Describes the Stanford University Teacher Assessment Project (TAP), noting researchers gained insight into the dynamics of teacher assessment and concomitant scoring, the nature of professionalism, and the activity of qualitative research. The article focuses on TAP's 100 Statement Project. (SM)

Discusses stories as a powerful source of knowledge about both the conventional, hierarchical nature of supervision and the transformative alternative that recasts it as a critical, collaborative practice. The paper examines three recurring themes concerning supervisor role (authority, critic, and resource) and one theme concerning the teacher's…

The CONNTAC program marks an attempt to develop an integrative performance assessment process that will measure knowledge, skills, and instructional repertoire of beginning teachers. The development of assessment center exercises and the critical role that scoring plays in exercise development are described. (SLD)

Estimates the influences of home background and formal schooling on adult intelligence quotients using the LISREL computer program and longitudinal data collected in Sweden for 671 men. Shows the importance of formal schooling in increasing the intellectual capital of a nation and highlights policy and practice implications. (SLD)

Knowledge about Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) of Western New York's undergraduate teacher education students was determined via the AIDS Knowledge and Teacher Attitude Survey. Results indicated most students did not know enough about AIDS; females knew more than males; and secondary education majors knew more than elementary education…

Scientific and everyday knowledge domains are compared so as to reveal the distinctive differences between their goals and the cognitive processes used to attain them. The main goals, working goals, learning difficulties, knowledge structure, concept specification, knowledge organization, role of school science, program-solving instruction, formal…

The development of sex stereotype knowledge (SSK) was studied using 120, 120, and 204 Portuguese children aged 5, 8, and 11 years, respectively. SSK increased with age and socioeconomic status. Results are compared with findings from Brazil, Latin America, and a 24-country study by D. Best and others (1977). (SLD)

This study examined the impact of facial plastic surgery, labeling (mentally retarded, normal, Down's syndrome), and level of knowledge of Down's syndrome on 127 student teachers' evaluations of slides of persons with such characteristics. Although there was no overall significant main effect for the pre-post operation condition, there was a…

Proposes methods by which laboratory practical exams may be structured to assess outcomes from laboratory instruction. Presents eight general considerations for writing and using practical exams. Describes four example laboratory exams involving a box camera, circuit boxes, floating objects, and light. (MDH)

Written descriptions by students in grades 3-7 (n=274) of common 2-dimensional geometric shapes were examined to compare the level descriptors of the van Hiele Theory and the SOLO Taxonomy. Results indicate that descriptors associated with the SOLO Taxonomy more accurately describe the quality of student thinking. (MDH)

Introducing a wider perspective of evaluation into the school by developing school-based evaluation mechanisms is discussed. The approach is based on conceptual development derived from U.S. perspectives on program evaluation, actual work in schools with teachers and principals in Israel, and empirical studies in the United States. (SLD)

In a Texas study of vocational education student loan repayment attitudes, interviews with loan recipients indicate defaults are affected by how much students are pressured to enroll in a program, their understanding of the loan program when signing an application, and how well their vocational education equips them for employment. (Author/MSE)

This paper argues that evaluation of advanced skills in teaching should be based on pedagogical content knowledge that good teachers should have but nonteachers in the discipline might not. Several schemes used in Victoria (Australia) for appraisal of advanced teaching skills are examined, and an alternative to competency-based approaches is…

Maintains that misperceptions or incorrect mental images about relative location and size are common in geography. Reports on a study of 708 students ranging in age from junior high school through undergraduate school. Finds that misperceptions are widespread and exist across grade levels. (CFR)

Describes a learning activity in which preservice social studies teachers determine the prior historical understanding and attitudes of secondary students through class discussions, questionnaires, and other techniques. Discusses the implication of the findings regarding historical knowledge, concepts of time, and student interest in history. (CFR)