The use of national and campus tests/measures to assess student academic achievement is discussed, along with measurement of student attitudes and behavior, with attention to specific tests and testing programs. It is important for faculty to develop goals for student achievement and to determine whether a test fits a given college program or…

Results are presented of a 10-year longitudinal study of students who completed the Inquiry Program (IP) at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, which provides an alternative approach for meeting most general education requirements. Standard performance measures and questionnaires completed by program graduates were examined. Compared to other…

The use of a basic skills testing program to identify and remediate academic weaknesses of adult reentry graduate students (mean age 30.1 years) was studied longitudinally. The entering masters' level students majoring in business administration were studied in fall 1980 and again after the spring/summer registration of 1984. Through assessment…

As a result of the increasing insistence that schools should concentrate on teaching basic skills, states and school districts have moved to establish minimum competencies for high school graduation, to be assessed by tests that demonstrate that students have achieved a certain level of mastery of basic skills. The Austin, Texas, Independent…

The Diagnostic Targeted Assistance (DTA) process was developed to document the impact of the home intervention aspect of the Home School Partnership Model (HSPM), one of the models for Project Follow Through. HSPM encourages parental involvement in the learning process, in order to foster positive attitudes in parents, educators, and students…

This speech by the education advocate of the National Urban League outlines the involvement of that organization in the national struggle for quality educational opportunities for black Americans. The history of black education is discussed, from dual "separate but equal" school systems to the Brown decision to current census data that…

It is critical to differentiate between desegregation and integration since only the latter denotes interaction between equals. Integration should be the goal for our schools while desegregation is one possible vehicle which may move us in that direction. To achieve integration, the issues which must be addressed are community involvement and…

This study investigated whether young, poor, inner-city children are deficient in the mathematical skills and concepts necessary for later success in school arithmetic. Children of pre-kindergarten and kindergarten age, black or white, and lower class or middle class, were given a wide variety of mathematical tasks, including Piagetian measures,…

The success of the Developmental Skills Program offered at Los Angeles Southwest College, a 96% black institution, is indicated by an average student grade equivalent gain of 2.3 years in one semester; a 5 year average accelerated academic growth rate that is 5.9 times the rate of academic growth black inner-city students have experienced in the…

This study examined the role of the North Carolina State University Transition Program (UTP) in enhancing transition of disadvantaged students from high school and increasing their persistence to degree. The UTP, which targets academically underprepared African American and Native American students, provides special courses and counseling…

Papers in this collection focus on diverse issues in literacy ranging from motivation to wordless books to professional development schools. Papers in the collection, and their authors, are as follows: "The New Literacy and Reading Workshop: How Comfortable Is Too Comfortable?" (Jeanne Henry); "Fostering Reading Motivation: Insights…

This booklet presents a summary of contemporary understandings of adult literacy in the context of development. It suggests that literacy is best seen as one of a number of different means of communications rather than a single essential basic skill; that learning literacy is not essential to development (many non-literate persons are already…

The impact of school-agency partnerships on the professional development of the agency personnel working with teachers on partnership teams was examined in a qualitative study of 18 of 157 natural resources, business, and health care agency professionals identified as having participated in elementary school-based partnerships for 1-6 years in a…

In conjunction with employers, educators, and experts in employment and training requirements, American College Testing (ACT) selected 12 generic employability skills--skills crucial to effective performance in most jobs--to form the basis of the Work Keys System. They are as follows: reading for information, applied mathematics, listening,…

Integration of academic and vocational curricula is just one of an arsenal of processes that school leaders can use to improve delivery of curriculum and instruction. It holds great promise in enhancing acquisition of basic skills necessary in an increasingly technological and socially complex workplace. The variations in which integration can…