This volume includes reports of five research projects of the Kansas Center for Research in Early Childhood Education: (1) Individual Differences in Newborn and Young Infants, including research with the Brazelton Neonatal Assessment Scale and laboratory studies of infant discriminative abilities; (2) Development of Social Competence, including…

One of the main tenets of the audio-lingual theory which has dominated most of our thinking in foreign language teaching methodology for the last fifteen years is that students should never be put in the situation of having to say something for which they have not already learned the patterns. Is the language laboratory really useful, however, in…

The political education of young people in West Germany, Finland, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, and United States is examined. Purposes of the study are to (1) define civic education cross-nationally, (2) deal with methodological problems in assessing student achievement and attitudes, (3) convey a detailed…

This description of Appalachian speech, derived from one part of the final report of a research project on Appalachian Dialects, is intended as a reference work for educators, particularly reading specialists, English teachers, language arts specialists, and speech pathologists. Chapters deal with the following main topics: (1) a sociolinguistic…

Geography curriculum and examinations in European secondary schools are discussed. Intended as a research tool for use by educational planners and curriculum developers, the report compares geography teaching in 18 European countries by analyzing data from 1971 and 1974 questionnaires completed by educational officials of the Council of Europe.…

Communicative tasks are defined as activities in which meaning is primary, there is a goal which needs to be worked toward, there is a real world relationship and the interaction among students is the means for achieving the task outcome. However, it was assumed that adopting communicative tasks alone is not adequate as it leads the learner to…

Under the 1998 reauthorization of Title II of the Higher Education Act, the secretary of education is required to issue annual reports to Congress on the state of teacher quality nationwide. "Meeting the Highly Qualified Teachers Challenge" is the inaugural report on this important issue. The 1998 reauthorization also established a…

With the growth of standardized assessment benchmarks in both the public and private paradigms, testing performance matters to institutions more than ever. In an attempt to take as many hindering variables out of this process, such as test anxiety, socioeconomic influences, and latency in cognition, Improvisation: A Complement to Curriculum seeks…

This case study, part of the State Structures for the Governance of Higher Education study, focuses on governance and related issues in Georgia's higher education system. The study's overall purpose was to examine differences among states in their governance structures, and to determine if differences in performance were related to governing…

This booklet presents results from four survey questions asked of the audience and papers presented at a 1995 teleconference on assessment issues with African American adolescents and adults with learning disabilities. An introductory paper, "Multiple Factors Impacting the Assessment and Instruction of African American Adolescents and Adults…

This second volume of the Assessment, Evaluation, and Programming System (AEPS) Test and its associated curriculum, begins with an overview of the test and a discussion on the purpose and value of the assessment and evaluation of young children. Chapter 3 describes the target population for the AEPS Test and the use of the test with children with…

These workshop materials, meant to accompany the trainer's manual to "Assessment: A Development Guidebook for Teachers of English-Language Learners," consist of individual sheets suitable for making clear transparencies and paper copies as needed for overhead transparencies, workshop participant handouts, and examples of…

This book is designed to help readers reflect upon their personal approaches to open and distance learning (ODL) assessment and to adapt their techniques to benefit learners. Part A explores issues and themes in ODL assessment. It examines key terms in assessment; the important relationship between assessment and learning; unique issues of…

The impact of testing accommodation on the performance of students with limited English proficiency (LEP) was studied, focusing on the possibility of differential impact of accommodation strategies on subgroups formed based on students' background characteristics and the validity of assessments using accommodated versus nonaccommodated…

This study sought to address concerns that high levels of literacy in both English and local languages are not being attained by children in U.S.-affiliated Pacific entities served by Pacific Resources for Education and Learning (PREL). The study was designed to answer the following question: Do classroom language use and instructional practices…