Americans generally lack foreign language competence, and their exposure to foreign languages in the United States is inadequate. Foreign language instruction is deficient in both quality and quantity, and although there are indications of improvement in both areas, it will be many years before the effects of improvements are clear. The…

As their second decade draws to an end, Canada's community colleges are confronted with budgetary constraints and increasing demands for more accountability. While in many ways their performance has been impressive, these institutions face a number of issues which defy satisfactory solutions. Four of the more demanding issues are: (1) increasingly…

During May of 1985, an external audit team was engaged by the Lorain (Ohio) City Schools to assess implementation of the seven correlates of an effective school. The correlates, developed by the Ohio State Department of Education, included: (1) a sense of mission; (2) strong building leadership; (3) high expectations for all students and staff;…

Higher education in South Carolina was evaluated, with attention to college missions, financial resources for colleges, and the role of the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education. The development of higher education during the last 30 years and the state's role in organizing and managing the higher education enterprise are described. The…

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 longitudinal study summarizes the findings of the United States District Court Monitoring Commission, a temporary agency established under the Bradley v. Milliken desegregation case. The salient issues illustrated by the study are discussed. Sources of data highlighted by the commission are described: (1) the longitudinal survey of teachers…

The status of Florida health professions education is reviewed in this commission report, which provides information on enrollment and graduate levels, market place demand for graduates and new policy issues. After an introduction that summarizes the commission charge, commission activities, purpose and scope, background, health professions…

Concrete descriptions of what has be done to improve undergraduate education at King's College, Pennsylvania are provided in this book, which represents a change agent's perspective on implementing an outcomes oriented curriculum and course-embedded assessment model. The necessity to achieve excellence in undergraduate education through…

This document comprises volume I of the national reports on the elementary/primary school curriculum in Asia and the Pacific sponsored by the National Institute for Educational Research (NIER) in Tokyo, Japan. Each nation's report is organized under the following topics: (1) general information on the geography and population, educational system,…

This report addresses specific problems that urban-oriented colleges and universities face in meeting the educational needs of the urban poor and disadvantaged, and explores what is being and can be done about these problems. Six programs funded by the Ford Foundation are described. Four of these deal with basic skills and related services. They…

This document recapitulates the seventh in a continuing series of annual, nationwide vocational education dissemination conferences. As a record of conference activities and a guide to available resources, information, and programs across the country, this recap is intended to serve both conference participants and a general audience of vocational…

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…

This paper examines high school quality as revealed in the responses of personnel officers to the Johns Hopkins University Survey of American Employers and in their actual recruiting and employment practices. The analyses test the hypothesis, recently proposed by senior executives of Fortune 1300 firms and by the National Commission Report, "A…

This collection of 5 major papers and 32 abstracts covers a range of issues surrounding rural education. In the first paper, Glen Shaw, a rural Minnesota schools administrator, contends economic and technological changes have threatened rural jobs and the rural way of life. Anecdotes and statistics are employed to define rural problems and to urge…

Changes at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK), begun when the Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC) initiated a funding mechanism designed to promote assessment and improvement of quality, are chronicled. Implications for program evaluation, planning, and resource allocation in other state colleges and universities are also…