The academic records and other characteristics of freshmen in a Spanish university were analyzed to determine the optimal predictors of academic performance in the university. Secondary school grades, academic achievement tests, and university exams were the best predictors. Implications for admissions and counseling are discussed. (MSE)

Describes eight different levels of educational use of computers and proposes nine instructional goals for university computer resource centers to train teachers to become well-informed, competent computer users with a high level of computer literacy. (EAO)

Describes a Scottish project--"School-based assessment using item banking"--investigating the feasibility of producing computer-based test marking and reporting facilities. Teachers would construct their own tests from item banks and carry out diagnostic assessment and criterion-referenced measurement to evaluate students with SCRIBE, a…

Difficulties that entering college freshmen showed on a mathematics assessment test are discussed. More students can perform decimal computation than can order decimals. The concept of equivalent decimals should be taught more carefully at every level. (MNS)

Determined effect of testing frequency on data obtained using intensive time-series design. Eighth-grade, earth science student attitudes toward science class and class achievement data were not affected by frequency of data collection. Results of a previous study were also replicated, giving increased confidence in validity of data yielded by the…

Differentiating between time-series design and time-series analysis, examines design considerations and reanalyzes data previously reported by Mayer and Kozlow in this journal. The current analysis supports the analysis performed by Mayer and Kozlow but puts the results on a somewhat firmer statistical footing. (Author/JN)

Discusses the limitations of crossnational comparisons of secondary student performance in the U.S. and selected European and Pacific industrial countries, using mathematics and science data from the International Assessment for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA). Suggests the most serious problem is the rise of a new educational…

Issues in the foreign language placement of college students are discussed: the necessity of a placement test for all incoming students, selection of such a test from the available options, decline of student performance in the last 20 years, and articulation courses from high school to college. (MSE)

To reduce test anxiety, students were given increased information about the probable question types on end-of-unit examinations. Two experimental testing formats, a combination of the two, and the typical practice of providing no additional information were compared. Results show that additional information can reduce anxiety but not necessarily…

Equality of educational opportunity within Minimum Competency Testing is analyzed in terms of the distribution of outcomes, availability of remediation, and effectiveness of remediation for Blacks and Whites. (Author)

Offers teaching suggestions for public relations, media history, mass communications, broadcast journalism, and journalism education. (HOD)

Describes an experiment conducted by the English department at the University of Missouri, Columbia, in which a brief essay written at home was used to help place incoming freshmen in appropriate writing classes. (JL)

Using an input-output framework, the author derives hypotheses on wage differentials based on the assumption that human capital (in this case, education) will explain workers' wage differentials. The hypothetical wage differentials are tested on data from the Italian economy. (RW)

Evaluated 11 of the most popular tests used by school psychologists in Illinois as to their technical adequacy along three dimensions: norms, reliability, and validity. Results suggested that the most popular tests used by school psychologists are not typically technically adequate devices. (Author)

Describes the operation of TESTS (A Test Exchange for Service Teachers of Science) which searches out, solicits, reviews, and catalogs test materials. Organization of existing nonpublished instruments is described. Implications are made for future test development in science education. (CS)