The use of mass media as a means of learning a foreign language from the beginning of language study is discussed. Using the media enables many of the features of the natural language acquisition process to be brought into play in a way that much current language teaching material does not. This position is supported by recent research into the…

To examine how classroom conditions such as students' mean aptitude, materials used, and instructional time influence the amount of reading material covered, 12 first grade classrooms were each observed for 12 days over a 36-week period. Students' reading readiness and word recognition skills were tested prior to observation while group mean…

Greater knowledge about the practical application of Rasch technology can help in avoiding misapplications and confusions in testing programs. Equal interval curriculum-based scaling makes possible the following improvements in measuring basic skills achievement by enabling testing programs to: (1) individualize the difficulty level of…

The "Test Development Notebook" is a resource designed for the preparation of tests of literal comprehension for students in grades 1 through 12. This volume contains 200 multiple-choice cloze exercises taken from textbooks in mathematics, and the accompanying answer key. Each exercise carries the code letter of the section to which it belongs.…

The materials status report for the Berber languages, minority languages spoken in northern Africa, is one of a series intended to provide the nonspecialist with a picture of the availability and quality of texts for teaching various languages to English speakers. The report consists of: (1) a brief narrative description of the Berber language,…

This document accompanies the Conceptual Learning and Development Assessment Series IV: Noun, a test constructed to chart the conceptual development of individuals. As a technical manual, it contains information on the rationale, development, standardization, and reliability of the test, as well as essential information and statistical data for…

Reading selections from six Scholastic Aptitude Tests (SAT) administered from 1947 to 1975 were analyzed to determine whether a decrease in the difficulty level of elementary and secondary textbooks, workbooks, and teachers' guides corresponded with the SAT score decline. Various indices of reading difficulty and challenge were used. Readability…

Four problems faced by the staff of the California Assessment Program (CAP) were solved by applying Rasch scaling techniques: (1) item cultural bias in the Entry Level Test (ELT) given to all first grade pupils; (2) nonlinear regression analysis of the third grade Reading Test scores; (3) comparison of school growth from grades two to three, using…

A study was designed to examine relationships of aptitude level to training performance on tasks of varying complexity and to determine if differential job training might be required. A complexity rated training battery with eight tasks (simple/choice monitoring, rifle assembly/disassembly, equipment preparation, map symbols, phonetic alphabet,…

The purpose of this publication is to help teachers identify the levels which children have attained in their thinking as they express their attitudes, values, and behaviors through oral language. Provided are (1) sample questions applicable to various maturity levels to enable teachers to gauge the level of difficulty of their classroom…

A study of 560 research university faculty of biology, chemistry, history, and psychology compared faculty publication rates of books and journal articles with the complexity of their exam questions. Results found that the teachers who published books and who published fewer articles asked more critical-thinking questions. It is suggested that…

Differential item functioning (DIF) methodology for revealing sources of item difficulty and performance characteristics of different groups was explored. A total of 150 Scholastic Aptitude Test items and 132 Graduate Record Examination general test items were analyzed. DIF was evaluated for males and females and Blacks and Whites. (SLD)

Academic risk taking--the selection of schoollike tasks ranging in difficulty and probability of success--was examined for 602 students in grades 4, 6, and 8 in Taiwan. Results of a self-report measure of tolerance for failure and a risk-taking task are discussed concerning self-enhancement versus self-assessment goals, metacognitive skills, and…

Many research studies support using students' opinions to improve schools (Bechtel & Reed, 1998; Campbell, Edgar, & Halstead, 1994; Corbet & Wilson, 1995; & SooHoo, 1993). In these studies, Klingner & Vaughn (1999), noted researchers in the area of student inclusion, demonstrated that using student feedback to evaluate teachers…

The goal of the study was to compare the literacy challenges faced by children who speak nonstandard dialects of English and for whom Standard English is a "second dialect" with challenges faced by children for whom Standard English is a "second language." The study focused on the extent to which discourse patterns in the…