The 1992-93 school year marked the first year of implementation of the statewide mandate of the Arizona Student Assessment Program (ASAP), which revised previous legislation. Iowa Test of Basic Skills testing requirements were restricted to grades 2 and 7, and districts were allowed greater flexibility in their own testing, which had previously…

Effects of introducing performance-based assessments into the classroom were studied by examining instruction, student learning, and teacher attitudes and practices. As part of the larger study, workshops were conducted with third-grade teachers from three schools engaged in constructing performance assessments of literacy. Data from transcripts…

This Technology & Innovations in Education (ITE) publication is a description of how a strategic technology planning process unfolded in four small, rural South Dakota school districts -- Britton, Isabel, Langford, and Sioux Valley. Goals 2000 grants were allocated for each district to develop a technology-based school improvement plan,…

A glossary providing a common set of definitions for thinking and talking about assessment policy in undergraduate education is presented. Terms with more general meaning are defined only in this specific context. This glossary was developed as part of a series of Education Commission of the States case studies of state-based approaches to…

A discussion of foreign languages in the elementary school (FLES) begins with a brief history of the program's emergence and status in the United States, a summary of the rationale for early language study, and descriptions of the major FLES program types. An Ohio survey of elementary school foreign language instruction is reported, and the…

Guidelines and case studies of model programs are intended as resource materials to aid 22 organizations funded by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention to encourage meaningful youth participation in policy decisions which affect youth, primarily in the juvenile justice, educational, and social systems. The first of three major…

Designed as a teacher's guide to stimulate student interest, creativity, and achievement, this teaching guide includes 132 projects which involve the use of photography as an instructional tool. The volume is divided into subject areas with grade levels ranging from kindergarten through higher education. Most projects are multidisciplinary, and…

Principals play an important role in the success of externally funded change projects in their schools. Interviews exploring the participation of principals in such projects in 14 Oregon elementary and secondary schools provided 11 case studies illustrating helpful and unhelpful behaviors. The projects were found to have life cycles of their own,…

This report presents case studies of the three exemplary projects within the Special Emphasis Project, a federally funded national study of how intensive reading programs might change the patterns of elementary school students who read one or more grades below grade level. An introductory section provides information on the history, organization,…

The Far West Laboratory for Educational Research and Development (FWL) conducted a project which focused on the design and validation of models for the linkage and coordination of vocational education at public and private postsecondary institutions with business, industry, and labor. The general procedure followed was to adapt organizational…

The European Language Portfolio (ELP) is a tool for developing learner responsibility and autonomy through reflection and self-awareness.The ELP is based on the Common European Framework (CEF) Reference Levels that enable learners to describe what they can do in different languages.The CEF is a Council of Europe initiative aimed at improving the…

This module is the third section of a four-part how-to manual for integrating curriculum in grades K-12, especially in Missouri. The module outlines step-by-step procedures for integrated units, integrated years, and integrated schools. Comments from teachers, students, and administrators who are actively involved in integration in Missouri…

This paper reports on a multiple case study of building administrators in a suburban school district in Oklahoma which implemented a unitary system of inclusion of students with disabilities in age-appropriate regular classrooms. The study focused particularly on how administrators developed shared meanings during the change process. Data were…

This publication contains nine short descriptive case studies of local adult education programs, including viticulture, women's reentry into the work force, music theory, work skills for people with disabilities, local history, intergenerational family literacy, and workplace training. The studies give a good overview of the diversity of learners'…

This is a comprehensive text about beliefs, issues, and practices at the forefront of literacy education--language, ethnic, and academic diversity; authentic assessment; and social construction of meaning and knowledge--explored through the lens of a cohesive instructional design, the Book Club Program. It presents a pedagogical model based on a…