This report on the Pennsylvania statewide assessment program answers two questions: (1) what are minimum competencies?; and (2) for whom are competencies really minimal? (Author/MP)

A project produced and disseminated to adult basic and literacy education practitioners in Pennsylvania a newsletter containing relevant information designed to meet their professional development and awareness needs. It prepared and disseminated an 8-12 page newsletter for the months September 1993 through June 1994. Information contained in the…

This manual was developed by a project to create a model program that integrates basic skills instruction with requirements of welfare reform, and the project's final report describes activities taken to develop the manual. The report details the problem, goals, procedures, objectives met and not met, and an evaluation. The manual is designed to…

This document begins with a report describing a Northampton Community College project to develop a manual to help adult literacy providers understand how they fit into welfare reform. The accompanying manual consists of four sections corresponding to the project's four objectives. Section 1, intended to enable adult literacy providers to…

The impact of testing and promotion standards on students in urban schools was discussed by urban school superintendents from New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Pointing to research that suggests that standards alone are not enough to boost achievement, many educators recommend coupling more rigorous standards with appropriate remedial programs, staff…

This report on trends in school improvement test results presents an analysis and synthesis of 1978-1984 student performance data from four state-mandated testing programs: (1) the Educational Quality Assessment Program in Pennsylvania; (2) the Minimum Basic Skills Program in New Jersey; (3) the Delaware Educational Assessment Program in Delaware;…

This publication presents the family literacy program performance standards for which all Pennsylvania family literacy programs (both Pennsylvania Adult Basic and Family Literacy Education Act 143 and Even Start) will be held accountable. It begins with an implementation plan that discusses the legislative background of the performance standards…

Five issues of an adult basic education newsletter were developed and disseminated to more than 4,000 adult educators in Pennsylvania. The newsletters contained information appropriate to their professional development in a format and by a delivery method that would reach the large rural area of Pennsylvania and the large number of part-time adult…

Although it is difficult both to determine educational goals and to measure goal attainment, the Educational Quality Assessment Inventory (EQAI) has ambitiously tackled both problems. During a five-year period 45 separate instruments containing over 2000 items were constructed, revised, rejected, and accepted in preparation for the present…

The Secondary Form of the Educational Quality Assessment (EQA) Inventory is designed for 11th grade students in Commonwealth public schools. Test scales are designed to measure some facet of state quality assessment goals. Along with basic skills, the various instruments examine: (1) social and health habits, (2) feelings toward self and others,…

This guide begins with a series of questions and answers which introduce Pennsylvania's Educational Quality Assessment (EQA) Inventory as a 188-to 190-item multiple choice test for fifth, eighth, and eleventh grades. Items are selected from a 400-item bank using matrix sampling procedures. Test results are analyzed at the school level; no…

A project was conducted in Pennsylvania to determine what changes might improve the effectiveness of the State's adult basic education (ABE) program. Northcutt's construct of functional competency adult performance level (APL) and Mezirow's program evaluation model provided the basis for the project's two components: APL assessment and program…

Adult Education Linkage Services undertook a project for the Bureau of Adult Basic and Literacy Education (ABLE) to identify characteristics of programs and services available to adult learners who attend ABLE-funded programs in Pennsylvania. Results of a survey of 249 ABLE-funded programs identified 33 programs serving one or more of 6 special…

A statewide evaluation indicated Pennsylvania's family literacy programs were meeting goals and providing family-centered, integrated educational services for eligible families. Findings indicated that family literacy programs recruited eligible and "most in need" families; enrolled families had young children; parents had limited formal…

The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 gives states the opportunity to devise unique welfare programs that include client participation in educational activities. States receive block grants rather than funds earmarked for certain kinds of programs. Pennsylvania's welfare reform plan permits welfare clients to…