This statistical profile provides a comprehensive resource for citizens, parents, educators, legislators, researchers, and others who want facts about education in South Dakota. South Dakota has 177 school districts, with 774 schools. Fifty percent of these schools have 100 students or fewer, and only 7% have more than 500 students. The 1995-96…

As part of an effort to assess the academic readiness of incoming students at Cerritos College (CC) in Norwalk, California, a study was conducted of the college's constituency to identify the characteristics of incoming students and to determine the extent to which these characteristics have changed over time. The study utilized data from the…

Many private schools administer some type of standardized test to prospective students in an attempt to assess the student's potential for success in high school. The test results are used to assist the school in deciding whether to accept the student or to assist in the placement of the student in the appropriate curriculum level. This study…

Information about the performance of higher education graduates and how we can develop better performance indicators is limited. There is some information on aspects of the results of higher education from synthesis of small scale research projects, from standardized tests, and from national surveys. There are also efforts underway to design an…

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 paper summarizes the results of a study of the local consequences of implementing statewide minimum competency tests. For American education to be the best in the world, the use of statewide and nationwide standardized testing as a primary policy tool for stimulating reform must be discontinued. Second, school district responses to such…

The major innovation of the American Psychiatric Association's "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual III" (DSM-III) was the explicit specification of criteria for determining whether an individual's problems qualify for a particular diagnosis. However, neither the choice of child diagnostic categories in DSM-III nor the choice of criteria…

For the past seven years, Missouri has been administering the Missouri Mastery and Achievement Tests (MMAT) to fulfill the requirements of the Excellence in Education Act of 1985. The MMAT, as a criterion-referenced test, can measure student progress on specific key skills over time. This summary presents results of the spring 1993 administration…

An attempt is made to separate facts from opinions based on review of a representative sample of contemporary writings on alternative assessment. A summary listing of 15 statements perceived to be factual is offered, followed by opinions of the author. These items cover: (1) the historical background and origins of alternative assessments; (2)…

This study tested the hypothesis that cooperative learning practices in heterogeneous classes would enhance students' academic motivation and achievement. Half the seventh graders entering a junior high school were randomly assigned to hetergenous classrooms in which their teachers implemented Student Team Learning (STL) techniques (Slavin, 1986).…

Some of the deficiencies and abuses associated with past testing practices are reviewed, and some of the present and future possibilities for educational assessment are explored. At this time, assessment and testing in American schools are caught between the rhetoric of reform and the intransigence of long-established practices. Use of measurement…

This summary for administrators describes the Iowa Tests of Educational Development (ITED), which are broadly based achievement tests for grades 9 through 12. The seven tests in the battery provide information about students' development in skills that are among the fundamental goals of secondary education. Emphasis is on the objectives that…

The California Achievement Test (CAT) has been administered in Orleans Parish (Louisiana) annually each spring to gauge performance of New Orleans Public Schools students since 1989. In 1992, the CAT was given to students in kindergarten and grades 3, 5, and 8. With few exceptions, median percentiles for New Orleans students were below the 40th…

Texas college students must pass all three sections (reading, writing, and mathematics) of the state-mandated Texas Academic Skills Program (TASP) Test or must enroll in remedial course work. Over 98,000 TASP scores from 73 community, junior, and technical colleges for the academic year 1996-1997 were analyzed to ascertain if less-prepared…

This book contains necessary information to help teachers deal with the assessment concerns of classroom teachers. The major theme is that classroom assessment should help teachers make better educational decisions. Each chapter contains several elements intended to foster mastery of its contents, including a summary of contents, a more succinct…