Discusses the use of standardized achievement scores to measure the quality of practice-oriented school improvement activities in school districts. Focuses on four areas of concern: the multiple functions of schooling; documentation and data collection; real world complexities; and ethics. Recommends that cautions be taken against exclusive…

A national study of assessment in American undergraduate education by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching concludes that the current debate over assessment does not adequately consider educational goals and reflects divisiveness within and between faculties. (MSE)

Five legal questions are discussed in the conflict between the move to institute minimum competency testing (MCT) for students and the effort to protect the educational rights of handicapped children. The threshold question is whether handicapped children should be subject to the same MCT requirements as the non-handicapped. (PS)

The central thesis of this article is that the process of eliminating validity threats depends fundamentally on no-difference findings, a fact that has not been made explicit by researchers. The implications of this neglect are explored using examples from a number of different substantive areas such as psychology, health, and medicine.…

The thrust of most state initiatives is to encourage higher education institutions to undertake their own local assessment. Two kinds of state-wide testing are emerging: (1) basic skills assessment of entering students for access, placement, and remediation, and (2) testing to improve the curriculum. (MLW)

Although "quality of education" issues are currently popular in educational evaluation, the author argues for an empirically resolvable evaluation paradigm: Given the target population, program goals, and boundary conditions, how do educational treatments compare in terms of learning effects? Agreement on pre-set specifications and the…

Discusses the problem of testing with particular regard to the evaluation of aural-oral skills within a modern methodological context. The use of pictures, paragraphs, and dialogs to test listening skills and of pictures and micro-dialogs to test speaking skills is described. (SED)

Reports on the new foreign language requirements at the University of Minnesota. These requirements include establishing entrance standards and strengthening the graduation requirements, both of which are based on language proficiency. Workshops to train teachers in testing under the ACTFL Provisional Proficiency Guidelines are described. (SED)

The new Florida Master Teacher Program in which the state provides bonuses directly to qualified teachers is described. Three measurement issues in implementing the program are discussed: (1) evaluating a teacher's classroom performance; (2) evaluating a teacher's subject area knowledge; and (3) combining scores to determine which teachers…

Two quasiexperimental designs--nonequivalent dependent variable and reversed treatment designs--illustrate pattern matching logic as a basis for evaluation, examining college health services. Three pattern matches are significant: (1) program pattern match indicates implementation; (2) measurement match assesses test validity; and (3) effect…

This paper presents 11 statistical procedures which test the equality of m coefficient alphas when the sample alpha coefficients are dependent. Several of the procedures are derived in detail, and numerical examples are given for two. (Author/LMO)

Presents a complete outline of the critical thinking skills taught in grades 3, 6, 8, 10, and 12. Categories are clarifying issues and terms, judging and utilizing information, and drawing conclusions. (JDH)

Maintains that decisions regarding evaluation should be made in relationship to learning principles based on a developmental perspective. Using these principles as a basis, teachers are better able to select appropriate formal and informal evaluation procedures. Each procedure is defined and its limitations are discussed in terms of effectiveness.…

The questionnaire responses of 24 markedly accelerated young students at the University of Washington were compared with those of 24 regular-aged university students, 23 National Merit Scholors, and 27 students who had qualified for acceleration but instead elected to participate in high school. Accelerants appeared as well adjusted as all…

Results of investigation of M.L.S. degree students' needs for structure in required research methods course support hypothesis that, when exposed to such a course taught under low structure conditions, students with simple cognitive style would express demand for greater structure than would students with relatively complex cognitive style. (12…