In the 1989 "Edgewood vs. Kirby" decision, the Supreme Court of Texas ordered the Legislature to correct the inequality in funding between the state's richest and poorest school districts. In response to the court's order, the Legislature recently enacted Senate Bill 1 (SB 1) intended to provide Texas' school districts with equal access…

State policymakers will want to make clear the intent of a policy on choice when they write their legislative bills. The purpose for the policy will help parents, students, educators, and the general public understand their action and the reasons for the action. This study discusses 11 issues included in legislative bills and gives a brief summary…

The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM), with the establishment and promulgation of standards for the reform of teaching and learning mathematics, has furnished the leadership and the impetus toward the achievement of a vision of affording a high-quality mathematics education for all of the nation's children. Published in March…

Four essays are designed to provide perspective and dimension to the Stout Data Analysis and to the Business and Education Survey. The essayists who interpret the Stout and survey data represent the viewpoints of (1) business (David Horn), (2) a researcher in vocational education (Orville Nelson), (3) a vocational educator (Albert Pitts), and (4)…

This book is a set of inservice staff training modules designed to help teachers, administrators, and auxiliary staff to produce high levels of achievement regardless of the socioeconomic level or ethnic make-up of the student population. It operationally defines school learning climate as attitudinal and behavioral patterns which impact on the…

The purpose of this paper is to help educators and other interested individuals find their way through the plethora of reform reports published in the early 1980s. The early historical context of the reports is set out through a discussion of secondary education and proposals for reform since the 19th century. This is followed by a discussion of…

In 1989, a study was conducted to assess college and vocational preparatory programs in Florida's community colleges and at Florida A & M University. With respect to college preparatory programs in Florida, the study looked at organizational structure, state-level coordination, student placement, enrollment, student characteristics, program…

An assessment model at King's College (Pennsylvania) is described, which involves redesigning the general education core curriculum with competency-based measures. The new learning plan for the core curriculum establishes graduation competencies and regular monitoring of student progress. The plan supports a value-added approach to curriculum and…

An initiative to promote excellence in South Carolina's higher education system is presented by the State Commission on Higher Education in two documents. The first is a descriptive summary of rationales and recommendations in six areas. The second document is a report which includes and expands the material of the first document. Twenty-five…

The Delaware Educational Assessment Program publishes annual results from the California Test of Basic Skills by district, school, and grade (1 through 8 and 11). A statewide computer information system was developed to manage the testing program, the massive 10-year longitudinal database, and the information requests received. The Delaware…

Trends on U.S. campuses as of 1986 are reported, with attention to campus actions on assessment and early campus responses to national reports calling for educational reform. Also considered are faculty hiring practices, perceptions about institutional status, changes in enrollment and finances, and international components of academic programs. A…

Drawing from existing records, documents, and data files, this report provides a comprehensive assessment of the status of vocational education in California's community colleges. Part I offers an executive summary of the study, including major factors affecting the status of vocational education in community colleges, key findings,…

Educational needs characteristic of programs in Bureau of Indian Affairs schools or schools receiving Johnson-O'Malley funds on 16 reservations across the United States were presented with suggestions for meeting these needs. The needs were (1) increase academic engagement from the observed one-third of time intended for instruction; (2) increase…

This paper outlines the goals, design, implementation and results of a project of the State Education Assessment Center of the Council of Chief State School Officers to develop state indicators of the condition of science and mathematics education in elementary and secondary schools. The goals of the project include: (1) improving the quality and…

The current status of education is presented in the form of education "indicators"--key data that measure the "health" of education or its trends. These indicators derive from studies carried out by the National Center for Education Statistics as well as from surveys conducted elsewhere, both within and outside of the Federal…