This issue features a special report on a 1982-1983 study of 19 rural North Dakota high schools. The report is preceded by a brief commentary. The study provides in-depth descriptions of 7 schools and survey data from 12 others, and has sections on teachers, students, purposes and expectations, school climate and relationship with the community,…

This review of literature from the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) database is the second volume on the topic of testing and assessment for the counseling professional; the first volume was published in 1979. The sections on minimum competency tests identify issues of current interest, e.g., the basic issue of definition; the…

On account of concern about declining achievement levels of high school graduates and proposed state legislation increasing graduation requirements to address this concern, this report analyzes current and proposed high school graduation requirements in Illinois, based on data compiled from local school documents, and compares the data to…

Grade retention data were collected from the Campbell River, British Columbia schools to determine the prevalence of retention and its effect on school completion. An extensive survey was administered to 52 parents and 204 educators to assess attitudes towards grade retention. Individual interviews were conducted with eight teachers from various…

Uses of assessment in postsecondary education and policy issues are considered. In higher education, assessment is used to refer to at least six separate but overlapping activities: (1) multiple measures to track students' intellectual and personal growth over an extended period of time; (2) state-mandated requirements for evaluating students…

Schooling has been overused as a credential, and the way to reduce the credential value of sheer years of schooling is to provide better alternative credentials. Research findings indicate high unemployment among those who have not attained a high school diploma. A productive approach toward reducing this overemphasis on diplomas and years of…

Student retention and attrition patterns of entering freshmen at North Carolina State University and a description of transfer student retention and attrition are presented. The status of freshmen entering the college from 1971-1976 is given in terms of: total freshmen, black freshmen, white freshmen, freshmen females, freshmen males, graduation…

The results are reported of the North Carolina Competency Testing Program. The Senior High Assessment of Reading Performance (SHARP) and the Test of Performance in Computational Skills (TOPICS), modified for the North Carolina program, have been administered to eleventh-grade students in public, nonpublic, federal, and special schools. Both tests…

This handbook is designed to assist Massachusetts schools in utilizing members of the community, teachers, and administrators in developing a system of evaluation to monitor student progress and measure program effectiveness. Emphasis is placed on the establishment of quality control procedures for alternative learning experiences, such as…

Summaries are presented of the problems and issues of minimum competency testing which were discussed at four regional conferences for political and educational practitioners. The Education Commission of the States sponsored the conferences, but took no official position of support or opposition. Section 1 compares the legislative, practitioner,…

On March 11 and 12, 1976, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), a project of the Education Commission of the States (ECS), and the Clearinghouse for Applied Performance Testing (CAPT), a project of the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory (NWREL), cohosted a Minimal Competency Measurement Conference in Denver, Colorado.…

Traditionally, local school boards have had the power to assign students to classes and to set standards for promotion and graduation; with this authority has gone the discretion to decide what role pupil testing will play in the local schools. Courts have been reluctant to interfere with school board decisions on methodology, of which they…

The California High School Proficiency Exam (CHSPE) allows a 16-or-17 year old who passes it to leave school as early as age 16, with parental permission, earning the legal equivalent of a diploma. The exam focuses on basic reading and computing skills. In this study, a variety of findings are reported. School districts have a budgetary…

State leaders, parents, and business people want to be sure that students truly learn what they are being taught in school. Today, basic skills are not sufficient to guarantee that children will find good jobs and become productive citizens. As a result, the Alabama State Legislature passed its Education Accountability Law in 1995. The new…

"Straight A's: Public Education Policy and Progress" is a biweekly newsletter that focuses on education news and events both in Washington, DC and around the country. The following articles are included in this issue: (1) House Committee Approves Education Funding Bill: Striving Readers Program Would Receive $5 Million Increase; (2) Role…