This report provides a record of student achievement for the State of New York in the 1984-85 school year. It brings together a variety of achievement indicators with a clear focus on knowledge and higher-order skills. Three types of achievement data are presented. One consists of scores obtained on New York State (NYS) tests. These scores may be…

This book analyzes the ways in which majority and minority interests interact in the educational system. It begins with an examination of the excellence movement in American education, and then discusses an alternative approach through which, by emphasizing adequacy rather than insisting on excellence as an institutional requirement, minority…

Pennsylvania Governor Dick Thornburgh initiated an education reform package, "Turning the Tide: An Agenda for Excellence in Pennsylvania Public Schools" in October 1983. The statewide competency testing program which followed was "Testing for Essential Learning and Literacy Skills (TELLS), and it tested reading and mathematics…

The Texas Educational Assessment of Minimum Skills (TEAMS) Exit Level Reading Test is based on ten behavioral objectives that fall under six skill areas. Satisfactory performance on this test is required for high school graduation in Texas. This document, intended for teachers and test developers, presents general testing instructions and…

A study identified and verified the professional education competencies needed and presently held by beginning teachers of vocational agriculture in Tennessee. To obtain these data researchers designed a survey instrument that listed 99 competencies under the following areas: program planning, development, and evaluation; planning of instruction;…

In eight chapters, this document offers guidelines for school administrators on evaluating schools and school programs, based on a poll of administrators and consultants. The introduction discusses the purpose of evaluation, especially school improvement, and presents a list of evaluation standards. Chapter 1 outlines steps in evaluation planning,…

The first section of this paper on educational standards considers the nature of the school curriculum as the shaper and delimiter of what is demanded of students. Debates over the desirability of a common or core curriculum for secondary schools as opposed to different programs are discussed. Demands for traditional academic disciplines and for…

The use of a basic skills testing program to identify and remediate academic weaknesses of adult reentry graduate students (mean age 30.1 years) was studied longitudinally. The entering masters' level students majoring in business administration were studied in fall 1980 and again after the spring/summer registration of 1984. Through assessment…

The effort to institute minimum competency testing (MCT) is nearly universal despite the need to debate its basic definitions, implications, and consequences beforehand. There are seven distinct reasons for the MCT movement: (1) legislative zeal; (2) unfavorable allegations by local and national press; (3) economic accountability; (4) the…

As a result of the increasing insistence that schools should concentrate on teaching basic skills, states and school districts have moved to establish minimum competencies for high school graduation, to be assessed by tests that demonstrate that students have achieved a certain level of mastery of basic skills. The Austin, Texas, Independent…

Resulting from a project involving district, state, and federal educational agencies, the papers in this, the second of two volumes, are intended to provide information from research and practice that can help school districts in their efforts to make decisions about goals and methods of basic skills instruction. The topics of the papers in the…

The eight papers in this compendium were commissioned from faculty and staff members to provide a research and theoretical base for selected components of a University of Kentucky report on a teaching experience involving mainstreamed elementary school children. That experience was reported in "Perspectives of an Ivory Tower Realist," a monograph…

Designed to provide a model curriculum and guidelines, this manual presents tasks that were identified by employers, employees, and teachers as important in a postsecondary auto body repair curriculum. The tasks are divided into ten major component areas of instruction: metalworking and fiberglass, painting, frame and suspension, glass and trim,…

As an information resource for legislators and the general public, this report describes the goals, organization, and activities of the Florida community college system (FCC). After introductory material outlining the history of the FCC since 1957, the report discusses its philosophy and goals, which are based on a dedication to the provision of a…

Developed during the 1976-77 school year to assist Washington grade 7-8 teachers in small school districts with the improvement of curriculum and instruction, this learning-objective-based curriculum suggests activities, monitoring procedures and resources for mathematics. Introductory materials describe the organization of Small School materials,…