Following a brief overview of literature on excellence in the classroom, the shortcomings of objective tests as means for evaluating classroom excellence are discussed as well as the need for evaluation alternatives. Descriptions are given of evaluation alternatives, some of which focus upon reading and writing achievement: (1) observation of…

Results are presented of a nationwide telephone survey of 1,200 adults --conducted from November 1984 to January 1985--that examined the public's response to secondary school reform. The public wants greater student accountability, greater teacher initiative and accountability, and upgraded curricula. Ninety-five percent of the respondents…

This paper examines key points to consider in developing policy on teacher testing. A summary is presented of the four underlying purposes that may be served, in part, by testing: (1) limiting the number of incompetent teachers; (2) encouraging teacher professionalism; (3) promoting public confidence in teachers; and (4) promoting excellence in…

The summary descriptions of state programs in compensatory education (SCE) contained in this report update information presented in the 1981 Bay Area Research Group (BARG) report. A more restrictive definition of compensatory education is used in this current report, whereby only programs in which a specific target population is named and in which…

This guide book was developed for use by school staff, parents, and students. It outlines strategies and test-taking skills which may be taught in the classroom. The guide provides sample instruments to determine what students know about test taking, and practice tests at the elementary and secondary level. Time management hints for test takers…

Nearly 48 percent of the students in Developmental Studies Mathematics courses at a major southern university during the fall of 1983 had taken college preparatory mathematics courses in high school. Some had even taken trigonometry, pre-calculus, or calculus. Yet, they were placed in university developmental studies mathematics courses because…

This report was designed to provide information on the effectiveness of the high school mathematics program in Hawaii, including identification of deficiency areas. The Stanford Achievement Test of Academic Skills (TASK) Level 1 was administered to 10,154 tenth-grade students in October 1983. In general, the students did not perform as well as the…

This report was designed to provide information on the effectiveness of the mathematics instructional program in grade 2 in Hawaii, including identification of deficiency areas. The Stanford Achievement Test, Primary Level II, was administered in May 1984 to 12,106 students in grade 2. In general, these students performed better than the national…

This paper discusses questions pertinent to a definition of cognitive structure as the knowledge one possesses and the manner in which it is arranged, and considers how to select or devise methods of describing cognitive structure. The main purpose in describing cognitive structure is to see whether differences in memory (or cognitive structure)…

Guidelines are provided for designing and conducting a telephone opinion poll of the community. Issues discussed in the first part of this guide include determining the proper sample size, drawing a representative sample of the general adult population or of voters, selecting phone numbers, making call-backs, obtaining the proper male-female…

Decimal numbers have become an increasingly important topic of the elementary and junior high school mathematics curriculum. However, national and state education assessments indicate that students have incomplete and distorted conceptions of decimal numbers. This paper reports initial data from a two-year project designed to elicit and describe…

Chapter 1 of this monograph provides an overview of student evaluation in physical education. A discussion is presented on the purposes of evaluation: diagnosing, grouping, motivating, grading, and programing. Included in the overview are sample forms for evaluation breakdown for seven units of a physical education course and a student cumulative…

This bibliography is divided into three sections. Section I, Review of General Educational Development (GED) Publisher Composition Texts, reviews extensively the texts published by Cambridge, Contemporary, Scott Foresman, and Steck-Vaughn to enable the instructor to choose a primary text. The reviews tell the exact instructional sequence of the…

Four research papers on the evaluation of the Utah State Department of Employment Security's (USES's) General Aptitude Test Battery (GATB) for the deaf are presented. The studies were conducted by the test research staff of the Employment Security Commission of North Carolina from 1970 to 1979. The studies contain not only the analyses on which…

Intended for teachers of the learning disabled (LD), the guide addresses philosophical and procedural issues in assessment. The first section introduces a philosophical framework which views assessment as an ongoing, goal-directed, integral part of the overall educational process. The remainder of the guide focuses on Wisconsin's procedures for…