This report presents data from three longitudinal studies conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics. The National Longitudinal Study of the Class of 1972, the High School and Beyond study, and the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS:88) were all designed to assess the educational experiences and achievements of high…

A discussion of foreign languages in elementary schools (FLES) includes both historical and current overviews of FLES in the United States and makes recommendations for development of FLES programs. The historical review looks at program design and methods during the 1950s and 1960s and the successes and failures of program types and approaches.…

The United Kingdom has a history of performance assessment even for accountability purposes, as the public examinations (standardized achievement tests) at age 16 demonstrate. What the country does not have is a strong history in the area of equity. Debate and policy-making, when concerned at all, have been concentrated on equality of opportunity,…

Drawing from site visits conducted over a 2-year period, this study report assesses the current status of the 24 tribally controlled colleges in the United States. A foreword by Ernest L. Boyer summarizes the major study findings, including the following: (1) at almost all of the colleges, salaries were too low, libraries were underfunded, and…

The purpose of this paper, which is drawn from a larger analytic history of the National Teacher Evaluation (NTE) program, is to investigate issues of validity within the context of the program's 50-year history. Three major findings emerge from historical considerations relating to: (1) the continuity of test content and justification over the…

The history of Kansas public education closely parallels that of the nation. It is difficult to understand why events happened in the state environment without some understanding of what was occurring in the nation during the same time period. Therefore, in this report, four questions important to education are asked. Historical answers to the…

About 79 per cent of the rural schools in the Southern States have only one teacher. It is evident, therefore, that a plan must be worked out which will enable this single teacher to make her school a factor in the development of the life around it. On November 2, 1910, the Peabody Board appropriated $600 to work out such a plan. It was finally…

This article notes that since World War II, medical schools have experienced substantial growth in administrative activities and expansion of faculty role, largely because of strong federal support for research and competition to obtain grants. Commonsense proposals for reform are offered, but a number of obstacles to change are also seen,…

Most other nations have a very different approach to measuring academic achievement at the end of high school and signaling that information to universities and other interested parties. In Australia, Denmark, England, Scotland, Finland, France, Ireland, the Netherlands, and many Canadian and German provinces, for example, high school exit…

On May 17, 2004, our nation celebrated the 50th anniversary of a landmark decision, Brown versus the Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. This U.S. Supreme Court decision was an impressive unanimous vote. In 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the "separate but equal" doctrine of "Plessy v Ferguson" that the Court had…

This monograph offers an overview of historical trends in the funding of special education programs, examines current issues, and considers directions for the future. After an introductory section, a section on historical perspectives notes trends in federal and state funding since 1975. A table shows the current funding formulas used by each…

A discussion of French immersion education in Canada begins with a general examination of language immersion, including the historical context and social climate from which the immersion approach has grown in Canada, its beginnings in Quebec and spread throughout Canada, and the status of the approach in the United States, a number of European…

This book explores the legacy of institutional racism in American Indian education, presents two contrasting assessments of Indian education in public and tribal schools, and outlines a more aggressive federal role to assure equity in local school systems. For most of its history, federally funded Indian education aimed to assimilate American…

The equity of a national examination system using authentic assessments is discussed from technological and historical perspectives. Testing is, in fact, a technology embedded in sociotechnical systems such as education, government, and business. The historical perspective is important because it provides lessons for present policy. The first…

For the second time, the National Center for Education Statistics has prepared a report that brings together comparable data concerning several key education characteristics, by state, region, and outlying area for a consecutive 21-year period. Characteristics examined in this report for public elementary education and secondary education include:…