status of education is presented in the form of education "indicators"--key data that measure the "health" of education or its trends. These indicators derive from studies carried out by the National Center for Education Statistics as well as from surveys conducted elsewhere, both within and outside of the Federal…

The paper summarizes a National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) report, "Reading, Science and Mathematic Trends: A Closer Look," in which achievement trends are compared in several subjects for 4th, 8th, and 11th grade black students, white students, low achievers, and high achievers. Findings indicate that while overall…

Periods of executive change provide an ideal time for the development of planning efforts for public school systems and for self-examination of the system's strengths, weaknesses, and long-range needs. In the anonymous school system under study, the new superintendent's application of general systems theory to school district management entailed a…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 19 titles deal with a variety of topics, including the following: (1) the effectiveness of English placement examinations used at five junior colleges in California; (2) the direction and distance of context required by college…

In this collection of essays, a wide range of issues relevant to curriculum development are explored and problem-solving suggestions are offered. The ten selections discuss the following topics: (1) deficiencies in administrators' human relations skills that may hinder democratic decision-making; (2) inservice techniques and philosophical…

The New Jersey annual report on higher education outlines achievements and problems within the system. Five sections focus on the following topics: (1) introduction; (2) system status report (size of the system, budget and finance, funding policies and formulas, faculty, state college autonomy, and overall academic health); (3) the foundations of…

The New Jersey annual report on higher education in the state highlights accomplishments during 1985-1986. Five sections look at the following topics: (1) introduction; (2) the foundations of excellence (funding to reward excellence and excellence throughout the institution); (3) equity/access (minority enrollment initiatives, basic skills,…