Portfolios, collections of student work representing a selection of performance, are being used in classrooms today in the tradition of the visual and performing arts in which they serve to showcase a student's best pieces and the student's evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of the pieces. Portfolios are useful as a support to new…

This monograph addresses the issue of full inclusion of children and youth with severe intellectual disabilities and whether this form of social and academic integration is consistent with the direction of present school reform policies. The first section examines the implications of current efforts in educational reform. A case study illustrates…

The Appalachia Educational Laboratory qualitative study of the implementation of five aspects of the Kentucky Education Reform Act in four rural school districts is now in its fourth year. This paper focuses on findings concerning the first year of the primary program, which was put into widespread operation in 1992-93. Nongraded primary programs…

The Metropolitan Regional Career and Technical Center (the Met) is a unique public high school in Providence, Rhode Island. The Met has no classes, no grades, no tests, and no easy rides. With guidance from adults, each student builds a customized education focused on five learning goals: communication, social reasoning, empirical reasoning,…

The document reports the changes states have made in their monitoring of the provision of special education services by local education agencies from 1997 to 2001. It includes a brief background on the federal monitoring process and an outline of the federal requirements for state monitoring. Changes in state monitoring systems are discussed,…

Achieve was asked by the Washington State Academic Achievement and Accountability Commission, Office of the Superintendent for Public Instruction, and the Partnership for Learning to conduct a study of the 10th grade Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL). The intent of the study was to compare the content, rigor and passing scores on…

As part of a discussion of the complexities of evaluating bilingual education, this paper discusses critical questions related to equitable education. A first concern is the development of standards. Children must be given equal opportunities to learn, but the development of standards and new assessments alone will not ensure that inequities will…

Current trends affecting private research universities include: privatization, more programmatic support of research, dispersion of university research, and a shift in the balance of activities from the center toward the periphery. Differences in finance and control of private universities are related to their disproportionate importance, given…

As increasing numbers of students with diverse needs are included in general education, the preparation of preservice teachers needs to be reformed. Traditional curriculum, methods, and management courses need revision as the population in general education classes changes. With the trend toward full inclusion, the typical school classroom…

The Philadelphia Collaborative for Excellence in Teaching Education (CETP) helps develop, implement, and evaluate a new model for science and mathematics K-12 teacher preparation. It involves collaboration of two colleges and a school district. One of the collaborative's main objectives is to redesign the content and pedagogy of core mathematics…

The standards-based reform movement has the potential to improve American Indian education. The philosophy underlying the language arts standards that promotes the active use of authentic language and the teaching of skills in context, and the constructivist theory of learning reflected in the mathematics and science standards are both consistent…

This volume is a guide for assessing children with dual sensory or severe impairments between birth and age 5. It begins by discussing a functional-ecological three-step assessment process for children birth to three years, and the steps for assessing preschoolers from three to five years old. It then describes six steps to guide the use of the…

The Career Preparation Assessment (CPA) portfolio is an interdisciplinary, performance-based assessment of skills essential for the post-high school world. The CPA's value as an assessment tool was examined in a pilot test that was conducted in 1996-1997 with six California high schools. The following three data collection activities were…

This guide is designed to help teachers in automotive technician programs for grades 11 and 12 teach the critical competencies of the program. The critical competencies covered are the Priority 1 competencies in Ohio Occupational Competency Assessment Profile (OCAP) for Automotive Technician. Teacher materials include program/instructor resources,…

This workbook, one of six professional development manuals prepared by experienced adult basic education (ABE) instructors, is designed to assist the instructor setting up and operating an ABE classroom. A pretest and posttest appear first. Each of the units begins with a list of objectives and then provides instructional material. Unit 1…