This report presents the highlights from the 2001 QUEST (Quality Education for Students and Teachers) Survey for Adjunct Faculty, administered in November 2001 at Howard Community College (HCC) (Maryland). The survey listed 64 service areas to be rated on a 5-point scale ranging from poor (1) to excellent (5), or to indicate if they were…

Both the United States and Canadian provinces have moved to enhance educational choice within their educational systems to improve educational productivity. In spite of this similarity of purpose and means, the two nations are taking very different approaches. Most Canadian provinces have moved to full provincial financing of schools and to the…

The Kentucky Education Reform Act of 1990 (KERA) is one of the most comprehensive education reform efforts attempted in the United States. This document presents an overview of factors leading to KERA's passage, its accomplishments, and areas in need of improvement. The conditions leading up to passage of KERA included disparities across Kentucky…

Educational reform is becoming synonymous with accountability. However, designing an effective accountability system poses serious challenges for states as is clear from the progress and pitfalls experienced by states such as Texas, Kentucky, and California. For example, many states tend to overload their new accountability programs, resulting in…

This document describes the 1999-2002 College Action Plan for Santa Barbara City College (SBCC) (California). The plan consists of 14 goals and 40 objectives that specify the desired direction for all major instructional and service areas of the college. Goals include the following: (1) enhancing community knowledge and utilization of SBCC…

This is a report on a campus climate survey measuring Cypress Community College (California) students' general perception of the college campus and the services it provides. Students also were asked about their feelings of acceptance or belonging, as well as their satisfaction with the level of ethnic diversity present at the community college. A…

The collection of papers presented in this monograph provides an update on developments in assessment for counselors, practitioners, and researchers in all types of educational settings. The papers are grouped into five sections. Section 1, on emerging issues, includes topics on testing theories presently used, and some thoughts for the future.…

This research brief explores the extent to which teacher-designed assessments are authentic in inclusive secondary schools and how students with and without disabilities perform on these assessments. Data come from three high schools that are participating in a 5-year national study conducted by the Research Institute on Secondary Education Reform…

As more and more states and districts develop their alternate assessments for those students unable to participate in the regular assessment, they are faced with the challenge of setting standards for their alternate assessments. Despite the variability in alternate assessments currently developed, including checklists, structured and unstructured…

State assessment systems must address both technical and policy issues as assessments and accountability practices are developed and implemented. These technical and policy issues have been expanded from traditional large-scale assessment to new alternative assessment approaches required by law and developed in every state. The primary purpose of…

The federal Migrant Education Program provides supplemental instruction and other support services to migrant children. The program provides formula grants to states under Title I, Part C, of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. This document summarizes the data from a three-volume study, which examined how the program is helping migrant…

There was a time when virtually all students pursuing the master's degree were required to submit to and successfully complete comprehensive examinations, most of which featured both written and oral elements. In this more traditional period, the acquisition of the master's degree was in large part a qualifying ritual for admission to a Ph.D.…

This book provides a comprehensive overview of assessment used to support learning, and it makes this area accessible and understandable for a wise range of users. This unique text is a major source of practice-based theory on assessment for learning, a formative assessment to support individual development and motivate learners. Key areas covered…

The articles in this bibliography represent holdings of the Test Center of the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory in the area of assessment in school and classroom climate, student self-concept, student motivation to learn, and student attitude toward school. The annotation for each source includes title and author information and…

Assessment systems to measure high educational standards emerged as the major theme at the 1996 conference of the National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing (CRESST), "Moving Up to Complex Assessment." This feature article, providing a summation of the proceedings of the conference, reports that the…