In September 1991, the State Board of Community Colleges of North Carolina revised this report on the critical success factors for the state's community college system. The six factors examined in the report are quality, access, education continuum, workforce development, community services, and program management and accountability. The report…

This fastback reference analyzes contrasting opinions about educational assessment and testing in the light of available evidence. The reform of student assessment is an essential component of the revitalization of American schools. Accountability issues relate to the proliferation of testing and the increasing use of high-stakes tests for policy…

Lessons from the 18-year institutional experience of Alverno College in Milwaukee (Wisconsin) with assessment for the improvement and verification of student learning are summarized. Principles are described that should inform a national assessment system with the dual purposes of improvement and accountability by incorporating the following key…

The data presented in this report are indicators of the level of success of the North Carolina Community College System as measured by student outcomes and the extent to which the system addresses the needs of the state. Where possible, 5-year data are presented. Seven critical factors are examined: (1) student success, evidenced by the number of…

This report discusses findings from a study that examined the inclusiveness of state standards for students with disabilities. Specifically, the study investigated the extent to which individuals who know students with disabilities were involved in the development process, the extent to which students with disabilities were identified as being a…

This report discusses the findings of a study that examined the participation and performance of students with disabilities in the 1996 Minnesota Basic Standards Tests in reading and mathematics. Results indicated that approximately 70 percent of Minnesota's 8th grade students with disabilities participated in the Basic Standards Tests during the…

Shortcomings in the current student assessment program in Georgia are identified, proposed revisions are described, and additional changes are recommended. Georgia educators have complained that curricula place too much emphasis on basic skills, to the detriment of subjects like science and social studies. Reform legislation in Georgia has…

A study sought to determine the extent to which local accountability systems exist in vocational education and to describe the nature of the underlying relationships between such programs and their constituents. Data were collected through interviews from two local vocational education programs in each of five states (California, Florida,…

A research project was conducted in Washington State in 1992 to develop an assessment system that could be used by adult basic education (ABE) and English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) programs to satisfy accountability requirements and to provide assessment information useful for classroom instruction. In this preliminary work, 35 ABE/ESL programs…

Nine papers were presented at the 1986 Educational Testing Service Invitational Conference on outcomes assessment in higher education. The Award for Distinguished Service to Measurement was awarded to Frederic Kuder for development of the Kuder-Richardson 20 and KR-21 formulas for test reliability, the Kuder Preference Record, and the Kuder…

A description is provided of the process proposed for the comprehensive institutional assessment of Genesee Community College (GCC) and the methods used to develop the assessment proposal. The proposal calls for the assessment to envelop the entire campus, tracking students from the preregistration phase, as they pass through their courses to the…

An overview of an international conference held on the campus of the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) to take stock of the development and use of educational quality indicator systems at the local, state, national, and international levels is provided. Major implications and findings of the education summit held at the University of…

A comprehensive assessment of the career education programs offered in the school districts in Michigan was conducted, based on the assumption that the lack of systematically organized needs data for appropriate decisionmaking groups may be an obstruction to the statewide implementation of career education. A questionnaire instrument was…

Issues of ethics in higher education, along with a broad overview on the field of ethics, are considered. Ethical concerns include: charges of unfair practices in the recruitment of college students, especially minority athletes; reducing admission requirements to the extent that classroom and even graduation standards may deteriorate; grade…

A brief concerning the "Preliminary Report of the Committee on the Future Role of Universities in Ontario" is presented. The following objectives of Ontario universities are endorsed: developing a more educated populace, education and training for the professions, providing for study at the highest intellectual level and for development…