The oral communication course for English majors at the National University of Malaysia includes testing designed by faculty and coordinated with the curriculum. This practice is based on the ideas that a teacher who has been actively involved in curriculum design is in a good position to design a test for that curriculum, and that teacher-made…

This digest focuses on going beyond multiple choice testing to the development of methods for assessing complex knowledge and performances. Newly designed assessment systems must accurately measure and promote the complex thinking and learning goals that are known to be critical to students' academic success and their eventual sustained…

Because not all approaches to evaluating the achievement of elementary school students evaluate the same facets of development, a variety of evaluation devices must be used to assess learners intellectually, socially, emotionally, and physically. The following approaches are discussed as ways of student evaluation: (1) work samples; (2)…

This book is intended to help early childhood practitioners develop the essential understanding they require for appropriate use of assessment and evaluation information and to illuminate many of the issues involved in formal and informal assessment and evaluation. The chapters are: (1) "Assessment and Evaluation in the Early Childhood…

This text presents basic principles of applying curriculum-based assessment (CBA) to the evaluation of and instruction of students with disabilities. Throughout the book, the mnemonic APPLY is used as an organizing method for teachers to develop and use CBA. APPLY stands for: (1) analyze the curriculum, (2) prepare items to match curriculum…

The Education Department of Salem-Teikyo University (West Virginia) was chosen to develop a pilot assessment plan as part of the overall Institutional Student Outcomes Assessment Plan. The plan delineated in this paper includes the following criteria: (1) students majoring in education may enroll in the teacher education program to earn elementary…

The Cognitive Skills Assessment Battery (CSAB), a school-readiness test, is administered to all public school students at the beginning of Grade 1 in South Carolina. This test is designed to measure a student's readiness to begin the formal school curriculum. The number of beginning first graders tested in 1992 (54,357) represented a decrease from…

In the spring of 1991, officials from Lamar High School in Houston (Texas) requested a study of their tracking system and its relation to student achievement. This paper reports the results of the evaluation. Many of the courses at Lamar High School are associated with four instructional levels: (1) remedial; (2) regular; (3) college bound; and…

This guide, designed for limited-English-speaking native Portuguese-speaking parents in California and presented in both Portuguese and English versions, is a general reference about the California State educational system. Sections address the following topics in question-and-answer format: matriculation, general information, and transportation;…

This report, fourth in an annual series, presents information about the status of public schools in Rhode Island. Three types of indicators are provided: (1) education outcomes; (2) community context; and (3) policies and practices. Education outcomes include results of student testing on the Metropolitan Achievement Test and other measures of…

The National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB) is responsible for improving the form and use of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The NAGB is beginning to define achievement levels to state clearly what students should know and be able to do at key grades in school. This report creates a policy framework, definitions, and…

The unprecedented influx of new settlers into Canada since 1962 has compounded the problems of minority student assessment and placement. This paper discusses the underlying issues involved in assessment and placement of minority students, then reviews related problems. Until the 1950s, Canada's school system, like that of Great Britain and the…

This curriculum guide outlines Prince George's County (MD) schools' seventh and eighth grade program of exploratory foreign language. Topics presented include: administrative and instructional policy statements; course overview; notes on concepts, skills, and content; timetables for fall and spring semester courses; rationale and goals; student…

The first part of a two-part manual, this guide emphasizes how migrant counselors administer their duties, procedures to follow and functional aids to employ in working with migrant secondary students. Divided into four sections, the guide is intended to help experienced and inexperienced counselors and to provide administrators and teachers with…

A bibliography of 238 journal articles, most of which are annotated, is presented that covers various aspects of the status of the minority student in American higher education. In addition, a list of research studies on college student attrition and persistence is included, since many of these studies may have special implications for low income…