This publication provides examples of diverse local initiatives that represent approaches to serving young people, particularly disadvantaged African Americans and Latinos. This report includes a forward emphasizing the background and current need for the types of programs highlighted, and an introduction that argues for the effectiveness of…

"Literacy/Alphabetisation" is the Journal of the Movement for Canadian Literacy. Each issue appears in an English version and a separate French version. This document consists of the four issues comprising Volume 15, with the French issue immediately following the corresponding English issue. Each issue begins with Notes from the Editor…

This book focuses on the past, present, and future of the national framework for the recognition of access courses in the United Kingdom. Chapter 1 is an introduction that discusses framework studies and framework features. Chapter 2 is a review of the bodies appointed to plan and oversee the scheme at the center, including an examination of the…

This book presents an overview of the problems facing rural America and offers solutions at the national, state, and local levels. The combination of public lack of awareness and metropolitan-centered authority has created a view of rural America and its people that is contrary to both the data and actual living conditions. Rural education has…

This document argues that current efforts to establish a national test to measure progress toward the nation's educational goals will inhibit, rather than advance, educational reform. Proponents of a national test have asked for single, primarily multiple-choice tests, or for performance assessments to measure progress toward the nation's…

This user handbook includes four main sections: (1) components of the American College Testing (ACT) Program Assessment; (2) ACT Assessment Reports and Data Services; (3) using ACT student data; and (4) ACT assessment participation. The components described are the four tests of educational development, the High School Course/Grade Information…

The National Diffusion Network (NDN) was established in 1974 through the Office of Educational Research and Improvement upon the belief that there are few difficulties encountered by school systems that have not been solved successfully in some other location. The primary function of the NDN is to disseminate information about a wide array of…

This study focuses on contemporary issues of educational financing in developing countries and on available research findings as these relate, or can be related, to these issues. The first two chapters are analytical, examining common educational finance issues and testing the conventional wisdom of certain usual proposals. Chapter 1, "Issues in…

Offering information for staff orientations at institutions launching new small business training programs, for newly assigned Small Business Administration (SBA) field personnel, and for annual program reviews and revisions, this guide explains how to organize and deliver quality small business training in a cost-effective manner. Section 1…

This report outlines the major rural development programs and initiatives of the Department of Agriculture and other federal agencies. Diverse economic realities make necessary differential rural development policies and programs. The federal budget deficit makes it necessary that the government use creative and efficient management techniques to…

The Scottish Vocational Education Council's National Certificate has its origins in the Scottish Education Department's (SED's) decision to rationalize the provision of certification for non-advanced further education in Scotland under one body. This report presents case studies of assessments of students performed by colleges in Scotland, based…

The experience of an elementary school implementing the Touchstones Program--an approach to assessment within the proposed National Curriculum (NC) in England--is described, after which teacher reaction to the NC and fundamental beliefs about the nature of education are considered. The Touchstones assessment consist of 10 cross-curricular group…

Results of new research into the anomalous results of the 1986 reading portion of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) are reported. The original analysis of the 1986 data indicated that the estimated performance level of 9- and 17-year-old students had dropped dramatically since 1984, whereas the performance of 13-year-olds had…

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) collects statistics on the condition of education in the United States, analyzes and reports the meaning and significance of these statistics, and assists states and local education agencies in improving their statistical systems. This publication contains a summary of all recent data collections…

The differential performance of black and white college freshmen on a direct measure of writing skills, the essay portion of the American College Testing Program's Collegiate Assessment of Academic Proficiency (CAAP), was studied. The data consisted of responses of a sample of 998 black and 3,727 white examinees to two individual prompts for…