Programs designed to improve the language proficiency of limited-English-proficient (LEP) students have had mixed results. Much confusion has arisen from variable approaches to what can be expected of the programs. Recently, "expected gain" has become an important concept in documenting the educational development of LEP students, requiring…

The survey of the school system of Alexandria, Virginia, was made in May, 1923, by the United States Commissioner of Education upon the invitation of the Board of Education of Alexandria and of the State superintendent of public instruction of Virginia. Members of the survey staff during the three weeks of field work visited the schools, made…

This article describes the evolution of an alternative approach to the traditional lecture method. Students accept the major responsibility for their own learning. Diagnostic testing, supplementary materials, peer help, study guides, retest provisions, and short lectures on common difficulties are the major components of the program. (LS)

Discusses problems in using multiple-choice items on criterion-referenced tests, offering alternative methods to determine if objectives have been met. These include batteries of true-false items, structural communication grids, concept linkages, and a scoring system which takes partial knowledge into consideration. (JN)

Resumption and development of graduate education since 1976 are described, with attention to admissions, examinations, stress on science and engineering, institution types, curriculum, dissertations, the new degree system, and teaching and research employment patterns. Interrelationships of graduate study and the educational and political debate,…

The development, administration, and scoring of a communicative test and its validation with tests of linguistic and sociolinguistic competence in English and Spanish are reported. Correlation with measures of home language use and school achievement are also presented, and issues of test validation for bilingual programs are discussed. (MSE)

The effectiveness of a computer-assisted training method using computer simulation of two subsets of the Wechsler Intelligence Test for Children--Revised was compared with traditional methods for teaching the administration of the test. Results suggest that the computer simulation was a very effective teaching method. Eleven references are listed.…

A study investigated the hypothesis that poor comprehension or recall of task demands, rather than a putative lack of goal directedness, is a possible source of learning-disabled children's poor performance of experimental tasks. Clear instructions substantially facilitated performance by both normally achieving and learning disabled children of…

Investigated the effect of the medium of instruction and medium of examination on the achievement of Nigerian primary school pupils (N=599). Pupils were given differential treatments using either the Yoruba language or English. Results indicated that groups instructed in their mother tongue (Yoruba) performed better than the remaining groups.…

An instrument for the continuous assessment of high school physics students' laboratory performance was developed and evaluated. Physics teachers (N=25) observed students conducting experiments on film to judge student performance against a standard set of criteria. Results suggest increases in observational objectivity and precision as well as…

Arguments for and against disclosure of standardized test contents and answers, addressing issues of humanizing the testing process, equalizing educational opportunity, ensuring accountability, minimizing costs, ensuring fairness, and protecting test validity, are presented. (MSE)

This study investigated the hypothesis that sex biases (defined as disproportionate references to one sex) in a reading passage and on a comprehension test would lead to differential performance by 120 male and female undergraduates. An analysis of variance revealed no significant main effects or interactions. (Author/CTM)

Offers a viewpoint that, in the decision-making process, historical junctures related to the decision at hand should be reviewed where alternative decisions were considered. An example is provided with the Individual Criterion Referenced Test (ICRT) program. (CS)

Describes a study designed to examine native speakers' reactions to errors contained in compositions written by advanced Spanish students, as a measure of error seriousness and a guide for selective correction. Suggests that errors interfering with comprehension should be eliminated first, followed by those that elicit negative reactions from…