Strengthening Pre-collegiate Education in Community Colleges (SPECC) is a multi-site action-research project, focused on teaching and learning in pre-collegiate mathematics and English language arts courses at 11 California community colleges. In this report, the author discusses the data gathered over the course of the SPECC project and reflects…

Discusses the problem of minority overrepresentation in special education and suggests that many academic difficulties may result from deficiencies in students' learning environments. Presents procedures for examining and ruling out such probabilities before beginning a comprehensive evaluation of the learner. Proposes a functional assessment…

Asserts that three social dominance issues have caused and continue to perpetuate achievement disparities among poor and minority students: the assumption of rightness, the luxury of ignorance, and the legacy of privilege. Describes school district initiatives, leadership, and research findings related to overcoming this achievement gap. Contends…

Over 100 academic administrators, professionals in English, and writers responded to a request to annotate a sample paragraph written by a college student at a minimum skill level. Responses varied to extreme degrees in several areas, with letter grades ranging from B to F and annotations ranging from declaring the student's situation hopeless to…

Using one set of standardized tests to determine if a student graduates or is promoted makes students pay for society's failure to provide an equal, quality education; encourages teaching to the test instead of teaching critical thinking skills; and ignores research findings and test publishers' advice that multiple measures are necessary for…

When legislation extended vocational assessment services to limited English proficient and economically/educationally disadvantaged students, which comprise 72 percent of grade 8-12 students in Norfolk (Virginia) Public Schools, innovations were needed to offer expanded services without additional personnel. A multiphase model of vocational…

A study examined the underlying factor structure of the aptitude tests and work samples being completed by students with educational disadvantages (limited reading and mathematics skills) who were assessed with the current assessment model in the Akron (Ohio) Public Schools. The amount of variance accounted for by the factors was also…

The North Warwickshire (England) College of Technology and Art created student profiles of students enrolled in a precaring course, a one-year course conceived as an introduction to work in the caring field for young people of low academic achievement. It was decided that a master profile should be created to cover all low-level courses across the…

This guide focuses on the collection, measurement, and evaluation of data for programs operating under the mandate of Chapter 1 of the Education Consolidation and Improvement Act. Assessment of compensatory education performance of local education authorities (LEAs) is based on reporting of the following data: (1) basic and advanced skill scores;…

Presented is the end of project year (1972-1973) report of an interim program to improve the academic performance and behavior of 48 educable mentally retarded and educationally handicapped adolescents 12- to 17-years-old who had been excluded from special education classes. Reported are performance measures (such as teacher developed inventories…

Technical problems with norm-referenced achievement testing that can lead to the erroneous evaluation of schools for Chapter 1 Program improvement is discussed, and an alternative testing model is presented. The history of Chapter 1 testing and evaluation policies is briefly reviewed, and problems with the norm-referenced model are explored. Data…

In compliance with mandates of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the Arizona Department of Education has completed its evaluation of effectiveness for state and locally administered programs in the context of Arizona's existing Chapter 2 goals. The evaluation focused first on state-administered programs and then considered locally…

The evaluation of the 1981-82 State Compensatory Education (SCE) program, as implemented in the Austin Independent School District, will involve the following major activities: production of an Evaluation Design based on input received from key SCE personnel; production of a Final Report and a Technical Report which present information and…

The place for standardized testing in Chapter 1 evaluation is discussed. There is substantial evidence available on the negative effects of high-stakes standardized testing, and there is a clear link between Chapter 1 requirements and the amount of testing in most school districts. Standardized testing is usually used to identify eligible…