Compares outcomes of the 1970 and 1977 weighted standardization samples for the subtests of the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills. On the whole, achievement appears to be consistent between tests for the fourth- and eighth-grade students and no one basic skill shows marked gains or losses. (Author/IRT)

Replies to the immediately preceding article. The author contends that the cause of incompetence resides more in the overall ambience of disaffection in the nation than in the schools. (Author/IRT)

In 1996, North Carolina established its "ABC" plan for educational improvement, based on accountability (A), testing of basic subjects (B), and more local control (C). Each year student test results in reading, mathematics, writing, and selected middle school and high school courses are analyzed to determine whether or not schools have…

The superintendent of schools in Boston examines major factors in improving Boston public schools: strong principals, emphasis on basic skills, clear curriculum objectives, high expectations of all students, use of test results to improve classroom instruction, and state-of-the-art teaching methods. He discusses successful outcomes of these…

Distinct from academic intelligence, successful intelligence is the acquisition and use of what one must know to succeed in a particular environment. People with high successful intelligence know their own strengths and weaknesses; are goal-oriented, highly motivated, and efficacious; follow through; own and assume responsibility for their own…

This report presents Austin Independent School District 1984 test results on the Texas Assessment of Basics Skills (TABS). It was administered to all third, fifth and ninth grade students and to high school students not meeting ninth grade state-set mastery criteria, the minimum competency requirement for graduation. Results are presented as…

The performance of pupils, individual schools, and the Wichita Public School System is depicted in a quantitative report of the results of the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS) administered as part of the system's basic testing program. The ITBS battery measured vocabulary, reading, language, work-study and mathematics skills and results are given…

The profiles of the California Statewide assessment program permit comparison of a district's test performance with that of previous years and of other districts. After a brief explanation of the tests' development, content, administration, and limitations, this interpretive guide explains how the results are displayed in the district profiles. A…

The Fall, 1974 South Carolina Statewide Testing Program was administered to nearly all of South Carolina's fourth and seventh grade students and a sample of ninth and eleventh grade students participated in the testing program. There were 49,068 fourth graders, about 98 percent, and 53,662 seventh graders, about 99 percent, tested. A…

At the beginning of the 1981-82 school year, the Board of Education of the Portland (OR) Public Schools established a system-wide achievement goal of improved learning in all areas of the curriculum including the basic skills. This report describes the gains made during the first year of implementation of that new achievement policy. Portland's…

The United States Department of Defense Dependents Schools (DoDDS) conducted a career education assessment during May of 1978 which involved approximately 1,300 nine-, thirteen-, and seventeen-year-old students in three regions. The tests were objective-based, criterion-referenced tests which assessed systemwide student achievement in the areas of…

The fifth report required by the Maryland Educational Accountability Act contains information about goals for Maryland public education and progress toward those goals. The first section explains accountability, the Maryland Accountability Act, and limitations of current instruments for measuring learning progress. The central purpose of the…

Each spring the Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills (CTBS) are administered to grades 5, 8, and 11 throughout New Mexico as part of the State Department of Education mandated assessment program. This report contains information regarding Albuquerque Public Schools' results on the 1982 CTBS. A new form of the CTBS was selected for testing fifth and…

This report presents an analysis and synthesis of student performance data collected through state-mandated testing programs. The common performance areas assessed were basic skills achievement. The unique performance areas assessed were content skills within a particular state. Achievement data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress…

This brief report states that recent emphasis on minimum competency testing has been on using the test results to make better decisions for improving the instructional program and providing remediation. State and local school districts, using advisory committees and commissions, are in various stages of identifying instructional goals and…