Examines idea of psychological skills training. Raises questions concerning the conceptual validity and generalizability of programs that attempt psychological skills training as a means of "giving psychology away." Draws specific references and illustrations from recent research in applied psychology and literature in counseling and…

Journalists have some justification for dismissing scholarly inquiries into their craft because communication science does not take journalists and their craft seriously either. Empirical research into journalistic practices fails to take journalism seriously in the sense Jurgen Habermas outlined: meanings of news texts are described without…

The message about general literacy standards in Canada (as reported in the Southam Literacy Survey) is that approximately five million Canadians are illiterate. The validity of this message must be challenged because a group of middle-class Canadians with middle-class values established the criteria for being "literate" and felt that all…

Reviews several scales used to evaluate competency of psychotherapists. Discusses concerns about interrater reliability and predictive validity of scales. Considers competency a state-like variable, with therapists demonstrating higher competence when they skillfully treat patients across range of difficulty levels. Contends that development of…

Focuses on problems with using intelligence testing with Native American clients. Presents several anecdotes from vocational counselor training program with Cree and Ojibwa students, including two Native elders, to demonstrate the validity problems and certain problems with the administration of intelligence tests in general. Recommends that such…

Summarizes trends in competency testing for teachers in the United States. Points out the strong public support for this testing and the problems with predicting teaching success from test results. Concludes that teacher competency testing in Canada, currently less prevalent than in the United States, will increase dramatically. (JHZ)

Use of portfolios and performance tasks has exponentially increased as educators seek to be as "fair" as possible, and to link measurement, assessment, and evaluation more closely to cognition, curriculum, and instruction. However, high standards of reliability and validity are equally essential in the use of "authentic"…

In Canada's Exemplary Schools Project, a national committee designed and coordinated 21 case studies. A committee member recounts decisions made about design and method, and highlights differences between method and methodology, as well as variations in conceptualization of qualitative research. Discusses the meaning of "exemplary,"…

Explores the relation of educational evaluation and quality, arguing that true educational improvement depends on public debate that regards evaluation and quality as indispensable partners. Reviews limitations of current achievement tests as accurate measures of student or teacher competency. Notes problems including subject matter restrictions,…

The use of the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) for predicting academic success has generated tremendous debate about fairness and bias. Despite discrepant observations and arguments, the need for a credible assessment formula remains strong. Although widely used by a large number of American colleges, the SAT and similar tests are not widely used…

Demographic projections concerning the shortage of teachers in Canada, their pay scale, the feminization of teaching, the gender gap in salaries, and teacher autonomy have often been incorrect, or correct for the wrong reasons. Instead of relying on demographic predictions, teachers should contemplate who they really want to be professionally,…

The traditionally accepted version of the world's story, which ignores achievements and concerns of whole segments of humanity, needs correcting, as a self-determination act of reconstruction and deconstruction by African Americans. Evidence of African presence in the Americas before Columbus and aspects of Canadian history exemplify history that…

A goal of this double issue of English Teaching: Practice and Critique is to collectively consider what we mean when we talk about knowledge about language. How have our understandings changed over time? What are the implications of these new understandings for pedagogy in the field of language teaching? These are necessary and important…

Many significant changes in perspective have to take place before efforts to learn the content and capabilities of children's minds can hold much sway in educational testing. The language of testing, especially of high stakes testing, remains firmly in the realm of "behaviors", "performance" and "competency" defined…

A study of library school faculty and academic library directors' perceptions of the educational quality of master's and doctoral programs in library and information science and of the professional contributions of library school faculties is reported. Perception rankings are compared to similar studies carried out in 1980 and 1986. (18…