First-year evaluation results of Iowa's Basic Skills Certification pilot program were reported for the four community colleges participating: Northeast Iowa, Des Moines Area, Western Iowa Tech, and Iowa Western. The pilot sites represented a variety of adult basic education instructional environments that included a workforce development center,…

This guide describes 79 programs and services for children in Iowa. Each program description usually includes a brief program overview and information on age requirements and eligibility, specific services provided, any mandated services, costs, where to apply, and the responsible agency. The programs are grouped into the following categories:…

An expert on second language acquisition examines and refutes five commonly offered arguments against bilingual education: (1) it is responsible for the high Hispanic dropout rate; (2) most immigrants succeed without bilingual education; (3) the United States is the only nation that has bilingual education; (4) bilingual education failed in…

The Delaware Student Testing Program ties student achievement to the state's content standards that define the knowledge and skills Delaware students need to succeed beyond high school. This report presents information to help parents interpret their children's scores on the tests, which are given in grades 3, 5, 8, and 10. Section 1 introduces…

The extent to which classroom instruction and assessment activities in mathematics are aligned to the State of Maryland's Learning Objectives and the Maryland School Performance Assessment Program (MSPAP) was studied by examining the underlying structure of the mathematics teacher questionnaire developed and administered to teachers in the 1996-97…

This pamphlet explains a child's Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) "Student Report for Parents/Guardians." In spring 1999, more than 210,000 students from grades 4, 8, and 10 in Massachusetts took the state's MCAS tests. All public students in grades 4, 8, and 10 are required to participate, and the Education Reform…

This report of the Select Committee on California Children's School Readiness and Health, established in 2001, examines the relationship between the status of a child's health and its impact on school readiness and achievement. The report is intended to promote and facilitate continued dialogue, exploration, and research on student health and…

This report is based on a forum on the topic of universal access to prekindergarten programs, "Toward a New Education Framework: Expanding the Boundaries To Include UPK," held in December 2000 with 30 education leaders from Connecticut, New York, South Carolina, and Vermont. The goal of the forum was to provide an opportunity for school…

This information packet presents materials which focus on early identification of hearing impairment in infants and young children to prevent speech and language delays. A glossary of terms is followed by a summary of results of the National Institutes of Health Consensus Development Conference (1993) concerning early identification of hearing…

This document contains data about the results of the Kansas Writing Assessment for 1999. Because administration conditions of the assessment vary widely, the results must be interpreted with caution. Year-to-year state data are considered not comparable, but they are reported in the interests of consistency. Comparisons among districts should not…

Beginning in Spring 1998, Virginia students participated in the Standards of Learning (SOL) assessments designed to test student knowledge of the content and skills specified in the state's standards. This document contains questions that approximately 79,000 students in grade 8 were required to answer as part of the SOL assessments. These…

The Texas Study of Students at Risk (TxSSAR) is a comprehensive evaluation examining the effectiveness of three state-level programs with the common goal of helping students at risk of failure to achieve academically. The study comprises investigations of the Optional Extended Year Program (OEYP), the Texas After School Initiative (TASI), and the…

Five million young people--1 out of every 4 in the country--are without constructive occupation at school, work, or home. An examination of 1930 United States Census and Federal Office of Education figures, brought up to date by sampling studies in various communities, discloses that--Of the 20,100 000, 16 to 24 years of age, inclusive, in the…

The utilization of state educational assessment information at local, state, and national levels for program evaluation, resource allocation, and research purposes is examined. The author creates a structure for researching, studying, and describing the outcomes of state assessment programs and illustrates each function with examples drawn from…

A combination of educational strategies for improving physician-health personnel distribution is proposed as a coordinated state level approach. Strategies used in South Carolina are described to exemplify the concept. A unique characteristic is the suggestion that health planners accept and plan for physician turnover in rural areas. (Author/JMD)