This paper presents the latest in a series of studies examining school district report cards for their usefulness planning and implementing school improvement. The 1992-93 Arkansas report cards were studied. These were similar to the report cards from Tennessee that were the subject of the initial study in that they used and reported a…

Austin Partners in Education, a nonprofit organization, helps the community and AISD classrooms work together to ensure academic excellence and personal success for students. Academic outcomes, student engagement, and other variables for school year 2008-2009 were examined in this report.

This paper discusses the role of the classroom teacher under an accountability program, and raises questions about the extent to which teachers can be held accountable in different areas of school programs. The author defines issues raised at the ACT national study conference on accountability in education, and enumerates responsibilities of…

The popularity of first-year experience programs, freshman interest groups, and freshman seminars is evidence of a growing interest on the part of administrators and faculty in what happens to students during the first year of college. Theory and research indicate that students' experiences during the first year can set the tone for the remainder…

The "Statutory Data Report" is prepared pursuant to T.C.A. (Tennessee Code Annotated) Section 49-7-210. As specified, this report provides information as required for public four-year institutions, public two-year institutions and public technology centers. (Contains 18 tables.) [For the 2007 report, see ED512312.]

The "High School Feedback Report" prepared by the State of Florida's Department of Education provides pre-and-post-graduation data for public high school graduates throughout Florida. These data were used for this present report which contains individual data reports for all M-DCPS regular high schools and charter high schools graduating…

For the past six years the National Assessment of Educational Progress has sponsored a national Conference on Large-Scale Assessment, designed to promote and improve communications among educational assessment personnel in State Departments of Education and other agencies. This volume contains most of the papers that were accepted for presentation…

The purpose of this paper is to test the premise that there is a significant correlation between Praxis1 scores and SAT scores among African American students who are applying for admission into the teacher education program. Data for the study included the Praxis 1 (reading, writing and math) scores and SAT (reading, writing and math) scores of…

The signals had been there for years. Task force reports and researchers all predicted it. Then, in the late 1990s, the economic collapse in this blue-collar region of central Maine began. First, the Cascade Co. closed its textile mill. Then the C.F. Hathaway Co. shut down, and Dumont Industries followed suit soon after. Several stores and other…

All teacher education students in Texas must pass three minimum competency examinations to be admitted to a teacher education program. The Pre-Professional Skills Tests (PPST) contains three separate tests in reading, mathematics, and writing. West Texas State University requires all entering freshmen to submit scores from the American College…

This Information Aid assembles facts about recent trends in standardized testing among secondary students and summarizes both the possible causes for declining scores and some counterarguments against some of these causes. Emphasis is given to two college admissions tests--the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and the American College Testing…

Validity coefficients of the Descriptive Tests of Language Skills, the Academic Tests of the ACT Assessment Program (ACT), and high school percentile rank were calculated with cumulative grade point average (CGPA) at end of each of four years of college for 496 students entering through a special admissions program. The most valid predictor of…

This study profiles two high schools with high enrollments of low-income and racial/ethnic minority students: Thornton Fractional North High School (TF North) and Dumas High School (DHS). Both schools have substantial enrollments of low-income and racial/ethnic minority students and, despite the odds, are successfully preparing students for their…

This paper explores what a responsible test developer would do to support the consequential validity of a test early in the development process, and how the consequential validity of the program should be monitored and addressed during the life of the program. To illustrate the issues concretely, the validity of the American College Testing…

The study investigated effectiveness of an experimental program for disadvantaged students. It was contrasted to a control program and to the freshman population relating sex, race, financial aid, special instruction, general achievement/aptitude, and attrition/persistence with GPA. Experimental courses elevate GPAs; regular courses do not.…