In a state (North Carolina, 2006) that once pushed foreign language lessons as early as kindergarten, there has been a steady curtailing of instruction in second languages to devote more time and effort to basic reading and math instruction in English, two subjects heavily tested under the state's ABCs and federal No Child Left Behind…

This paper focuses on the special considerations affecting professional schools seeking to assess the nature, quality and effects of their undergraduate programs. Advocating a comprehensive effort as the most promising means by which assessment can positively influence teaching and learning, the discussion addresses the unique characteristics of…

This guide was developed in Alaska to help high school administrators and teachers determine why and how to grant equivalent credit graduation requirements for vocational courses. The guide is organized in four sections. The first section provides a rationale for the use of equivalent credits, explaining how they benefit students, teachers,…

New York State has embarked on a major effort to enhance the quality of public schooling. All schools must develop curricula ensuring that students meet minimal performance standards and provide remedial programs for those who do not. Because many school districts with low enrollments or low wealth are having difficulty complying with Board of…

This training document outlines the apprenticeship training standards for the trade of patternmaker that have been approved by the Ontario Ministry of Skills Development. The document consists of the following: (1) skills (competencies) identified by a trade analysis development group of practicing patternmakers; (2) general performance objectives…

Problems in higher education were identified by a study group in a year-long study funded by the National Institute of Education. Problem areas included: college student attrition, declining test scores of graduate school applicants, an increasingly impersonal atmosphere on campuses and less involvement of students with academic life,…

Recommendations concerning the reading, writing, and mathematics skills that are needed by students entering degree programs in Minnesota postsecondary institutions are offered by a Minnesota Higher Education Coordinating Board task force. In addition to describing reading skills that students need for most college degree programs, conditions…

This report concerns the setting of minimum standards for the New York City public schools. The commission recommends that a universal standard be set for all public schools with an improvement target of at least 50% reduction in deficits over a three-year period. Limited English proficient (LEP) students, special education students, and…

This report proposes that the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges take four actions regarding provisions for remedial education of skill deficient adults in California. First, background material indicates that the actions will have both immediate and long-range effects on the provision of remediation in the community colleges…

Essential to the definition of an effective school is an operational definition of minimum academic mastery as the acquisition of knowledge, skills, and concepts that enable the student to be demonstrably successful in the next grade level in the same school or in any other school in the United States. An effective schools program, such as the one…

This paper, one of the nine-booklet Teacher Quality Series, offers guidelines for educational leaders who have the responsibility of making policy to improve the school as an organization in which teaching and learning take place. Various organizational schemes that encourage staff to share understandings and techniques, help each other to…

To assist low achieving students in the mastery of instructional objectives in major subject areas, the Ministry of Education of Israel published definitions of Minimum Achievement Requirements (MAR) for specific subjects at all grade levels. To examine the feasibility of the MAR approach and to determine whether it contributed to the attainment…

Reported in this document are the Secretary of Education's personal recommendations for a sound elementary school core curriculum, presented by means of a report on a fictional "James Madison Elementary School." The report opens with discussion of the importance of commitment to course content and instruction in basic skills in…

An explanation of the roots of the current movement to reform undergraduate education is presented. It is suggested that the reform movement is a reaction against the dominance of the research university. Several reports about the state of undergraduate education are cited, including "Involvement in Learning,""To Reclaim a…

A national, nongovernmental accreditation system is the key to ensuring that education remains fundamentally sound, responsible, responsive, and effective, thereby providing public confidence in the integrity and quality of educational institutions and programs. The Council on Postsecondary Accreditation (COPA) policy on the rights and…