This material provides an initial assessment procedure to help identify the level of basic skills competence of people entering education or training. It is based on Adult Literacy and Basic Skills Unit Standards that describe how and to what level of performance adults should be able to use communication and number skills. The material can be…

School systems face the challenge of meeting high expectations with limited resources. Reductions in operating grants and increasing expenditures have exaggerated the problem. The Innovation Network was established by the Saskatchewan School Trustees Association in 1995 to help boards of education make the best use of available resources. This…

In an effort to understand one aspect of the relationship between the secondary and postsecondary sectors in Indiana, this analysis reports data regarding on-site instruction at the secondary school in which students earn dual credit. Under "dual credit" arrangements, a student simultaneously earns credit that will count toward meeting…

A study was conducted to determine how best to use APS Reading Test scores for making English placement recommendations for students at College of the Canyons (COC) in Santa Clarita, California. The primary method used to establish cut scores involves comparing success rates for contrasting groups over a range of scores. The contrasting groups are…

The educational tracking system raises highly controversial issues. This book offers both the viewpoints of researchers who have grappled with the issue of tracking and the personal experiences of school staff who have wrestled with the issue of whether or not to track instruction. It presents summaries of interviews that were conducted with three…

This collection of position statements issued by the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) addresses three issues: (1) inclusive schools and community settings; (2) physical intervention; and (3) discipline. CEC's policy on inclusive schools is to support the concept of inclusion as a meaningful goal but also urge that a continuum of services be…

In spring 1995, William Rainey Harper College in Illinois surveyed graduates from 1994 to determine their current status, the frequency with which they used cognitive skills, the degree to which they were prepared in the skills, and their evaluation of their placement in English courses. Of the 1,437 graduates from 1994, a random sample of 471…

The work of the Placement/Progress Subcommittee for the City University of New York (CUNY) system is important. The Freshman Skills Assessment Program (FSAP) comprises one set of instruments used at two points and for two purposes: at initial placement in reading, writing, and math and later at exit from remedial programs. The CUNY Writing…

This discussion of inclusive education programs for students with disabilities is organized around a series of comments by critics of the trend and responses to these comments by inclusion advocates. Responses are provided to the following criticisms of inclusion: (1) inclusion is a "one size fits all" approach; (2) inclusion does not have…

This report describes the status after 5 years of the diverse groups of students who first entered institutions of postsecondary education during the academic year 1989-90. It describes their economic and demographic characteristics, their educational objectives, the types of institutions they attended, their experiences while enrolled, and their…

This guide helps parents understand how schools assess their child's English language ability and suggests ways for them to help schools place their children in the most useful language program. All districts must decide which students to test, and then how to test them. Some schools attempt to find out the English skills of all students, and…

This paper discusses strategies that can be used in an inclusive elementary classroom to give gifted children the opportunity to choose, plan, and develop individual projects that will add meaning and purpose to their education. The steps toward providing instruction for gifted students are described, including the beginning of the year assessment…

A series of studies involving 19 elementary students with severe emotional disturbance (SED), who were identified as aggressive, and 19 typical students in different types of educational settings, investigated the relationship between school environments and the aggressive behavior of children with SED. The social interactions of the children who…

This paper describes a new program in the Western provinces of China (Guangxi, Guizhou, Yunnan, Gansu, Ningxia, Qinghai, Xinjiang, Tibet, and Inner Mongolia) that is designed to integrate 20,000 children with low-vision into general education classrooms. The Golden Key Research Center of Education for Visually Impaired has been working with the…

This paper examines whether the Maine School of Science and Mathematics, a magnet school in its second year of operation, has improved equity of opportunities for Maine students to participate in advanced mathematics and science courses. Data on per pupil expenditures, state aid to school districts, and course offerings were obtained from the…