The Government Accounting Standards Board notion of service efforts and accomplishments reporting is one step in a process of managing for results that includes strategic planning, development and use of performance measures of managing ongoing programs, and outputs to budgetary appropriation. Reports a trial application to one school district.…

Reviews research on elementary school pupils' ratings of teacher effectiveness. Concludes adequate research exists to generalize that pupils can rate reliably, pupils may be no more vulnerable than others to rating leniency and halo, psychometric characteristics and factor structures of rating scales resemble those of college students,…

Six prominent educators discuss barriers to achieving quality authentic assessment and the feasibility of implementing authentic assessment on a national basis. Points out the importance of using multiple assessments, the lack of a definition of authentic assessment, problems in developing quality assessments, and the immense cost of implementing…

The ability of 248 older adults to improve their performance on fluid intelligence tests, with or without tutor-guided instruction in cognitive skills, was studied using multidimensional longitudinal structural equation models. Results suggest considerable plasticity in adult intellectual function and the capacity to improve performance. (SLD)

Results are presented from a study of portfolio use for large-scale assessment in the Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania) public schools that are more encouraging for the use of this form of assessment than many other studies have been. Requirements for the psychometric integrity of portfolio assessment are discussed. (SLD)

Discusses a five-point plan for assessing and rewarding college and university language faculty, covering the use of student assessments; videotaped classes for evaluation and for future job seeking; informal faculty sessions for discussing teaching methods; and required submission and evaluation of course outlines and reading lists. (CB)

The use of a performance-based assessment of senior medical students' clinical skills utilizing standardized patients was evaluated, with 6,804 student-patient encounters involving 405 students over 6 years. Results provide evidence for test security, content validity, construct validity, reliability, and test ability to discriminate a wide range…

A case study is presented of a first-year teacher with learning disabilities instructing students with learning disabilities. The case study discusses educational and employment background, teaching performance and instructional factors, disclosure of the learning disability, support systems, advocacy for change, and variables contributing to the…

This study examined response to treatment with methylphenidate (Ritalin) across 6 measures of cognitive, academic, and social functioning in 71 boys (ages 7-11) with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Response ranged from 18 percent to 71 percent across the six measures, suggesting that classifying a child as a responder to methylphenidate…

The "Students Evaluation of Educational Quality" is an instrument measuring dimensions of college teaching effectiveness. A study showed that, for ratings of 123 instructors in 3,079 classes over 13 years, each instructor has a distinct profile of ratings that generalizes over time, different courses, and course level. (Author/MSE)

Presents 10 guidelines for developing performance-based assessment items. Presents a sample activity developed from the guidelines. The activity tests students ability to observe, classify, and infer, using red and blue litmus paper, a pH-range finder, vinegar, ammonia, an unknown solution, distilled water, and paper towels. (PR)

This review of the literature on full-text databases provides information on search strategy, performance measurement, and the benefits and limitations of full text compared to bibliographic database searching. Various use studies and uses of full-text databases are also listed. (21 references) (LAE)

Three models of achievement motivation in the classroom are contrasted. Results with 155 high school students suggest that the model of C. S. Dweck and E. S. Elliott offers a better explanation of the relationships among achievement motivation, attributions, emotional reactions, expectancies, and performance than do the other models. (SLD)

A study of differences among 29 secondary school teachers rated by 501 secondary school students, other teachers, and administrators as master teachers or rated as not-so-masterful found no significant differences in teacher locus of control, pupil control ideology, and self-concept but did find differences in personality factors. (SLD)

While reminiscing over wine and granola bars, some elementary teacher-survivors from the sixties pondered timeless teaching truths newly "discovered" by education reformers, including authentic assessment, cooperative learning, a national curriculum, and brain-compatible learning. Reformers are insensitive to realistic classroom contexts when…