Describes two experiments which were conducted to investigate the responses of eight-year-old children to differently worded spoken instructions for simple tasks, for which sentence length and complexity were systematically varied. Results indicate that children's accuracy improved with shorter and slower instructions. (Author/DB)

Examination of several variables--student attitudes, psychological knowledge, study time, class attendance, and Grade Point Average--indicates that there is no transfer of knowledge from high school psychology courses to college psychology courses. (Author/DB)

An original personality test is used to aid in screening and advising applicants to a freshman English tutorial program for foreign, minority and Anglo-American students. The test gives indications that it is strongly predictive of good and poor language-study behavior. (Author/RM)

This brief document analyzes the goals and indicators provided by states as part of the second round of state Biennial Performance Reports (BPRs) covering the academic years 1999-2000 and 2000-2001 as required by the 1997 amendments to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Review of state (or other federal jurisdiction) BPRs examined:…

This document describes the research design that will guide the Southwest Educational Development Laboratory's efforts in constructing procedural knowledge ("know-how" or working knowledge) needed to transform low-performing school districts and schools into high-performing learning communities. Little is known about procedural knowledge…

This research brief explores the extent to which teacher-designed assessments are authentic in inclusive secondary schools and how students with and without disabilities perform on these assessments. Data come from three high schools that are participating in a 5-year national study conducted by the Research Institute on Secondary Education Reform…

This publication focuses on data reported annually by South Carolina's public institutions of higher education as part of institutional effectiveness reporting and part of the process of performance funding. Data related to the funding process reflect the 1999-2000 performance year (institutional ratings of spring 2000), and historical performance…

Today one of the most challenging factors for teachers and schools of education around the world is technology. With the advent of new technological tools; educators, parents, politicians, and administrators are seeking alternative ways of successfully educating the new generations to use these new technologies in their daily lives and to develop…

The articles in this bibliography represent holdings of the Test Center of the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory in the area of assessment in school and classroom climate, student self-concept, student motivation to learn, and student attitude toward school. The annotation for each source includes title and author information and…

This study involving 84 eighth-grade reading students in a rural middle school measured the effects of the location of glossary (vocabulary) words in anthology text books. Control groups read from texts with glossary words only at the end of the texts, and experimental groups read from texts with the glossary words on the bottom of text pages. All…

This publication is designed to help Illinois social science teachers assess their students' learning using a variety of methods. The guide includes a rubric for scoring site-based alternative assessment activities, a rationale for the rubric, and sample activities to differentiate students' knowledge, reasoning, and communication skills. The…

Thirty-two states now have some form of accountability legislation that requires the reporting of school and school system performance indicators. This study examined the Alabama State Report Card to determine whether its information is sufficient to inform the public, legislature, and the media about the achievement of each school and school…

One focus of educational measurement has been the examination of the relationship between students' entering academic characteristics and their subsequent achievement outcomes. In the case of admissions tests, an important consideration is that test scores predict later achievement similarly for all groups of students who take the test. The…

A study was conducted to determine factors that foster or impede the development of distance education (DE) programs. A review of the literature related to transformation in higher education, technology and learning, and DE was conducted and the history of DE in the Washington State Community and Technical College System was reviewed. In addition,…

This book is designed to help students become better test takers. It is intended for teachers, but would be helpful to parents who think that their children's test scores do not completely represent their knowledge or abilities. Test taking skills are those skills that, when used effectively, contribute to a "test-wise" individual who can use…