A study was conducted at Miami-Dade Community College (M-DCC), in Florida, to measure the preparedness of Dade County Public School (DCPS) graduates for the state's community colleges and universities. Data was compiled from Basic Skills Tests taken by all first-time-in-college students attending Florida community colleges and universities during…

The average overall Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) score for high school seniors in 1994 remained at 902 of a possible 1600. Math scores showed a one-point gain whereas the average verbal scire fell one point. Despite recent improvements in minority group scores, these dropped or remained stable in 1994. Math and verbal test scores for specific…

The first "recentering" of Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) scores in 50 years is described. As of April 1995, test results are reported in terms of a new reference group, high school students graduating in 1990. The history of SAT scoring, suggested reasons for test score declines, and implications of the change are discussed. (MSE)

Reports the increase of the black-white scoring gap on the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT). As race-sensitive college admissions decline, these scores present barriers to educational progress by Blacks in selective institutions. Explains the scoring gap noting why so few Blacks have top SAT scores and thus will be shut out of major universities…

This report addresses the unstable and unsatisfactory performance of Chicago, Illinois' Olive-Harvey College's (OHC) associate degree nursing (ADN) graduates on the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN). An ex post facto correlation study was designed to determine the worthiness of pre-nursing admission course…

Extensive testing data from federal, state, and private sources indicate that Indiana students underperform their peers in most other states. Contrary to conventional wisdom, the shortcomings of Indiana students relative to students elsewhere are most severe among students from middle- and upper-income families. Forty percent of 3rd-graders, 52…

Argues that strategies to improve inner-school black student's test scores often include disguised affirmative action components and suggests that such strategies are not likely to close the racial gap in school performance. Provides an examination of affirmative action's argument against testing and tracking and discusses policy implications. (GR)

Data from nine representative U.S. population samples in the General Social Survey data file for 1974 through 1990 confirm systematic declines in verbal scores for cohorts born after World War II, with the trend beginning earlier. The importance of social change must be acknowledged in trend analysis. (SLD)

Determining the overall pass rates on the College-Level Academic Skills Test (CLAST) for a given cohort of students involves an analysis of both the first-time examinee performance and subsequent pass rates of students who failed the test and retook it at a later date. Two increases in the scores required to pass the CLAST in 1986 and 1989 have…

Examines British national examination results and related trends in the declining level of performance in modern languages relative to other subjects, suggesting that this trend to underperform in modern languages may be due in part to the relative difficulty of the examinations. The paper proposes strategies to help teachers become more rigorous…

Many Americans share the belief that public education is in crisis; however, a number of researchers have challenged that assumption. This document examines what research reveals about public education in the United States and its students. Further, it distinguishes the areas in which education can affect children from the areas that lie beyond…

This report gives the results of the Primary Assessment Program (PAP) in Aboriginal schools (Australia) for the 1987 school year. The purpose of PAP is to provide instructional feedback on student achievement in reading and mathematics and to provide indicators of performance for public reporting. All Aboriginal schools which had students in grade…

This paper estimates the effects of state-imposed curriculum mandates on the test scores of public-school students who took the SAT in 2001. By 1998, 14 states had mandates that high-school students should take an economics course. For these states, the proportion of public-school students taking high-school economics was around twice that of…

Provides 35 articles that address such topics as black enrollment in higher education, declining black Scholastic Aptitude Test scores, abolishing race-based admissions in California, and the quality of doctoral programs at black universities. Several articles address educational financial support, the black experience at Ivy League colleges and…

The documented decline in test scores of the 1960s and 1970s and the unclear picture since then result from educational and noneducational factors. Aspects of the misuse of test scores are (1) simplistic interpretation of performance trends; (2) unsupported evaluations of schooling; and (3) a reductionist view of education. (SLD)