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This report presents annual data on the amount of financial assistance--grants, loans, and work-study--available to students to help pay for postsecondary education. The College Board began this data series in 1983 to track the value of financial aid over time from federal, state, and institutional sources. The report also contains information on federal education tax credits and unsubsidized loans to students. Students received more than $105 billion in financial aid for undergraduate and graduate study in 2002-2003, an increase of 12% after adjusting for inflation. Grant aid grew by 10% in real terms, while education loan volume rose by 14%. Grant aid per full-time equivalent (FTE) grew 9% in constant dollars, compared to a 13% increase in loans per FTE. Part of the increase is an increase in enrollment, but aid itself has increased. Aid from every source has more than doubled in constant dollars over the decade. Federal aid increased 120% in real terms, compared to 107% for state grants and 122% for institutional grant aid. In 2002-2003, loans constituted 54% of total aid; grants, 40%; work, 1%; and education tax credits, 5%. The federal government provides more than $70 billion in student aid during 2002-2003. Of this loans represented 69%, down from 78% in 1997-1998, but higher than the 64% a decade ago. More detailed information is presented about federal direct loan programs, parent loans, nonfederal loans, Pell grants, state programs, and institutional aid. The affordability gap and the distinction between need-based and nonneed-based aid are discussed. Four appendixes present supplemental data in table form. (Contains 15 tables and 12 figures.) (SLD)

This framework document describes the content and format of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) mathematics assessments of 1996, 2000, and 2003. Five content strands are discussed in the NAEP mathematics assessment: (1) number sense, properties, and operations; (2) measurement; (3) geometry and spatial sense; (4) data analysis, statistics, and probability; and (5) algebra and functions. The level of mathematical ability, including conceptual understanding, procedural knowledge, and problem solving, is regarded as playing a central role in defining item descriptors and achieving balance across the tasks for each grade level in the NAEP mathematics assessment. The framework reflects an integrated view of school mathematics. Percentage of items allotted to each of the five strands, families of tasks/items to measure the depth of student knowledge in mathematics, items requiring students to construct a response, manipulative materials used to measure student knowledge and problem-solving abilities, and review for potential item bias are also discussed. (KHR)

This annual report describes the status and progress of the College Board, a national nonprofit membership association dedicated to preparing, inspiring, and connecting students to college and opportunity. The association is composed of more than 3,900 schools, colleges, universities, and other educational organizations. Each year the College Board serves more than three million students and their parents, 22,000 high schools, and 3,500 colleges through its programs and services. In 2001, the College Board achieved steady advances and widespread program developments. One of the most gratifying was the relaunch of collegeboard.com, the online affiliate of the College Board. The Board expanded its team of information technology professionals, redesigned, and improved existing Web sites, and made acquisitions that broadened the scope of online services. The College Board has also begin to reach out to middle school students through several initiatives, including the development of a diagnostic teaching tool for skill improvement and efforts to create aligned curricula. Recent accomplishments, including the establishment to strategic relationships with business and educational organizations, place the College Board in a position for greater success in the future. Combining new technological enhancements with strengthened professional relationships will help the College Board maintain its place as the preeminent organization striving to connect students to college and opportunity. (SLD)

This report presents findings from an evaluation of the National Science Foundation's (NSF's) Urban Systemic Initiative (USI) program in 22 large urban school districts. The USI program has supported educational reform in large public school districts that have a high percentage of students living in poverty and has directed its efforts toward the improvement of mathematics and science achievement in these schools. The NSF's Six Drivers of Systemic Reform provided a framework for USI implementation, focusing on standards-based curriculum and instruction, aligned assessment, policies, professional development, convergence of resources, leadership, and partnerships. The report presents evidence of noteworthy gains in student achievement, with the greatest gains seen in districts participating in the USI program for the longest period of time. Urban students in USI districts have substantially increased their enrollment rates in mathematics and science gatekeeping and higher level courses. Under-represented minority students made even greater enrollment gains than their peers during the same time period, resulting in reduced enrollment disparities. More 11th and 12th graders are taking college entrance examinations, indicating that more students aspire to pursue higher education. These advances are accompanied by evidence that urban districts are developing the infrastructure to sustain achievement gains (policies encouraging enrollment in gatekeeping and higher level mathematics and science courses, strengthened professional development, new ways of managing partnerships and resources, and data-driven accountability systems). (SM)

The College Board launched the National Task Force on Minority High Achievement in 1997. The primary mission of this Task Force has been to develop recommendations for how segments of U.S. society can work to increase the number of under-represented minority students who achieve at high levels academically. This report contains Task Force recommendations for action, along with a review of what has been learned over the years about why differences in educational outcomes persist among racial and ethnic groups in the United States. The Task Force has concluded that, if the number of top African American, Latino, and Native American students is to grow rapidly, promoting their achievement must become a priority at all levels of the educational system. Colleges and universities, along with state education systems, should create information systems designed to monitor progress and help inform efforts to design more effective strategies. At the K-12 level, the Task Force recommends that local, state, and federal leaders place the goal of increasing the number of top minority students high on the school reform agenda. The Task Force also recommends increased access to high-quality preschool and parent education programs and improved supplemental programs targeting minority students. The Task Force is calling for a policy of affirmative development across many sectors of society. An appendix contains a table with data about children of different racial/ethnic groups as measures by parents' education characteristics. (Contains 136 references.) (SLD)

The content and objectives of the Pacesetter Spanish course, developed by the College Board, are compared with those of the "National Standards for Foreign Language Learning: Preparing for the Twenty-First Century," published in 1996 and are generally adopted by the foreign language teaching community. The comparison begins with the curricular focus, noting the correspondence between the course's three specific outcomes and the five goals stated in the "Standards." Next, ways in which the Pacesetter course meets the national standards' goals in grades eight and twelve are assessed by comparing sample progress indicators in the standards and Pacesetter course outcomes statements for the same grade levels. Finally, two modules of the Pacesetter Spanish unit 1 are described and compared with progress indicators from the national standards. It is concluded that there is a high degree of concordance between the course and the national standards. It is noted that the Pacesetter Spanish course is designed as a high school course, whereas the standards envision longer sequences of study and present twelfth-grade progress indicators that may be difficult for Pacesetter Spanish students to achieve. (MSE)

With the goal of academic excellence for all students in mind, The College Board's EQUITY 2000 educational reform program was designed to test the hypothesis that enrollment and success in the gatekeeper courses of algebra and geometry will bridge the gap of achievement and college-going rates between minority/nonminority students and economically advantaged/disadvantaged students. As such, the project's goal is not only to bring about change in student achievement levels but also to influence educational policies and practices with regard to tracking, professional development, guidance and counseling, and educational leadership within and across the school districts that participated in the pilot phase of the effort. This report provides a summary of what the evaluation efforts suggest thus far about the project's overall effectiveness at the six pilot sites. Given the length of the program's pilot phase and the long-term outcomes it seeks (i.e., closing the gap in college-going rates), it is not yet possible to document the full effects of EQUITY 2000. Thus, the conclusions reached in this report are based on the reviews of the project's initial set of indicators such as growth in enrollment and achievement in algebra and geometry; changes in teaching practices in mathematics classrooms; as well as shifts in attitudes and perceptions of faculty, staff, and students about learning at higher levels and subsequent success in college. This report aims to inform and assist a variety of stakeholders including the College Board's leadership, the program's executive director, and others as they plan and coordinate efforts for the dissemination of EQUITY 2000. Appended to the document are enrollment comparisons for algebra and geometry, 1991-1997. (ASK)

This report was designed to provide complete and comparable statistics on student aid for all California postsecondary institutions from 1990 through 1994. It includes information on all major sources of financial aid, the types of aid available, the amount of funding for each type, and the distribution of student aid dollars among the three public postsecondary education sectors (the University of California, California State University, and California Community College systems) and the independent colleges and universities. The data indicate that: (1) financial aid has not kept pace with increases in the costs of higher education; (2) most of the current financial aid available is in the form of loans, leading to a rapid increase in student borrowing; (3) most of the increase in grant aid at public institutions has come from student fee dollars "recycled" for financial aid to other students; and (4) University of California students now receive more state grant aid dollars than students from private institutions. The results of this study reinforce the need for public debate about the role of student aid in the funding of higher education. Graphs and tables present details of the study's findings. (MDM)

The development of the 1997 assessment of arts education marks the third time music and the visual arts have been addressed in a national assessment. Using the consensus process, a framework was produced that describes the 1997 assessment. The process was founded on the vision of a society that believes the arts are essential to every child's complete development. Every child needs to experience enough of the discipline, the challenge, and the joy of creating in different art forms to intimately understand the human significance of dance, music, theater, and the visual arts. Using an issues paper as a guiding force, the framework team considered a series of questions: (1) how can the 1997 arts assessment combine realism and vision; (2) what is the model of arts learning that will inform the kinds of exercises and examples developed for the assessment; (3) what methods of assessment should be used; (4) should the definition be cut so sharply into four strands (dance, music, theater, visual arts); (5) whose art; (6) who will be sampled for the assessment; and (7) how will it be possible to examine student performance in various aspects of an arts discipline in ways that are safe and valid. The proposed assessment consists of a series of exercises for all students in the sample; at least one special study; and a series of background questions. Both processes (creating, performing/interpreting, and responding) and content are applied in combination and integrated at various levels. (JH)

Students with high scores (top third) on the essay portion of an Advanced Placement Examination (AP) (College Board) and low scores (bottom third) on the multiple-choice portion of the same examination were compared with students whose performance showed the opposite pattern. Across examinations in different subject areas (history, English, and biology) students who were relatively strong in the essay format and weak in the multiple-choice format were about as successful in their college courses as students who showed the opposite pattern, especially in courses where grades are not typically determined by multiple choice tests. Across several ethnic/racial groups, males tended to receive relatively high scores on the multiple-choice portion of the AP United States History Examination while females received higher scores on the essays than the multiple-choice questions. Because the population of students who take the AP Examinations is exceptionally able, generalizations to less able students are not warranted. Nine tables present study data. (Contains 14 references.) (Author/SLD)

Recent studies have found substantial reductions in gender differences in the prediction of academic achievement in colleges when variations in grading standards among courses were taken into account. This project examined gender differences in the prediction of freshman grades after controlling for differential course grading based on college majors. This method involved deriving variables that measured grading leniency using residual scores from the within-gender regressions of freshman grades on high school grades and scores on the Scholastic Aptitude Test for the non-Latino white group. The procedure worked quite well and generalized to other groups not involved in the derivation of the grading leniency scale. Nevertheless, there were modest, sometimes statistically significant, gender differences in prediction that remained after this control variable was introduced into the regressions. The largest and smallest differences for females between actual grades and grades predicted from the males' regressions tended to be found in African American and Asian American groups respectively. The results imply that the use of information on college majors is a reasonable, practical procedure for controlling grading leniency. Thirteen tables present analysis results. (Contains 32 references.) (Author/SLD)

Policies and practices related to grading at 14 colleges and universities (8 public and 6 private) and how they have changed between 1980 and 1990 were studied along with the grading orientations and practices of over 500 faculty members. Changes between 1980 and 1990 that may have affected grades include greater prescription of the curriculum, greater differentiation in grading systems, and increased use of student evaluations of faculty members. While none of the department chairpersons said there were specific departmental grading policies, about one quarter of the faculty felt that there was a policy of grading against specific standards, and about two-thirds said that their departments expected them to grade against specific standards, even though there was no defined policy. Some faculty members perceived grades as formal and objective, while others thought they could not be reduced to objective measures. Most believed that grades are higher than they used to be because faculty expects less of students today. Eighty-one percent of faculty said they sometimes used a criterion-referenced approach, but only 64% said they used it most often. Twenty-nine percent used a norm-referenced approach most often. Twenty-four tables present study findings. (Contains 91 references.) (SLD)

Data from the 1980 High School and Beyond (HSB) study are used to examine the variables associated with the grades that college-bound high school sophomores received in English, algebra, and geometry courses. Special concerns included determining if gender differences in high school grades could be explained, and how teachers' perceptions of students, student characteristics, and HSB test scores were related to grades. A model of factors that might explain grades was developed that includes student background and characteristics, attitudes, curriculum, educational aspirations, school behaviors, and scores on HSB tests. The full models explained 46% of variance in English grades, 42% in algebra, and 44% in geometry. The full models tended to explain more variance in males' than females' grades. After controlling for all the variables in the full models, a significant association between gender and grades remained for English and algebra 1, but no such association was found for algebra 2 or geometry. Teacher perceptions were also significantly associated with gender, suggesting gender-related expectations for students. Two figures and 25 tables present study findings. (Contains 36 references.) (SLD)

This report provides statistical data illustrating trends in student aid from 1983 to 1993 including revised figures for the 1980s. In addition, it reports changes in the costs of attending college and in family incomes. The data represents virtually all federal aid and the vast majority of state and institutional assistance available to students in postsecondary education. All data are reported in constant (adjusted for inflation) dollars, as well as in current dollars. Tables 1 through 8 provide a variety of statistics on student aid, family income, and college costs for the period 1983-84 through 1992-93. Appendix tables provide basic program statistics for all years in the data base back to 1963-64. Among the data reported are that: (1) total available student aid in 1992-93 was $34.6 billion, 41 percent higher (adjusted for inflation) than a decade before; (2) in academic year 1992-93, the federal government provided 74 percent of available student aid; (3) in the 1992-93 academic year the largest single source of aid was the Federal Family Education Loans Program; (4) in the 1990s, costs of college attendance, particularly tuition and fees, have been rising more rapidly in public than in private institutions of higher education; and (5) the share of funds going to proprietary school students from Pell Grants and Stafford Loans began to decline after 1987. (GLR)

Based on initial Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) Verbal pretest data and hypotheses advanced in the research literature, 7 sentence completion and 16 analogy items with extreme levels of differential item functioning (DIF) were selected and then systematically revised and re-administered in an attempt to reduce or eliminate DIF. The apparent success of the effort makes similar attempts worth continuing. The particular terminology used in stems and keys, rather than the underlying skill being measured, seemed to be a recurring source of DIF in the SAT-Verbal items. Larger sample sizes, especially for minority focal groups, would help to stabilize the DIF categories used by Educational Testing Service (ETS) test developers. In addition, because the ETS delta metric is unbounded at the extremes, the use of both the Standardization (p-metric) and Mantel-Haenszel (delta-metric) methodologies is recommended for classifying the level of DIF for very easy and very difficult items. Further research is suggested to study the possible relationship between DIF and predictive validity. Nine tables and four figures present analysis results. An appendix summarizes DIF hypotheses. (Contains 26 references.) (Author/SLD)

It has been reasonably well established that test takers can sometimes answer correctly some reading comprehension passages without reading the passages on which the questions are based. This issue was studied with the new Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) in a study designed to determine the strategies by which examinees are able to achieve better-than-chance performances without reading the passages. Sets of sample reading comprehension questions were administered, without passages, to 350 verbally-able students in 8 secondary schools across the country. After completing the task, students were asked to complete a questionnaire describing the strategies they had used. The most often cited strategies involved choosing answers on the basis of consistency with other questions and reconstructing the main theme of a missing passage from all the questions and answers in a set. These strategies were also more likely to result in successful performance on individual test items than any of the many other possible approaches. Implications for the construct validity of the new SAT are discussed. One figure and 14 tables present analysis results. (Contains 25 references.) (Author/SLD)

This study examined student writing over the past decades. The National Study of Writing Instruction addressed questions through analyses of existing data sets, particularly those from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), which include background questions on instructional practices in U.S. middle and high schools. NAEP assessments in all subject areas ask a series of background questions completed by administrators, teachers, and students about key features of the school, classroom curriculum and instruction, home and community background, and teachers' preparation. These data offer an opportunity to examine the kinds of writing experiences and instruction being offered to varying populations of students and to relate these to student performance. Long-term trend data for both writing and reading show a remarkable stability in levels of achievement over time. Despite small ups and downs, by and large, student writing proficiency has kept steady. Gaps between more-advantaged and less-advantaged students also continue, even with a slight upturn in writing achievement between 1998 and 2002 at Grades 4 and 8. Results indicate large-scale studies of schools across the country are needed to answer questions and lay out a national agenda for writing instruction, one that ensures all students are being prepared to write well. (Contains 36 figures.)

This monograph summarizes discussions focusing on postsecondary diversity at two regional meetings attended by senior representatives of 22 state higher education agencies. The meetings addressed the effects of recent challenges to affirmative action and discussed the actions institutions are taking or are contemplating in the face of these challenges. Research on the economic value of and differential access to higher education is summarized, as are influences on state policy environments by such events as lawsuits challenging affirmative action admissions and student aid policies, voter referenda modifying state affirmative action laws, and higher education board policies eliminating affirmative action programs. Current state initiatives discussed include strategic plans for diversity, K-16 initiatives, teacher education, early outreach, need-based student aid and state scholarship programs, merit-based programs, communications, coordination with business leaders, and public relations. The report also summarizes a recent research study suggesting admissions guidelines which consider a student's likely long-term contribution to society. Finally, eight specific research subjects (such as characteristics of effective early outreach programs) and seven action steps (such as aligning K-12 and postsecondary education) are recommended. An appendix lists recent policy activities in selected states. (Contains 25 endnotes.) (DB)

High school graduate projections from late 1987 to the year 2004 are made for total public and nonpublic high school graduates for all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Patterns in historical data are analyzed at the state level and aggregated to the regional and national level. The projections are based on a cohort survival method, which assumes that enrollments and graduates can be projected by measuring the survival or transition of birth cohorts into first grade and then from one grade level to the next. Projections include: the number of nonpublic graduates is expected to decrease 17% before the year 2000; in the West, the decreases in the early 1990s will be less severe and the recovery in the late 1990s will be more pronounced than in other regions; in the south/southcentral region, one-half the states will experience increases in high school graduates by year 2004, led by Florida with more than a 60% increase; all the northcentral states will experience decreases in the size of the graduating class prior to 1992, including drops of more than 12% in four states; and all the northeast states will experience substantial decreases in their graduating classes by the early 1990s. Information on the research methodology and examples on state historical data worksheets are provided. (SW)

This report explores some of the complexities involved in setting, maintaining, and judging standards in higher education, and examines the interactive effects that the standards of schools and colleges have on each other, with special emphasis on the implications of selective college admission practices. Focus is on whether current standards are really as low as feared and whether local and state attempts to raise them have met with success. The report is organized into four focal points at which the standards within any particular segment of the educational system can be set and evaluated. First, the level of preparation of students when they enter a program determines what kind of curriculum can be offered. Second, what students learn will be determined by what content is offered to them and also by how it is offered. Third, standards are both set and reflected by procedures for judging student progress. Fourth, the level of mastery students have achieved when they are certified as having completed the program is an important indicator of the standards in effect. Additional discussions include college outcomes assessment and the difficulties in their measurement, and the determination of institutional quality. Contains 86 references. (GLR)

This study looks at the evolution of the financial aid process as a function of higher education administration and its impact on the recruitment and retention of college students. It illustrates the effects on enrollment of differing financial aid strategies and recommends possible directions for meeting the challenges of the 21st century. Discussions focus on the following topics: (1) the institutional need for financial aid; (2) the relationship of aid and costs; (3) programs that work in reverse; and (4) targeting of financial aid to enrollment goals. The following financial aid packages are also examined: uniform self-help; self-help varied by ability to borrow; self-help varied by desirability; self-help varied by ability to borrow and desirability; admit/deny; aid-conscious admission; merit awards; renewals; equity packaging; and differential and preferential packaging. Contains 48 references. (GLR)

This report examines how students, especially those with high abilities, choose a college based on information from four areas: (1) published research comparing various schools' subjects as well as some unpublished comparative data from various sources; (2) young adult fiction that deals with issues related to college choice; (3) media accounts of college admission and college choice; and (4) conversations with other students in the process of choosing colleges. The report discusses the basis for the choices made by students, the other people who influence choice, what students and parents want to know about colleges and what they already know, and the financial and psychological costs associated with getting into college. The book concludes with observations about what is really known about college choice decisions, the problems with students' sources of information, behavioral considerations, and a discussion of some of the public interest and policy questions needing to be addressed. Contains 86 references. (GLR)

In this book, a professional historian provides a personal narrative of how he thinks about teaching history. While the historian's experience seems, at first glance, to be removed from that of secondary teachers, it is to such teachers that his account is directed. The historian stresses that the essential questions about teaching history are the same at all levels. The document opens the practice of a historian to view, and in so doing asks teachers to examine their assumptions about their work. The historian's own assumptions about teaching history include: student misconceptions must be explored, not ignored; teachers must be models of mindfulness; strong teaching includes values and choices; a "basic skills" approach postpones learning; the meaning of "higher order skills" must be reexamined; authentic materials prompt thinking; and students know more than educators think. A 29-item list of references is included. (DB)