A model for an integrative first-year writing class, combining American native writing, field experience, and the fundamental trappings of a composition class, are examined in this paper. Students can learn to respond to environmental issues in creative ways and explore issues that they will face in their lives. In addition to a combined…

In May 1972, 2,900 copies of a survey were distributed eliciting opinions about the meaning of some qualifying adjectives and phrases commonly used in "verbal communications." These same adjective phrases are commonly used in survey research. They include phrases such as "a few,""a majority,""nearly all,"…

The National Household Education Survey (NHES) is a telephone survey of the noninstitutionalized civilian population of the United States that collects data on educational issues that are best explored through contact with households rather than with institutions. The NHES has been conducted in 1991, 1993, 1995, and 1996. In the 1996 NHES…

C.M. Condit (1986) has pointed out that audiences regard characterizations as the most salient feature of any text. The power of identification or "the result of all the components in the rhetorical act" (K. Burke, 1945, 1950) is compelling. The power generated by viewers' responses to character-centered films can be harnessed in the…

In November 1995 staff from the National Center for Education Statistics sent a questionnaire about customer service to each of the Common Core of Data (CCD) coordinators who are responsible for the data reported annually on the CCD surveys. These surveys include the National Public Education Finance Survey (NPEFS) and four largely nonfiscal…

This study compared the performance of the LOGIST and BILOG computer programs on item response theory (IRT) based scaling and equating for the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) using real and simulated data and two calibration structures. Applications of IRT for the TOEFL program are based on the three-parameter logistic (3PL) model.…

A new assessment conception is described that integrates constructed-response testing, artificial intelligence, and model-based measurement. The conception incorporates complex constructed-response items for their potential to increase the validity, instructional utility, and credibility of standardized tests. Artificial intelligence methods are…

A course on detective fiction proved to be very popular at the University of Michigan, Flint. Fifty students signed up for the class, which was supposed to be limited to 45. Surprisingly, though, only 10 of these identified themselves as readers of detective fiction; those remaining were mainly curious. The course featured a range of works…

This booklet of academic standards spells out what students should know and be able to do in Grade 10 English/Language Arts. The booklet gives examples to help students understand what is required to meet the standards and provides a list of 10 things parents can do to help their child get a good education. It outlines the following seven…

This booklet of academic standards spells out what students should know and be able to do in Grade 11 English/Language Arts. The booklet gives examples to help students understand what is required to meet the standards and provides a list of 10 things parents can do to help their child get a good education. It outlines the following seven…

This booklet of academic standards spells out what students should know and be able to do in Grade 12 English/Language Arts. The booklet gives examples to help students understand what is required to meet the standards and provides parents with a list of 10 things they can do to help their child get a good education. It outlines the following…

This paper provides evidence for the reliability and validity of the Preventive Coping Resources Inventory (PCRI) instrument designed to measure coping resources useful for prevention based on previous research. It specifically looks at the construct validity of the PCRI; the convergent and discriminate validity of the PCRI with related…

This booklet offers 10 ideas to transform instruction in reading and heighten literacy for all students. The booklet states that these principles and ideas, interrelated and built one upon the other, are based on solid research findings and practical experience and that they are already being used in classrooms across the country. The 10 ideas…

This study investigated whether raters in two different training groups would demonstrate halo error when each rater scored all five responses to five different mathematics performance-based items from each student. One group of 20 raters was trained by an experienced scoring director with item-specific scoring rubrics and the opportunity to…

This booklet presents the Written Response part of the English 30 Grade 12 Diploma examination in Alberta, Canada. After instructions for students, the booklet presents the first part of the examination in which students respond to Thom Gunn's poem "Tamer and Hawk," which addresses the nature and effect of a ruling passion in an…