Studies of the Angoff method of standard setting suggest that judges agree in their estimates of the relative difficulties of test questions for minimally competent examinees and that each judge's estimates correlate well with the observed item difficulties for examinees whose total test scores are near the judge's personal standard (G. E.…

The Indiana Workforce Proficiency Panel was established to work with the business, labor, and education sectors to identify a common set of essential skills and technical proficiencies for major occupational areas. The process used by the Panel for setting state standards employs five steps, involving three meetings of a State Technical Committee…

A comparison is provided between general education core requirements and basic skills and competencies at the community college level in Illinois. First, general education core requirements from the Illinois Community College Board and South Suburban College are outlined related to communication; mathematics; humanities and fine arts; social and…

This study, an extension of previous research conducted at the College of Education, University of Akron (Ohio), focuses on the concerns and opinions of administrators regarding the use of portfolios for assessing the knowledge, skills, and attitudes of teacher candidates. School administrators (N=15) were asked to evaluate one of three portfolios…

This guidebook identifies marketable skills employers look for in job candidates and lists 22 majors and specific vocations related to each major. There is also a section on jobs that require a general education, which applies to students in any major. Following each brief description of a major or educational program, there is a list of…

This position paper describes a concrete strategy to establish early warning systems or diagnostic instruments at the lower elementary school level in United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) schools. The strategy described is designed to assess the quality of literacy and numeracy skills and to provide criteria for a realistic minimum…

Information is presented regarding the administration of the North Carolina Minimum Skills Diagnostic Testing Program. This testing program, mandated by the state's basic education program under the Secondary School Reform Act of 1984, checks the necessity for remediation by determining a student's mastery of specific objectives and diagnoses…

In 1988-89 the Connecticut Vocational-Technical School System initiated a program for the ongoing review and upgrading of all trade and academic curricula used in the system's 17 schools to insure that each curriculum is consistent with current standards. Every 3 years the Curriculum Steering Committee for the trade or academic subject conducts a…

At Amarillo College (AC) in Texas, academic advising is provided by certified counselors at the Advising and Counseling Center in conjunction with faculty and staff of the developmental studies department. In addition, all teaching faculty serve as student advisors. During the past 5 years, a number of factors have placed increased demands on the…

This document presents the findings of the Task Force on Technology Competence, which was formed to determine what every Minnesota high school graduate should know about technology and how technology education should be integrated into the elementary and secondary school curriculum. In chapter 1, technology competence (TC) is defined as…

A major initiative in Australia is a general and pervasive obsession with competency-based training and assessment. There is a real danger that the selling of competency-based training (CBT) and competency-based assessment (CBA) is greater than what it can offer. One criticism focuses on CBT, the other on CBA, although in most instances where CBT…

Assessment testing in California's community colleges (CCC) helps to identify entering students' goals and skills level and to ensure that the students are properly advised of appropriate courses and programs. The California Education Code requires that all assessment instruments be approved by the Office of the Chancellor of the California…

One of our nation's educational triumphs is that admission to college has been brought within the reach of a majority of our high school graduates. Yet inadequate preparation often deprives students of this opportunity. Their stunted hopes are a major reason for growing naitonal concern about the quality of education in our schools. The College…

Developed for the Duval County Public Schools (Jacksonville, Florida), this manual gives elementary school teachers information on instructional program procedures. Section one is about the reading program and deals with placement procedures and criteria for kindergarten and first grade students, initial placement procedures for grades two-six,…

The Skill Acquisition Measures (SAM) were designed by the Lancaster (Pennsylvania) School District as criterion referenced tests for mathematics. This manual consists of copies of the student test forms for level 6, with additional information for the teacher's use. Each of the test items is presented with the correct answers and the criteria for…