A study was done to determine enrollment, persistence and graduation patterns of domestic special action students at the University of California Davis. Special action students are the small portion who are admitted despite not meeting undergraduate eligibility requirements (specific course work, grade point average and standardized test scores)…

This fourth annual report presents data for 1991 on high school dropout and retention rates, along with time series data for the period from 1972 to 1991. The report also examines high school completion and graduation rates and includes a discussion of new data collection efforts that have direct bearing on issues of high school dropouts and…

This book contains vital statistics and other profile information concerning 106 historically black colleges and universities located in the United States and the Virgin Islands. Information includes: school selection and admissions processes; special programs; the minimum grade point average required for freshmen and when majors must be declared;…

This report presents case studies of pregnant and parenting teenagers in the "Big Five School Districts," New York State's five largest urban school districts: Buffalo, New York City, Rochester, Syracuse, and Yonkers. Adolescent parents and their children depend heavily on a number of services to survive, including education, health, and…

This handbook is intended to provide parents and students with an orientation to the high schools in the Rowland Unified School District (California). It can also serve as a model for other districts and schools which are developing orientation handbooks. Topics which are covered include: (1) school district personnel; (2) counseling and guidance…

This report presents the results of the fourth testing cycle of the Texas Assessment of Basic Skills (TABS), a statewide basic skills test for students in grades 3 and 5 and in high school (exit level) of the Austin Independent School District (AISD). The TABS measures basic performance objectives in mathematics, reading, and writing. The general…

Issues surrounding the statewide competency testing of at-risk students are discussed. Sanctions, such as negative evaluations of educational programs associated with such tests, used to fall most heavily on schools and staff, but tests are increasingly becoming prerequisites for promotion and graduation, with increasing impact on students.…

Intended for students taking the Grade 12 Examination in English 30 in Alberta, Canada, this reading test (to be administered along with a questions booklet) includes the following eight short selections taken from fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama: "Loyalties" (Roo Borson); "Clever Animals" (Lewis Thomas); "Death of…

The South Carolina Basic Skills Assessment Program (BSAP) measures 16 basic skills objectives as mandated by legislation enacted in 1978. The BSAP Reading and Mathematics Tests were administered April 17 through 21, 1989. The tests for grades 1, 2, 3, 6, and 8 consisted of 6 multiple-choice questions for each of the 11 objectives in reading and…

A procedure was developed to detect differential item functioning (DIF) in a standardized essay test using the Partial Credit Model, the general polychotomous form of the Rasch model. Using a panel of experts in the writing process, hypothesized explanations for DIF at some score points were developed. Data for the study included averaged…

In December 1993, children who were in grade 3 in the Trenton Public Schools (New Jersey) in 1985-86 will take a high-risk writing proficiency test to determine whether they will graduate from high school. An emerging study of the writing of the Class of 1995 in Trenton is described as students move toward that test. The activity of studying…

In order to determine the length of time taken by graduates of Kent State University's Regional Campuses (RC) to obtain an Associate Degree, master records were analyzed for 91% (N=527) of the students who graduated in May 1990. The study considered the relationship between time to associate degree and such factors as campus attended, major,…

Province-wide examinations as a graduation requirement were reinstated in British Columbia after a 10-year hiatus in 1983. This study assessed the impact of grade-12 subject examinations (embodied in the Provincial Examination Program) on students, teachers, administrators, employers, and the school system. Completed survey questionnaires were…

The New Jersey State Department of Education adopted the High School Proficiency Test (HSPT) as a high school graduation requirement beginning with the ninth grade class of 1985-86. This document is a tool to support educators in making the necessary curriculum modifications to improve basic skill mastery and student achievement on the HSPT. It…

Culminating a 10-year effort to include the study of Native Americans and their music as it reflects cultural realities, life, thought, religion, and history as a choice in requirements for graduation, the elective course, "Native Music of North America," is now recognized at Washington State University as meeting both…