This paper describes how one secondary physical education teacher graded her students according to individual levels of accomplishment and minimum performance standards. The plan motivated her students to participate in and enjoy physical activities and to respect physicality, the learning process, and each other. (SM)

Guidelines for assessing the classroom environment for optimal student performance cover physical environment, time/instructional management, behavior management, and teacher effectiveness. Vignettes illustrate classroom problems and suggest management solutions. A checklist identifies instructional methods and conditions that positively affect…

Whether differences in mean scores among gender and racial/ethnic groups on science performance assessments are comparable to those for traditional tests was studied with 2,000 students in grades five, six, and nine. Overall, results suggest that the type of test has little effect on these differences in scores. (SLD)

Presents 10 principles for beginning mathematics teachers based on the standards of the Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium (INTASC). A main product of the INTASC Performance Assessment Development Project (PADP) is the use of a portfolio-based teacher assessment which includes lessons focusing on one mathematical topic,…

A study examined the job performance of 47 adolescents with emotional and behavioral disorders. Significant discrepancies were found between supervisors' ratings of the importance of work behaviors and their ratings of adolescents' performance of the same behaviors. Adolescents' self-evaluations were significantly more favorable than the ratings…

This article presents conceptual models of relationships between print size and reading speed and preferred viewing distances. These models illustrate how various factors can influence reading behaviors and influence decisions about the optimal angular size of print and resolution reserve. (Contains references.) (Author/CR)

This article examines the ways in which newly-hired factory workers define literacy. In this study, employees responded to open-ended questions and narrated a story to illustrate on-the-job success. Findings indicate that workers defined literacy in both traditional--in terms of reading and writing--and non-traditional ways, such as…

Given the limited use of social competence assessments by teachers, this article briefly reviews three assessment strategies for preschool children, developmental and curriculum-based assessment, direct observation, and peer relations and friendship assessment. A modified performance-based assessment of peer-related social competence is…

To oversee superintendent performance, school boards can take three key steps: (1) assign accountability for managing the board-superintendent relationship to a standing committee; (2) the committee and the superintendent can agree each year on the specific leadership challenges; and (3) annually conduct an indepth assessment of the…

This article analyzes policy and legislation pertaining to special needs education in South Africa. It examines South African research and projects aimed at developing sustainable inclusive education policy and practice and concludes that sustainable inclusive education programs must be linked to programs for social and economic growth and…

Presents the use of a seven-stage peer assessment process and peer learning in an online, constructivist, higher education distance learning context to develop desired skills and capabilities. Authentic assessments included case studies, projects, critique and portfolio of evidence. Discusses assessment in a system of constructive alignment…

This book focuses on topics germane to cognitive abilities viewed from a "minority psychology" perspective. The most contentious chapters concern test bias and heredity, with culture, socioeconomic status, and case viewed as the chief explanations for test score differences between social classes and racial and ethnic groups. The reviewer…

In this article, five high schools are examined that successfully meet the needs of gifted and talented students through innovative curricular programs, which feature small learning communities and supportive structures such as small advisory groups, real world connections, authentic assessment, and teachers who facilitate learning. (Contains…

A study investigated relationships among 59 elementary teachers' reading-related content knowledge, their philosophical orientation toward reading instruction, their classroom practice, and their students' learning. Relationships emerged between content knowledge and instruction and between kindergarten teachers' phonological knowledge and their…

Presents the results of a study, in which undergraduate students (n=105) in student-centered courses (one first-year and one second-year psychology course) completed a questionnaire evaluating their perceptions of the best college courses based on the course, professor, and the student's role. (CMK)