The North Carolina Open-Ended Assessment for grades 5 and 8 emphasizes higher-level thinking skills. Test items commonly require the integration of knowledge and skills from more than one curricular area. Beginning in 1996-97, the North Carolina Open-Ended Assessment was administered to students in grades 5 and 8 for the second time. Because it is…

Technology utilization in the schools of North Carolina was the focus of a research collaboration between the Rural Economic Development Center and the Public School Forum of North Carolina. The study was broke in to two phases. The first was to design and send out an instrument to assess how much technology is utilized in North Carolina schools,…

One-hour telephone discussions with state school-to-work (STW) directors provided information on STW state governance, partnership formation and funding, and implementation progress in 27 states. The most obvious difference in structures at the state level for implementing STW was whether STW responsibilities were assigned to a governing entity…

Title I of the Improving America's Schools Act (IASA) of 1994 provides funds for schools with large concentrations of children from low-income families. A fundamental requirement is that children served by Title I funds must be educated according to the same academic standards as all other students. This handbook focuses on methods for developing…

This report addresses legislative concerns that Florida's adults with disabilities are appropriately served by postsecondary vocational and adult education programs. Introductory materials include the following: Employment Task Force for Adults with Disabilities; Workforce Development Implementation Act of 1998 Legislative Mandate; task force…

Designed to help instructional technology building coordinators with the integration of television, radio, and computer resources into their schools' curricula, this guide/calendar is designed for use throughout the year as a scheduling aid and reference manual. The first of two major sections covers approximately 35 topics, including the…

This manual on the Maine Surrogate Parent Program is designed for surrogate parents, social workers, and educational personnel. It defines relevant terms; outlines procedures for identification of students who require a surrogate parent; explains how surrogate parents are appointed and trained; lists the rights and responsibilities of the…

This document describes four states' approaches to increasing the involvement of families in schools. It discusses the strategies used by the states to: (1) enhance teachers' capacity to work with families; (2) encourage local school districts to develop family involvement programs; (3) encourage efforts that use family involvement as a component…

Calculators were used in the 1990 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) of 4th-, 8th-, and 12th-grade public school and private school students and in the Trial State Assessment of 8th-grade public school students. Before they were tested, all of the students were trained briefly in how to use the equipment. NAEP collected information…

This report presents findings of the National Academy of Education Panel on the Evaluation of the Trial State Assessment (TSA) concerning the 1990 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) mathematics TSA program. The Panel's recommendations regarding the continuation of TSAs for review by the Congress, states, and Executive Branch of the…

The Maryland School Performance Program released six sample tasks to illustrate the types of assessment tasks that would appear on the 1992 Maryland School Performance Assessment Program (MSPAP). Students' responses to these tasks are open-ended; that is, students generate their own responses. A wide range of responses to each task is acceptable.…

This report presents the recommendations of the Coordination of Social Services Action Group (CSSAG) to the governor of Illinois for the improvement of social services for children and parents within the state. Because of financial constraints, ways to develop a more efficient and effective social service delivery system must be found. To this…

This study examined State University of New York (SUNY) costs for support services to students, focusing particularly on why SUNY's costs are higher than those of similar states and where more efficiency might be achieved. The study involved the following elements: analysis of service costs for all SUNY campuses for fiscal year 1989-90; six visits…

A Texas study on prekindergarten and early childhood care that was developed for the Texas legislature in response to an amendment of the Texas Education Code is presented. Also presented are findings on: (1) the developmental appropriateness of prekindergarten programs, defined here as programs for eligible 4-year-olds; (2) the potential for…

This compilation presents narratives describing Chapter 1 program improvement and innovation efforts across the nation at state and local levels. The survey responses summarized in this report were submitted by State Coordinators of Compensatory Education. Responses were received from 48 states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia. The…