Discusses early detection of hearing impairment in Japan with particular reference to the system used in Tokushima Prefecture. Suggests that a required screening of all children at 18 months of age resulted in 2 developments: (1) all the hard-of-hearing children were identified; and (2) public health nurses became more alert to hearing impairment…

Discusses the Home Training Program for congenital hearing-impaired infants and their families administered by the Teikyo University Hospital. Suggests that the program is based on the maximum use of residual hearing, early identification of hearing impairment and early intervention, and support for parents. (AA)

Three study cohorts involving 199 gifted fifth graders, 190 gifted sixth graders, and 683 typical sixth graders were used to construct, validate, and pilot a computerized adaptive math test for placing fifth graders in a middle school mathematics gifted program. Results suggest the adaptive test has potential for talent identification. (Author/CR)

Recently the Spanish higher education board launched a university evaluation program to institutionalize quality assessment as an extended, continuous, system-wide process. Self-study and external assessments are the program's cornerstones. The new quality assessment program and the experiences leading to it are explained. Potential problems and…

Provides information to parents about tests and assessments used to evaluate their children in school. Performance assessments, such as portfolios, are increasingly used to measure students' ability to do actual tasks. However, standardized aptitude and achievement tests still have a major influence on what students are taught. (SM)

This study evaluated the validity and reliability of performance portfolios in a preservice elementary mathematics/science methods class, assessing students' domain-strategic and general-learning strategic knowledge. Results supported performance portfolios as a valid method of assessing desired abilities of preservice teachers that can be…

Differences between and interrelationships among reading and math achievement test scores for 269 students with learning disabilities were investigated to determine whether previous findings were replicable. Findings supported previous research that showed different achievement tests purporting to measure the same construct did not provide…

Presents a model of quality assurance for colleges and universities, distilled from key concepts in the literature about quality assurance and higher education culture and practice. The model has continuous quality improvement in student learning at its center, and includes elements of institutional values, faculty evaluation and development,…

In this article, two teachers of students with hearing impairments present their understanding of semantics and how they use this understanding to informally assess students' signed, oral, and written-language samples. Describes different classroom strategies for encouraging students with hearing impairments to use rich language. (Author/CR)

Consistent with person-centered planning, a video CD-ROM program was used to help youth with disabilities identify job preferences. The program was administered to 56 participants (ages 14-22) at 60-day intervals. Results indicated that selections of general work conditions were highly consistent, whereas selections of specific job choices were…

Concludes this series on student inquiry in the research process which has focused on a teacher/library media specialist collaborative model for implementing the information inquiry approach to the research process. Topics include organization and dissemination of notes; peer evaluation; students' age-appropriate annotated bibliography; rubrics;…

This article explains how teachers can use electronic portfolios of students' work to document learner progress. It considers different file formats for storing student work, describes steps to creating an electronic portfolio, and discusses an art and literature electronic magazine created by one school featuring work from student portfolios. (CR)

A teacher used selected parts of the Autonomous Learner Model with 24 Hispanic first-graders, half of whom were English-language learners, to promote the educational progress of all of the children and find potentially gifted children. Students quickly learned independence, responsibility, resourcefulness, and higher order thinking skills. Several…

Describes a study that developed formative, self-regulated multimedia self-assessment via the Internet of social-communicative competencies for social work students. Discusses a pilot study that was used to design guidelines for the development of the assessment instrument to incorporate students' perceptions, instructional preferences, and…

This special section includes five articles that discuss public relations strategies for school librarians. Highlights include effective communication, including measuring and evaluating the success of public relations efforts; Web-based public relations; giving bookmarks to students; customers and cultural contexts; and successful job…