"U.S. News & World Report" has published a ranking of the top 50 MBA programs since 1990. Today, there are more than a half dozen different rankings of MBA programs and they are so popular and powerful, that prospective students, alumni, legislators, college presidents, deans, and admissions officers wait with bated breath to see where their…

The New Horizons for Primary Schools (NHP) was implemented in 72 government schools in Jamaica, from 1998-2005. The program provided support to schools on the basis of needs identified through the preparation of a School Development Plan (also called a School Improvement Plan). This independent evaluation report first compares the schools in the…

For decades, researchers examined the "achievement gap" between minority and nonminority students. This singular definition of "achievement gap" ignores important within-group differences. This article uses National Education Longitudinal Study (NELS:88) data to examine within-group differences and compares those across Latino, African American,…

In December 2004, the "Amarillo Globe News" reported on a "Dallas Morning News" story that analyzed state-mandated test scores from across Texas (Benton & Hacker, 2004; Wilson, 2004). According the "Amarillo Globe News," "the Dallas Morning News" study implicated Sunrise Elementary School, in Amarillo,…

This 18th "Annual Condition of Education Report" provides a wide range of demographics, statistics, and student achievement data to help Iowans better understand their public educational system. Much of the data in this report demonstrates that that Iowa continues to rate above national averages in areas such as student test scores,…

Problems in the measurement of gain in adult literacy programs were investigated through repeated testing of a group of students in adult basic education and General Educational Development classes and through computer simulations. Ninety-two students were tested at 3 different times over 7 months with a battery of norm-referenced reading and…

This report summarizes the school factors that affect the academic achievement of black urban high school students. An examination of changes in the academic achievement of the members of a class of 148 students between the sophomore and senior years found the following changes: (1) 4 percent of those who had been classified as "high achievers" as…

This paper describes a computerized system designed and developed for the purpose of simplifying and improving scoring and summarizing the achievement of students participating in Title I programs. The goal of the evaluation and reporting system is to provide meaningful and comparable information about Title I projects at the school building,…

A study was conducted to examine the relationship between the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores of freshmen entering Brenau College in Georgia and the likelihood of graduation from the institution. The basic research question was: Do proportionately more students entering Brenau with combined SAT scores at or above 800 persist to graduation at…

In response to the fact that technical standards for screening and placement tests must be more rigorous than those for readiness tests, the predictive validity of the Gesell School Readiness Tests (GSRT) was examined. The purpose of the GSRT, a commonly used screening instrument, is the assessment of children's developmental behaviors to aid in…

The theory and technology of item characteristic curve (ICC) response theory and adaptive testing were applied to judging individuals' competencies against a prespecified mastery level to determine whether each individual is a "master" or "nonmaster" of a specified content domain. Items from two conventionally administered mastery tests…

Three studies related to group interpretation of the subskills tested by the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS) were the focus of this project. These were the Impact Study, Teachers' Predictions of Student Performance on Subskills of Mathematics, and Relationships between the Results of ITBS. Mathematics Subtests and Stanford Diagnostic Mathematics…

This study attempted to establish the relationship of cognitive aptitudes and styles to measures of general and more subtle academic achievement. It was expected that the associations of aptitudes and styles to general measures of achievement would converge to form similar correlational patterns; associations of aptitudes to more subtle measures…

The magnet schools program in St. Louis supported seven elementary and three secondary level programs. In addition, three pilot programs on the secondary level were established. The programs were evaluated in terms of basic skills achievement and social relations (defined as decreased racial isolation). Statistical analyses of achievement data…

THE STEPS IN PLANNING AND CARRYING OUT THE INITIAL PROJECT ARE OUTLINED. THE PROJECT IS AIMED AT PROVIDING A SOUND FACTUAL BASIS WHICH WOULD ASSIST PARENTS, TEACHERS, AND SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS IN HELPING EACH INDIVIDUAL TO REALIZE HIS GREATEST POTENTIAL. TESTS WERE DEVISED TO ANALYZE APTITUDE, ACHIEVEMENT, INTEREST, AND PERSONALITY. THE 2-DAY TEST…