The organization, scope, and activities of the Indiana Occupational Competency Testing Center were expanded to accommodate the requirements of the new Occupational Specialist Certificate for secondary vocational teacher credentialling. A pilot project involved three regional sites in the state. The director of the host area site acted as area…

This paper discusses problems the author encountered in attempting to conduct a study of teacher motivation as influenced by a combination of participative decision-making and financial rewards. Over a 3-year period, teacher motivation was to be viewed as influenced by two independent variables--participative decision-making and financial rewards;…

Designed for middle school students, this award winning, six-day teaching unit helped students learn about the concepts of specialization, interdependence, efficiency, and profit. At the onset of the lesson the students were already familiar with the concepts of scarcity, goods, services, profits, supply, demand, and opportunity costs. The unit's…

The Indiana State Board of Education's 1984 legislative program focuses on seven broad aspects of education. Concerning early childhood education, section 1 recommends the expansion of Project Primetime (a program reducing the size of kindergarten, first-grade, and second-grade classes) and the establishment of an incentive system encouraging…

The California Basic Educational Skills Test (CBEST) was developed as the means by which applicants for teaching or service credentials could demonstrate proficiency in reading, writing, and mathematics. Demonstration of proficiency in these skills was required for the issuance of a credential starting February 1, 1983. When examinees registered…

This paper describes how a teacher educator used a Computer Applications for Educator's preservice education course to teach constructivist lesson planning to students who were in the process of planning lessons. It was hypothesized that by providing scaffolding and coaching during the planning process, preservice teachers could be guided to learn…

This paper addresses the core goals for educators to stimulate participation across diversity (including life trajectories and culture) and motivate learners to engage in negotiation of meaning and knowledge building dialogue in the processes of networked learning. The paper reports on a Danish masters online course on networked learning for…

The relationship of differential item functioning (DIF) to item difficulty on the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) was examined, based on data from nine recent administrations of the test from June 1986 through December 1987. This pool of information includes item statistics on 765 verbal and 540 mathematical items computed for subgroups of White,…

In this annotated bibliography of 11 publications, 4 concern student suicide: (1) the role of the school in dealing with adolescent suicide; (2) a handbook for preventing suicide that includes warning signs and suggestions to help with the grieving process when a student suicide occurs; (3) guidelines for high school suicide prevention programs;…

Results of Nevada students in grades 3, 6, 9, and 11 on tests of the Nevada Proficiency Examination Program are presented for the 1987-88 school year. Examinations prescribed for grades 3 and 6 in mathematics, reading, and language are the appropriate Stanford Achievement Tests. Tests mandated for grade 9 are the Science Research Associates'…

This annotated bibliography provides an overview of literature entered into the ERIC database in 1988 on computer use in elementary and secondary education, adult education, and special education. The first of four sections provides a list of overview documents on: computer-assisted instruction. Focusing on special applications, the second section…

Standardized tests often produce results that are inaccurate, inconsistent, and biased against minority, female, and low-income students. Such tests shift control and authority into the hands of the unregulated testing industry and can undermine school achievement by narrowing the curriculum, frustrating teachers, and driving students out of…

The goal of the Pre Teacher Assessment Center is to give college sophomores a diagnostic assessment of their potential teaching skills across 13 skill dimensions felt to be prerequisites for teaching. The pre teacher assessment provides students with detailed information about potential teaching strengths and weaknesses and helps remediate…

An academic characteristics profile database for freshmen at the Pennsylvania State University is briefly described. The database was constructed through the Freshman Testing, Counseling, and Advising Program (FTCAP), which is designed to assist new freshmen in evaluating their educational plans by providing them, prior to initial registration, a…

This special report on the assessment of French immersion students in Alberta focuses on critical issues and methodological problems with testing methods. After an introduction, the second section gives an overview of these issues and problems. Issues discussed include the following: whether students instructed in French immersion programs should…