The investigation of the impact of the "growth" approach, based on humanistic or Third Force psychology, involved developing a "growth" model based on humanistic psychology, pilot "testing" the model, and drawing implications regarding the model's potential for inservice education. The data indicated that the "growth" approach to inservice…

Reviews articles appearing in this special journal issue dealing with questions pertaining to the evaluation of learning. (SL)

Reviews techniques to consider when writing multiple-choice objective test items. (SL)

The authors gave a series of simple demonstrations followed by questions to which ninth grade students provided written answers to assess their ability to perform tasks for conservation of amount, weight and volume. Responses were varied. The paper includes the test form and a few typical answers. (AJ)

To examine participant and examiner bias, graduate students posing as disabled examiners in a wheelchair administered the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale - Revised to 101 nondisabled college students. In terms of bias operating to influence subtest scores, only participant gender had a significant effect. Men scored higher than women on both the…

Results of 120 studies were combined by meta-analysis to determine effects on mathematics test performance of factors other than knowledge of content. Conditions that enhanced performance included testwiseness training, praise, word problem pictures, and frequent testing. Conditions depressing or not affecting performance were also noted. (MNS)

Test performances of sophomore medical students on a pretest and final exam (under guessing and no-guessing instructions) were compared. Discouraging random guessing produced test information with improved test reliability and less distortion of item difficulty. More able examinees were less compliant than less able examinees. (Author/RH)

Discusses the development of art education since World War II, arguing for a return to a disciplined teaching approach which would deemphasize rote memorization of the "masterpieces" for testing purposes. Instead, it would focus on the attention, passion, and play that comes from making and responding to art. (GEA)

Presents (1) a dialogue approach to spelling for remedial students, (2) a list of activities that can encourage students to be active readers of poetry, (3) guidelines for modifying tests for mainstreamed students, (4) a method of encouraging efficient notetaking which utilizes active class involvement, and (5) the addresses of several…

Teachers concerned about excessive testing may be depriving themselves of useful information provided by standardized achievement tests and their own exams. Teachers tend to separate testing from teaching. This article explores the relationship among data collection, curriculum planning, and instruction and gauges the impacts of mandated…

Describes two recent court cases that demonstrate the difficulty of balancing the emphasis on drug detection with the privacy rights of students. Concludes that school officials should not be quick to assume that reasonable suspicion exists. (IW)

The decision by the Connecticut State Board of Education to endorse use of calculators on the state's new eighth-grade mastery test was followed by the purchase of calculators for the students. The role of calculators in society and the curriculum is discussed, as well as testing goals. (MNS)

Recent surveys reveal that writing assignments in most secondary schools are mechanical and trivial in nature. The fate of writing and of the total curriculum are intertwined. The mechanics of writing, writing and testing, writing across the curriculum, back to the basics, etc., are discussed. (MLW)

Analyzes score differences for the papers of 50 students who wrote on four different writing topics, two that were on transactional and two that were on expressive topics. Results suggested that differences between scores might be very important for individuals, so to insure fairness, teachers should use additional forms of writing assessment. (DF)

Included are brief articles on multiplication of negative integers and testing knowledge by asking true-false questions that involve a relatively high level of abstraction. A number of specific examples are included. (MNS)