This discussion of the quality of higher education examines how and why academic institutions are failing to provide students with a meaningful undergraduate education, and what can and should be done about it. It argues that colleges and universities, in an attempt to simultaneously provide an academic education and train students for careers,…

A study was conducted of the entry-level basic skills performance of all credit students enrolled at Miami-Dade Community College (M-DCC) in fall 1989. The study examined demographic data and scores on the Comparative Guidance and Placement (CGP) Program Test, American College Testing (ACT) program exam, Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), Florida…

In September 1990, a study was conducted of the performance on basic skills examinations of first-time-in-college degree-seeking students who entered Miami-Dade Community College (M-DCC) during fall term 1990. The study examined placement results on the Computerized Placement Test (CPT) and the Florida Multiple Assessment Programs and Services…

Statewide results of South Carolina's Basic Skills Assessment Program (BSAP) are provided in terms of the percentages of students meeting statewide performance standards in reading, mathematics, writing, and science. BSAP tests were administered statewide on April 23-27, 1990, in grades 1, 2, 3, 6, and 8. The BSAP Exit Examination was administered…

A major provision of the South Carolina Education Improvement Act of 1984 established the requirement for a high school exit examination (HSEE) for all 10th-grade students. Passage of the HSEE is a condition for the receipt of a state high school diploma. The HSEE is an outgrowth of the South Carolina Basic Skills Assessment Program, which…

The effect on passing scores of providing judges with pass/fail data for the various possible cut-off score levels was studied. Passing scores produced by individual judges using a modified version of the procedure of W. H. Angoff (1971) were compared with the same judges' passing scores as revised after considering information on the number of…

A study was conducted to determine the contacts between agricultural extension and family farmers in Israel. Structured interviews were conducted with a representative sample of 171 smallholder farmers. Advisers of the official Extension Service and the publications of this service and farmers' monthlies were considered to have contributed to…

In 1989, a study was conducted of the status of student assessment and developmental education in Michigan's 29 public community colleges and three public four-year colleges which serve in a community college capacity. The study sought to to determine: (1) the number of community college students in need of and actually enrolled in developmental…

This report presents the findings of the 1981-82 evaluation of two projects that served 200 mildly mentally retarded students of limited English proficiency (L.E.P.) in New York City Public Schools during the 1981-82 school year. Project TRABAJO served six middle and secondary schools, while Individualized Bilingual Education for Children with…

The Kansas Minimum Competency Tests (KMCT) were designed to provide information about student performance on selected minimum competencies in reading and mathematics. The KMCT were criterion referenced tests in which each item was keyed to a minimum competency objective; student performance was measured against a predetermined standard. The tests…

The South Carolina Basic Skills Assessment Program (BSAP) was established by South Carolina legislation enacted in 1978. This report describes BSAP implementation and test results for 1984-85 as prescribed in the legislation. As the schedule for this academic year required, the Cognitive Skills Assessment Battery (CSAB) was administered to all…

The Outward Bound Bridging Course is a 6-week residential program designed to improve academic achievement and self-concepts in low-achieving high school males. During 1980-1984, five courses were conducted for 66 Australian high school males. Most of them were ninth grade students, chosen on the basis of poor academic performance, an apparent…

The relation between Bayley Scale and Stanford-Binet measures in preschool and scholastic achievement at pre-adolescence is examined in the context of an early age intervention. The program sought to normalize the socio-cognitive development of disadvantaged 2-year-olds directly and through a training program for mothers. The follow-up includes a…

School effectiveness indices (SEIs), based on regressing test performance onto earlier test performance and a socioeconomic status measure, were obtained for eight subject-grade combinations from 485 South Carolina elementary schools. The analysis involved school means based on longitudinally matched student data. Reading and mathematics…

Written for professionals working with food assistance and other programs with a nutrition component, this guide is intended to aid in understanding the cultural characteristics and basic health and diet-related problems of Native Americans and to promote more effective nutrition counseling and community nutrition education. The background section…