The Chancellor of the New York City Board of Education was required to set minimum standards of performance and establish the accountability plan for all schools in the city's decentralized school system. The system includes 32 community school districts. A 29-member commission, which held periodic one-day meetings, developed the standards for the…

Developed for the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges (CCC) as part of a larger study of academic quality, this report presents a preliminary analysis of student matriculation, a guidance process which brings the student into an agreement with the college for the purpose of achieving the student's educational objectives through…

This brief report states that legal problems with competency testing have been more procedural than substantive-more concerned with implementation than legitimacy. The right to notice is the most straight-forward and firmly established principle to emerge from competency testing litigation. Students must have fair warning and opportunity to…

The most recent National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reports suggest that the issue of declining quality in American education may be more complex than media accounts have portrayed it. If one looks at isolated communication skills, it appears that many students understand the fundamentals of reading and writing. The results also…

A response is given to the recommendation of the Georgia Governor's Education Review Commission that the grade point average (GPA) requirements for admission to undergraduate teacher education programs in Georgia be raised from the present 2.5 to 2.7. Brief summaries are presented of five studies dealing with the relationship of GPA for admission…

The Austin (Texas) Independent School District (AISD) required that all students who graduated in 1985-86 and previous years have skills in reading and mathematics equivalent to ninth-grade level or above. Special education students who could not be validly tested were exempted from the requirements. Students who had not met the requirements could…

Higher standards in public schools have made it necessary for educational reformers to identify at-risk students and to develop effective programs for preventing their failure. This pamphlet begins by delineating the characteristics of at-risk students and discussing evaluation instruments that are useful for identifying such students. Successful…

In May 1985 and again in September 1986, the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges adopted Title 5 regulations strengthening the associate degree by establishing two distinct sets of standards which establish whether or not individual courses may be applied for credit to the associate degree. Along with a brief history of the…

Prior to the Virginian Standards of Learning Program most curriculum guidance was provided by the Board of Education through course requirement in-service sessions and through legislative action on mandated topics. The Standards of Learning Program gave Virginia teachers primary responsibility for establishing minimum competencies and assessment…

A framework for the education, training, and accreditation of engineering personnel in England, particularly those at the craft/technician level, is proposed. The competence-based core for engineering education and training is endorsed by the Basic Engineering Study Group, and is the result of a 2-year project to address problems of overlap,…

The California Education Code requires school boards to "establish standards of expected pupil achievement at each grade level in each area of study" and to consider student progress when evaluating teachers. The guidelines in this document have been prepared to help superintendents, principals, and teachers take steps to meet these…

This report of a conference on educational policies, patterns, and programs in the South summarizes the opinions presented by each major speaker. The following topics were discussed: (1) the continuing necessity of extending educational opportunity to all; (2) the signs of an emerging crisis--the growing number of disadvantaged children and an…

Minimal competency testing of students can be an effective tool for improving educational quality if applied appropriately with adequate safeguards. The failure of academic standards through grade inflation, a policy of social promotion rather than academic promotion, and weak curricula has reduced public confidence in education and encouraged…

Many southern states have taken action to improve the effectiveness of teaching by increasing teacher salaries, establishing career ladder and incentive programs, and ensuring teachers' knowledge of the subject area they teach. Attention is also now being directed to improvement of teacher education programs, and many of the southern states are…

The history of institutional accreditation and the standards of the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) are discussed. The societal and related economic and political reasons for the evolution of accreditation in its present form are addressed, since accreditation is related to prestige, political influences, consumer…