Standardized tests often produce results that are inaccurate, inconsistent, and biased against minority, female, and low-income students. Such tests shift control and authority into the hands of the unregulated testing industry and can undermine school achievement by narrowing the curriculum, frustrating teachers, and driving students out of…

The cooperative efforts of researchers and practitioners in building a model of essential teaching and classroom management skills as part of a process of educational reform are illustrated in this study by a local school administrator and university program directors and professors. The reform effort was part of the Arizona Career Ladder pilot…

This practicum report describes the development and implementation of a middle school program in King and Queen County in Virginia's Middle Peninsula designed to improve the achievement of sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-grade students whose achievement scores were consistently lower than national and state averages. A literature review and…

This study involving 29 students enrolled in an 8-week summer Algebra II class for minority students was undertaken to determine the relationship between the kinds of symbolic forms used in problem-solving instruction and students' problem-solving processes and performance. All subjects were Black or Hispanic and were about to enter grade 11. For…

This special report on the assessment of French immersion students in Alberta focuses on critical issues and methodological problems with testing methods. After an introduction, the second section gives an overview of these issues and problems. Issues discussed include the following: whether students instructed in French immersion programs should…

An overview is presented of the epistemology of the three types of constructivism. Criticized is another interpretation of constructivism; it is stated that this interpretation is trivial, cognitively abridged, and disrespectful of students' capacities, creativity, and imagination. Constructivism has to go beyond saying that knowledge is…

A study compared the achievement of students in three Ottawa French programs: early French immersion (EFI), begun in kindergarten; middle French immersion (MFI), begun in fourth grade; and late French immersion (LFI), begun in sixth grade, with students in core French instruction since kindergarten. Extensive testing and data-collection…

This book describes the innovative teaching style and methods of Marva Collins, the founder and principal of the Westside Preparatory School in Chicago (Illinois). The book traces Collins's career at Calhoun South and Delano Elementary Schools and the development of her distinctive approach, which involves teaching the total child, developing the…

This paper applies the concept of educational partnership to the problem of drug use among students. The present structure of public education in the United States is critiqued, and a new structure based on shared responsibility of home, school, and community, and on the voice, educational choice, and loyalty of participants, is proposed. The…

In preparation for the mandatory administration of the New Jersey High School Proficiency Test (HSPT) that was to begin with ninth graders in 1986, a pilot program was conducted with ninth graders who had done poorly on the HSPT during its second, nonmandatory administration in 1985. Approximately 125 students were selected (25 in each of five…

In spring 1982, a follow-up study was conducted at Wytheville Community College (WCC) to determine the current activities of students enrolled during fall 1979 who did not graduate; the employment status of occupational technical graduates; the progress of transfer students enrolled at four-year institutions; and the opinions of both graduates and…

This paper discusses the content of the social studies tests of the 1981-82 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Selected social studies and citizenship items were administered to 3,200 students aged 9, 13, and 17 and to adults aged 26-35. Twelve sources describing the social studies tests were reviewed, particularly the Citizenship…

To assist in the development of policies to eliminate the subtle inequities which inhibit the mathematics achievement of many Black youths, it is suggested that the redesign of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) mathematics assessment study Black students' opportunity to learn mathematics. Recommendations for the redesign of…

Bilingual immersion programs combine second language immersion for language majority children and bilingual education for language minority children. The programs are based on the underlying assumption of the immersion model: that a second language is best learned as a medium of instruction, not as the object of instruction. However, they are not…

Intended for students taking the Grade 12 Diploma Examinations in English 33 in Alberta, Canada, this test on writing contains general instructions and the following three writing tasks: (1) a personal response to an aspect of literature, (2) functional writing requiring a written response within a given situation or context, and (3) a response to…