The Upper Arlington, Ohio school reorganization, in 1983, to include a middle school resulted in the development of a seventh-grade foreign language exploration course. The course provides nine weeks each of French, German, and Spanish, and relates the languages to content areas using an interdisciplinary approach. The fourth nine weeks would be…

Education records of 1,193 inmates who enrolled in a county prison corrections education program in Pennsylvania from January 1981 through December 1988 were used to evaluate the outcomes of the program. The number of years of formal education, education program placement test scores, end of class cycle test scores, student's stated goal or…

The purpose of this publication, which is addressed to a variety of audiences including educators, parents, legislators, school board members, members of the press, and voters in general, is to persuade the reader to help stop achievement and readiness testing in kindergarten and first and second grades and to rethink current educational goals and…

This outline decribes the Rehabilitation Prevocational Support Service program at Northwest Community College (Alabama), designed to help prepare selected students for occupational training programs or job placement and to enhance their academic level. Students are assigned to individualized learning modules based on pretesting by a variety of…

These papers, by unidentified staff members of the California Department of Education, were supplied to participants in the California Education Summit for discussion and the development of specific recommendations. The summit's keynote address, "The Global Democratic Revolution" (Diane Ravitch), is also included, as is an alphabetical…

The Education for Economic Security Act requires state education agencies to submit comprehensive needs assessments in order to receive the funding provided by Title II of the Act for improvements in mathematics, science, computer learning, and foreign language instruction. Areas of need covered in this summary include: the qualifications of…

In its fourth year, Project MASTER served 477 Spanish-speaking students in 5 elementary schools in the Bronx. The teaching strategy was holistic, integrating all aspects of the curriculum with English-language learning through science projects. The project developed curriculum materials, stressing attitudes toward and knowledge of science topics,…

Three articles on current research in testing are presented. The first article, "Testing in the Schools", discusses the role of testing in educational reform. In the 1980s, the overwhelming purpose of state standardized testing has become promoting accountability in areas of: (1) monitoring; (2) gatekeeping; (3) remediation; and (4)…

Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) Title II funds were used in a 12-month project for the improvement of mathematics and science teaching at the prekindergarten through grade 12 levels in the Austin (Texas) Independent School District (AISD). The project provided: (1) staff development workshops; (2) consultants to develop a secondary…

This handbook, designed to help high school teachers remodel their lesson plans, has one basic objective: to demonstrate that it is possible and practical to integrate instruction for critical thinking into the teaching of all subjects. The handbook discusses the concept of critical thinking and the principles that underlie it and shows how…

A study was conducted of the entry-level basic skills performance of all credit students enrolled at Miami-Dade Community College (M-DCC) in fall 1989. The study examined demographic data and scores on the Comparative Guidance and Placement (CGP) Program Test, American College Testing (ACT) program exam, Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), Florida…

In September 1990, a study was conducted of the performance on basic skills examinations of first-time-in-college degree-seeking students who entered Miami-Dade Community College (M-DCC) during fall term 1990. The study examined placement results on the Computerized Placement Test (CPT) and the Florida Multiple Assessment Programs and Services…

The Standardized Tests of Achievement for Fiji (STAFs) were developed to measure skills and concepts of curriculum subjects for elementary schools. Two parallel tests were issued in early 1980 for Class-6 subjects (students in grade 6 of Fiji primary schools): (1) English Reading Comprehension; (2) English Listening Comprehension; (3) English…

Statewide results of South Carolina's Basic Skills Assessment Program (BSAP) are provided in terms of the percentages of students meeting statewide performance standards in reading, mathematics, writing, and science. BSAP tests were administered statewide on April 23-27, 1990, in grades 1, 2, 3, 6, and 8. The BSAP Exit Examination was administered…

A major provision of the South Carolina Education Improvement Act of 1984 established the requirement for a high school exit examination (HSEE) for all 10th-grade students. Passage of the HSEE is a condition for the receipt of a state high school diploma. The HSEE is an outgrowth of the South Carolina Basic Skills Assessment Program, which…