The "CEI-PEA Alert" is an advocacy newsletter that deals with topics of interest to all concerned with the New York City public schools. This issue includes: (1) Chancellor Joel I. Klein Announces New Accountability System for NYC Schools; (2) Students Achieve Record-High Scores!; (3) Use Data to Help Your Child Improve Performance; (4)…

This experiment involved college students (N = 464) working on an authentic learning task (writing an essay) under 3 conditions: no feedback, detailed feedback (perceived by participants to be provided by the course instructor), and detailed feedback (perceived by participants to be computer generated). Additionally, conditions were crossed with 2…

Describes one school district's approach to improving student achievement on standardized tests. Increased scores on the Scholastic Aptitude Test have not been the only positive result of this systemwide effort. Students and parents, for example, have become more conscientious about their course seletions. (CJH)

Analyzing growth rates and percentiles of achievement are two ways that school systems can evaluate school performance. Boards should also consider parent-teacher satisfaction, internal management systems, school board evaluation, and a number of other indicators. (MLF)

Students who chose to enroll in a supplemental course associated with a large biology lecture performed better on lecture exams than those students who chose not to enroll in the supplemental course. Sections of the supplemental course were taught with instructor-centered methods prior to some exams, student-centered methods prior to other exams,…

Improvement in black students' test scores is occurring nationwide, and an increasing number of black students are enrolling in demanding academic courses. Test scores can be a force for eliminating educational inequities and strengthening educational standards. (MLF)

Academic achievement is increasing in schools, but so is the dropout rate. Excellence in schools must be defined more broadly than the scores students earn on achievement tests. Concerns such as equity must be a part of the definition of excellence in education. It is essential that for some programs with disproportionate enrollments, educators…

Six anomalies in achievement test scores encountered by the Austin Independent School District are described. These include crossing gaps with uninterpolated medians; total group median declines while all subgroups' medians rise; outlying total percentiles; percentile and grade equivalent growth antithesis; same grade equivalent earning a…

Children, grades three through six, in Lawrence (Massachusetts) were studied during the 1986-87 school year to determine whether participation in the School Breakfast Program by low-income children is associated with improvements in standardized achievement test scores and attendance rates. Findings indicate that participation is associated with…

An ex post facto study examined third grade students' achievement test scores both before and after the adoption of a literature-based basal reading text. The experimental groups consisted of five third grade classes at Terre Town Elementary School (Indiana) for each of the years 1988 through 1993. Mean scores were plotted and data were visually…

This article details a 5-year evolution of a middle school mathematics faculty serving predominantly economically at-risk students. Faculty members worked to improve students' mathematics test scores, used a scripted curriculum, and integrated National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) standards-based activities. Schools nationwide are…

Through the Section 41, State Bilingual Education program and the E.C.I.A. Chapter 1, Migrant Education program, Saginaw public schools provide supplemental instruction and specialized services in 24 elementary and 6 secondary schools. In 1990-91, the bilingual program served 773 students, mostly Hispanic and some Laotian, while the migrant…

Recent reports have shown that black high school and college students do not fare well on standardized tests, possibly because they have not been successful when dealing with materials requiring analytical thinking in the past. Several psychologists have found that mental imagery can be used to increase motivation to achieve idealized goals.…

Tips on improving student test scores fall into two categories: format training and environmental conditions. Environmental conditions include notifying parents of the test, emphasizing the importance of the test, and giving the test in familiar surroundings. Format training includes explaining multiple-choice options and answer sheets. (MLF)

A study examined the effects of scheduling a language arts block at West Vigo Middle School (Indiana) in the 1993-94 school year in an attempt to show that ISTEP (Indiana Statewide Testing for Educational Progress) language arts and reading NCE (Normal Curve Equivalent) scores for eighth graders would increase. ISTEP scores for 1993 (before the…