From Politics to Policy

by Matthews, Joan M.; Swanson, Ronald G.; Kerker, Richard M.

• ISBN13: 9780275937362
• ISBN10: 0275937364
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1991-08-01
• Publisher: Praeger Pub Text

Summary

This collection of essays is a case study of a major educational reform enacted in Texas in 1987: an effort to test all entering college students to gauge their basic skills. The contributors were involved in implementing this reform, which aims to remedy academic deficiencies among college students and to retain students through graduation. The book chronicles how legislators, staff and educators designed the test, program, and necessary policies to support the reform. The essays in this book chronicle the work of legislators, staff, and educators in implementing House Bill 2182, which requires testing for all entering college students and mandates developmental education for students who fail to meet the established criteria. Among the issues discussed are test development, minority concerns, prevention of bias, handicapped needs, and program evaluation. From Politics to Policy presents a model for other states to emulate, and is valuable to students and teachers of education, policy analysis and psychometric testing, as well as to agencies and legislators involved in state-level educational reform.

Table of Contents

Foreword by Larry E. Temple

Introduction: Setting the Stage by Kenneth H. Ashworth

Getting Started: The Work of the Committee on Testing by Robert L. Hardesty and Joan M. Matthews

Legislative Response by Carl A. Parker and Wilhelmina Delco

Planning to Implement the Law by Richard M. Kerker, Ronald G. Swanson and Joan M. Matthews

Planning for Litigation and Testing: A Parallel Process by Kevin O'Hanlon

Minority Concerns: A Response to TASP by Albert H. Kauffman

Test Development by Paula M. Nassif and Richard M. Kerker

The Prevention of Bias by Milton R. Bryant, Jose Roberto Juarez, and Ronald G. Swanson

Addressing Special Needs: The Handicapped and Testing by Ronald G. Swanson and Pamela Tackett

Testing for Two Purposes: Teacher Education and Basic Skills Certification by Marvin Veselka and Nolan Wood and Pamela Tackett

Implementation in Community Colleges by Dan Angel, Roberto Reyes, and Charles B. Florio

Implementation in Universities by Richard C. Meyer, Robert D. Gratz, and H. Paul Kelley

Evaluating Effectiveness of TASK by Gary R. Hanson and Richard M. Kerker

Some Politics on the Way to Policy by William H. Sanford and Joan M. Matthews

After Implementation: The Role of the State by Joan M. Matthews and Elena de la Garza

Appendixes

Index