This report reviews existing research on the effects of high stakes tests on students, particularly students with disabilities. The review focuses on potential effects on the curriculum, student learning, attitudes and school climate, and the costs versus benefits of high stakes testing of students with disabilities. Results indicate that research…

This report discusses the many issues that need to be considered as states and districts begin to design and implement alternate assessments, which are used for students with severe cognitive delays or multiple disabilities or students who require such significant accommodations that the validity of the test would be compromised. The report…

This brief report describes efforts of the Oklahoma State Regents to accelerate positive academic change in the state's higher education system with a combination of strengthened admission, retention, and assessment standards. The first section presents the state's problem of lagging performance during the late 1980s, as indicated by data showing…

This report presents findings of a nationwide study of student transitions from secondary to postsecondary education that is based on a survey of state higher education agencies and site visits to six states. The report finds a growing role for state higher education agencies in setting minimum college admissions requirements, coexistence of…

This report provides a summary for the years 1993 through 1997 of district and school-level results in Washington on the Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills, fourth edition (CTBS/4) for grades 4 and 8 and the Curriculum Frameworks Assessment System (CFAS) for grade 11. For grades 4 and 8, the average national percentile scores in reading,…

Secondary vocational-technical education programs in Mississippi are faced with many challenges resulting from sweeping educational reforms at the national and state levels. Schools and teachers are increasingly being held accountable for providing true learning activities to every student in the classroom. This accountability is measured through…

For many years there has been carried on in the United States by various national and State organizations a vigorous agitation for a clearer definition and improvement of standards in higher and professional education. Committees and commissions have labored and reported. Sometimes these reports have been published and given wide circulation; in…

Republican Party platform statements on education address these issues: support of traditional moral values, values and public support of the arts, leadership in science and technology, commitment to space research, research and education concerning Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), and civil rights. (MSE)

Maine's gubernatorially appointed Commission on Secondary Education produced eight overarching observations and six core principles governing learning climate, teacher expectations, differentiated instruction, assessment, democratic engagement, and program coherency. This new vision challenges schools and communities to rethink how they assess,…

Outlines disparities in educational access, proposing reforms for equalizing opportunities to learn and examining social and economic challenges; reducing achievement gaps; inequality and achievement; the influence of funding on achievement (particularly among African American students); what matters in teaching (e.g., access to quality teaching,…

The term "corporate university", which has come into wide use in the last decade, is applied to three kinds of organizations: (1) "established," "mainstream", "non-profit universities" adapting to economic and technological pressures by adopting managerial practices of modern for-profit corporations; (2) "newly established", "highly innovative…

The past two decades have witnessed a significant growth in the number of school improvement programs and in the accompanying efforts to evaluate such programs. Passage of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act in 2002 has intensified the need for evaluations to assess and understand the quality and value of educational interventions. Well over a…

The federal requirements of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) have placed a new focus on increasing graduation rates and reducing dropout rates. While the dropout problem has generated research and new programs over the last 30 years, the dropout rate has remained relatively unchanged. Students drop out of school for many reasons, and the…

Chapter 1 is a federal assistance program that provides supplementary financial aid to public school districts, attempting to improve the educational opportunities of educationally deprived children residing in high poverty areas. The program assists qualified students in both public and private schools. This brochure answers questions that…

A project was implemented at Florence-Darlington Technical College (FDTC) in Florence, South Carolina to develop a retention plan for high-risk and probationary students. The project involved the following components: a literature review on retention strategies, visits to state-of-the-art model two-year college retention programs, studies of…