Audiences were surveyed at the federal, state, and local levels in an effort to determine how the National Assessment of Educational Progress could be made more useful in meeting their needs. Recommendations fell into several major categories: (1) increased dissemination of assessment materials and access to data; (2) increased data interpretation…

By law the Mississippi Commission on School Accreditation has the primary responsibility for assuring the quality of elementary and secondary education programs in the state. The Commission finds its role as one of validation and process evaluation according to established procedures. Recently, the state legislature mandated the establishment of…

This group of reports constitutes the first series of observations designed to document the experiences of six state agencies (Delaware, Oregon, Michigan, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Mississippi) which are developing model program evaluation/management support units that will affect the development and implementation of policy in federal/state…

The methodology used during the 2-year project involving 14 case studies of rural education improvement programs consisted of 4 sets of overlapping activities: (1) gearing up and completing the study design; (2) site visits, data collection, and case study write ups; (3) data analysis; and (4) technical assistance. The gearing up period was…

California's Pupil Proficiency Law requires each local school district to adopt standards of proficiency in the basic skills of reading comprehension, writing, and computation. Students are to be assessed in grades 4-11. Students not making sufficient progress towards meeting the district's standards are to be provided with remedial programs, and…

An overview of the assessment of the basic skills of prospective secondary level education students at Pennsylvania State University is provided in this paper. Assessment in the areas of reading, writing, and speaking was conducted as a response to public criticism of teachers' skills and as a means of meeting a competency requirement in the…

As part of a study of the basic skills of secondary level education students, a study was conducted at Pennsylvania State University of the writing ability of prospective secondary level teachers. Raters holistically scored writing samples of 43 preservice teachers of English, mathematics, science and social studies. When writing scores of all…

This study presents a formative evaluation of the curriculum development process in republics, states and kingdoms of the Arab world. It contains an overview of curriculum changes that have occured in Arabian educational systems over the past two decades, the effects of these changes, and the attitudes toward the future of educators who have been…

This report represents the first attempt by the Council of the Great City Schools to assess the states of minimal competency testing in its twenty-eight member cities. This report does not focus on the results of the tests, but on the general characteristics of each competency testing program. Few cities use the same tests or collaborate in…

The study focuses on the obstacles encountered in Sri Lanka during the implementation of a major educational reform program between 1960 and 1964. A proliferation of schools along racial, religious, linguistic, and class lines had led to inequality of educational opportunity, and inefficient organization and location of schools. School networks…

The basic rationale for using standardized tests for college admission, credit, and placement is that they are relevant and reliable. Such tests require the student to demonstrate the kind of competence that schools teach--the kind of competence required to work effectively in the modern world, to develop fully the human potential, and to enjoy…

The oral English program of a parochial girls' school in Australia is described in this paper. Included in the description are the schedule of classes; the qualifications of the teaching staff; and the teaching philosophy, which is based on the concepts that students absorb more during classes than the manifest lesson content and that the greater…

A follow-up study was conducted to determine the professional status of education majors who participated in an optional training program in the last semester of their junior year or the first semester of their senior year in college. The Block Program is oriented toward actual field experience in public school using the team approach to…

Statewide assessment data available from two school years, two grade levels, and five sources (achievement tests; student, principal, and teacher questionnaires; and principal interviews), were aggregated to more closely investigate the relationship between student/school characteristics and student achievement. To organize this large number of…

Two papers on bilingual education are included. "The Emerging Features of Bilingualism and Bilingual Education in the U.S.A." by Atilano A. Valencia represents an overview of the development of programs and policies to meet the needs of bilingual students in the United States. The federal legislation and key court decisions of the 1960s…