Describes a study done at Oakton Community College which assessed how student characteristics, self-perceptions, academic skills, and course-taking patterns can predict academic achievement. Findings show that students have unrealistic perceptions of their own academic competency and that math skills are a stronger predictor of academic…

The historical roots of current educational assessment practices are traced, exploring assessment in the generic sense rather than as educational measurement. Our culture of assessment developed long ago, predating the history of educational measurement. Current inefficiencies in education and faults in school life may have grown with this…

Describes a continuous school-wide effort begun in 1994 by Nogales High School (Arizona) to improve student writing. Nogales students in 2000 and 2001 scored at or above the state averages on the writing assessment portion of the Arizona Instrument to Measure Standards (AIMS). Advocates involving all teachers from all disciplines in the effort to…

Examines positive and negative aspects of American public education and looks at sources of confusion. Positive points include higher graduation rates, higher test scores, math and science accomplishment, and college quality. Negative points include poverty's effect on academic achievement and lack of sensitivity to student diversity. (SM)

An interview with Christopher Schenk, Britain's Inspector of Schools, reveals his impressions of the differences and similarities of early childhood education in Britain and the United States. Topics included teaching methods, at-risk children, standardized tests, early intervention, family involvement in the schools, funding, and health care.…

Using one set of standardized tests to determine if a student graduates or is promoted makes students pay for society's failure to provide an equal, quality education; encourages teaching to the test instead of teaching critical thinking skills; and ignores research findings and test publishers' advice that multiple measures are necessary for…

Optimize action learning and successful evaluation through adopting new views of IQ. IQ as developed here relates to success in life and it is among the most changeable of characteristics. However, IQ as measured in the past is one of the least malleable of factors. Had you rather measure for and teach toward something that is not changeable or…

This report provides a profile of state testing programs in 1992-93, as well as a view of classroom testing practices by state, school district, school, or individual teacher. Information, taken from a variety of sources, including the National Assessment of Educational Progress and a General Accounting Office study, indicates that the…

At the 1977 Educational Testing Service (ETS) Invitational Conference, the ETS Measurement Award was presented to Anne Anastasi. In view of the convergence of measurement and the law, the conference focused on six related issues. Barbara Lerner explored the screening procedures of American professional and graduate schools in "Equal…

In this much-needed volume, Nel Noddings uses her extensive experience at every level of schooling to challenge the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). Noddings invites readers to think critically about the ideas underlying NCLB, the reform movement that shaped it, and the processes it has put into play. She considers such questions as: Is money the…

While the member countries of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) have many differences in culture, history, and level of economic development, all APEC representatives who attended this ministerial agreed on the importance of establishing education standards and examination systems to meet the needs of their people in the 21st century.…

This book is designed to develop a general conceptualization of equality of educational opportunity and to use it to characterize the problems confronting public education in the United States. It is argued that educational opportunities and educational results cannot be disentangled. After an overview in chapter 1, chapter 2, "A Radical…

This report explores the application of cost analysis to testing and assessment in elementary and secondary schools. A case for economic analysis of testing is first outlined. The case rests on the importance on test information, the magnitude of resources devoted to testing, and the relevance of an economics of information model to testing…

If teachers do not determine children's understandings and beliefs the children cannot be challenged. Five individual units are presented that have the intention of drawing out the underlying beliefs that children hold with respect to various aspects of science. "Skateboard News" is a newsletter which discusses aspects of skateboards and…

This selection of readings in the field of educational reform presents 46 articles, mostly from the news media, and 2 cartoons related to improvement of the educational system. It opens with "Network Notes," brief reports and reviews about events and recent publications of interest to those concerned with educational reform. The first…