Trends in School Improvement: Regional Test Results, 1984-1989.

As part of an overall regional needs assessment, an overview is provided of testing programs in the mid-Atlantic region, consisting of: the District of Columbia; Delaware; Maryland; New Jersey; and Pennsylvania. The testing programs vary widely by objective and approach. One of the major needs assessment activities is the examination of student performance data related to designated learning goals for each jurisdiction. From the diverse types of data, analysis has yielded individual state performance trends and regional performance trends. Scores were converted to a standard score metric to enable meaningful comparisons of gross student performance trends. Major conclusions include the following: (1) reading achievement scores fluctuated from 1984 to 1989, with improvement for elementary and secondary grades and stability or decline for intermediate grades; (2) for the whole period, there was overall improvement in mathematics, with some declines in 1988 and 1989; (3) overall results for 1989, while generally positive, were not as strong as those for previous years; (4) students in the region generally performed above national norms on standardized tests, and scores were particularly high for the elementary school level; (5) most students met minimum proficiency scores established by the states; and (6) scores on the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) tended to be below the national average, but regional SAT scores improved from 1988 to 1989. Each state is in the process of reviewing testing programs to ensure that accurate indicators of achievement are available. Twelve tables provide study data. (SLD)