The construct validity of the standardized-patient (SP) examination used at Southern Illinois University (Springfield) School of Medicine was assessed by comparing 66 second-year and 70 fourth-year medical students on 5 SP cases. The results show sizable differences between the groups. The usefulness of passing rates the effect-size measures as a…

A study was conducted to determine whether cooperative testing would result in better performance and less anxiety than individual testing. Two sections of a developmental psychology class used cooperative testing, and a third section used traditional testing methods. Four multiple choice tests containing 50 items were administered to each group,…

This program information guide describes two approaches, Cognitively Guided Instruction (CGI) and Active Mathematics Teaching (AMT), for teaching academic skills in mathematics to limited English proficient (LEP) students. CGI is based on four related teacher competencies: knowing how specific mathematical content is organized in children's minds;…

Given the controversy over the use of standardized tests that rely heavily on multiple-choice items reflecting the language, culture, and/or learning style of the middle class majority, arguments are advanced for the use of alternative, supplemental forms of assessment. Informal assessment is defined as techniques that can easily be incorporated…

In 1989 the Portland (Oregon) Public Schools conducted a Direct Writing Assessment of approximately 6,000 students. A voluntary portion included 103 ninth graders who wrote essays on the same topic. The papers were scored twice: once in each student's handwriting and once in word-processed form. Papers were separated into short and long categories…

A study compared the teaching of composition in secondary British and American schools in the areas of English, social studies, and science. Surveys were returned by 223 teachers in the southeastern Alabama area (out of 310 surveys sent) and by 48 teachers in Suffolk County, England (out of 87 surveys requested). Low response from teachers in…

Some unsuccessful teaching techniques have been developed, based on certain concepts in generative-transformational grammar and on the equating of linguistics and psychology. We need psycholinguistically oriented research in FL learning and research in error and contrastive analysis and tests. "There," causative "have" and fronted objects are…

A study of job search behavior among former participants in the Work Incentive (WIN) Program sought to determine how former clients go about looking for jobs and which methods yield the greatest success; a basic concern was the effectiveness of public agencies as compared with other means of finding work. (Author)

Many speech communication educators and researchers look upon Dale Carnegie's public speaking course with derision for its methods as well as its motives. A comparison of Carnegie's course with university courses in speech communication reveals a number of differences between the two, which in part explains this attitude. Carnegie began his course…

Summaries are presented of individual state practices for collecting selected universe terms and data elements for the Education Data Improvement Project of the Council of Chief State School Officers. The Project is a joint effort of the states and Federal government to improve the quality and timeliness of data collected, analyzed, and reported…

This study sought to determine whether or not there was a significant difference in the achievement of 11th grade U.S. History students learning from sound filmstrips and students learning from the same sound filmstrips in videotape format. Four 11th grade U.S. History classes were examined. Each section was administered a pretest consisting of 20…

This report describes a federally funded project to study integration of computers into the writing instruction of classroom teachers, and evaluates the impact of a computer-supported writing program on instruction, on the writing process, and on products of normally achieving and learning-disabled (LD) students. The study compared the impact of a…

Designed to develop procedures and acquire information to help decision-makers establish policies for the use of microcomputers for computer-assisted instruction (CAI), this study involved the following steps: (1) a school-based research project was conducted to determine the costs and effects of microcomputer-assisted instruction; (2) an…

An eight-part descriptive analysis is presented of the 18 projects funded through OERI's Educational Partnerships Program (EPP) in September of 1990. The EPP supports alliances between public schools and/or higher education and the private sector to encourage excellence in education. The 18 projects include: Anchorage Vocational Academic Institute…

A study assessed the validity of the hypothesis that offshore drilling personnel would independently study important material if they knew that they would eventually receive formal training on the topic covered in the material. Eighty-one crew members on an offshore drilling rig were randomly divided into experimental and control groups. Those in…