The interchange series of documents aims to improve the Research and Intelligence Unit's dissemination of the findings of research funded by the Scottish Office Education Department. In 1991 this department commissioned the Scottish Council for Research in Education to investigate the performance in Standard Grade mathematics of those candidates…

The eight articles of this issue examine the nature of differences that arise between qualitative and quantitative researchers in program evaluation in terms of goals and epistemologies. The origins of these differences and their consequences are explored. Authors represent both perspectives but do not defend their ideological turfs. (SLD)

Thirty-three primary teachers were trained in the 1989 Standards for School Mathematics to study the relationship between the implementation of alternative assessment and such variables as: teacher grading orientation, class size, grade level, and student mathematical ability. Teachers were found to use knowledge level items significantly more…

Presented are a rationale and sample techniques for the implementation and continued use of alternative school mathematics evaluation programs that are in alignment with the proposed curriculum standards of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. Emphasis is directed toward holistic scoring techniques including calculator/computer…

In the first part, both the rationale and the policies for allowing students to use notes during tests in an advanced class are presented. The second part contains suggestions for color-coding a grade book thus promoting efficient information retrieval and easier analyses of students' progress and/or grades. (JJK)

For the purpose of promoting international cooperation in mathematics, physics, and chemistry teaching research, this first yearbook of the Finnish Association of Mathematics and Science Education Research contains articles of recent research on mathematics teaching. The contents consist of five articles in English, two in German, and one thesis…

The International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) conducted several surveys between 1964 and 1985. Sweden has taken part in nine of the surveys. This paper reports the survey results briefly. Major sections included are: (1) Swedish results for all IEA studies; (2) science tests in 1970 and 1983; (3) mathematics…

Seven articles discuss a theme that was also the subject of a symposium at an Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, reform of school mathematics teaching and curriculum. These articles indicate that educational reform is a complicated endeavor and tension exists between the old and new. (SLD)

The main purpose of this special issue is to suggest strategies for meeting the mathematical needs of two-year college students in the decade of the 1990s. Since the 20 contributors were free to write about topics that they considered to be appropriate to the intellectual and personal development of all students their papers represent a broad…

This document consists of volumes 1-9 of the Mathematics Association of America's (MAA) Placement Test Program Newsletter. The MAA is the professional association primarily concerned with undergraduate education in mathematics. It has responded to the increasingly difficult problem of placing freshmen students in mathematics courses by developing…

This document contains four issues of "NAEPfacts," a report series about the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Issue 1 discusses data from the NAEP 1996 Long-Term Reading Assessment, which shows that overall student reading performance has increased for both 9- and 13-year-olds. Issue 2 reports that data from the NAEP…

The report "UNO Act Class Profile, 1989-90" in the first of two serial issues presents salient parts of data from "The Class Profile Report" of the American College Testing (ACT) Corporation, which provides detailed information concerning the academic past of 1,359 freshmen entering the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) in…

Focusing primarily on current problem areas in mathematics instruction, this third yearbook of the Finnish Association of Mathematics and Science Education Research contains five articles addressing four themes in mathematics education. The first theme is concerned with proportional reasoning in mathematics teaching and describes school test…

A survey was conducted among 489 public colleges in the Southern Regional Education Board states to determine cutting scores for placing students into regular versus remedial college classes. Results indicated a large number and variety of tests in reading, writing, and mathematics--almost 100 combinations of 70 different tests--were used to place…

Three articles on current research in testing are presented. The first article, "Testing in the Schools", discusses the role of testing in educational reform. In the 1980s, the overwhelming purpose of state standardized testing has become promoting accountability in areas of: (1) monitoring; (2) gatekeeping; (3) remediation; and (4)…