Twenty-eight normal and 28 learning disabled children were given the Bender-Gestalt Test under instructional sets of low (standard) attention or high attention. Results failed to support the hypothesis that high attention instructions would lead to differential recall performance of the diagnostic groups.

The Executive Director of the New Jersey Education Association discusses some of the top priorities facing his organization in the coming years. These include educational quality, accountability and testing, tenure, academic standards, and urban schools. (SJL)

Conflicting definitions reveal the diversity of motives and goals in the back-to-basics movement. Dealing with the problem must include consideration of the impact of television, the realization that basic and nonbasic education are complementary, and the need for coordination of K-12 and postsecondary education. (JMF)

An experiment randomly assigned youth workers to a training or a control group and measured the effectiveness of the training by a questionnaire given to both groups. Results of the questionnaire were related to content analysis of the training sessions, which differed in some respects from the intended content. (CTM)

Discusses the use of the York Group Graded Tests in French programs in English Comprehensive, Middle, and Secondary Schools. Commercial materials that can be used with the tests are indicated. (AM)

The Bem Sex-Role Inventory and Heilbrun Masculinity and Femininity Scales were compared. Correlations between the masculine and feminine scales of both instruments were significant for males but not for females. Misclassification into sex role categories occurred primarily in those categories in which personality characteristics overlap. (MH)

Described are national methods of assessing and monitoring the achievement in science of students of 11, 13, and 16 years old in England and Wales. The tasks of the Assessment of Performance Unit (APU), a unit within the Department of Education and Science, are also described. (HM)

An investigation of Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) retest scores indicates that limited retest improvement may result when initial scores are fairly low or below what might be predicted based on grade point averages. However, when initial scores approach the national, standardized MCAT mean, or are above what might be predicted, significant…

This study uses power-dependence theory as a framework for examining whether and how parties use information on each other's dependence to estimate the utility of an influence attempt. The effect of dependence in expected utilities is investigated (by role playing) in bargaining between employer and employee for a pay raise. (MF)

To investigate reasoning capacities involved in learning to read, a Test of Multiple Seriation (from Piaget) was developed. Problems of a test used by Lunzer and Dolan are discussed. Results showed that word recognition and reading comprehension at age nine correlate significantly with multiple seriation, independent of IQ. (Editor/SJL)

Reveals a two-factor structure (general retentiveness and memory) in the Wechsler Memory Scale for total male and female samples and for both males and females aged 13 to 39 years and 40 to 59 years but not for males or females aged 60 to 88 years. (Author/RL)

An overview and critique, with special reference to independent schools, of the minimum competency testing movement as a solution to the political and educational furor over declining student achievement. (SJL)

This article consists of a battery of tests designed to evaluate the communicative competence of German students studying English in Volkshochschule. The battery includes tests of reading comprehension, written production, listening comprehension, vocabulary and structures, and oral production. (CFM)

Reviews techniques of evaluation in mathematics and discusses three testing issues and their implications: objective and subjective methods, behavioral objectives in test construction, norm-referenced and criterion-referenced measures. Recommendations on testing practices are also summarized. (HM)

Argues that using the Brazelton Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale outside the standard hospital setting introduces variations in the physical and social context that influence scores on some of the behavioral items. (Author/BH)