Student success is at the heart of both institutional effectiveness and the community college mission, yet measuring such success at community colleges is problematic. This article highlights three efforts to grapple with this problem--a multistate work group of system- and state-level policymakers to create an improved set of student success…

This report is concerned with the state testing and evaluation programs which were in effect during the year 1949-1950. Each program account describes the agency which coordinated the program; the nature and purpose of the program including the tests administered, the uses of test results, and other pertinent information; and the publications…

The final technical report on the Illinois Regional Resource Center (RRC) details project activities (1974 to 1977) concerning the programing and assessment of unexplained or undiagnosed handicaps. Summaries and evaluation information are presented on the following RRC efforts: state program development (including technical assistance activities);…

The booklet describes four model autism sites that were funded in Iowa from 1980 to 1983. Each project's structure, goals and accomplishments, and future tasks are noted. The first project included an interdisciplinary autism resource team and a center-based, self-contained demonstration classroom. The second was a rural delivery model providing…

This paper focuses on the use of alternative assessments at the state level with a focus on the Connecticut experience. Judging from the size of audiences attending sessions on alternative assessments at national conferences and the numbers of articles appearing on performance assessment in recent educational journals, it is obvious that there is…

The first section of a four-part technical report of Florida's statewide program for assessing reading-related skills in grades 2 and 4 provides an introduction to the program, a description of procedures used, and recommendations regarding program operation. Program background, design, and responsibility for assessment activities are discussed in…

The theme of this issue of the quarterly journal of the National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE) is the system of early childhood education in the United States, focusing on various challenges to making high-quality preschool education a reality for all children. The following articles are featured: (1) "Principles and…

This staff briefing report was prepared for the Wisconsin Legislative Council's Special Committee on Educational Programs in Adult Correctional Institutions. The two-part paper provides background information on Wisconsin's adult correctional system, its residents, and the educational and vocational programs in adult correctional institutions.…

The development of the portion of a basic skills test that would adequately assess the writing ability of entering college freshmen in New Jersey is described in this paper. The stages of the test development process that are discussed include the decision to incorporate a writing sample in the form of an essay on a specified topic, the selection…

This publication has two major parts. The first is a paper by Joan Beers, Pennsylvania Department of Education, and Paul Campbell, Educational Testing Service, which describes, analyzes and interprets the most significant portions of data collected in a second survey of the status of state educational assessment programs. The second part is a…

Responding to a call to action by California's state leaders to make reading instruction in the early grades a top priority in the public schools, this booklet discusses California's new K-3 reading program. It begins with a discussion of what prompted this new focus on reading, and then discusses the four major elements of a balanced reading…

This document provides an overview of the history and current uses of student testing in California and a brief summary of some of the issues on the debate over assessment. In recent years, student testing has increasingly become a high-stakes enterprise in California. Today, policymakers are looking anew at various forms of testing to measure how…

This revised handbook describes Oklahoma's cooperative programs for the secondary grades in vocational education, including the following topics: (1) purposes of vocational education, (2) the six types of cooperative programs in Oklahoma, (3) the role of teacher-coordinator, (4) the advisory committee's role, (5) regulations, (6) training…

In order to provide teachers, administrators, guidance counselors, and parents with those procedures necessary to set up programs for the gifted, the following topics are considered: definitions and descriptions of the gifted, an identification procedure consisting of five stages, and a list of 19 traits common to the gifted. A discussion of…

Reports on the student assessment systems of states participating in the North Central Regional Educational Laboratory are presented. These reports were developed from the database of the Council of Chief State School Officers and the North Central Regional Educational Laboratory. Detailed information about each state's student assessment program…