One of a series dealing with current issues affecting language arts instruction, this paper focuses on writing evaluations. The paper begins by noting that any practical discussion of the evaluation of writing must address the question of how to obtain reliable, informative judgments about students' writing. The paper then discusses the purposes…

This report describes the process followed by the National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO) in developing a comprehensive model of educational outcomes and indicators for all students, including students with disabilities, who are completing school. Stage One involved identifying five alternative models of educational outcomes--an educational…

The importance of all children achieving adequate reading outcomes by the end of third grade cannot be overstated. Awareness is growing nationwide of the dividends of early reading success and the dire consequences of early reading failure. Schools need a prevention-oriented assessment and intervention system to prevent reading difficulties from…

The eight chapters of this theme issue evaluate a large-scale intervention, the New York City Public Schools Integrated Learning Systems Project. The overall evaluation contains ethnographic studies of project schools, statistical investigations of outcomes in terms of student achievement and attitude, comparisons of system costs to other systems,…

This report contains an overview of the General Psychoeducational Program Network and four research papers on the education of students with Serious Emotional Disturbances (SED). The first paper, "Academic Progress of SED students Served in the Georgia Psychoeducational Program Network" (Thomas H. Cope), reports on a study which found…

Students with disabilities have been excluded to an unreasonable extent from large-scale assessment programs at the national, state, and local levels. One implication of this exclusion practice is that students who are left out of assessments tend not to be considered during reform efforts. Another implication is that estimates of performance are…

Traditionally, outcomes measured by postsecondary vocational education assessment have included labor force participation rates, type of employment, earnings, and employer satisfaction with employees. Today, however, legislators and policymakers are moving more and more toward accountability measures tied to students' educational outcomes, such as…

In Great Britain, interest in the measurement of value added was stimulated initially by the requirement that schools and further education (FE) colleges publish league tables of examination results. Value-added data can be aggregated to compare different institutions' performance. Within colleges, value-added data provide a basis for setting…

The four articles in this theme issue provide an overview of assessment in the social studies and the rationale behind the movement for a more authentic assessment of learning outcomes. In the first article, "Thinking as an Unnatural Act," William T. Daly offers a clear rationale for social studies teachers to re-examine the methods of assessing…

The increasing use of job training or retraining and employment programs in response to high rates of unemployment in France has spurred interest in program evaluation to see what results have been achieved. The contribution of traditional standardized evaluations and of emerging methodologies is being examined. Traditional evaluation methods…

This report summarizes Scottish research during 1995 which aimed to assess the take-up, knowledge, understanding, and use of the National Record of Achievement (NRA) in all sectors. The survey found a lack of awareness of the NRA among employers and colleges. One recommendation from the report is for future development and promotion of the NRA in…

This publication discusses education reform and the movement toward standards and assessments and its impact on students with disabilities. It is designed to provide parents with information about changes in assessment and graduation criteria, and assist parents in investigating the changes happening in their districts and states. Different…

In response to new provisions in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), this issue describes the promising special education research that is helping all students participate successfully in large-scale testing programs. The first article, "State-Wide Assessment Programs," discusses the new provisions in IDEA that…

This research report contains seven papers on students with serious Emotional Disturbances (SED) and/or Severe Behavior Disorder (SBD) who participated in the Georgia Psychoeducational Network Program (GPN). "The 1982 Cohort of GPN Preschoolers--Where Are They in 1987-1988?" (Juanda Ponsell and others) reports the placement of 75…

This report examines issues and approaches to course design and evaluation within the higher education (HE) sector that are relevant and applicable to the United Kingdom's further education (FE) sector. Chapter 1 examines the increasing emphasis on student-centered learning in FE/HE and the implications of that trend. Discussed in chapter 2 are…