The reports that teachers receive from the Portland (Oregon) Public Schools Achievement Level Testing Program are planned to help them to see how each individual student is doing, which students need help, and how the class is performing as a whole. The information enables teachers to focus on special needs and problem areas, and also to see an…

It is not the kind of atmosphere most adults would find helpful if they needed to study and learn-high dropout rates, kids promoted without learning, schools short on money, profanity and disrespect, fighting, drug and alcohol abuse. Yet these are "very serious" problems in schools, according to surprisingly large numbers of the nation's black and…