During the past two decades, there have been several highly visible developments in education, including behavioral objectives, criterion-referenced test interpretations, the mastery model in instruction, performance-based instructional programs, competency testing, and accountability. This paper is an attempt to weave these various developments…

Information on institutional programs offering independent study by correspondence was studied in 1983, with attention to enrollments, staff size, fees, services, the use of computer grading, and compensation paid to staff for grading and course development in college, high school, and noncredit programs. The survey population consisted of 73…

This classroom observation unit includes a set of activities that are sequenced to create a one-semester field study course. The activities are organized into the following five modules: (1) observing teachers' classroom management strategies; (2) observing teachers' questioning strategies; (3) observing classroom activities routines; (4)…

Facing the problem of a wide discrepancy in grading standards for student essays, the English department at a Texas community college developed a standardized method of grading students' expository and persuasive essays. The department established a committee of 10 full-time instructors whose objective was to standardize grading for all required…

Four issues of a University of California, Los Angeles, (UCLA) newsletter by and for teaching assistants (TAs) are presented, with focus on writing, grading, undergraduate instruction, and plagiarism. Topics include: making writing assignments that are clear and provide clear grading criteria; writing with computers, writing by scientists and…

This report presents findings of a survey designed to examine why the parents of 1,927 children withdrew them from Montgomery County Maryland Public Schools in 1979-80 in order to enroll them in private schools. In the introductory section, the report provides background information and describes the survey (based on random telephone interviews…

To minimize the effects of systematic differences in raters' standards of clinical competence, a handicapping system was applied to the ratings made by fourteen preceptors of 128 junior year medical students in a 6-week psychiatry clerkship at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. The handicap of a preceptor was the difference between…

The author has discovered that errors in grades often occur when scores are combined for final marks. These errors are not related to the grading individual assignments. Rather, they occur when teachers at all grade levels bring individual test and assignment scores together for the students' final grades. Unfortunately, professors of mathematics…

Presentations of both the plenary sessions and the business meeting are included in the proceedings. Topics covered include: reassessment of the function of graduate education; dimensions of graduate study; faculty and student power and roles in decision-making; interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary, and polydisciplinary programs; and grading. (LBH)

This paper examines the subject of "contract teaching", particularly as it relates to the field of instruction for physical education majors. Essentially, contracting for grades includes, "...an agreement between a teacher and a student at the beginning of a course as to the grade the student expects to receive and the amount and quality of work…

A brief overview of the societal context for current grading practices forms the background for a discussion of alternatives to the assignment of letter or numerical grades to represent student performance. According to the author, in order to meet the criteria for effective feedback, schools and colleges must undergo several fundamental attitude…

Perspectives on the evaluation of college teaching are considered. Some of the conditions that are needed generally include the following: the existence of an evaluation system that has a process for evaluating research and service, a clear definition of the difference between the evaluation of worth and the evaluation of merit, and a separate…

As a follow-up to the Central Wisconsin Writing Project, a writing survey was prepared to (1) introduce the concept of writing across the curriculum to high school faculty in the district, (2) determine the district's need for inservice in writing across the curriculum, (3) establish the validity of the data, (4) collect information about writing…

The purpose of this study was to examine and compare the drop or withdrawal policies of the 29 tax-supported community colleges in Michigan, and to determine whether Macomb County Community College (MCCC) will have proportionately more hours dropped than most. As MCCC does not require formal withdrawal applications, permits withdrawal at any time,…

Teachers in all disciplines must demand good writing from students if they want their writing to improve. When good writing is demanded only in English classes, students develop a double standard for their writing. To make teachers in other departments aware of their responsibility for the quality of student writing, English teachers can take the…