The Project for Minority Student Achievement (PMSA), a 5-year program funded in part by the National Science Foundation, is a program designed to engender systemic change within a segment of a large urban school district in the Los Angeles (California) Basin. Approximately 40% of the student participants were African American and approximately 60%…

As is consistent with national trends, the Montgomery County (Maryland) Public School System is exploring the use of instruments other than multiple-choice tests for high-stakes testing. This paper presents information on racial, ethnic, and gender differences in performance on the various types of tests being administered in the district. Sharing…

Examining the characteristics of school districts against the characteristics of 55.3 million "school-age children" (3- to 17-years-old) plus 18- and 19-year-olds who had not graduated from college) provides important insights into observed interrelationships. This report describes ways in which the characteristics of the children, such as…

The increasing diversity of students in today's schools has led to much categorization and labeling and to a set of fragmented categorical programs. While in principle an inclusive school system should provide for the diverse needs of all students, in practice a disjointed and separatist system for special students continues to be the norm.…

This follow-up study tracked the employment outcomes, job retention, and average wages of 576 individuals in Washington State with mental health disabilities or developmental disabilities 2 years after they had received supported employment services and entered into competitive employment. The study matched client records from the Division of…

This study examined several facets of institutional racism from the vantage point of 32 white male undergraduates at the University of Illinois at Chicago. The focus was on the situation of minorities already enrolled in the institution and on the perceived equity of certain steps taken, or to be taken, to support their academic progress, social…

"Test preparation" activities can range from simple practice to in-depth instruction, but most of these activities use some form of test familiarization, drill and practice with feedback, training in strategies for specific item types, and general test-taking, subject-matter review, and skill development exercises. Two experiments were…

The Programme on Educational Building (PEB) of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development promotes the international exchange of ideas, information, research, and experiences in the field of educational facilities. This report was inspired by a conference on renewing urban schools organized by the PEB in Baltimore (Maryland) in…

Hawaii uses the eighth edition of the Stanford Achievement Test (Stanford 8) to assess academic performance of the student population in grades 3, 6, 8, and 10. Hawaii was not included in the norming for the Stanford 8, neither for the national nor the Pacific norms. In this study, Hawaii norms were developed based on the Stanford 8 reading and…

This report responds to an Executive Order that charges the President's Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans with improving the education of Hispanic Americans through the study of current educational conditions. The study includes an analysis of the current state of Hispanic American educational attainment and…

This study examined voluntary and involuntary withdrawal rates of students of various racial origins at York University in Ontario (Canada). Data were obtained from three surveys of first-year students conducted in 1993, 1994, and 1995, and involving 1,864 students. Information on Ontario Academic Credit (OAC) marks, first year grade point…

Issues related to assessing school-to-work transitions in the United States were discussed in the context of selected findings from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY), a longitudinal data set characterizing 9,964 of 12,686 of young people who were 14-22 years old when first interviewed in 1979. The first section of the paper…

In 1990 the Lilly Endowment committed $6 million to a competitive grants program for four-year independent Midwest colleges interested in enhancing racial and ethnic diversity and building a more inclusive community within their institutional settings. The initiative aimed to improve the overall campus climate, to increase the number of racial…

This paper provides a sketch of a preservice teacher education field experience in schools serving ethnically and racially diverse populations. Since the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater is situated in a rural setting with a predominantly white population, accessing schools serving ethnically and racially diverse populations poses significant…

Public opinion about multicultural education in New York State was surveyed with samples ranging from about 200 to over 900 citizens. Three quarters of New York State residents believe that teaching the common heritage and values that Americans share is a very important goal of public education. There is some support for teaching history from the…