For college-level American History, in the high school advanced placement (AP) program and on university campuses, these are the best of times and the worst of times. For the American History AP program, the early 1970's were difficult times, with the examinations under attack as elitist and irrelevant to contemporary problems. The program…

Previous literature investigating community protests of school closings may be divided into four perspectives emphasizing (1) lack of comprehensive planning, (2) lack of participative decision-making, (3) loss of community maintenance (or sense of community), and (4) contextual factors, such as district size and type. The present study examines…

This manual contains a work sample intended to screen handicapped students' interest in and to screen interested students into a training program in basic electricity. (The course is based on the entry level of an electrician helper.) Section 1 describes the assessment, correlates the work performed and worker traits required for completing the…

The results of the first year of study of an approach in Tennessee using student performance assessments in the evaluation of teachers are summarized and the results of a field test on student performance and attitude are presented. The Tennessee approach places the responsibility for selecting and presenting the data on the teachers. About 130…

Two workshops for school psychologists focus on psychoeducational assessment and development of individualized education programs (IEPs) for emotionally handicapped (EH) students. Each workshop includes a rationale statement, statements of purpose, scope, and prerequisite skills, learning activities, supplementary reports or case studies, and…

Literature on race and age differences in college remedial and developmental studies students is surveyed, based on the current literature, including an ERIC search from 1980 to 1988, pertinent professional textbooks, and information provided by publishers. Separate sections on race and age differences are provided, and each section concludes with…

The Connecticut Assessment of Educational Progress (CAEP) is modeled after the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and has been in operation since 1971. This report is the culmination of a multi-year effort by the Connecticut State Department of Education to make its CAEP program even more useful to classroom teachers and other…

The use of the cloze procedure by classroom teachers who are not extensively trained in testing in general or language testing in particular is discussed. Focal points are material selection for cloze; some technical aspects of construction and administration; insights about testing language students naive to cloze; reliability of cloze…

Results of a study of remedial education at all Maryland public colleges and universities, except for three campuses, are presented. Findings include: (1) by fall 1985 all institutions will have in place a systematic screening process to identify students lacking in one or more basic skill areas; (2) while all campuses collect some evaluative data…

The 1986 and 1988 Reading Objectives Assessment of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reflects a consensus of opinion about the processes of reading for grades 4, 8, and 12. The objectives are based on an interpretation of reading as an interactive process between the reader, the reader's purposes and previous experiences, the…

This project was conducted in order to determine the practicality of using specialized videodisc instruction to help preservice elementary school teachers learn the Language Experience Approach (LEA) to teaching reading more effectively. Texas Tech University students enrolled in an interactive video course planned and produced the interactive…

In 1984-85, as part of its annual assessment of the character of remedial programs in New Jersey, the New Jersey Basic Skills Council (NJBSC) administered the Basic Skills Questionnaire to all county and state colleges and universities and requested information on enrollments, placement testing, students identified as needing remediation, students…

When test questions are not intended to measure language skills, it is important to know if language is an extraneous characteristic that affects item performance. This study investigates whether certain stylistic changes in the way items are presented affect item performance on examinations for a health profession. The subjects were medical…

This report describes the North Carolina Annual Testing Programs writing task which was administered in 1985-86. Grade six students were tested on their ability to write a clarification composition; while grade 8 students were evaluated on their skills in writing a persuasive composition. The timed composition (50 minutes) was scored by two…

Existing uses of assessment data obtained from the Jordanian General Secondary Education Certificate Examination (GSECE) are critically examined. The failure to fully realize potential uses of data is explored and explained in light of the existing testing technology and the associated level of expertise. A short description of the GSECE history,…