Two studies demonstrated dissociation between preschoolers' understanding of pictorial and mental representations. Results showed that false picture tasks were significantly easier than false belief tasks. There was no correlation between performance on the two. Children were trained on false belief, false picture, or number conservation tasks;…

Examined the generalizability of written-response scores on the English 30 diploma examination administered to Alberta 12th-grade students. Student scores differed as a function of rater, but this variance component was small across two tasks and two administrations; score generalizability was high using a two-rater system; and scale variability…

Review states that two well-known evaluators have assembled a collection of essays on emerging issues in evaluation. These include global political perspectives, qualitative and quantitative research, the relationship between auditing and evaluation, performance assessment, international evaluation, and methodological issues. (SLD)

A study examined the integrity with which four general education teachers implemented an intervention designed to improve the academic performance of elementary school students. The teachers markedly increased the integrity of the delivered treatment when they were provided with performance feedback and students' performance improved as integrity…

Examines the role of assessment in middle schools. Describes characteristics of authentic assessment and benefits of product, performance, and portfolio assessment. Discusses effective grading methods, listing advantages and disadvantages of grading. Presents guidelines for designing tests and describes four unusual testing formats: (1) Bloom…

Describes use of behavioral descriptors called Performance Results to guide instruction, combined with implementation of portfolio assessment, for middle level students in Utah's Salt Lake City School District. Discusses stumbling blocks to using the Performance Results for teachers and students, positive outcomes from the process, and future…

Four studies examined developmental differences in the representation of basic-subordinate inclusion relationships in three-, five-, and seven-year olds and undergraduates. Found that even three-year olds showed rudimentary knowledge of the asymmetry of inclusion. There was a marked developmental gap between producing subordinate category names…

Two studies involving 368 elementary and high school students and 29 readers were conducted to investigate reader consistency, score reliability, and reader time requirements of three hands-on science performance tasks. Holistic scores were as reliable as analytic scores, and there was a high correlation between them after they were disattenuated…

The temporal stability and intertask consistency of an eighth-grade mathematics performance assessment and how task similarity affects the ability to generalize results of the assessments were studied with results from 101 eighth graders. Results support the suggestion that large-scale performance assessments be used with considerable caution…

Describes an initiative at the University of Missouri-Columbia to design and implement a technology infrastructure and associated enterprises in a college of education. Outlines technology priorities (improve teaching, develop new media, create learning environments, increase information exchange); presents technology, facility, organizational,…

Compared kindergartners', third graders', and undergraduates' understanding and attribution of randomness. Found that kindergartners' interpretations were deterministic or outside the determinancy-indeterminancy frame. Most third graders had some grasp of randomness; their interpretations were less dominated by false attribution of determinism…

Before playing a video game, 47 gifted second graders and 47 gifted fifth graders were instructed to adopt an evaluative, process, outcome, or no specific goal focus while playing. Older children showed better performance overall and their best performance when instructed to adopt an evaluative goal. Younger children showed their worst performance…

The internal/external frame of reference model was examined for 131 adolescents participating in a summer program for academically talented students. Results suggest that the model was useful in understanding the academic self-concept development of students, with no significant differences among students with strengths in mathematics, verbal…

Presents a study that compares an introductory high school biology curriculum, Biology: A Community Context (BACC), with traditional curricula. Discusses the differences between standards-based BACC and traditional instruction. Identifies the instructional method in BACC as investigative inquiry and the activities proceed from concrete to more…

Examined the performance of English language learners (ELLs) on mathematics word problems, the effect of accommodation strategies, and the impact of students' background characteristics on accommodation effectiveness. Results for 946 eighth graders show that ELL students were helped by modified English, extra time, and use of a glossary plus extra…