The Comprehensive and Cognitive Development (CCD) Program of the Kansas City (Missouri) School District has completed its sixth year of operation. The CCD Program supports the integration of assessment with instructional strategies to increase the reading comprehension and cognitive skills of middle school and senior high school students. Staff…

The movement to develop national standards in education stems from the nation's continuing effort to identify the outcomes sought in schooling. The sources of the impetus for standards are disappointment with U.S. performance in international assessments, the participation of public leaders and educators in school reform, and the example created…

A statewide survey of 536 randomly selected Virginia secondary school teachers of academic subjects explored practices and opinions concerning various aspects of classroom testing and grading. The main focus was on the use of preestablished percentage scales as a basis for evaluating students. The responses suggested that large proportions of…

This is the sixth and final report of the National Research Council's Committee on the Performance of Military Personnel on the Joint-Service Job Performance Measurement/Enlistment Standards (JPM) Project, a project designed to develop measures of performance for entry-level military jobs so that enlistment standards could be linked to performance…

This book provides specific recommendations to assist practitioners in the development and implementation of plans to meet the needs of all students, particularly those who differ culturally and linguistically from the mainstream. Practical suggestions are offered for program organization. The following chapters are provided: (1)…

In 1988 the Kentucky Supreme Court upheld a previous decision that the state public education system had failed to provide an efficient system of common schools. The Kentucky Educational Reform Act (KERA, 1990) came from this decision. This paper reviews the restructuring of a primary school under the KERA, focusing on one collaborative effort…

This report explores some of the complexities involved in setting, maintaining, and judging standards in higher education, and examines the interactive effects that the standards of schools and colleges have on each other, with special emphasis on the implications of selective college admission practices. Focus is on whether current standards are…

The teacher assessment that is the subject of this paper is an essentially informal activity. The teacher assesses the student by posing questions, observing activities, and evaluating work in a planned or ad hoc way. The information obtained may be partial or fragmented, but repeating such assessments over time will allow the buildup of a solid…

This document ties the essential skills needed in mathematics to the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics' (NCTM) Curriculum and Evaluation Standards to help facilitate future curriculum development. The overall goal for the 21st century is to make mathematical power a reality for all students. The rationale for this document can be found…

The 1991 Manitoba Health Education Assessment consisted of the grade-4 health education test, a survey of grade-4 teachers, and the comparison of student performance in grades 5 and 10 from 1982 to 1991. The grade-4 sample consisted of 10% of students from English language schools, all students in Franco-Manitoban schools, and 25% of all students…

Portfolios, collections of student work representing a selection of performance, are being used in classrooms today in the tradition of the visual and performing arts in which they serve to showcase a student's best pieces and the student's evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of the pieces. Portfolios are useful as a support to new…

This report is a summary of Washington State's first 18 months of public higher education assessment activities. The two main sections of the report provide, first, summaries of the institutional assessment activities and, second, a discussion of the statewide assessment indicators. Specific sections examine the collection of entry-level baseline…

In 1992, the dynamics of national and state math/science reform efforts prompted the Arizona Board of Regents to request a study to improve the development and dissemination of grants that are funded by the higher education portion of the Eisenhower Act. The results of that evaluation are presented in three parts. Part 1 reviews the reform efforts…

An innovative approach to the preparation of school administrators is described in which instructor and student come together in a learning situation that integrates three core components: (1) formative portfolio assessment; (2) reflective practice; and (3) cognitive apprenticeship. The operation and impact of this approach are illustrated through…

The Appalachia Educational Laboratory qualitative study of the implementation of five aspects of the Kentucky Education Reform Act in four rural school districts is now in its fourth year. This paper focuses on findings concerning the first year of the primary program, which was put into widespread operation in 1992-93. Nongraded primary programs…