This guide intended for local school districts discusses the implementation of New Jersey's Special Review Assessment (SRA) process which provides high school students with the opportunity to demonstrate their mastery of basic skills by an assessment method other than the statewide graduation test. The process is required for eleventh graders who…

The paper discusses the choice of world history as a foundation course in the liberal arts college at Denison University, Ohio. It discusses why world history was chosen as a required course over the standard, introductory course, Western Civilization, compulsory in the 1960s. It also describes the kind and design of the world history course…

A project was conducted to evaluate a proposed interior design program in order to determine the marketability (job availability in the field of interior design and home furnishings merchandising) and the feasibility (educational requirements for entrance into the interior design and home furnishings merchandising job market) of the program. To…

The document contains the third annual update of a longitudinal study on the implementation of P.L. 94-142, the Education for All Handicapped Children Act, by 16 local education agencies (LEAs). An introductory chapter outlines the content of the report and the study design. Section II describes implementation of P.L. 94-142 in 16 special…

After reviewing three current approaches to handling students who fail to meet minimum competency standards, the author proposes a new approach to minimum competency testing. The three common reactions are: (1) doing nothing to help failing students; (2) denying students their high school diplomas; and (3) requiring students to take remedial…

Since December, 1975, the California State Department of Education has administered the California High School Proficiency Examination (CHSPE) five times. Students who pass the exam may leave school as early as two years before they would otherwise be permitted to. This study focused on four specific areas: (1) an overview to provide the…

After studying the testing and remedial programs used in Florida's public schools, the Task Force on Educational Assessment Programs presented its findings and recommendations. Findings are reported regarding: the schedule for implementing the testing program (which requires that students pass the Functional Literacy Test before they may graduate…

A survey was conducted of at least two educational agencies in each state and territory of the United States in order to determine state policies on concurrent enrollment. Six states did not respond; 17 indicated that there was no statewide policy and that such matters were determined on a local level by boards of trustees or individual…

The Portable Assisted Study Sequence (P.A.S.S.) Program, a pilot high school program designed to support California migrant student graduation through the use of competency based credits and portable learning packets, more than met its goals and objectives in 1978-79. Evaluation was by questionnaire, to which 16% of the surveyed P.A.S.S. students…

Most of the arguments lodged against minimum competency testing are really observations about the abuses of testing. Blacks and other minority groups are understandably mistrustful of recent developments in minimum competency testing--possible grounds for legal challenges include the adequacy of the phase-in periods; the match between tests and…

Mathematics achievement test scores of high school students in the Austin Independent School District who graduated before implementation of minimum competency testing were compared to the scores of students who were more recently enrolled in mathematics tutorial classes in order to meet minimum competency requirements. The percentages of…

The use of a variety of specific competency tests that measure skill achievement required for high school graduation are reviewed in this monograph. The successful performance of certain competencies ordinarily is viewed as an important adjunct of course work. They are not seen by most schools as a replacement for course work, but rather as one…

The Oregon school graduation requirements, the trends and events that led to their development, and the implementation program that followed their adoption are the subjects of this report. The requirements, adopted in September 1972, call for districts to establish minimum "survival level" competencies that each student must meet in…

Since 1969, the Oregon State Board of Education has undertaken to reverse the trend toward providing a single, rigid program for all students, regardless of their abilities, interests, needs, or learning styles. The new standards focus on the concept of providing students an opportunity to learn and demonstrate specific "survival"…

"Straight A's: Public Education Policy and Progress" is a biweekly newsletter that focuses on education news and events both in Washington, DC and around the country. The following articles are included in this issue: (1) Alliance Releases Teacher Paper: Tapping the Potential: Retaining and Developing High-Quality New Teachers; (2) A…