Administrators at 332 colleges and universities completed surveys about their schools' current or proposed policies for urine drug testing of employees, applicants, and students. Fewer than 7% of schools reported urine drug testing of employees and applicants, and only 2% tested students. Few additional institutions were planning to adopt testing…

Gender differences in omitting items and guessing on multiple-choice tests were studied in Israel for 302 male and 302 female ninth graders and 150 male and 150 female university applicants. Females tended to omit more items and guess less often than did males. Implications for scoring are discussed. (SLD)

Describes study of health care employees that was designed to determine whether learning styles affect outcomes of learning with two computer-assisted instruction (CAI) design strategies, linear and branching. Use of the 4MAT Learning Styles Inventory is explained, and implications of the results for educators and courseware designers are…

Practices identified by experts as critical variables in eliciting writing samples were checked against 12 randomly selected studies using holistic ratings to derive descriptions of inferential statistical results for described samples. The studies often lacked precise information about these variables, limiting understanding of writing evaluation…

Effects of teacher planning and student spelling achievement of computerized expert system advice (ESA) within curriculum-based measurement (CBM) were studied for 30 special-education teachers and 60 of their elementary school students. CBM teachers without ESA provided more direct instruction on skills; those receiving ESA used more drill and…

From a survey of Arizona teachers/administrators and observations in two elementary schools concerning the role of external testing, a typology of teacher orientation toward preparing students to take high-stakes achievement tests is identified. Eight categories of teachers' approaches are contrasted with meanings of test preparation held by other…

This study investigated the technical adequacy of 7 objective indexes of writing quality in monitoring the progress of 36 middle school students with mild disabilities over a 6-month period. Three indexes (such as "percent of legible words") were moderately correlated with holistic ratings but were not sufficiently stable over time. (Author/JDD)

This study used judgmental and statistical procedures to evaluate the items in a statewide, 78-item, multiple-choice test of science knowledge. Differences in outcomes for these procedures are discussed. Authors conclude that both procedures should be used in test construction. (PR)

To develop Australian norms for the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales (Survey Form), data for 600 children aged 5-9 years were assessed. Interviews were conducted with 589 of the subjects' parents. Consistently lower scores by Australian children indicated that American norms require adjustment for Australian use. Recommended adjustments are…

Raven's Progressive Matrices and the Simpson Adult Vocabulary Scale were administered to 400 Australian hospitalized adults without psychiatric or neurological impairment in 4 age groups from 30 to 69 years. Compared to pre-1964 data, the subjects did not show gains in intelligence quotient as did younger age groups. (SLD)

This study is a partial replication of a set of studies conducted to investigate the effects of unequal status on speech variation. It was found that, in some respects, first- and second-language variation may be quantitatively different. (52 references) (JL)

Describes a microcomputer-based program of assessment and instruction in language arts incorporated into the developmental curriculum at four colleges. Discusses the instructional value of assessment. Describes three different implementation modes. Finds a climate for experimentation, a program champion, an implementation team, and organizational…

Considers the functions of teaching guides, and suggests why their evaluation is a worthwhile activity. The evaluation process is examined, and a set of model criteria for a detailed evaluation are provided. (14 references) (JL)

Compares primary school pupils who have repeated two years of schooling with a normally progressing control group. Uses Harter's scales to measure self-concept and self-worth. Finds no difference between repeating and nonrepeating children in self-worth or between girls and boys. Finds no evidence of systematic loss of self-worth. (NL)

Uses the National Council for Geographic Education Competency-Based Geography Test to measure the 1987 level of geographic ability of more than 3,000 students enrolled in introductory classes at 18 Indiana institutions of higher education. Study provides a baseline level of geographic knowledge for future comparisons. Measures impact of gender,…