This summary of the final report of a statewide study of library systems in New York State begins by providing background information on the library systems and changes that have occurred since the last system study was conducted in 1967. The methodology of the current study is then described, and the mission and services of library systems…

This document is the annual report on the South Carolina Basic Skills Assessment Program (BSAP) established by legislation in 1978. In 1988, the tests and the monitoring of the instructional components were completed on time. The tests include: (1) first grade readiness; (2) tests for grades 1, 2, 3, 6, and 8; and (3) the Exit Examination required…

The training needs of Connecticut's small businesses and their employees are not being adequately met. Small businesses face an economy placing increasing demands on them: a worsening labor shortage, an aging work force, and changing skills in the workplace. Gaps in private and public sector training programs impede small businesses from meeting…

The two exploratory studies presented in this research report used multilevel data obtained in the 1983-84 National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) to investigate the relationship between minimum competency testing (MCT) programs and student reading proficiency. A "school effects" paradigm was used in Study 1 to assess the effect…

This self-employment training program case study booklet has been developed for general use in exploring the feasibility of this kind of development tool. The case studies describe a number of comprehensive, self-employment training and assistance programs, from the local to the national level. Chapter II includes information on the training plan,…

This monograph focuses on the implementation process that has been a concern of school jurisdictions since the teacher evaluation policy became mandatory in Alberta, Canada, in 1985. Research has shown that school systems are adept at developing written policy but much less successful at putting that policy into effective operation. This overview…

The Long Range Plan was prepared to satisfy requirements of the Library Services Construction Act (LSCA) and to guide the Texas State Library and Archives Commission in the fulfillment of its statutory mission. The plan provides a framework for the establishment or expansion of programs to carry out the purposes mandated by the state and federal…

Use of item response theory (IRT), the delta plot method, and Mantel-Haenszel techniques to assess differential item functioning (DIF) across racial and gender groups associated with the Maryland Test of Citizenship Skills (MTCS) is described. The objective of this research was to determine the: effect of sample size on results from these three…

The first National Education Goal agreed to be President Bush and the nation's governors is that all children will start school ready to learn. The first objective under that goal is that of providing high quality and developmentally appropriate preschool programs for all disadvantaged and disabled children. This paper seeks to assist efforts to…

The purpose of this report is to describe the programs that make up Oregon's Disadvantaged Child Project (DCP) and document the ways in which students benefited from participation. The DCP was established in 1967 to provide supplemental services to children in low-income and culturally deprived areas. The project contains three major components:…

Some of the ways authentic writing assessment can be used in education are discussed. Using the Illinois Writing Program (IWP) as an example, this digest also looks at some of the goals, solutions, and experiences of a program that is implementing authentic writing assessment. New directions in authentic assessment are aimed at going beyond…

Between 1983 and 1985, the Florida Legislature enacted legislation that increased the credits required for high school graduation and redefined the closely related length and configuration of the school day. Members of the Superintendent's Task Force on the Seventh Period/Extended School Day, members and staff of the legislature's education and…

This report is the second in a series of publications developed to assist in the planning and development of a comprehensive, coordinated service delivery system for Arizona infants and toddlers who are developmentally delayed or at risk of developing handicapping conditions, and their families. It documents the number of children in Arizona…

Tennessee's Student/Teacher Achievement Ratio project (Project STAR) was designed to study the effects of class size on pupils in primary (K-3) grades. Responses of Project STAR teachers (N=1,003) to the annual Teacher Exit Interview are summarily reported for 1986 through 1989. Generally, the perceptions of teachers in small classes, in regular…

This study examined how personnel issues raised by P.L. 99-457, Education of the Handicapped Amendments (1986) were being met in North Carolina in 1985 and 1988. Data were gathered from the statewide network of home-based intervention services (Early Childhood Service), providing information about 139 staff and consultants in 1985 and 135 in 1988.…