The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff has designed and developed programs to enhance the status of minority students, maximize the performance of Black students and teachers on standardized tests, increase the number of Black teachers in Arkansas, and revitalize the image of teacher education at UAPB. (MT)

The importance of specific competencies for bachelor's level and master's level school health educators in Florida is examined in this article. A survey instrument utilizing a five-point scale was administered to respondents to ascertain the importance of various competencies. Data analysis and implications for professional preparation programs…

The teacher education profession must develop a program to assess essential elements of professional knowledge comprising a teacher education curricula so that institutions can prepare teachers who can demonstrate that they have gained an acceptable mastery of cognitive and affective learning. (Author/CB)

The development of an intervention program initiated by the Kentucky Department of Education to ensure that minority education majors have access to training in skills needed for standardized tests is described. (MT)

This chapter presents eight competencies approved by the American School Counselor Association and the Association for Assessment in Counseling that provide the knowledge and skills school counselors need in the areas of assessment and evaluation. Because effectiveness in assessment and evaluation is critical to effective counseling, these…

In 1981, the Faculty Senate, at an upper division midwestern university, initiated the consideration of a literate skills testing program to address variance in academic level of the entering undergraduate student. The policy stipulated that all undergraduate students admitted to a degree program must demonstrate competency in writing and…

The efforts of researchers to produce a pool of approximately 30 validated and field-tested topics for use in future administrations of the Florida Teacher Certification Examination in writing are reviewed in this paper. Various sections of the paper (1) describe the procedures followed; (2) explain the reasons for making certain important…

This report summarizes the procedures and outcomes of a study undertaken to provide educational decision-makers with an array of cost effective strategies for assessing the individual competencies of school library media specialists. It provides a literature review of the field and discussions of the classification and definition of assessment…

A New Jersey Task Force on Adult Literacy recommended ways to improve the literacy delivery system for adults. This report and its recommendations focus on improving coordinated interagency planning and accountability to increase governmental efficiency, and on advancing the employability and self-sufficiency of the three million low-literate…

A project was conducted to develop an interagency consortium for Alaska for the purpose of annually identifying and updating the preservice training needs for Alaska vocational educational personnel and to prepare a report on the recommendations from the consortium to be issued to institutions of higher education offering one or more preservice…

Study outcomes are an immensely important parameter of higher education quality. They reflect the relationship between studies and labour market needs; determine the framework and internal logics of study programme curriculum: sequence of study objectives, their particularity, study content, methods, student achievement assessment criteria and…

Speech communication teachers at both secondary and postsecondary school levels must cooperate to improve oral communication education. Despite the importance of oral communication skills, speech courses are rarely required in high school. Teachers must tell school boards, higher education boards, and faculties of the importance of speaking and…

The development of the City University of New York's writing assessment test is discussed in this paper. Its relationship to the total freshman skills assessment program, which also involves the assessment of minimal competencies in mathematics and reading, is related. The discussion of the test includes descriptions of the test development…

The Texas Academic Skills Program (TASP) is a statewide program designed to ensure that all students attending public colleges and universities have the basic reading, mathematics, and writing skills necessary to perform effectively at the college level. All entering first-time freshmen are required to take the TASP test, which has a basic skills…

This document presents some 20 papers on projects conducted by Foreign Teaching Assistant (FTA) participants in the areas of academic/pedagogical issues, cross-cultural issues, and testing issues. Papers are as follows: "The Testing and Evaluation of Foreign Teaching Assistants: Where Are We and Where Are We Going?" (Ralph Pat Barrett);…