The degree to which performance assessments meet their dual mandate to evaluate student learning and inform instructional practice is not adequately addressed through traditional concerns for reliability and validity. A possible approach is suggested for examining the cognitive activity students engage in during a performance assessment. The…

This report is one of a series that documents progress in understanding the effects of new assessment based on case studies in three elementary schools. It presents the preliminary analyses of interviews with teachers about their knowledge, beliefs, and practices related to assessment and instruction in reading and mathematics. Changes in beliefs…

Information literacy is the ability to use information purposefully and effectively. It is a holistic, interactive learning process encompassing the skills-based phases of defining, locating, selecting, organizing, presenting, and evaluating information from sources that include books and other media, experiences, and people; being able to…

Peakview Elementary School is a new elementary school that is implementing a number of organizational and teaching strategies advocated by the school restructuring reform movement. Among those strategies is the infusion of more than 80 networked microcomputers with their related technology and software. The impact of this technology on the school…

The English and Spanish scripts of a dialogue between two Hispanic Americans are presented. The brief drama was recorded on videotape, available separately, for use in instructional television. The story illustrates the frustration and anxiety some Hispanics feel while striving for a better life in the United States. A confrontation occurs between…

The Mathematics and Science Partnership Project (MSPP) is a 3-year collaborative effort among the U.S. Department of Education, IBM California Educational Partnership Program, California State University in Bakersfield (California), and the Kern High School District in Bakersfield (California) to impact mathematics and science curricula through…

This project explored university science students' career and educational plans and looked for causes of defection from science, with particular interest in possible sources of gender difference in defection rates. A survey of 164 Canadian undergraduate students in mathematics and basic sciences found that: (1) over three fourths of the students…

The operations of the bookmobile program of the Holmes County (Ohio) Public Library serving the Amish community were explored and observed. The Amish community comprises 40 percent of the entire population of Holmes County. Reading interests of the Amish using the bookmobile are analyzed informally to determine whether bookmobile services are…

The Reach Out to Schools Social Competency Program is a 40-lesson elementary school curriculum that teaches children and their teachers to build positive, supportive relationships in the classroom. It is organized around three units: creating a cooperative classroom environment, building self-esteem and positive feelings, and solving people…

The first of two follow-up studies, involving 53 infant teachers in England and Wales, was conducted to monitor changes in the workloads of teachers as the national curriculum and assessment were brought in following ministerial promises to reduce the burdens imposed on teachers by the implementation of the national curriculum. Data were collected…

Imagery use in high school mathematics classrooms was studied. A visual image was defined as a mental scheme depicting visual or spatial information, but this definition was not spelled out to teachers or students, in order to learn what they meant by the concept. Subjects were 13 high school teachers and 54 of their students interviewed over 3…

This booklet contains information, activities, and interest inventories designed to encourage middle school students to begin thinking about career options and the educational requirements of various occupations. The following topics are covered: the importance of beginning career planning while still in middle school, the relationship between…

This paper reports results of a series of intense post school follow-up interviews conducted during 1989-90 in southern Japan with mothers (and one father) of 12 young adults, who had been labeled severely or profoundly handicapped when in school. The interview process is described in some detail to underscore the importance of accommodating…

Results of a process evaluation of dropout prevention programs in the Leon County (Florida) school district during the school year 1989-90 are presented. Altogether, 11 dropout programs were operationalized in that school year. The methodology used for developing a problem survey among teachers and administrators, the results of the evaluation,…

To better understand how some secondary schools are working to encourage continued family and community involvement as children progress from elementary to middle and high school, 22 educators, parents, and students at 2 middle schools and 2 high schools were interviewed. The four schools are members of the National Network of Partnership Schools,…