We introduce a new metric--the classification power--to examine the effectiveness of postsecondary mathematics placement policies. This metric addresses the methodological challenges of contextualizing the effectiveness of a single placement policy and comparing the effectiveness of multiple placement policies across different student populations.…

This case highlights the moral and ethical dilemmas that principals and educators confront when making decisions about special education classification and placement, particularly in the context of racial disproportionality. These decisions are complex, influenced by the requirements of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and…

At the end of every school year, particularly as students move on to middle or high school, educators throughout the nation face the same question: To reclassify or not to reclassify English Language Learners (ELLs)? The reclassification decision is tricky because it sometimes feels as if there is an inevitable tradeoff between specialized…

Work-Integrated Learning (WIL) is an important pedagogical strategy for developing employability skills by immersing students in real-world understandings, applications and practices. Increasingly, universities are focusing on how WIL can be scaffolded across a degree, to involve students in a variety of WIL activities in order to apply…

The high rate of students taking developmental education courses suggests that many students graduate from high school unready to meet college expectations. A college readiness screener can help colleges and school districts better identify students who are not ready for college credit courses. The primary audience for this guide is leaders and…

Across the United States, students face increasingly high expectations of what they should know and be able to do upon completing high school. However, too few state policies take into consideration how the pathway to graduation may look different for English Learners (ELs), particularly adolescent newcomers who have limited formal education. Many…

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, American psychologists began addressing problems related to the intellectual capacity of students enrolled in public schools. This paper focuses on the role and influence of psychologists in addressing these problems, specifically the difficulty of classifying students deemed feeble-minded and…

The purpose of this article is to briefly describe the design and piloting of a branched, online placement and credit examination that measures receptive as well as productive and creative language abilities in the heritage language of college students entering the Spanish for Heritage Learners Program at the University of Houston, a major…

An alternative approach to the traditional diagnostic-prescrptive or medical model for classifying behavior disorders is proposed which considers topography of deviant behaviors, degree of exceptionality, nature of deviance, and events influencing the deviancy in the context of developing and monitoring education/treatment programs. (Author/CB)

In the wake of developments in France and the United States where early psychiatrists such as Pinel, Esquirol, Belhomme and Seguin advocated "moral treatment" of the insane and classified"idiots" and "imbeciles" as incurable though educable, the Revd C. E. Van Koetsveld initiated his "School for Idiots" in…

This report presents findings of an audit of the New York State Education Department's Office of Vocational and Educational Services for Individuals with Disabilities (VESID). The audit concluded that VESID oversight of school districts may not be adequately targeting formal reviews of special education programs to those districts that pose the…

In November 1992, Japanese Ministry of Education declared middle school teachers could no longer use distribution tables produced by private testing companies to predetermine high school students' curricula. Failure to implement reform stems from structural and cultural roots. By presorting students and molding their expectations, traditional…

The two reports compiled here are intended as aids in evaluating and planning future educational efforts for handicapped students in New Jersey. The reports include a census of handicapped pupils, their programs, the service delivery personnel and special education due process cases for the 1980-81, 1981-82, and 1982-83 school years. Each report…

Focuses on the issues related to the student classification process and the disproportionate placement of black males in special education programs. The meaning and implications of the following classifications are discussed: educable mental retardation, serious emotional disturbance, specific learning disability, speech impairment, and trainable…

This project studied the effects of implementing a computerized management information system developed for special education administrators. The Intelligent Administration Support Program (IASP), an expert system and database program, assisted in information acquisition and analysis pertaining to the district's quality of decisions and procedures…