Admission policies and academic standards are seen as two problem areas. The changes in admission policies and educational standards are examined and their impact upon each other is discussed along with the meaning of standards, adaptive instruction, academic placement and exemption, testing and grading practices, program assessment, etc. (MLW)

Testing can serve an important function in the selective admissions process, but the emphasis should be shifted from measurement to assessment of learning, from people evaluation to program evaluation, and from a concern with aptitude to a concern with accomplishment. Such changes would help testing improve teaching and learning. (Author/JMD)

A survey questionnaire was distributed to admissions officers at 63 undergraduate institutions in the northeastern U.S. and Ohio to assess the range of practices and points of view concerning the effect of advanced placement course work and examination scores on the admission process at these institutions. Results suggest considerable variance in…

A study investigated effectiveness of a University of Southern Queensland (Australia) program to improve access to higher education for disadvantaged groups. Results suggest that, although the program improves access, it has inherent inequities, does not provide adequate student support, and does not consider student readiness for the demands of…

One essential factor in educational reform is the quality of teacher education candidates. Raising admission standards for students in teacher education programs is one of the most common means of increasing the quality of candidates. This article discusses the pros and cons of teacher and teacher candidate testing. (SM)

The article begins by setting out a confluence of events that initiated a proposal to attract students from Taiwan to a new EdD program in Australia, and then explores the tensions and congruities that ensue from this scenario. The main tensions and congruities revolved around issues of standards, quality, English-language levels, profit motives,…

This handbook provides an overview of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and aims to help medical schools to review and refine their institutional policies to conform with the ADA. The background section describes the 1973 Rehabilitation Act which prohibits discrimination solely on the basis of disability of an "otherwise…

This article describes the origins, evolution, and development of a comprehensive civic engagement program designed to encourage Ivy League students to pursue public service careers with nonprofits and municipal government organizations serving New York City's poorest children, families, and neighborhoods. The article offers a detailed description…

This manual presents an admissions scattergram as a tool to help school counselors who are working with high school students making college decisions. The approach described in the manual encourages student initiative in exploring, discovering, and deciding by following a rational process of understanding how to make an appropriate decision. An…

A description is given of the efforts taken by the elementary education department at a medium-sized mid-western state university to create and implement a restrictive admissions process. An unpredicted influx of students attempting to register for the three pre-professional courses required for program admission brought into focus the necessity…

The ability of the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT) and undergraduate grade point average (GPA) to predict success in medical school was studied, and two complementary methods of determining if the tests are biased against ethnic groups were examined. Data from 497 majority and 82 minority medical students at the College of Human Medicine at…

Employers and school admissions officials must consider several factors when making choices among applicants, particularly when faced with a need to increase selection of minority group members. Should different standards be applied to different groups? Will acceptance of less qualified applicants from one group affect the overall quality of the…

The literature on affirmative action and preferential admissions in higher education from 1970 to the present is reviewed in this annotated bibliography. The three parts focus on: (1) The Law and the Courts; (2) The Academic Community Response; and (3) The Philosophical Debate. Each section is preceded by an extensive introduction that analyzes…

Prevailing animosity toward blacks in New England prior to the Civil War is demonstrated in this case study of Prudence Crandall's attempt to establish a school for Negro girls in Canterbury, Connecticut, in 1833. Prudence Crandall, a quaker schoolmistress, was the successful proprietor of a school for girls from socially prominent families in…

Those responsible for selection for employment or schooling should use unbiased procedures which predict individual performance, evaluate individuals, and identify the highest ranked individuals. The problem of personnel selection can be viewed as a problem in decision theory in which group membership (race, age, religion) provides a certain…