The sixth report required by the Maryland Educational Accountability Act contains information about goals for Maryland public education and progress toward those goals. The first section explains accountability, the Maryland Accountability Act, and limitations of current instruments for measuring learning progress. The central purpose of the…

The seventh report required by the Maryland Educational Accountability Act contains information about goals for Maryland public education and progress toward those goals. The first section explains accountability, the Maryland Accountability Act, and limitations of current instruments for measuring learning progress. The central purpose of the…

One area explored in the second (in-depth) phase of the Learning in Science Project was "children's science," defined as views of the world and the meanings for words that children have and bring with them to science lessons. The investigation reported focuses on the concept of "plant" held by 29 students. Data were obtained by…

Four papers to be used in conjunction with video-tapes developed by the Learning in Science Project are presented. Topic areas of the papers focus on: (1) animals; (2) electric current; (3) force; and (4) science activities. The first paper presents transcripts of class discussions focusing on the scientific meaning of the word animal. The second…

A study was conducted to determine if covert reader-generation of interspersed prequestions would affect recall of science-oriented prose. Sixty college freshmen in a basic skills reading course were divided into three groups: Group I received 5 hours of training and practive in the construction of self-generated questions, including recognition…

A research project was conducted to see if students given direct instruction in recognizing and asking literal, interpretive, and critical questions would ask better questions about material they read than students who were not given the same instruction. This premise, based on an extensive search of the literature on questioning and…

The Job Skills Educational Program (JSEP), currently under development for the Army Research Institute, embeds learner strategies training within the context of a basic skills computer-assisted instruction curriculum. The curriculum is designed for low-ability soldiers, and consists largely of instruction in the domain of intellectual skills. An…

This paper describes the process by which student teachers in field experience programs transform present experience into personal knowledge through experiential learning. The paper is guided by the contemporary understandings about languaging; which include reading, writing, talking, listening, and the transformation of experience into new…

Random parallel reading comprehension tests in Japanese and English were administered to a sample of native Japanese students enrolled in intensive English instruction. The students had been placed at three different levels of English language proficiency based on an independent proficiency assessment measure. Evidence for a threshold competency…

In response to the tradition of examining a new test's validity by comparing it with a well-established multiple-choice test, a study investigated whether multiple-choice tests with one right answer can measure the reading comprehension process as defined by constructivists. The study compared the information obtained from two different…

State policymakers' efforts to promote teaching for understanding and thinking in elementary schools were assessed. Data were obtained through interviews of directors of state departments of education nationwide, interviews of two or more curriculum specialists in seven states judged to be particularly active in promoting higher order outcomes,…

Reading and mathematics objectives measured by the eighth grade tests of the Georgia Criterion-Referenced Tests are described. This guide was designed to familiarize the teacher with assessment characteristics for each objective. Objectives in concept identification, component operations, and problem solving are defined for mathematics. All…

This practicum was designed to improve reading comprehension of intermediate grade children attending compensatory education classes in a Florida elementary school. It involved 11 students in grades 2 through 5 who were low achievers in reading and/or math. It was designed to improve reading comprehension by providing training using six specific…

A study tested the effects of hedges (which signal writers' tentative assessment of referential information) on readers' learning. Subjects, 145 ninth-grade students from three middle class junior high schools in a midwestern city who were ranked on the Iowa Test of Basic Skills, participated in the experiment--74 were randomly assigned to an…

A study focused on the nature and effect of constraints on the hypotheses that learners make about the meanings of words. Two experiments were conducted at a large midwestern university: the first, involving 68 undergraduate students divided randomly into two groups, tested taxonomic and durative constraints on nouns, and time of day and cessation…