Six resource groups were created 0 to recommend measures of progress 0 toward the national goals adopted by 0 President Bush and the nation’s gov0 ernors.$e groups were assigned two L$principal tasks--to identify existing 0 data to use in the first progress re0 port, due out in September, and to 0 suggest new measures that might be 0 created for future reports.$
The National Education Goals L$Panel, headed by Gov. Roy Romer of 0 Colorado, is expected to decide on the 0 resource groups’ proposals in June, L0 following a series of regional hearings.4
Following is a summary, provided 0 by the national goals panel, of the 0 groups’ recommendations:
Goal 1:$Readiness for School(
The Readiness Resource Group 0 recommends approaches to meaL$suring school readiness that would 0 “expand rather than restrict the L0 opportunities of children.” The L$group said they “reject the notions 0 of linking student readiness evalu0 ations to school entry or to labeling 0 and tracking young children.” L$Rather, they propose raising public 0 awareness, monitoring state and L0 national progress, and guiding L$positive action to improve educa0 tional prospects for all children. L0 Data should be collected to address 0 five critical dimensions of readiL0 ness: physical well-being, emotion0 al maturity, social confidence, lan0 guage, and general knowledge. L$Data would be collected at three 0 points--before school, at school en0 trance, and during kindergarten.$ For the September 1991 report, L0 the Readiness Resource Group rec0 ommends reporting “before school” 0 readiness measures in child health 0 and nutrition, home and parenting 0 conditions, and preschool programs. 0 This would include:
Birthweight and prenatal care;$Nutritional status of children;
Children’s access to health care;$Parents’ age and education;$6
Home activities, such as reading 0 with parents;
Preschool-program participation 0 of low-income and disabled children; 0 and$;
Quality of preschool programs.$ For future reports, the readiness 0 group recommends development of 0 a national school-entry form that 0 would give schools information L$from parents or guardians about L incoming children and celebrate L the importance of starting school as a transition in their lives. They also recommend development of a health-screening exam at school L entry covering vision, hearing, im munization, and special disabilL$ ities, and development of an in-L school assessment profile based on observations of children, parent L$ and teachers’ reports, and a collec tion of students’ kindergarten L$ work.
Goal 2:$High-School Completion$(
The School Completion Resource Group said that it is imperative to improve national information on L high-school completion and drop outs, and to provide this informa tion for racial and ethnic minori ties. They advocate the long-term development of a national student- data-reporting system that will L$ provide useful information “not L$ only to the President and the gov ernors, but also to schools and L$ school districts, to help them inL04their day-to-day work with stuL dents.’'$
For the September 1991 report, L the group recommends reporting L$ data on:$5"
The proportion of all 19- and 20- year-olds who have any high-school credential;$%
The proportion of 19- and 20-L year-old completers by race and ethH nicity;
Annual dropout rates for 10th L through 12th graders;
Cohort dropout rates for 8th to 10th grade among 1980 and 1988 sophomores;0
Dropouts who go on to complete high school; and
State data on school completion, state-reported graduation rates by race and ethnicity, and state-report ed dropout data.
The resource group recommends long-term development of a nation al student-data system which L$ would use uniform definitions of L school completion and dropout and provide local schools information L on students who move across state and district lines. Such a system, they say, could produce early L$ warning of potential dropouts and enable local schools to match stu dents with needed services.$5?
Goal 3:$Student Achievement$ (
The Student Achievement ReL$ource Group suggests that a cur riculum-related national assessL$ent system be created. An L$xamination system, for which stu dents could prepare and toward L which teachers could teach, would be linked to national standards. L The resource group suggests that such a system would not only in form the nation whether the goal is being achieved, but would also im prove teaching and learning, and thus make achievement of the goal more likely. For the September 1991 report, L they recommend reporting:$
Student achievement scores from the National Assessment of Educa tional Progress;
The number of Advanced Place ment tests given and test scores Learned;$
High-school course enrollments;$3International student-achieveLment comparisons;A national poll on satisfaction L among the education system’s clients;$
State reports of their own moni toring of school-achievement reL$ sults.cw0 For the future, the resourceL$8group recommends beginning to L,evelop a nationwide assessment system in which states (or clusters of states) develop curriculum L$rameworks and exams based on L nationally defined standards. They envision a three-step process: en gaging in consensus-building on a national education-standards L0 framework for what students L$hould know and be able to do; cre ating a set of national anchor ex ams based directly on the frame work; and setting grading criteria for the exams. The intent is for an assessment system both to monitor the education system over all and to assess individual student Lachievement.$
Goal 4:$Science and Mathematics$0(
The Science and Mathematics L Resource Group stressed the need to report four sets of outcome mea sures--student achievement in sci ence and mathematics; enrollment in the higher-education science L$nd mathematics “pipeline"; the L strength of science and mathemat ics education; and the background 0 of teachers in science and mathe0 matics.$
For the September 1991 report, L0 the resource group recommends re0 porting:$-
For student achievement:
Scores and rankings from the L0 Second International Science and L0 Math Studies;$
Scores and rankings from the In0 ternational Assessment of EducaL$tional Progress (1988);0
Scores from naep;$
Survey items from naep and the 0 1985-86 Survey of Science and L$Mathematics Education relating to 0 student and staff attitudes toward 0 the subjects.
For effective teaching in science L0 and mathematics:$
Carefully selected information L$on instructional practices and teach0 er characteristics.$
For enrollment in the science and 0 mathematics “pipeline":$
Numbers of higher-education L$graduates (from the Integrated L$Postsecondary Education Data Sys0 tem); and0
Numbers of graduate-student L$enrollees (from the Survey of Grad$uate Students and Post-Doctorates).0
For future progress reports:0
Collecting information on aware0 ness, adoption, and use of standards 0 for curriculum and learning goals;$Developing a method to trace in0 vestments at all levels in science L0 and mathematics education;$5
Collecting information about L$state policies regarding curriculum, 0 instruction, and assessment in sci0 ence and mathematics; and$
Supporting new research and de0 velopment initiatives that support 0 the creation of new assessment exer0 cises and strategies.
Goal 5: Adult Literacy And Lifelong Learning3(
The Adult Literacy and Lifelong 0 Learning Resource Group said lit0 eracy encompasses a broad array of 0 knowledge and skills ranging from 0 the most basic competencies to L$those necessary for the nation to be 0 economically competitive, to exL$pectations for our college graduL0 ates. The group recommends reL0 porting on a wide range of L$indicators so a full picture of adult 0 literacy and lifelong learning can 0 emerge. These include:$
Scores from the 1985 naep Young 0 Adult Literacy Survey;0
Department of Labor Assessment of Special Populations’ Literacy L$
Skills;
Armed Service Vocational AptiL$ tude Battery;0
Department of Labor Workforce L Participation Survey;$
National Household Education L$ Survey;$
Integrated Postsecondary Educa tion Data System; and$ =
New state surveys.$ +
Over the long term, the group suggested that other indicators be added and that new data systems be developed. The other indicators include: the National Adult Liter acy Survey; the Secretary’s Com mission on Achieving Necessary L Skills; national surveys and pub lic-opinion polls; student enrollL$ ments and progress in postseconH dary institutions; and the L0 knowledge and skills of graduating seniors.$/
The resource group said that fur ther work needs to be done to find ways to assess progress in this area. The group also notes that a new as, sessment would have to be created if the panel wishes to assess the extent of the nation’s college graduates’ L ability to think critically, communi cate effectively, and solve problems. Potential system improvements in clude more frequent adult-literacy surveys, developing literacy target scores representing desired skill and knowlege levels for American L$ adults, and developing an interna tional survey of workforce compe tencies.$
Goal 6: Safe, Disciplined,+And Drug-Free Schools(
The resource group for Goal 6 con siders being free of drugs, being free of violence and crime, and attaining an orderly environment conducive to learning to be separate and essen tial elements of good schooling, and likely preconditions to achieving the other goals.$4
The resource group recommends the following indicators, for which long-term national data exist, be L used for the September 1991 report:
Student use of drugs;$ 9
Peer norms regarding drug use;$
Drug use in school;
Victimization in school;0
Feeling safe in school;$ =
Weapons at school; and0
Student and teacher perception of disruptions interfering with L$ learning.
In future progress reports, the re
source group recommends the devel opment of data for new indicators to include:$-Being under the influence of L$0 drugs at school;
Sale or distribution of drugs at school; and$
Regular data on crime and vic
timization.$
The resource group also recomL mends the development of certain cross-goal “super” indicators, such involvement, which have imporL$0 tance for more than a single goal; the development of a detailed tech nical report (suitable for drug or jus tice professionals) to accompany the necessarily short progress report; L and the encouragement of good local data through state reporting efforts to support local program developL ment.0