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…

The effect on passing scores of providing judges with pass/fail data for the various possible cut-off score levels was studied. Passing scores produced by individual judges using a modified version of the procedure of W. H. Angoff (1971) were compared with the same judges' passing scores as revised after considering information on the number of…

In 1989, a study was conducted of the status of student assessment and developmental education in Michigan's 29 public community colleges and three public four-year colleges which serve in a community college capacity. The study sought to to determine: (1) the number of community college students in need of and actually enrolled in developmental…

A basic technical framework is provided for the design and use of mastery tests. The Mastery Testing Project (MTP) prepared this framework using advanced mathematics supplemented with computer simulation based on real test data collected by the South Carolina Statewide Testing Program. The MTP focused on basic technical issues encountered in using…

Fort Worth's Language Center programs offer intensive instruction in English and in social studies to limited-English-speaking students from grades 6-12 in five middle schools and four high schools. The program's objective is to bring the students' English language proficiency to a level enabling them to compete academically in a less sheltered…

Student materials, teaching suggestions, and resource lists for using newspapers in various content areas in elementary and junior high schools are presented. The first section provides an overview of a newspaper by having students identify items on the first page, reply to a "Dear Abby" letter, analyze a photograph, examine a ski…

The Bilingual-Bicultural Program at DeWitt Clinton High School, Bronx, New York, was designed to provide support services to students with problems in reading and writing skills, and in linguistic, academic, and classroom adjustment. The program offered instruction in English as a Second language (ESL), Spanish for native speakers, Spanish as a…

This report presents the findings of the 1981-82 evaluation of two projects that served 200 mildly mentally retarded students of limited English proficiency (L.E.P.) in New York City Public Schools during the 1981-82 school year. Project TRABAJO served six middle and secondary schools, while Individualized Bilingual Education for Children with…

Project BECOME at Sarah J. Hale High School in Brooklyn, New York, was designed to provide instruction in English as a second language and in native language arts, as well as bilingual instruction in social studies, mathematics, and science, for Hispanic and Haitian high school students of limited English proficiency. In 1981-82, the second year…

The Kansas Minimum Competency Tests (KMCT) were designed to provide information about student performance on selected minimum competencies in reading and mathematics. The KMCT were criterion referenced tests in which each item was keyed to a minimum competency objective; student performance was measured against a predetermined standard. The tests…