Although minimum competency testing is increasingly popular, there is presently a paucity of information on teachers' and principals' use of and attitudes toward these testing programs. Therefore, a study examined the use and perceived impact of standardized reading tests in Puerto Rico and compared these results to the results of a similar study…

A joint program between Cuyahoga Community College and Links, Inc., a national organization of black women dedicated to civic, cultural, and educational activities, was implemented to help improve the test-taking skills of inner-city high school students and to help them build the skills needed to succeed in postsecondary education. A pilot school…

This paper evaluates widely used, standardized tests of reading within the framework of four interdependent reading components: (1) decoding speed and accuracy; (2) accuracy, fluency, and flexibility of determining semantic meaning of words; (3) sentence comprehension; and (4) passage dependent sentence comprehension. Among the types of…

A preliminary report on the California Achievement Tests (CAT) performance of students attending the Public School Academy (PSA) in Minneapolis (Minnesota) in 1988-89 is presented. The performance of students in grades 2-4 on the CAT reading comprehension and mathematics computation subtests and the performance of students in grade 4 on the…

This comprehensive handbook provides quick access to a wide range of information needed by professionals in all areas and at all levels of education. It includes books, journals, software, and standardized tests. Six sections are as follows: (1) information sources (including information sources by type and guide to reference sources in…

The gap between the number of minority teachers and the proportion of minority students enrolled in elementary and secondary schools in Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) states continues to widen. This publication discusses the impact of historically black institutions on the supply of minority teachers and the actions taken by SREB states…

Attitudes and beliefs about the admissions process, especially the role of standardized testing in admissions, were examined for students who took a standardized admissions test more than once. Their attitudes were compared with those of students who did not repeat the test. About 200 preveterinary students who had taken the Veterinary Aptitude…

This final report describes the activities, results, and conclusions of a 3-year project whose major purpose was to improve test-taking skills of learning-disabled and behaviorally disordered students, with respect to standardized achievement tests. The project concluded that: learning-disabled and behaviorally disordered students exhibit deficits…

In spring 1988, 103 bilingual/English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) and ESL-only school districts in New Jersey participated in a study to establish norms for the Language Assessment Battery (LAB) and Maculaitis Assessment Program (MAC) in grades K-12. This manual is designed to provide local district staff with the study's results and to make…

Designed to assess the success of social studies instruction for grade 8 students in Manitoba, Canada, this test evaluation instrument contains the manual, scoring key, and the administered test. The test covers the following sections: attitudes and values, social participation, knowledge, thinking and reasoning skills, and a long answer section…

This study compared the scores of 60 students enrolled in Introduction to Psychology at Phoenix College (Arizona) to national norms on the Study Skills Inventory. The study also analyzed gender differences and compared ethnic groups and age groups. Results indicated that the Phoenix College sample closely reflected the national norm. No clear…

Focusing on the problems of validity and representativeness of samples, a study examined the history of literacy in the United States since 1880 in order to set the contemporary debate on test scores, literacy and reading performance in the longer-range perspective of the last 100 years. The quality of the data and the arguments of literacy…

This manual provides screening guidelines for rural preschool and kindergarten programs and describes the development of a model Early Screening Program (ESP) that involves nine child stations and two parent stations. Screening stations developed for assessment included: (1) gross motor; (2) visual motor; (3) visual perception; (4) auditory…

More than half the minority group students who completed the 1988/89 Science and Technology Entry Program (STEP) at Manhattanville College (New York) scored in the 90-95 percentile on tests of critical thinking, suggesting ability to do well in mathematics, science, and other studies. STEP comprises the following goals: (1) enable students to…

The relationship between job performance and job satisfaction was evaluated using a longitudinal model. During the winter quarter of 1987, approximately 2,000 students at the University of Tennessee (Knoxville) received a student satisfaction survey designed to measure student opinions about programs and services at the university and department…