This study examines possible factors related to school library programs that correlate with student academic achievement. Analyzing library programs as a system, the investigator adapted the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) principles for library media programs in conjunction with standardized tests. For the population examined (60…

A rigorous placement exam introduced into a university Developmental Mathematics program increased course success rates, retention, and enrollment rates in math courses, but reduced completion rates in Developmental Math and standard math courses required for a degree. Results suggest an inverse relationship between course success rates and total…

This article presents a writing portfolio project whose primary goal is to integrate the development of proficiency skills, content knowledge, and grammatical competence through literary study. Excerpts from Queneau's (1947) "Exercices de style," which tells the same story 99 times, serve as the basis for this portfolio project: These excerpts are…

This paper proposes criteria that instructors should be sensitive to when evaluating simulations or role-plays for use in international/comparative politics courses. The potential benefits and drawbacks to these interactive exercises are addressed as well as the special circumstances that must be taken into consideration to reap the full promise…

We present an approach for integrating instruction of scientific writing and reading into undergraduate science courses, inspired by the pedagogical theory of cognitive apprenticeship. We demonstrate its implementation and describe a study of students' feedback that enabled us to elicit students' difficulties and fine-tune the next application…

Advantages of using classroom observation as another measure of teacher performance include: (1) It is applicable to jobs where performance measures based on outcomes are hard to develop or where outcomes cannot be assigned to an individual person; (2) It ensures that important aspects of performance that go beyond measured outcomes, such as how…

This study goes beyond student perceptions of online learning experiences, satisfaction, and attitudes, to examine the actual participation and dynamics that occur in online discussions and their relationship to student learning outcomes. A content analysis approach was used to investigate students' socio-cognitive processes in an online…

Articles related to assessment in the field of reading are presented to provide ideas for those studying reading and reading assessment. There are two sections to the bibliography: the articles themselves and an index. Many of the entries describe informal assessments and are intended mainly for classroom use. The 124 articles are listed in…

This exploratory study applied two new cognitively sensitive measurement models to constructed-response quantitative data. The models, intended to produce qualitative characteristics of examinee performance, were fitted to algebra word problem solutions produced by 285 examinees taking the Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) General Test. The two…

Analyses based on fitting item response models to data from the College Board's Advanced Placement exams in Chemistry and United States History indicated that the constructed-response portion of the tests yielded little information over and above that provided by the multiple-choice sections. These tests also allow examinees to select subsets of…

This study evaluated expert system diagnoses of examinees' solutions to complex constructed-response algebra word problems. Problems were presented to three samples (30 college students each), each of which had taken the Graduate Record Examinations General Test. One sample took the problems in paper-and-pencil form and the other two on computer.…

This proposal suggests the kinds of information that could be developed to inform choices and answer questions related to the national education goals and their specific targets. An important approach to providing this kind of information is being undertaken by the National Assessment Governing Board, which has used panels of judges to set…

This plan presents the procedures to be followed in the administration of the Florida College-Level Academic Skills Test (CLAST) for the 1994-95 academic year. The document specifies the responsibilities of the Department of Education, the technical support contractor, and individual institutions. The plan does not include procedures needed in…

The guide is intended for teachers who must construct language tests and for other professionals who may need to construct, evaluate, or use the results of language tests. Most examples are drawn from the field of English-as-a-Second-Language instruction in the United Kingdom, but the principles and practices described may be applied to the…

Considerable evidence suggests that policy-makers, educators, the media, and the public do not understand national and state test results. The problems appear to be two-fold: the scales on which scores are reported seem confusing, and the report forms themselves are often too complex for the intended audiences. This paper addresses two topics. The…