The secondary social studies lessons in this publication are intended to help teachers improve instruction. Lessons are provided for the curriculum areas of social inquiry, ethical development, and civic competence. In the social inquiry lessons, students learn to describe and explain human behavior. In the ethical development lessons, students…

The paper presents a history of the legal mandates (both legislative and judicial) for equal educational opportunity for linguistic and cultural minorities and describes the denial of this right in Massachusetts, as evidenced by overrepresentation of minorities in special education. Aspects of testing protocol, prereferral modification, and…

A total of 85 first grade students and 12 classroom teachers participated in a study to determine the predictive efficiency of a number of variables for early identification of reading problems. The variables included teacher judgment and the auditory sequential memory and visual sequential memory subtests of the Illinois Test of Psycholinguistic…

Many readers will agree that the conditions in our schools need improvement, that problems in schools are closely linked with the problems in our society, and that local control has diminished. The yielding of local control has contributed substantially to these problems. Uniform standards and minimum performance criteria have been tried and the…

The background out of which "truth in testing" legislation arose is reviewed in this report, which also describes existing state and federal testing legislation, details arguments raised in hearings on the legislation, analyzes the legal issues raised, and provides a framework for simplifying the arguments and gathering more information.…

A computer managed instructional system for reading, begun five years ago in Belvedere-Parkway Elementary School in Calgary, contains 329 behavioral objectives ranging from kindergarten to 8th grade levels, with testing performed online. After completion of a test, a student receives a printout listing the objectives completed, those that need…

The Mathematics Learning Center described in this report operates at Cerritos College (California) offering courses and individualized help in Basic Math, Elementary Algebra, Intermediate Algebra, and Trigonometry. The paper first discusses the center's enrollment, hours of service, and semi-independent delivery system, under which students…

This manual, intended to assist teachers in identifying students with limited-English proficiency who may have special needs, concentrates on four areas: language, observation, testing, and learning problems. The main part of the manual has eight sections dealing with the following topics: (1) observation techniques and methods; (2) modifications…

The uses and limitations of tests and college admissions policies and procedures are considered, and some testing/admissions guidelines for selective graduate and professional schools in the post-Bakke era are suggested. Among the uses of tests are the following: diagnosing academic deficiencies and weaknesses; determining the level of mastery;…

A process for setting standards that may be adapted by educators in a variety of settings for educational decision making is presented. In this process, which was used to set minimum standards in English for admission to a teacher education program at a large university, a number of trial standards were initially set utilizing a variety of…

A comparison of four frequently used standard setting methods for deriving cut-off scores with respect to the expected performance of minimally competent students, is presented in this paper. Ten Kansas Competency Based Tests, in reading and mathematics, were administered across five grade levels in a state-wide minimal competency testing program.…

As stated in this guide, the overall goal of the General Educational Development (GED) Program is to provide a practical program of diagnosis, prescription instruction and test readiness for adults so that they may obtain their High School Equivalency Diplomas. Guidelines are herein provided by the New York State Education Department for the…

The Connecticut Assessment of Educational Progress is a continuing program designed to measure objectively the adequacy and efficacy of the educational programs offered by the public schools. In 1979-80, students in grades 4, 8, and 11 were tested in science. Three goals were selected: (1) know the fundamental facts and principles of science; (2)…

Focusing on auto mechanics, this module is one of eight included in the Vocational Education Readiness Test (VERT). The module begins by listing the objectives of the module and describing tools and equipment needed. The remainder of the module contains sections on manipulative skills, trade vocabulary, tool identification, trade computational…

Results of a study that examined entry competency levels of 1,511 students enrolled in 12 sections of introductory biology at Texas A&M University are reported. A pretest was developed and administered to students which tested basic competencies over nine concept areas considered prerequisite to the introductory biology course. A questionnaire…