Attempts to retain the gains that have been made and recapture desirable aspects of the IOA technique that may have been lost over the years. Describes seven major assumptions on which the technique is based. The IOA reveals the relative level of achievement of each of the instructional objectives by individual students as well as by groups of…

Reports results of a study conducted to determine the level of occupational knowledge of fourth, fifth, and sixth graders and the extent to which these levels are influenced by the rural community in which the students live. It was concluded that a career education program would provide more knowledge of non-local occupations to give rural…

The article summarizes a typology of 21 selected curriculum-based assessment (CBA) measures available to early childhood specialists serving handicapped children, including normal developmental CBA scales, adaptive measures, handicap-specific instruments, strategy-matched materials, and curriculum-referenced measures. (Author/JW)

A monograph issue on the development and use of a prescriptive measurement method is introduced. Given such a measurement system, it is possible to investigate both level and pattern of a student's performance, and to diagnose specific gaps in learning. (LMO)

Many people in California have wondered what types of students have passed the California High School Proficiency Examination and whether these students left high school after passing the examination. A 14-item multiple choice questionnaire was sent to 356 students in San Diego County who passed the test in the hope of answering those questions.…

Research was conducted to assess interpretation, implications, and significance of the 2000 Advanced Placement Index (API) scores for California public schools. Multiple regression models were developed from the statistics on each type of school at the elementary, middle, and high school levels using traditional, double-session, year-round single,…

This collection of essays focuses on educational testing, showing how testing encroaches on teacher freedom and how narrow standards can actually reduce student achievement. The chapters are: (1) Testing Is Not Teaching; (2) The Freedom Factor; (3) Sharing Power with Intelligent Expectation; (4) Everyone Has a Story To Tell; (5) Lets Change the…

This study investigated the performance of Alabama College System (ACS) students on a Basic Skills Test (BST) and compared it with non-ACS students' scores to determine whether there were significant differences in achievement. The Alabama Basic Skills Test is required of all students seeking admission to teacher education programs at Alabama…

This report analyzes the validity issues that arise in the context of educational accountability systems. The report addresses validity from three interlocking perspectives. The first explores the theory of action underlying accountability provisions. It considers problems emerging from the distance between aspirations for accountability in…

The increasing use of high-stakes tests has focused attention on test preparation activities. The term test preparation can apply to a number of different practices that vary on the degree to which they are defensible. Although some test preparation is legitimate, there are concerns that certain test preparation activities may have a negative…

In today's educational setting, assessment results weigh heavily in determining what students should know and be able to do. In addition, because assessment scores are often tied to accountability systems that affect both teaching and learning, they influence what is taught in the classroom. The changes in the use of assessments underscore the…

The term "technology" often conjures up visions of scientific experiments and industrial processes, but technology is also a tool, something put together to satisfy a need, solve a problem, or attain a goal in social, economic, and educational institutions. In a broader sense, technology is any body of special knowledge, skills, and procedures,…

The contention of this paper is that the obtained difference in a study by DuCette and Wolk, which indicated that giving options in an essay examination produces poorer test performance, was an artifact of the scoring procedures. (Author/RK)

The present study is concerned primarily with demonstrating that laughter can be socially facilitated. It showed that children, presented aurally with laughter-provoking material, laugh more in the presence of a companion, whether or not the companion can hear the material. (Author/RK)

The authors report on two studies showing that the Slosson Intelligence Test yields higher scores than the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test for both nursery school and third-grade children, indicating that care should be taken when the SIT is used for intellectual screening. (Author)