This report presents detailed state-by-state descriptions of the range of state policies affected by the current education reform movement. It begins by presenting a typology of standards imposed by education decision-makers at the state, district and local level. This typology was used to identify, collect, and describe state-prescribed…

This paper focuses on a community's educational improvement project in Tennessee that resulted from executive appointment of a citizen task force in each community. The paper reports project development and results; discussion emphasizes implications for school administrators. A joint task force, appointed in 1985, was directed to develop…

The economic and political forces behind recent calls for excellence in education are pointing to necessarily dramatic changes in the nature of the teaching profession. Members of the business community, state political leaders, and teachers are working together--with substantial private and state monies--to implement a radical reform agenda that…

Information on educational equity in California is presented in this supplementary report. Issues in the state, resources, proposals, and areas for action are addressed. Areas of analysis include: income for men and women by race and years of education; the numbers of Black and Hispanic students that graduate from high school, enroll in college,…

South Carolina's School Incentive Reward Program Program (SIRP) based on year-to-year gains in reading and mathematics achievement, which seemed to have face validity, was evaluated, particularly its use of the relative gains of students in only the highest grade in the school as the basis for the awards. When this requirement was relaxed so that…

This research examined student demographic (gender, ethnicity, grades, and previous home economics experience) and geographic (rural/urban school locale and individual school) factors that may be related to performance on a statewide New Mexico achievement test under development in the home economics subject matter area of consumer education and…

The primary purpose of the Statewide Testing Program is to assess the achievement of 4th, 5th, and 10th grade students in South Carolina public schools. The results provide educators with information which facilitates the decision-making process at the State, district, and school levels. For the third consecutive year, Form U of the Comprehensive…

This document contains summaries of 12 presentations given at a conference held in reponse to the comprehensive Oregon school improvement plan entitled "Oregon Action Plan for Excellence." The plan provides a framework for improving public schools in the areas of graduation requirements, academic expectations and assessment, teacher and…

The regulations interpret Virginia's special education legislation as well as P.L. 94-142, the Education For All Handicapped Children Act. Responsibilities of the State Department of Education, including preparing and submitting for approval the Amended Annual Program Plan for the Education of the Handicapped, are considered. The bulk of the…

This report provides a statistical summary for data included in the October 1987 Comprehensive Assessment Reports and of the results of the spring 1987 administration of the Pupil Evaluation Program (PEP) tests for New York State. The data for the 1986-87 school year in this report will enable school administrators to compare test results for…

The writing learning objectives for ninth graders contained in this volume are congruent with the Texas "State Board of Education Rules for Curriculum." These objectives and the measurement specifications are provided for use by teachers and other educators responsible for student instruction and for test development specialists involved…

The Minnesota school finance system is the method by which funds are provided for the operation of public elementary and secondary schools and public postsecondary vocational-technical institutes. This document comprises a reference guide for state legislators to the Minnesota school finance system. It begins with historical and legal background…

A project was conducted to develop a set of curriculum materials for use in implementing an instructional strategy to teach mechanical skills in secondary level exploratory vocational agricultural programs in Arkansas. The specifics of the project were to field test and refine an empirical method for developing and implementing an instructional…

This report presents an evaluation of the effectiveness of vocational-technical education programs, services, and activities carried out during fiscal year 1983 in accordance with the program goals set forth in the Maryland Five-Year Plan, 1983-1987, and FY 1983 Annual Program Plan. The report is based on information obtained from a number of…

Results of the 1988 implementation of the Delaware Educational Assessment Program in 17 school districts are reported for use by state legislators. The report contains a description of the statewide testing program, state-level averages and analyses, and a listing of the averages by content area and grade level for each school and district and…