Six documents were reviewed and recommendations relevant to the work of the Advisory Committee on Testing in Chapter 1 were summarized. A brief description of a framework for discussing different uses of assessment is followed by specific recommendations from each of the following sources: (1) "Working Paper: Reauthorization of the…

State programs offer greatest promise for practical strategic actions to enhance the quality of the nation's adult work force. Three steps in the recursive process that create a model of state action are as follows: (1) documentation of the platform for action, which consists of current adult work force attributes and current institutional…

The first edition of this handbook provided descriptions of the existing offices for women in medicine at 6 medical schools and examples of the programs in place at about 50 additional schools. The goals of both the first and second editions are the same: to give support and ideas to Women Liaison Officers (WLOs). The second edition, however, goes…

This report proposes that state economic development policy and resources, and state personnel, with their knowledge of and access to the business community, can contribute to the intertwined issues of competitiveness and poverty. Following an introduction, chapter 2 examines four related issues: poverty, income equity, welfare dependency, and the…

National- and state-level reports on education indicators have been produced since the mid-1980s. However, the debate continues over which education indicators to select and report. This paper outlines the lessons gained by a national organization in building an education indicators system through cooperation with state education agencies and…

A research project that developed methods for describing, organizing, analyzing, and predicting state education policy activity had as its major focus the way that values affect that policy. Data were drawn from six states: Wisconsin, Illinois, California, Arizona, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. They were chosen to represent ranges of political…

Difficulties and rewards in using state assessment policy to benefit both students and the state are reviewed. The questions examined in this guide will help state policy makers know the questions they should ask about whether, what, and how well students are learning. Questions were developed from four seminars in 1989, 1990, and 1991 on…

This brief analyzes a recent shift in the U.S. Department of Education's policy on minority designated scholarships and explores the issues in the national debate on these scholarships. An overview of the controversy notes the Title VI section of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that outlaws racial discrimination where federal funds are received. A…

The National Advisory Commission on Work-Based Learning worked to identify practical steps that the Labor Department could take to help increase the skill levels of the U.S. work force and expand work-based training. The findings gained from a series of roundtables and further studies were synthesized into a set of recommendations in five major…

This handbook was developed to facilitate the task school districts face in developing and implementing effective Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS) curriculum and policy. Organized into five sections, the guide begins with an introduction that includes the New Hampshire State Board of Education HIV/AIDS…

How ethnic identity and gender figure in building the embedded identities of youth in different contexts is examined, focusing on the self-concepts of inner-city youth. The voices of urban youth argue that their embedded identities, or multilayered self-conceptions, represent far more than simple labels of ethnic or racial membership. After an…

The Study of Academic Instruction for Disadvantaged Students explored the nature and effects of alternatives to conventional practices in mathematics, reading, and writing instruction in schools that serve high concentrations of children from low-income backgrounds. This report presents what was learned by describing and analyzing instructional…

These five papers prepared for the annual Technical and Further Education (TAFE) Senior Executives' Conference emphasize policy implications. "Does Research Influence Policy?" (W. Hall) makes the point that some important policy decisions have been taken on nonexistent or flimsy research evidence. The next four papers are research…

This paper describes a study partially supported by a grant from the Institute on Race and Ethnicity of the University of Wisconsin (UW) System. The study was designed to examine the major factors, including distance teaching and learning and relevant technological innovations, that affect adult education for ethnic minorities; for the purpose of…

The European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (CEDEFOP) aids the European Commission in encouraging promotion and development of vocational education and training (VET) at the community level. The work program for 1999 document has three sections. In section 1, "Developing knowledge and expertise," 12 projects relate to…