Data from nine representative U.S. population samples in the General Social Survey data file for 1974 through 1990 confirm systematic declines in verbal scores for cohorts born after World War II, with the trend beginning earlier. The importance of social change must be acknowledged in trend analysis. (SLD)

Determining the overall pass rates on the College-Level Academic Skills Test (CLAST) for a given cohort of students involves an analysis of both the first-time examinee performance and subsequent pass rates of students who failed the test and retook it at a later date. Two increases in the scores required to pass the CLAST in 1986 and 1989 have…

Examines British national examination results and related trends in the declining level of performance in modern languages relative to other subjects, suggesting that this trend to underperform in modern languages may be due in part to the relative difficulty of the examinations. The paper proposes strategies to help teachers become more rigorous…

Many Americans share the belief that public education is in crisis; however, a number of researchers have challenged that assumption. This document examines what research reveals about public education in the United States and its students. Further, it distinguishes the areas in which education can affect children from the areas that lie beyond…

This report gives the results of the Primary Assessment Program (PAP) in Aboriginal schools (Australia) for the 1987 school year. The purpose of PAP is to provide instructional feedback on student achievement in reading and mathematics and to provide indicators of performance for public reporting. All Aboriginal schools which had students in grade…

This paper estimates the effects of state-imposed curriculum mandates on the test scores of public-school students who took the SAT in 2001. By 1998, 14 states had mandates that high-school students should take an economics course. For these states, the proportion of public-school students taking high-school economics was around twice that of…

Provides 35 articles that address such topics as black enrollment in higher education, declining black Scholastic Aptitude Test scores, abolishing race-based admissions in California, and the quality of doctoral programs at black universities. Several articles address educational financial support, the black experience at Ivy League colleges and…

The documented decline in test scores of the 1960s and 1970s and the unclear picture since then result from educational and noneducational factors. Aspects of the misuse of test scores are (1) simplistic interpretation of performance trends; (2) unsupported evaluations of schooling; and (3) a reductionist view of education. (SLD)

The broad and highly politicized debate about the causes of rising illiteracy in the nation fall into three categories: nurture, or inadequate elementary/secondary educational institutions; nature, or arguments about genetics and the unteachability of Blacks and other minority groups; and social science, or the idea that standard literacy tests…

The College Outcome Measures Program (COMP) objective test is used by colleges and universities to monitor the success of their undergraduate programs and as part of general assessment efforts. At Northeast Missouri State University (Kirksville), 102 students were identified as having suspect COMP scores based on the three criteria of: (1) COMP…

The major issues surrounding the problems in American education are intertwined and obliquely connected in ways that are not clear to the casual reader or to single-issue authors. This handbook was designed to provide educators with information to refute claims that the American public education system is in a state of disarray and imminent…

In recent years, public dissatisfaction with education has led educators, citizens, and policymakers to consider creating a national system of standards and assessments. This dissatisfaction resulted in movement to establish national standards and assessments in U.S. education. These standards are designed to raise the achievement levels of all…

Cutscores for certifying competence on the College Level Academic Skills Test (CLAST) have been raised three times since the test was implemented in 1982. In 1989, a study was conducted at Miami-Dade Community College (MDCC) to challenge the contention that a vast majority of students taking the CLAST under the largest and most recent jump in…

When properly understood, scores on the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) support the hypothesis that the performance of American students as measured by the SAT is steadily improving. As the overall pool of SAT takers increases and as pressures to adopt SAT scores as an administrative measure of instructional performance mount, SAT averages at the…

Calls for education improvement are often predicated on a decline in U.S. education. Past U.S. high school students' knowledge is examined through U.S. history test data from 1915 to 1925 and national achievement test data for 1932 to 1965. Evidence does not support a decline in student knowledge. (SLD)