Describes the Colorado Writing Assessment Program, a testing program that provides two kinds of feedback to teachers and students: (1) a holistic score that measures the general quality of writing and (2) a set of scores on analytic scales that reflect students' achievement in four areas. Concludes that the program works. (FL)

Policies now being enacted by many states to reform teacher education include testing, alternate routes to certification, scholarships and loan forgiveness, incentives, and overhauling certification packages and institutional standards. However, these policy initiatives are not likely to provide many lasting benefits, based on performance to date.…

Broad-based effective schools research suggests a school excellence model attributing student achievement to principal leadership, a positive school climate, the primacy of basic skills, high teacher expectations, an assessment and monitoring system, and the integration and coordination of the real and ideal curriculum and student assessment. (DCS)

This study shows that a one-credit library research course designed around workbook/exercise module and bibliography assignment helps students learn library skills and results in improved attitude toward library. Pre/post tests were administered to experimental and control groups to assess skill and attitude level. Test and semantic differential…

Professional librarians were subjects for an exploratory study which used a model to test two hypotheses examining whether use of assertiveness by subordinates is associated with desired leader behavior. Findings suggest people's assertiveness is not related to their perception of their leader's behavior or their own role stress. (Sixty-three…

Navajo Indian children often encounter difficulties in school because their culturally accepted ways of displaying competencies differ from those expected in school environments. Failure to accept or interpret test data may result in poor test results, which teachers see as disinterest in academic achievement. (DF)

Determined if differences in performance on a posttest (in which sections differed in use of manipulative models to answer questions) were attributable to differences in reasoning levels of chemistry students (N=105). Results indicate that reasoning may affect performance under conditions of constant instruction. (JN)

Gifted and talented youths' educational needs are so extensive that acceleration, enrichment, individualization, and counseling services are required. The Gifted Education Resource Institute at Purdue University has been developing programs and helping others throughout the midwest to develop programs to meet the needs of these youth. (MLW)

Presents results of two equivalent questionnaires distributed to college faculty and students to determine if faculty expectations of student library use differed from students' perceptions of their actual use; and if expectations and use were affected by college division, student class level, or class level taught. (Author/EJS)

Discusses evolution of task performance assessment technique of the Toronto Office Skills Training Project (TOSTP), a 45-week training program for women from Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. Training in office skills, language, and life skills is uniquely integrated in a program designed to enable the women to overcome the obstacles of language…

Discusses trend toward minimum competency tests (MCTs) as a requirement for receiving high school graduation. Summarizes criticisms of such testing, and discusses Florida's experience with the MCT, especially in relation to minorities. Concludes that the use of MCTs is potentially discriminatory. (CJM)

Research on testing, use of intelligence scales, and use of personality scales is a major part of educational psychological research in Greece. A great deal of research has also been done in Greece on the problem of evaluating current educational practice. (BW)

Empirical Bayes methods are shown to provide a practical alternative to standard least squares methods in fitting high dimensional models to sparse data. An example concerning prediction bias in educational testing is presented as an illustration. (Author)

Presents a review of requirements for exit examinations for high school seniors and a discussion of the disadvantages and alternatives to the exams. (Author/HMV)

The PAAP Rubrics are designed for planning and implementation of the State's alternate assessment to the MEA, the PAAP. The PAAP has been designed to allow participation in the MEA for those students who require accommodations so significant that they would compromise the validity of the assessment (i.e., student would need accommodations that are…