This document contains materials directly related to the actual reading test of the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA), including the reading rubric, released passages, selected-response questions with answer keys, performance tasks, and scored samples of students' responses to the tasks. All of these items may be duplicated to…

In 1999, an external review was conducted of the indicators and methodology that the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education (NCHEMS) had developed for "Measuring UP 2000: The State-by-State Report Card for Higher Education." The principal purpose of these tests was to understand better the relationships among the indicators and…

This annual report details the accomplishments of the Alaska Head Start Program for fiscal year 1999. The report begins with a description of the Head Start program and its core values, and delineates the administrative and program partners of Head Start, its service population, eligibility requirements, funding sources, service models, and…

This report analyzes education in Minnesota. After a brief introduction in chapter 1, chapter 2 reviews educational accountability at the national and state levels and the development of Minnesota's own assessment and accountability system. This review not only leads to recommended next steps in that assessment and accountability system, it also…

The reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act in 1994 includes explicit requirements to ensure that students served by its Title I are given the same opportunity to achieve high standards and are held to the same high expectations as all students in each state. By the spring of 2000, states should be prepared to submit evidence…

This paper addresses opportunities and issues related to the use of the World Wide Web and high-speed networks as a delivery vehicle for training educators who are geographically dispersed. The benefits and potential pitfalls of using networks as educational platforms are explored from the perspective of various systems specifically being…

This paper discusses approaches to raising student test scores. At present, 49 of 50 states mandate tests for students in selected grades, and each school district is under pressure to have students score at a higher level than they did before. Teaching students to do better on tests is a frequent approach. It has some advantages, but also has the…

This manual is designed to assist public libraries in Alabama with setting up "Tsunami Summer!," a summer program for young adults, i.e., students in grades 6 through 12. The manual contains the following sections: (1) Publicity and Promotion; (2) Working with Schools; (3) Involving the Students, including teen volunteers, teen advisory…

This study was designed to contribute to the validity evidence for the Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL) by providing additional descriptive data about the performance standards in reading and mathematics at grades 4, 7, and 10. After the realignment of norm-referenced tests, large numbers of students taking the WASL had…

This official scoring guide for writing presents details of the 6-point scoring system used in Oregon schools for the 1989-99 school year. It list attributes of students' responses to merit a score from 1 (lowest) to 6 (highest) in the areas of ideas/content, organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency, conventions, and citing sources. (RS)

The purpose of this study was to investigate the achievement gap between minority and white students by analyzing 1996 and 2000 reading and mathematics scores on the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) at grades 5, 8, and 10. The focus was on score increases, the achievement gap between white and minority students, and whether or not a…

This document is intended to help mathematics teachers prepare students for the "exit exam of essential skills" required by the new Student Accountability Standards enacted by the North Carolina State Board of Education. Unlike current End of Grade and End of Course tests, the North Carolina High School Exit Exam (NCHSEE) focuses on…

With the decline in morality and values, character education is gaining considerable momentum. Public opinion polls show growing support for teaching it in schools. Evidence indicates that character education programs change the school culture for the better, allowing students to feel safe to concentrate on learning. In Colorado, character…

Noting that prevention is the key to healthy development of the youngest children in Illinois, the Birth to Three Project is working to develop a comprehensive, coordinated system of services for expecting families and children under 3 years of age. This progress report details the first year implementation of the All Our Kids (AOK): Birth to…

In response to concerns that Title I, the largest source of federal funding for education, was not significantly improving the educational achievement of at-risk students, Congress, in 1994, mandated major changes, including changes to the ways in which states measure student performance. This report provides a snapshot of how close states had…