Alternative assessments, also called authentic or performance assessments, have first the common notion of a meaningful performance or product. The use of such alternatives with students belonging to nondominant language and cultural groups is of interest because of the hope that this type of assessment can show what these students can really do…

This report looks back over a decade and tracks changes in high school course-taking. It partially updates a 1989 report titled "What Americans Study" and includes some information on instructional emphasis in mathematics and on additional topics related to course taking. These topics include differences among gender, racial, and ethnic…

This guide provides guidance on the inclusion of students with disabilities in regular physical education classes. Section 1 comprises three chapters which focus on philosophy, beliefs, and attitudes in relation to physical education, inclusion, and team assessment and programming. The development of a collaborative Physical Education Inclusion…

Project TACKLE (Together, Addressing the Challenge of Knowledge and Literacy for Employees) was a cooperative project, jointly developed to address employees with the inadequate basic skills necessary to operate modernized, technical equipment and maintain job security. Approximately 500 current employees of General Motors, Flint, Michigan, used…

By examining educational aspiration, this study uses data on high school senior females to explore the contention that race remains embedded in late 20th-century American culture as a primary qualifier of gender role. The study focuses on a sample of 4,573 black and white female high school seniors in the class of 1980 using data from the national…

A project provided family literacy services in Lewistown, Pennsylvania. The "Together We Learn" project had four objectives: (1) promoting family literacy by using the Project PACT (Parents and Children Together) model in two 10-week sessions; (2) improving parents' basic skills so they can work better with their children; (3) assisting…

Nongraded education is the practice of teaching children of different ages and ability levels together in the same classroom, without dividing them or the curriculum into steps labeled by "grade" designations. Children progress along the continuum from easier to more difficult material at their own, varying rates of speed. Interest in nongraded…

This paper examines on-site, school-age child care and the relationship between attendance at on-site, after-school child care programs and familial, environmental, and developmental factors. Topics discussed include: (1) the quality of school-based environments in kindergarten and child care; (2) the socioeconomic status and size of families of…

The Second International IEA Science Study (SISS) had participants from 24 countries. In this report the data collected in 17 countries are analyzed and reported. Students from the 5th, 9th, and 12th grades were tested. The results from achievement tests, student questionnaires, opinionnaires, a science teaching and learning inventory, a word…

This bibliography was compiled as a resource for instructors teaching the American Cultures course in the Program in American Studies at the University of Minnesota. It lists materials on the culture, literature, and history of the diverse peoples of America: African American, American Indian, Asian American, Chicano, Latino, and European…

In an effort to determine the impact of entry-level writing tests and subsequent remedial writing programs on various student ethnic populations at California's Oxnard College (OC), a study was conducted of 812 first-time students in fall 1989 who were administered the Assessment and Placement Services Exam for Community Colleges (APSECC). Of…

An analysis and summary are presented of the 1989-90 test results of New Mexico students on the Enhanced American College Testing Program (Enhanced ACT) and the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT). Data were provided by the American College Testing Program, the Educational Testing Service, and the New Mexico High School Graduates Survey. The Enhanced…

The purpose of this module is to introduce students (grades 7-8) to the concept of change as reflected in changes of lifestyle. The module is comprised of three major sections. Section 1 examines family roles in earlier Amerindian society (low technology) and society today (high technology). Section 2 examines the role and purpose of education,…

"Technology and Changing Lifestyles" is one of the "Preparing for Tomorrow's World" (PTW) program modules. PTW is an interdisciplinary, future-oriented program incorporating information from the sciences and social sciences and addressing societal concerns which interface science/technology/society. The program promotes…

This unit, one of six which comprise the Fair Play program, teaches students to use data analysis skills to examine sex differences in career choices, mathematics attitudes, and treatment in the labor force. The Fair Play program is a series of student and teacher materials the purpose of which is to help students expand their female or male…