A research project was developed for New York City public schools to improve student achievement based on analysis of school performance and subsequent development of corrective action evaluated within a framework of accountability. The program was composed of: (1) participation in the decision making process by various special interest groups;…

This booklet answers frequently asked questions about the Exit Examination that students in South Carolina must pass before they receive a high school diploma. As provided for by the Education Improvement Act of 1984, the State Board of Education adopted the South Carolina Basic Skills Assessment Program (BSAP) objectives in 1985 as the basis for…

Issues surrounding the statewide competency testing of at-risk students are discussed. Sanctions, such as negative evaluations of educational programs associated with such tests, used to fall most heavily on schools and staff, but tests are increasingly becoming prerequisites for promotion and graduation, with increasing impact on students.…

The New Jersey Educational Assessment Program was initiated in l972-73 school year to assess high school students' performance in the basic skill areas of reading and mathematics. The High School Proficiency Test (HSPT) will become part of the graduation requirement for the ninth grade class of 1985-86. This instrument is a more comprehensive…

The 1986-87 graduating classes of public high schools in New Jersey were the third set of classes that had to satisfy the state's High School Graduation Requirements Law (Chapter 241). Data reported by the districts are summarized, although no individual district data are presented. The statewide graduation requirements include: (1) passing a…

New York state high school principals and superintendents were surveyed regarding their evaluations of the statewide minimum competency testing program for high school graduation. Program data were also supplied by the principals. It was concluded that: (1) 85 percent of eleventh grade students had completed the basic competency test graduation…

This booklet contains the 14 exercises that are used in the Bloomington, Minnesota, school system's writing assessment program. Depending on their applicability, the exercises may be used to assess the writing performance of fourth-, eighth-, or eleventh-grade students. Thirteen of the exercises are from the National Assessment of Educational…

This summary of the Bloomington, Minnesota, public schools writing assessment program includes background information about the selection of exercises that assessed fourth-, eighth-, and eleventh-grade students' writing abilities, a list of these exercises that were used, and information about the students who were assessed. The results of the…

The role of statewide testing programs and the direction Pennsylvania should take in statewide educational assessment are discussed. The major purposes proposed for statewide testing programs are: (1) informing state policy; (2) curriculum reform; and (3) accountability. The ultimate purpose of statewide testing programs is to improve student…

Based on telephone interviews with educational officials from all 50 states and the District of Columbia, an overview of the use and impact of standardized tests in the United States during the 1986-87 school year was developed. In addition to interviewing officials from all state departments of education, officials from 56 sample school districts…

In 1987, the administration of North Carolina Competency Tests to public school sophomores resulted in 94.4% passing the reading test and 90.6% passing the mathematics test. Rates were similar to rates for the 1986 sophomores, but were higher than rates for juniors in the 1978-1983 period. The 1987 passing rate in mathematics was lower than for…

Pennsylvania Governor Dick Thornburgh initiated an education reform package, "Turning the Tide: An Agenda for Excellence in Pennsylvania Public Schools" in October 1983. The statewide competency testing program which followed was "Testing for Essential Learning and Literacy Skills (TELLS), and it tested reading and mathematics…

State-mandated student testing in Ohio is a combination of three different initiatives: (1) competency-based education (CBE) assessment; (2) achievement and ability testing; and (3) proficiency testing. This report describes the current testing requirements and some of the characteristics of each of these types of assessment. CBE assessment was…

Several tests available from the Educational Testing Service (Princeton, New Jersey) have been used or are candidates for use by the Tennessee State Department of Education as initial public school personnel licensure endorsement area tests. The first of the two reports contained in this document (i.e., the Executive Report) describes a study of…

The results are reported of the North Carolina Competency Testing Program. The Senior High Assessment of Reading Performance (SHARP) and the Test of Performance in Computational Skills (TOPICS), modified for the North Carolina program, have been administered to eleventh-grade students in public, nonpublic, federal, and special schools. Both tests…