Describes the administration of Dialogues about Families, a set of 3 developmentally sensitive instruments designed to probe children's perceptions of their families and themselves through interactive dialogues, to several hundred 6 to 12 year olds. Suggests that the instruments be used to augment findings derived from parental reports and…

An overview of the application of instructional technology to second-language instruction over the past two decades is provided. A number of questions are raised that focus on the role and potential and future objectives of educational technology in foreign-language instruction. (JL)

This article describes the Comprehensive Test of Nonverbal Intelligence, an assessment designed to evaluate the intellectual ability of students ages 6 to 18.11 years for whom other mental ability tests are inappropriate or to enable comparisons between verbal and nonverbal intellectual ability. Its administration, standardization, reliability,…

Examination of recent cases highlights major provisions and judicial treatment of higher education institutions under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Discusses: covered entity, disability, qualified individuals, reasonable accommodation, scope of protection, testing under the legislation, medical testing, drug/alcohol use.…

Analyzes the mental organizations of two sets of fuzzy lexical items by 70 native speakers (NSs) of English and 185 learners of English as a Second Language (ESL). Findings suggest that a discernible approximative pattern exists in the acquisition of ESL semantics, with the differentiation of certain words acquired before the differentiation of…

Discusses new approaches in assessment development and describes two examples of English-as-a-Second-Language assessment recently developed in Australia. The article places these approaches within the context of state responses to linguistic and cultural diversity and demonstrates the implications of the differences between them. (85 references)…

Investigated the effects of writing systems on Chinese subjects' decoding strategies in both Chinese and English. Results suggest that both writing systems and learning environment are significant factors to subjects' application of graphic, phonological, or semantic strategies in decoding Chinese and English words. (Author/VWL)

Analysis of students' mean scores on two internal medicine clerkship tests at Wright State University investigated test sensitivity and specificity for identifying students with insufficient knowledge, and compared final examination pass rates of counseled and noncounseled students. Results indicate that in-clerkship tests can identify at-risk…

With the No Child Left Behind federal mandate, teachers and school administrators are challenged to provide the best instruction possible in mathematics and reading. Students are required to take the state mandated tests in grades three through eight and in grade ten. The stakes are high in that students may not be passed on to the next higher…

Study abroad professionals have attempted in recent years to bring a statistical objectivity to the evaluation of the American study abroad experience. The complexity of international education is such that it is far from easy to move towards significant, objectively measurable, and comparable outcomes. This article presents a preliminary…

Objective: Current understanding of executive function deficits in Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is derived almost exclusively from neuropsychological testing conducted in laboratory settings. This study compared children's performance on both neuropsychological and real-life measures of executive function and processing speed.…

Those anonymous individuals who develop high-stakes tests by which educational quality is measured exercise great influence in defining educational quality. In this article, the author examines the impact of high-stakes testing on the welfare of the children and the quality of social studies instruction. He presents the benefits and drawbacks of…

This book is a compelling indictment of the use of high-stakes assessments with punitive consequences in public schools. The authors trace the history of the policy and document the inequities for children of poverty that undergird high-stakes testing practices. Lack of dental and medical care, environmental violence, insufficient school funding,…

Finding ways to improve the design of large-scale tests is a timely issue. Recent changes in Federal legislation (including the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001) have placed greater emphasis on accountability via large-scale tests. Students who have previously been exempted from large-scale assessments, including students with disabilities and…

This study seeks to investigate the implications of high stakes state-mandated testing on the educational future of language minority learners. It sets off with a definition of high stakes state-mandated testing and proceeds with an in depth review of the incidence and ramification of high stakes testing and its impact on Less English Proficient…