This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 15 titles deal with a variety of topics, including the following: (1) reading achievement as a function of home media environment and orientations toward learning; (2) reading ability and offense categories of delinquents; (3)…

The 11th annual report from the New Jersey Basic Skills Council provides information on the level of basic skills (verbal, computation, and elementary algebra) among freshmen admitted to New Jersey's public colleges and universities. Proficiency levels are estimated from performance on the New Jersey College Basic Skills Placement Test (NJCBSPT).…

When properly understood, scores on the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) support the hypothesis that the performance of American students as measured by the SAT is steadily improving. As the overall pool of SAT takers increases and as pressures to adopt SAT scores as an administrative measure of instructional performance mount, SAT averages at the…

Information on state and institutional actions in the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) area is presented. Twenty-one tables and two figures present data by state on the following topics: high school graduation requirements; special recognition program for high school graduates; advanced placement programs for public school students;…

Teachers' uses of and concerns with various assessment procedures were surveyed in the Parkrose School District, Portland, Oregon. All 229 district teachers and student service staff were asked to complete a questionnaire. A total of 211 questionnaires was returned for a response rate of 92%; however, all but one of the analyses were based on the…

The development and validation of the Home Learning Environment Profile (HLEP) are outlined. The HLEP instrument was designed to assess successful preschool home educational programs for Hawaiian families. The instrument covers sociodemographic, cultural, and environmental factors of Hawaiian families. After an extensive review of published…

These reports describe and evaluate Illinois Central College's Quality Undergraduate Education for Student Transfers (QUEST) program. The core of the program is to develop in students 15 competencies identified as essential to an educated person: communication skills, mathematics skills, appreciation of physical well-being, understanding of the…

Five essays selected from 70 papers and books spanning 30 years in the publishing life of W. Bryan Dockrell are presented. The essays concentrate on three themes within the field of educational evaluation--attainment, assessment, and reporting. Perspectives and practices in different countries are provided. The essays include: (1) "The…

The factor structure of responses from 2,833 sixth, seventh, and eighth graders responding to a modified form of the My Education Scale (ME Scale) was examined. The scale measures factors related to school achievement. Students (52% from minority groups) in five middle schools completed the ME inventory. Responses were submitted to a principal…

The Academic Skills Center at Black Hills State University provides a peer assistance program comprising both individual tutoring in classes offered in each academic division and credit classes in study skills. The goal of the Center is to respond effectively and quickly to individual educational needs of students and faculty through a…

The purpose of this study was to examine the potential impact of maternal attributions and self-attributions on the academic achievement of father-absent children in comparison to commonly identified family interaction and demographic variables. Subjects included 33 male and 34 female father-absent sixth graders (mean age of 11.6 years) and their…

This paper describes teacher usage of the microcomputer programs Test Analysis Package (TAP) and Student Problem Package (SPP) to analyze students' test item responses. These methods of organizing, analyzing, and reporting test results have proven useful to classroom teachers. The TAP consists of four integrated microcomputer programs to edit,…

This report assesses the relationship between teacher expectations and the achievement of black intermediate school students attending school in Fairfax County, Virginia, a relatively affluent part of the Washington, D.C., metropolitan Area. Information was culled from interviews with and observation of 46 black students, their peers, teachers,…

A study was conducted in the Virginia Community College System (VCCS) to identify changes in student retention rates since a marketing and retention initiative was undertaken in 1985. The study also sought to determine factors that may have affected retention and colleges that showed exceptionally high, low, or improved retention rates. The…

A study was conducted in the Virginia Community College System (VCCS) to determine the retention rates and academic achievement of part-time, degree-seeking students. The enrollment files of the VCCS colleges were examined to identify each individual enrolled in the fall quarters between 1985 and 1987, to determine full-/part-time enrollment…