This paper provides a synthesis of the literature on school-based intervention assistance teams and their direct or indirect impact on special education programs and practices. A total of 67 articles, documents, reports, and/or books was reviewed. A background section considers the history of these teams, their composition, and the prereferral…

This document concerns what teachers learned from students responses to the Maryland School Performance Assessment Program (MSPAP) tests in 1995. Teacher responses and comments are presented in the following categories: (1) "Look How Far We've Come!" (identifies areas of improvement in student performance); (2) "Perceptions"…

An overview of Ohio's proficiency testing program is presented and specific information pertaining to the testing at each grade level is detailed. The proficiency tests at each of four grade levels in Ohio include tests in writing, reading, mathematics, and citizenship, with science tests to be added in 1996. All of the tests, at grade level 4, 6,…

This digest provides a review of the research literature on assessment of the effectiveness of higher education in producing graduates with the knowledge and skills necessary for well-educated citizens today. Major findings are grouped as answers or partial answers to the following nine questions: (1) "what are the critical competencies and…

A telephone survey was undertaken in February 1996 of the 400 randomly selected members of the Oregon high school graduating class of 1995 and 400 ethnic minority graduates, in an update of a similar study done of the class of 1993. The study aimed to identify the percentage of the graduating class who attended a postsecondary institution in fall…

This report describes the first 3 years of three Excellent Beginnings projects from 1991 to 1994 funded by the Plan for Social Excellence, a private nonprofit foundation that creates or supports innovative pilot projects in education. Programs that are flexible and responsible to needs of individuals and communities, rather than system-wide…

This manual presents information about student learning, assessments, and evaluation, and gives practical suggestions for aiding student achievement in the visual arts. The Introduction, (1) "Finding Tar Beach: A Context for Assessment" (Deborah Smith-Shank) reminds educators that evaluation, assessment, and judgment procedures selected should…

This study examines correlations between the Metropolitan Achievement Tests, seventh edition (MAT-7), and analogous portions of the 1995 Ohio Ninth-Grade Proficiency Tests. The MAT-7 scores of 156 eighth-grade students who had completed both test batteries were paired with complementary sections of the Proficiency test. Correlations between the…

Surprisingly little systematic research has been conducted using school records as a source in determining students' at-risk status for achievement and behavioral difficulties. School records represent measures of permanent products of student behavior and chronicle attempts to meet the diverse needs of the school population. Behavioral profiles…

Middle level teachers are unique not just by virtue of the level of students they teach but also by the ways in which they teach. This monograph emphasizes strategies that actively engage students of all ability levels, promote collaboration, provide for various levels of concrete and abstract thought, and foster student inquiry. The monograph…

This study examined school-related stress in children with and without disabilities, specifically the sources and manifestations of such stress and whether children with disabilities experience greater degrees of school-related stress than children without disabilities. The nondisabled group comprised 7,200 grade 4-12 students from urban and…

As students progress through the educational system they make frequent transitions, such as from grade to grade or middle to high school. The purpose of this study is to explore how institutional discontinuities between schools affect student achievement in mathematics and science and for which types of students. This paper seeks to identify…

A 12-week practicum testing a method for improving writing skills and self-esteem among secondary school students learning English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) is reported. Thirteen students in a larger class at one school were identified for participation, and placed in small heterogeneous groups by skill level. Groups selected writing…

How low-income Brazilian students explain their school performance and the predominant achievement causes were studied. The relationship between achievement attribution and school achievement and students' conceptions of choice, career, agency, and relationship with achievement were also studied, using the causal attribution theory of B. Weiner.…

In the world of social science and educational research, Asian Americans are frequently represented as one group and summarized with one number, like an arithmetic average. However, Asian Americans think of themselves as quite different from one another, as indeed they are. In the 1990 U.S. Census, information is available for 11 different groups…