The use of scuba diving as a recreational activity within traditional university instructional programs has been well established. Departments focusing on kinesiology, physical education, or exercise science have often provided scuba diving lessons as part of their activity-based course offerings. However, few departments have developed an…

New Visions for Public Schools has leveraged student-level data to help schools identify at-risk students, designed metrics to capture student progress toward graduation, developed data tools and reports that visualize student progress at different levels of aggregation for different audiences, and implemented real-time data systems for educators.…

At first glance, Hunterdon County Polytech Career Academy (HCP) in Flemington, New Jersey, looks like a dream school. This shared-time career academy is an autonomous school district located in Hunterdon County--a county with one of the highest per-capita incomes in the United States--and is 60 miles from both New York City and Philadelphia. HCP…

This practicum reports on the conceptualization, development, testing, and implementation of the guidelines, procedures, and a model for alternative programs for earning graduation credit. New requirements for graduation were adopted by the Maryland State Department of Education in November, 1974, but the development of specific policies and…

Maryland is the first state to require every student to perform service as a condition of receiving a high school diploma. In Baltimore, once electives became mandatory, a new coordinator for service learning was appointed, a service-learning program--the Baltimore Alliance for Student Service--was established, and a revised five-year…

Some insights into the development of an eleventh grade test of "adult functional competency" are provided. The evolution of the test from its first mention to its translation into a test item pool is traced. An attempt is made to identify some of the instructional, measurement, and legal implications inherent in various decisions which…

The paper traces the establishment and outcomes of a special education program development unit as part of the West Virginia Department of Education. It is explained that the office used a process/product planning approach with information on mission, role/function, allocation of function and resources, and multiple matrix analysis planning. Based…

This publication focuses on California Assembly Bill 3408, legislation mandating secondary schools to develop performance standards and performance tests for students. The paper analyzes progress made in implementing the legislation in California and outlines some of the barriers to successful implementation. The author explains several testing…

This handbook contains suggestions for the use of results from the New Mexico High School Proficiencies Examination (NMHSPE) and describes procedures for developing programs and planning intervention strategies. The information and guidelines will facilitate administrative action for program improvement through integration of the NMHSPE results…

Competency testing in New York State began in the nineteenth century, first with a local testing mandate and later with the "preliminary Regents examinations," which were administered at the end of the eighth grade. Optional competency tests were introduced in 1962, and in 1976 the Board of Regents mandated the passing of a series of…

A report presenting a sampling of proficiency-related projects consists of two parts. The first is a report on the state of the art describing programs, grants in progress, and plans to implement proficiency-based teaching. It was found that the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages and the Educational Testing Service (ETS) have…

In light of recent advances in the field of microcomputers and the general availability of inexpensive means of storing and transmitting information, this paper discusses the potential educational uses of computers and considers the role of computer technology and "technological literacy" in higher education. By way of example, the paper describes…

Information regarding state minimum competency testing programs was requested from the 50 state departments of education in the United States in the spring of 1979. The following questions were asked: (1) Do you have a testing program? (2) If you do, what tests are being used? (3) Do you have a testing program in the planning stages? (4) Are there…

There is agreement among most physical education professionals that the quality of graduate programs in physical education must be more closely monitored. There is general agreement that graduate degree programs in physical education are being offered by some institutions that have inadequate faculties, inadequate facilities, and inadequate…

The statewide implementation of the Georgia State Board of Education (GSBE) policy for high school graduation requirements was begun in September, 1980. It specifically stated that the GSBE would be responsible for assessing the basic skills, or learner skills, of students enrolled in public schools. It further stated that each local school system…