Fifteen college classes were identified via standardized student ratings as having had superior testing procedures. Instructors in those classes were asked to describe their evaluation procedures, and interviews were conducted with 27 students randomly selected from the classes. Interviewed students stressed the "communicative" dimension…

This manual introduces health and safety trainers to the experiences and training needs of workers with limited literacy skills and provides tools and practical tips for developing materials and programs with literacy in mind. Chapter 2 introduces literacy issues through the stories of six workers and links literacy issues with health and safety…

This monograph is organized in three main sections addressing problems, promising practices, and equitable procedures low cost in the identification of students with gifted potential. The first section considers problems in identification. These include: (1) elitist and distorted definitions of giftedness, (2) confusion about purposes of…

This report provides updated information on major national activities related to the development and assessment of educational outcomes of students with disabilities who are receiving special education services. The report reviews major initiatives in the areas of the national education goals (Goals 2000), standards, and national testing. The…

This paper provides an analysis of inclusion as it relates to national goals, national standards, and national tests for students with disabilities. Concerning the six national education goals specified in Goals 2000, the paper finds that the primary data collection programs used to document progress toward the goals exclude 40 to 50 percent of…

Problems in the testing of Chinese as a foreign language (CFL) are examined, focusing on proficiency testing needs and test standardization. Particular attention is paid to listening and reading assessment. The first part of the discussion looks at specific problems with five existing proficiency tests, including such aspects as inadequacy of the…

A discussion of oral language testing looks at the role of student attitudes, student and interviewer gender, and interviewer social status in the reliability of student assessments. Three small-scale studies investigating these factors are described. The first two involved only Arab students. In the first, it was found that students (all male)…

This study was directed toward determining the effect on National Teacher Education (NTE) Test Scores of changing a professional undergraduate educational program, and exploring whether there is a specific significant difference between the use of a traditional undergraduate professional educational program and a modified undergraduate…

A major initiative in Australia is a general and pervasive obsession with competency-based training and assessment. There is a real danger that the selling of competency-based training (CBT) and competency-based assessment (CBA) is greater than what it can offer. One criticism focuses on CBT, the other on CBA, although in most instances where CBT…

While the 1960s and 1970s came to be known as the era of curriculum development in science, it appears that the 1980s and the 1990s will be known as the time of curriculum development with strengthened attention to implementation and evaluation. This book examines the assessment of elementary school science and provides numerous examples of…

This information booklet is intended to serve as a companion document to the course syllabus for technology education in New York. It will assist teachers in developing lesson plans that address performance objectives, supporting competencies, and subsequent testing. It first provides important information to teachers, guidance counselors, and…

This investigation of the use of white space in print-based, computer-generated text focused on the point at which the white space interferes with reading speed and comprehension. It was hypothesized that reading speed and comprehension would be significantly greater when text was wrapped tightly around the graphic than when it had one-half inch…

This document is a report to the Delaware State Legislature concerning the results of the Delaware Educational Assessment Program in 1989-90. The Stanford Achievement Test was administered statewide in grades 1 through 8 and grade 11. This administration allowed both national and state comparisons. The average Delaware student performed above the…

Designed for use in workshops, this teachers' guide provides advice about the use of portfolios to assess and document students' learning. It also poses questions that will help the teacher focus on critical components of portfolio development. The guide defines a portfolio as a collection of evidence used by the teacher and student to monitor, in…

The impact of a decision by a local program under Chapter 1, the federally funded program of financial assistance to special educational needs of children, to test students fall-to-fall or spring-to-spring was studied. Students enrolled in a Chapter 1 reading program in 1988-89 were tested on a fall-to-spring basis, a spring-to-spring basis, and a…