Two groups of students, one on the Atlantic coast and one on the Pacific coast think about and discuss their own experiences with and perceptions of public education. They were asked to consider the following questions: In your experiences as a student in an education system: What are the things that help students learn? What are the things that…

Chapter 188 of the Massachusetts Acts of 1985 established a statewide testing program that began in 1986. The Massachusetts Testing Program functions to improve curriculum and instruction in the public schools and districts, identify students needing assistance in mastering basic skills in the classroom, and make results available to the public.…

This booklet describes a number of activities initiated in the State of New Jersey to improve academic standards and to help teachers prepare their students for taking New Jersey's High School Proficiency Test (HSPT). The HSPT, administered to all public school ninth graders, is more demanding than the previously used Minimum Basic Skills Test.…

This project was conducted to develop a course of study in health occupations in grades 9 and 10 for a county-wide comprehensive health careers high school. The course was to include related skills development in health occupations, support materials for an academic course of study, and broad outlines of curriculum for grades 11 and 12. The High…

A collaborative endeavor between Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi and Miller High School resulted in the Cyberways and Waterways Family Project, a unique partnership of educators, families and high school students. University and high school faculty engaged ninth grade biology students and their parents in water testing of Corpus Christi…

"Harvard Education Letter" is published bimonthly at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. This issue of "Harvard Education Letter" contains the following articles: (1) Telling Tales Out of Charter School: What Educators and Policymakers Can Learn from the Successes and Failures of Charters (Robert Rothman); (2) One Charter School's Formula…

A teacher describes how the staff at his junior high school, and particularly his ninth-grade team, worked on continuous improvement in three ways: restructuring the working roles and relationships among staff; restructuring the working roles and relationships between staff and students; and merging systemic advancements and education philosophy…

An increasing number of school counselors are European American and female at the same time that African American males have become one of the largest populations at risk for needing services. Studies consistently reveal that African American males encounter formidable challenges in the educational system. Professional school counselors have the…

Connecticut's Basic Skills Proficiency Test, administered for the sixth time in October 1985, measures reading, language arts, mathematics, and writing skills. The test was intended to identify students who require further diagnosis and remediation in order to participate successfully in ninth grade classes. Results indicated that over 90 percent…

The Texas Assessment of Basic Skills (TABS) helps to improve basic skills mastery by assessing student achievement and district performance levels in reading, writing and mathematics. TABS was designed to provide information for instructional planning in the state-funded compensatory education service. Minimum competency objectives are to be…

The hypothesis that actual physical involvement (hands-on experience) with the work of a craft will influence the occupational goals of students was tested. The subjects were 2,921 ninth-grade students in Connecticut who were enrolled during 1974-1975 in sixteen area vocational-technical schools which offer Trade and Industrial occupational…

Ninth grade poses unique academic, physical, social, and emotional challenges to students; in fact, it may be the defining year for predicting high school success. It could also be the last chance to catch pupils who are in danger of dropping out of school. The Freshman Center program attempts to give ninth graders the opportunity to succeed. This…

The Youth Opportunities Unlimited (YOU) program was created to prevent at-risk students from low-income families from dropping out of high school. Students aged 14 or 15 years old entering 9th or 10th grade went to a college campus for 60 days during the summer to attend English and mathematics classes, work 20 hours per week, and receive…

The Occupational Proficiency Training (OPT) Program was initiated to identify potential dropouts and place them in an alternative vocational education program. Remedial communication and mathematics classes were also included in the program's design. In the first year 21 ninth grade students 14 years of age and two years behind grade were…

The Nevada Proficiency Examination Program was established by the Nevada State Legislature in 1977 to identify students who might require additional assistance to maintain normal academic progress through school and to serve as a minimum competency examination, insuring that each student who receives a high school diploma has met certain minimum…