Advanced Placement (AP), launched in 1955 by the College Board as a program to offer gifted high school students the opportunity to complete entry-level college coursework, has since expanded to encourage a broader array of students to tackle challenging content. This Education Commission of the State's Policy Analysis identifies key components of…

The authors examined the relationships of ACT Aspire test scores and high school course grades, AP test scores, and Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) test scores, demonstrating criterion-related as well as convergent and discriminant validity evidence. They found that ACT Aspire test scores are strong…

This report provides educators and policymakers with information they can use to celebrate their successes, understand their unique challenges, and set meaningful goals to increase opportunity for all students. It is important to note that while AP® Exams are valid measures of students' content mastery of college-level studies in specific academic…

This report was commissioned by Mid-America Regional Council and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation to gain an understanding of the current state of Career and Technical Education (CTE) in nine counties of the Kansas City region: Missouri counties of Cass, Clay, Jackson, Platte, and Ray; and Kansas counties of Johnson, Leavenworth, Miami, and…

In grade 8 (the only grade in which subgroup trends were analyzed by achievement level), Arkansas showed across-the-board gains--improvements in reading and math at the basic, proficient and advanced levels for all racial/ethnic subgroups, low income students, and boys and girls. The gains were quite large in most instances, especially at the…

This year the Center on Education Policy (CEP) analyzed data on the achievement of different groups of students in two distinct ways. First, it looked at grade 4 test results to determine whether the performance of various groups improved at three achievement levels--basic and above, proficient and above, and advanced. Second, it looked at gaps…

Foster care's impact on academic development was investigated for 392 students reentering foster care. Psychoeducational evaluation was performed at initial and return placements. Average achievement increased 0.22 points between placements. Students reentering care did not show differences in achievement or IQ compared to control students with a…

Southern Regional Education Board's (SREB's) "High Schools That Work" ("HSTW") initiative works with more than 1,100 schools in 30 states and the District of Columbia to improve school and classroom practices and prepare more students for success in postsecondary studies, advanced training and careers. Forty-nine Arkansas…

The equity audit is a new tool with remarkable power to identify, analyze, and evaluate a given school districts' quality control. In three case study school districts located in urban areas of New York, North Carolina, and Arkansas, considerable inconsistency and incongruity were documented in student placement practices, promotion and retention…

State legislation that has contributed to the reduction of Arkansas' tax base is described in this paper. Amendment 59, adopted in 1980, has reduced the state tax base by millions of dollars. At the end of 1992, the majority of school districts have equalized their real, personal, and carrier and utility property. Act 34, the current foundation…

With strong backing from the federal government, states and school districts are in the midst of a major push to put technology in the hands of America's teachers and students. Their efforts seek to equip schools and classrooms with computers, educational software, school-based computer networks, and links to both statewide and global information…

This report documents the results to date of reforms underway from Strong Start Arkansas, one of the six systems that make up the first phase of the Strong Start to Finish initiative, an initiative of Education Commission of the States. Building on previous initiatives, Strong Start Arkansas (SSARK) was created as a partnership between the…

"Success for All" ("SFA")[R] is a comprehensive school reform model that includes a reading, writing, and oral language development program for students in pre-kindergarten through grade eight. Its underlying premise is that all children can and should be reading at grade level by the end of third grade and then remain at grade…

As universities continually update and assess their curriculums, mainframe computing is quite often overlooked as it is often thought of as "legacy computer." Mainframe computing appears to be either uninteresting or thought of as a computer past its prime. However, both assumptions are leading to a shortage of IS professionals in the…

A study was conducted to understand better a common problem in job development efforts in rehabilitation--the poor returns of mailed-out surveys and, therefore, identification of few job leads for further cultivation. Two experimental job development investigations were used, one with large firms and one with small firms, to examine the effect of…