Adult secondary education learners approach the goal of college-level postsecondary education through three assessment gateways: (a) measures of adult education program learning gains, (b) a high-school equivalency exam, and (c) college placement tests. On the surface, the assessments in this sequence might appear to work in concert and point…

The education of students is fundamental to shaping a preferred provincial, national and global future. It is also essential in maintaining Alberta's standard of living and ensuring its global competitiveness. The education system must simultaneously prepare the citizens of tomorrow while equipping the students with the knowledge and skills they…

A study was conducted at Laramie County Community College to assess the performance of developmental students and evaluate the effectiveness of the college's testing and placement system. The study tracked students entering in fall 1993 whose placement scores identified them as developmental to determine actual enrollment and performance in…

This report, the result of a workshop on admissions, placement and study abroad in United Kingdom higher education, focuses on areas of significant change in the educational system since 1976. A chapter on study abroad provides an overview of educational change in Britain focusing on the issue of assisting United States students who might want or…

This paper reviews the literature on assessment bias issues in special education. While assessment instruments yielding a single IQ score are seen as useful components in a comprehensive multifactored assessment, and are the primary tool of diagnosis for mental retardation, they are found to be irrelevant when applied to students with learning…

This project, implemented collaboratively between a research/teaching university and a midwestern special education cooperative, gathered data from 517 regular education teachers regarding self-evaluation of skills for teaching students with disabilities, satisfaction with existing special education services, and attitudes toward an…

This report analyzes the special education funding reforms that were implemented in Pennsylvania for the 1991-1992 school year. The new funding mechanism was designed to reduce incentives for special education placements and to shift greater control over special education program and funding decisions to local school districts. After an…

A pilot validity study was conducted of the use of eighth-grade language arts portfolios for ninth-grade English placement decisions (academic or general) in a school district that consists of a city and an independent borough. Portfolios offered an opportunity to collect and examine multiple measures of performance for decisions previously made…

This document presents excerpts from Chapter 388 of the Nevada Administrative Code, which concerns definitions, eligibility, and programs for students who are disabled or gifted/talented. The first section gathers together 36 relevant definitions from the Code for such concepts as "adaptive behavior,""autism,""gifted and…

Prompted by repeated failure on a required English language proficiency test by a large proportion of undergraduates, educators at Cardinal Stritch College (Wisconsin) conducted a study to determine predictors of failure or success on the test, and whether revision of course placement standards should be considered to improve test performance.…

This review of the literature examines the balancing of social and academic needs of students with disabilities and typical students in the context of the trend toward integrating all students into general classrooms regardless of their learning, physical, or emotional characteristics. Issues in the debate over inclusive education are identified,…

This manual of recommended policies and procedures was developed to assist Ohio school districts in meeting the spirit and intent of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and related federal and state regulations. Section 1 presents information on requirements concerning provision of a free appropriate public education for children with…

This booklet is intended to facilitate the full participation of Minnesota parents of children with disabilities in the Individualized Education Program (IEP) process. The booklet begins with a brief discussion of what an IEP is and why it is needed. The guide then presents a copy of Minnesota's IEP form, with the form sections on the left hand…

Methods of computerized adaptive testing using conventional scoring methods in order to develop a computerized placement test for the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) were studied. As a consequence of simulation studies during the first phase of the study, the multilevel testing paradigm was adopted to produce three test levels…

This study examined the relationship of multiple-choice and free-response items contained on the College Board's Advanced Placement Computer Science (APCS) examination. Subjects were two samples of 1,000 randomly drawn from the population of 7,372 high school students taking the 1988 examination of the APCS "AB" form. Most were high…