This handbook presents admission policies that apply systemwide at all 22 campuses of the California State University. Fifty-eight key points are set out under headings including: admission requirements for first-time freshmen; honors courses; advanced standing credit; college preparatory subject requirements; waiver of foreign language…

In 1990, President Bush and the nation's governors adopted six National Education Goals for the year 2000, calling for improvements in school readiness, high school graduation rates, curriculum mastery, math and science achievement, adult literacy and skills, and drug abuse and violence levels. Congress faces two overarching issues--identifying…

A series of recommendations developed by the Council of Colleges of the Colleges of General and Professional Education (CEGEP) in Quebec (Canada) are presented in this report to the Ministry of Higher Education and Science for redesigning the CEGEP's natural sciences curriculum. The proposed reforms are designed to meet legislative requirements…

This report summarizes the present and past status of students with disabilities in educational assessment and accountability systems, and highlights the critical emerging issues to be addressed. Issues include participation in accountability systems, graduation requirements, data management, accommodations, alternate assessments, reporting, and…

This book contains vital statistics and other profile information concerning 106 historically black colleges and universities located in the United States and the Virgin Islands. Information includes: school selection and admissions processes; special programs; the minimum grade point average required for freshmen and when majors must be declared;…

This handbook is intended to provide parents and students with an orientation to the high schools in the Rowland Unified School District (California). It can also serve as a model for other districts and schools which are developing orientation handbooks. Topics which are covered include: (1) school district personnel; (2) counseling and guidance…

This report presents the results of the fourth testing cycle of the Texas Assessment of Basic Skills (TABS), a statewide basic skills test for students in grades 3 and 5 and in high school (exit level) of the Austin Independent School District (AISD). The TABS measures basic performance objectives in mathematics, reading, and writing. The general…

Issues surrounding the statewide competency testing of at-risk students are discussed. Sanctions, such as negative evaluations of educational programs associated with such tests, used to fall most heavily on schools and staff, but tests are increasingly becoming prerequisites for promotion and graduation, with increasing impact on students.…

Intended for students taking the Grade 12 Examination in English 30 in Alberta, Canada, this reading test (to be administered along with a questions booklet) includes the following eight short selections taken from fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama: "Loyalties" (Roo Borson); "Clever Animals" (Lewis Thomas); "Death of…

The South Carolina Basic Skills Assessment Program (BSAP) measures 16 basic skills objectives as mandated by legislation enacted in 1978. The BSAP Reading and Mathematics Tests were administered April 17 through 21, 1989. The tests for grades 1, 2, 3, 6, and 8 consisted of 6 multiple-choice questions for each of the 11 objectives in reading and…

A procedure was developed to detect differential item functioning (DIF) in a standardized essay test using the Partial Credit Model, the general polychotomous form of the Rasch model. Using a panel of experts in the writing process, hypothesized explanations for DIF at some score points were developed. Data for the study included averaged…

In December 1993, children who were in grade 3 in the Trenton Public Schools (New Jersey) in 1985-86 will take a high-risk writing proficiency test to determine whether they will graduate from high school. An emerging study of the writing of the Class of 1995 in Trenton is described as students move toward that test. The activity of studying…

In order to determine the length of time taken by graduates of Kent State University's Regional Campuses (RC) to obtain an Associate Degree, master records were analyzed for 91% (N=527) of the students who graduated in May 1990. The study considered the relationship between time to associate degree and such factors as campus attended, major,…

Province-wide examinations as a graduation requirement were reinstated in British Columbia after a 10-year hiatus in 1983. This study assessed the impact of grade-12 subject examinations (embodied in the Provincial Examination Program) on students, teachers, administrators, employers, and the school system. Completed survey questionnaires were…

The New Jersey State Department of Education adopted the High School Proficiency Test (HSPT) as a high school graduation requirement beginning with the ninth grade class of 1985-86. This document is a tool to support educators in making the necessary curriculum modifications to improve basic skill mastery and student achievement on the HSPT. It…