This annual document is a collection of general and statistical information on 251 schools in the Dade County (Florida) Public School system. The document is divided into four sections corresponding to the major geographical areas of the county: North, North Central, South Central, and South. A profile sheet, presented for each individual school…

This annual report is a collection of statistical information describing some of the more important characteristics of individual schools in the Dade County Public School system. A profile sheet for each individual school provides statistics on school staff, and student characteristics, as well as a summary of student achievement information.…

This monograph reports on an exploratory investigation of the impact of minimum competency testing on local schools. The implementation and impacts of test requirements in three Missouri and four Ohio local school districts are studied through interviews with teachers and administrators and through the analysis of written materials on the test and…

Florida's Statewide Assessment Program of the State Department of Education has been involved in a major effort to develop adequate strategies for releasing and publishing assessment scores for schools. One dimension of this effort has been the development of predicted or "adjusted" scores. These scores compare a school to other similar…

In 1973, compulsory province-wide grade 12 examinations, administered in Alberta since 1906, were dropped; teachers were given the responsibility of assigning final grades. Mandated by the Legislative Assembly of Alberta in 1976, this study by the Minister's Advisory Committee on Student Achievement (MACOSA) surveyed education professionals,…

The first part of this report is a question-and-answer survey of minimum competency legislation, testing programs, and remedial programs. It includes the questions of both the educator and the lay person. Topics include: minimum competency tests, the debate over minimum competency programs, what happens after testing, and what citizens should look…

The U.S. educational system and student achievement are examined using a historical perspective. Academic achievement, school budgets, educational innovations, and educational philosophies are compared across different periods of U.S. history. Problems associated with various changes in the educational process are outlined. Parental attitudes on…

An annotated bibliography on minimum competency testing is arranged by subtopics: overview; basic skills; compensatory education; competencies; cost effectiveness; curriculum; district programs; graduation requirements; handicapped students; legal aspects; readiness; reading; writing; state programs; teacher education; tests; math; and testing.…

The reading portion of the Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP) was equated to the reading comprehension subtest of the Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills (CTBS) using the Rasch Model. Both tests were administered to 366 low achieving fourth grade students. MEAP was treated as both a 95-item test and a 19-item (number of objectives…

Since the California Assessment Program began in 1972 to provide information for evaluation of school programs in California, major changes in testing practices have occurred. Scholastic aptitude testing has been eliminated in all grades; state-designed reading and basic skills tests are administered in grades one, two, three, six, and twelve.…

Little is known about the costs of setting up and implementing legislated minimal competency testing (MCT). To estimate the financial obstacles which lie between the idea and its implementation, MCT requirements are viewed from two perspectives. The first, government regulation, views legislated minimal competency requirements as an attempt by the…

Presented are findings from California's State testing program for 1971-72 and 1972-73. The factors (variables) examined were divided into two groups: output factors, indicators of school quality such as scores on achievement tests; and input factors, factors describing the characteristics of school districts such as class size, tax rate, etc.…

As part of a cross-national research project on literature instruction in middle-grade classrooms in Great Britain and the United States this study explored the effects of external assessment on that instruction. The focus was on the literature selected, the class time allotted, and provisions made for students' choices. The study explored the…

This paper presents the latest in a series of studies examining school district report cards for their usefulness planning and implementing school improvement. The 1992-93 Arkansas report cards were studied. These were similar to the report cards from Tennessee that were the subject of the initial study in that they used and reported a…

What the Illinois Goal Assessment Program (IGAP) test actually tests and the consequences of these tests for funding decisions were studied with a random sample of 100 school districts in the Cook County suburbs of Chicago. Eighth-grade IGAP scores for reading were obtained from the state report card, a document prepared by each school district…