Today, the main event in the social and labor sphere of Russia is, of course, the introduction of the National Qualifications System (abbreviated NSC), which comes to replace the old system of qualification characteristics. In general, the NSC in Russia is represented by four interrelated elements: professional standards, independent assessment of…

International comparisons of student achievement in mathematics and their attitudes towards, confidence with and anxiety to mathematics have a long history. Likewise, detailed international comparisons of teacher education programs have also been conducted. However, the relationship between the teacher education programs and teacher anxiety for…

The purpose of this study was to determine if administrative aspirants from preparation programs, experienced school administrators, and groups of individuals with no connection to education would perform differently on a short vignette discontinued by the Educational Testing Service (ETS) but still used as a sample of the assessment in the School…

In both California and the United States as a whole, new emphasis is being placed on greater accountability for all educators. Educators find that they are facing too many sets of standards, making it difficult to focus on priorities. This paper provides five essential tools to demonstrate teaching competence. These tools can be the ways and means…

The education of addiction counselors, once based on tradition, myth and politics, is becoming professionalized, based on competencies, research and best practice. Many factors have contributed to this shift as subspecialties for addiction treatment have emerged in various disciplines. In 1993 the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment created the…

One vision of the future is that federal government workers will be assessed through a nationwide examination system applicable to them and to individuals competing for private sector jobs and promotions. A working group has already been established to develop a task force for a nationwide classification system. A standardized occupational…

The Standards for Evaluations of Educational Programs, Projects, and Materials for developing an evaluation design were applied to Preservice Innovations in Mainstream Education (PRIME). PRIME, a Dean's Grant Project, is a 3-year federal and state program to modify preservice teacher preparation programs to enable regular education graduates to…

This paper presents a model for determining appropriate provider qualifications in a variety of adventure settings, in which adventure-based activities are used, but particularly the qualifications and training needs of adventure therapists. The model is based on the premise that the skill and educational needs of providers increase with the…

This script, which portrays a discussion by a five-person committee about whether to grant tenure to a faculty member, is a vehicle for discussing the meanings of scholarship and standards, the nature of truth and realism, and the constructivist view of learning. The argument about the quality of the faculty member's scholarship leads into a…

Many state certification recommendations in reading education do not clearly define "certification." This produces a number of questions, among them the following: (1) Do reading teachers who are likely to teach reading at either the secondary or elementary level need a developmental course at both levels? (2) Should there be discrete courses in…

This paper discusses current differences in the nursing education community regarding the roles of associate degree and baccalaureate degree nurses and presents a critique of the "Position Paper on Nursing Roles--Scope and Preparation" issued in 1982 by the National League for Nursing (NLN). After a discussion of the history and…

Licensing and certifying boards cannot be effective without a definition of the meaning of competence in psychology, particularly as this concept is used in psychotherapy. Research has shown that reliance on academic credentials to define competence is not the answer. Most definitions of pyschotherapy are too broad and vague, and consensus about…

The discussed and illustrated principles regarding teacher performance data and decision making are common sense ideas that have been developed based on a good deal of thought about the definition of minimally acceptable job performances. The presented scoring systems are ways of describing how much a teacher must do in order to be scored…

Several issues are related to the use of educational tests. First, test users must be able to choose appropriate tests, interpret scores, and make decisions based on scores. In the field of educational testing, few test users have adequate training in these areas. Second, test makers must clearly specify directions for administration, allowable…

This collection of seven papers provides a view of the future of educational leadership. Some of the articles deal with the life and world of the principal, while others discuss the issues involved in training educators to become effective educational leaders. The first study examines methods and structures for preparing educators and deals with…