An education reporter who took a leave of absence to observe competency-based education writes about his findings, which include both support and criticism of competency-based programs. (MF)

Describes several approaches to instructional evaluation for engineering teachers, including a simplified illustration of item analysis. (SL)

Some of the approaches employed to reduce students' test anxiety are briefly reviewed and attention is focused upon the use of hypnosis. A one-to-one therapeutic approach using hypnosis as a technique is outlined and the feasibility of its extension to group treatment is explored in an experimental context. (Editor)

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of the Zax Information Profile (ZIP), a measure of general fund of knowledge, in differentiating college dropouts from continuing students. (MB)

This research studied the relation between mastery of the words "and" and "or" and performance on the conjunctive and disjunctive tasks. A definition test was used to measure level of mastery of the linguistic terms and a traditional logical test to measure logical task performance. Results are related with ability to solve logical tasks.…

Data from the application of word reading, letter recognition, memory and classification tasks to preschool children suggest that word learning ability is more closely tied to cognitive development than is alphabet knowledge and that reading readiness assessment might profit from applying a word learning task. (MB)

Examines the benefits of frequent testing, some recent variations of frequent testing, and attempts to extract whatever generalizations appear to emerge from the evidence provided by the review of the studies. (Author/RK)

Suggests some practical testing skills needed by the classroom teacher. (Author/RK)

The Religious Education Outcomes Inventory includes two components: 1) the religious knowledge level reporting both individual and class profiles, and 2) the confidential attitude measure which links religious knowledge with attitudes and practices. The program's main use is to help local staffs monitor the effectiveness of their religious…

The responsibility for assessment in Australia has shifted from state education department and examining authorities to schools, teachers, and in some cases students. Variables operating in assessment procedures used by Australian schools and examination systems, and how the meaning of marks is communicated are described. National implications are…

Three types of student evaluation strategies used in Italy are described: (1) teacher's free comments; (2) standardized adjectives used as rating scales; and (3) numeric scores based on tests and other evaluation criteria. Implications of the third approach, which was implemented according to legislation in 1977, are discussed. (GDC)

Notes the weakness of comprehension assessment as it occurs in standardized tests and exercise books, and reports on a new approach which views reading as a constructive process that results from a complex set of interactions between reader and texts. (NH)

Describes a study comparing the assessment of student work by seven teachers with the assessment done by 20 secondary assessors. (PK)

Reviews research on student assessment and placement, focusing on problems and questions; methods of assessment; establishing cut scores; and evaluation of course placement systems. Includes an extensive bibliography. (LAL)

Reviews the history of standardized assessment programs for college entrance, with particular emphasis on the community college testing programs. Examines responses of California community colleges to a 1982-83 survey of assessment procedures. Offers recommendations regarding the essential components of effective assessment. (DMM)