For the past five years, Vermont has been developing an innovative statewide assessment system in which portfolios of student work in mathematics and writing are a key element. The use of mathematics portfolios, particularly in elementary school, is a novel aspect of the assessment system. This study examines the elementary school mathematics…

How different evaluation formats affected test scores for different tracks of high school biology students was studied in an action research case study. For purposes of the study, "A" tracked students were generally college-bound; "B" tracked students were those who had no desire to attend college, especially those in vocational education, or who…

This report, mandated by Ohio's 119th General Assembly, examines the fairness and appropriateness of the state's ninth-grade proficiency test. Under the assumption that it is indeed fair and appropriate to have a single, statewide graduation standard for all students, the study focuses on the issue of whether the test, as developed and…

This report describes a series of curricular modifications made in an effort to increase students' ability to self-assess and set goals. The targeted population consisted of grade school students in kindergarten and grades one and five in one parochial and one public school in northern Illinois with populations of 288 and 367 students,…

The GALAXY Language Arts Demonstration Program is a package of integrated curricular and instructional approaches that features the organization of instruction around themes presented through television broadcasts, children's literature, classroom activities, and the use of interactive technology. During the GALAXY Project demonstration phase for…

California has developed a new series of credential examinations for foreign language teachers to make it possible to test the competence of teachers in six languages less frequently taught than Spanish and French. These languages are German, Japanese, Mandarin, Punjabi, Russian, and Vietnamese. Each assessment is based on the specifications…

This study explored fourth-grade teachers' understanding of mathematical problem solving, an aspect of the Vermont portfolio assessment program that has been largely ignored. Teachers' conceptions of problem solving, their knowledge of problem-solving strategies, their selection and evaluation of problem-solving tasks, and their instructional…

The Gang Membership Inventory (GMI) was developed for use with urban high-risk youth and administered as part of a larger survey. The GMI consists of 15 true/false items asking about the respondent's involvement in gang activities in the year just past. Activities range from peripheral involvement to more serious involvement in gangs (e.g., being…

The 1992 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) monitored the performance of students in American schools in reading, mathematics, science, and writing. The sample consisted of more than 145,000 public and private school students in grades 4, 8, 11, and 12. This technical report provides details of instrument development, sample…

This guide is intended to provide guidance on planning and developing a coordinated, competency-based course of instruction in vocational education for students with limited English proficiency. Directed by both the vocational and the English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) instructor, it has been designed as a reference to be used when planning such…

The Port of Baltimore Workplace Skills Development Project had the following objectives: perform literacy audits on at least 20 job titles within the port-related industries; develop curriculum modules providing literacy skill instruction using a functional context approach reflecting the Port of Baltimore needs; offer instructional services to at…

The work of the Assessment Development Laboratory (ADL) at the University of Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania) in developing an assessment for identifying accomplished teachers of English language arts to young adolescents (aged 11 to 15 years) for the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) is reviewed. The assessment is meant to…

This paper reports on a study undertaken to discover what instruments were available for use in career assessment. The study population was all sources of information that listed or described career assessment instruments. To identify those instruments used with special populations, a survey was sent to all regional service centers in Texas for…

The experience of the Canadian provinces with large-scale testing programs is reviewed to suggest answers to questions currently discussed in the United States regarding the proposed national system of achievement testing. In the Canadian provinces, tests are linked to provincial curricula. Standards and assessments are not set by experts with no…

A review of educational measurement journals indicates that the decade of the 1970s and up until about 1984 was the time when substantial numbers of studies dealt with criterion-referenced measurement, and the era in which criterion-referenced measurement advances were made. Although there appears to be less interest in publications today, a…