Maryland is one of the states which recently developed new requirements for high school graduation. A preliminary evaluation of these new state standards has raised a number of issues about graduation standards and their assessment. The Maryland State Department of Education examined statewide policies and guidelines for high schools between 1982…

From 1946 to 1976, the field of higher education operated in a growth-based mode, encouraged by government decisions and financed by government funds. During the massive recession and exploding federal deficits of the early seventies, however, legislators began examining the real value of higher education, and asking whether higher education was…

The contribution of decentration as an underlying component of discrimination learning and discrimination shift behavior was investigated in this study. In addition, the effect of verbal labeling and the relationship of academic achievement to discrimination learning and decentration was considered. The subjects were 120 first grade students who…

By examining relationships between a host of national policy, domestic economic, media system, and media infrastructure factors, a study assesses possible predictors for videotape cassette recorder (VCR) penetration across 63 countries. Overall statistical results generated through hypothesis testing indicated that these factors were relatively…

In order to determine the relationship of the socioeconomic variable sets of education, general characteristics, and income and housing to geographic variations in the collection size of academic and public libraries in the United States, data for the 50 largest Standard Metropolitan Statistical Areas (SMSAs) are analyzed using frequency…

The problem of measuring growth across the target grade and, typically, the two adjacent grades, concerns most developers of standardized, norm-referenced achievement tests, particularly at the item selection stage. Opinion is divided on whether to retain or drop items that do not get easier from grade to grade. The controversy has focused on…

A study was conducted to investigate the comprehensibility of microcomputer-generated color graphics that are displayed on monochromatic monitors. Subjects were 64 second, third, and fourth graders who were randomly assigned to one of two conditions. Children in the first treatment were asked to identify, on a monochrome monitor, a figure that was…

The purpose of this study was to adapt the Hidden Figures Test (a measure of field dependence/independence) to microcomputer display and to assess its alternate form reliability when compared to a paper and pencil test. Participants included 58 undergraduate and graduate students (91.4% female) at a southeastern university who were fairly normal…

This study was conducted to determine whether the filmic coding elements of split screen, slow motion, generated line cues, the zoom of a camera, and rotation could aid in the development of the Euclidean space concepts of horizontality and verticality, and to explore presence and development of spatial skills involving these two concepts in…

To assess attainment of basic skills, the San Diego Board of Education mandates that all students in regular programs at grades 5, 7, 9 and 11 be tested by the Districtwide Testing Program. This evaluation report presents the academic achievement of Grade 11 (Fall 1984) students in comparison with (1) a national norm group and (2) previous years…

The New York City Board of Education's Comprehensive Instructional Management Systems-Communication Arts (CIMS-CA) project is described in this report. The introductory section provides background information on the project (implemented in 1980), the primary goal of which was to develop a holistic communication arts curriculum for kindergarten…

A study was conducted to determine if there were significant differences in vision between beginning readers who learn to read easily and those who learn with difficulty (dyslexics). In addition, the study examined the mean of the high achievers (rather than expert opinion) to discover the degree to which visual efficiency was normally needed for…

A study examined the use of lookback strategy (selective rereading of text material to clarify inconsistent information) employed by good and poor readers attempting to monitor their own reading comprehension. Using microcomputers, narrative and expository texts containing inconsistencies were presented one line at a time on a "page" of…

In the Illinois public community colleges, disadvantaged student grant funds are allocated by formula, with each eligible college receiving a basic grant of $20,000, and the remaining appropriation distributed to each district based on the number of credit hours produced in the remedial and adult basic and secondary education funding categories…

Studies indicate that American students have an inadequate understanding of world affairs, with implications for United States national security, business interests in foreign markets, and education in general, and specific recommendations have been made for the improvement of foreign language instruction. Foreign language education in the 1980s…