Reports on the student assessment systems of states participating in the North Central Regional Educational Laboratory are presented. These reports were developed from the database of the Council of Chief State School Officers and the North Central Regional Educational Laboratory. Detailed information about each state's student assessment program…

In spring 1991, students attending Westchester Community College in New York were surveyed regarding their sense of belonging at the campus. Students' responses, broken down into sub-groups on the basis of ethnic background, alien status, and sex, indicate the following: (1) the question receiving the highest percentage of "very…

This study suggests that it is important to study library users' reaction to and satisfaction with the instruction given to them for use of the online public access catalog (OPAC). The objective of this study was to discover the types of instruction that users at the Beavercreek Community Library (Ohio) feel are most useful in learning the OPAC.…

An overview is provided of Arapahoe Community College's (ACC's) efforts to improve undergraduate education and the success of those efforts. After outlining changes made in the transfer, vocational education, and developmental studies programs, the report identifies new strategies that have been adopted to disseminate information about…

This paper reports on the use of a semistructured but open-ended format to gather students' perceptions about the activities and behaviors they experience in different tertiary learning environments and the reasons why they feel the way they do. Tertiary students were asked to write about events they liked, did not like, felt helped their…

A study assessed the knowledge and perceptions of U.S. citizens regarding agriculture, food, and natural resources. Data were collected from 2,005 respondents representing the following groups: purposely selected primarily white Indiana high school students and primarily black Michigan high school students, randomly selected rural Missouri adults…

The purpose of the Public Library Effectiveness Study was to define effectiveness for the public library institution. The research was designed not to measure effectiveness or evaluate particular libraries or groups of libraries, but rather to identify the feature or features of a public library that most directly attest to its effectiveness. The…

The National Longitudinal Transition Study (NLTS) of Special Education Students provides ongoing information to the special education community regarding the transition of youth with disabilities from secondary school to early adulthood. The sample for the study began with a 1987 survey (Wave 1) involving more than 8,000 youth from the national…

This report represents responses from 406 (out of 510) colleges, community colleges, and universities to a questionnaire survey concerning the changes taking place in the academic and administrative practices of American colleges and universities. Changes are discussed by type of institution: 2-year public, 4-year public, and independent…

A 3-year study on Japanese language instruction is reported. The project included the following: investigation of the feasibility of teaching high school and college second language students learning strategies for developing language proficiency; development of related instructional materials; and description of the impact of instruction on…

This study examined 412 college students' essay performance on two prompt types, a traditional prose essay and a type incorporating graphics, modeled on those from English Language Challenge Examination (ELCE) developed for the University of Southern California (USC). The majority of the participants were international students at USC. Each…

This study sought to address three questions related to the pronunciation of Spanish by non-native speakers: (1) does the pronunciation of upper-intermediate become "fossilized?"; (2) is their a relationship between quality of pronunciation and amount of improvement?; and (3) when judging degrees of "foreignness," are…

The Calculators in Primary Mathematics Project was a long-term investigation into the effects of the introduction of calculators on the learning and teaching of primary mathematics. The Australian project commenced with children who were in kindergarten and grade 1 in 1990, moving up through the schools to grade 4 level by 1993. Children were…

In January 1989, a survey was conducted of a national sample of public and private two-year and community colleges regarding aspects of their science, mathematics, engineering, and technology programs. The survey requested information on the prevalence of course and program offerings, the number and educational level of faculty, use of part-time…

At Northern Maine Technical College (NMTC), students can take classes at outreach locations, usually at a high school in their local community. In 1991, a study was conducted to determine the needs, perspectives, and characteristics of these "satellite" students. Satellite directors at six active cites distributed questionnaires to all…