This study focused on the validation of Generalizable Reasoning Skills assessment instruments with students with disabilities in secondary vocational programs. Results indicated that student self-ratings, teacher ratings, and a performance test were internally consistent and precise measures of reasoning skills for some uses but that most…

Causal attributions of 96 college students' performance in cooperative group assignments, and students' perceptions of the underlying dimensions of causal attributions (including relationships among performance outcomes, attributional dimensions, and attributional consequences) were examined. Locus of causality was related to affective reactions.…

Ten children, adolescents, and prelinguistically deafened adults implanted with cochlear implants exhibited substantial postoperative benefits in open-set speech perception, with some improvement in closed-set speech recognition. Results are discussed with reference to such variables as age at onset of loss, duration of profound loss, age at…

The process used in Ohio to reform the state dental licensing examination and incorporate a nonpatient (simulated) clinical procedure is described and the results summarized. Findings focus on the degree to which results of the new testing procedures differentiate dental students by class rank. (MSE)

Argues that, as library roles change, providing access to information resources is becoming more important than acquisition of library resources and that libraries should be evaluated based upon what they actually do. Access and performance measures are proposed to supplement the statistics collected by the Association of Research Libraries. (30…

Presents eight themes concerning the superintendents' roles in the 1990s that demand a bold restructuring of school leadership. Future superintendents must project passionate instructional leadership, recapture the focus on student learning, coordinate community child services, redefine success with performance-based assessment, fight for…

Analysis of scores of 118 visually impaired children on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (Revised) and the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scales of Intelligence (Revised) found a consistent response pattern suggesting that the verbal as well as the performance tests provide useful assessment information. (Author/DB)

Reports on a study of the ability of preschoolers and first, second, and third graders to use three computer input devices: a joystick, a mouse, and a keyboard. For all grade levels, the mouse offered the greatest ease of use in manipulating icons, followed by the joystick and the keyboard. No effect for gender was found. (Contains 30 references.)…

A study with more than 1,000 students in grades 3 and 8 explored the advantages of analytical scoring in writing assessment. Cluster analysis revealed 11 patterns of student scores, reflecting different patterns of writing strength and weakness, and replicated across 5 modes of writing. (SLD)

Theme articles focus on the relationship of experiential learning to school-to-work transition, science fair projects, leadership training, performance-based assessment, livestock judging, management instruction for farm women, and instructor preparation. (JOW)

Two studies are reported that measure the long-term stability of performance assessments involving story-writing and poetry-writing (involving grade four and five students) and story-telling (involving grade two students). The long-term stability of these assessments compares favorably with stability figures for other creativity tests. (Author/JDD)

School principals and senior school administrators evaluated an inservice training program in which they had participated. Half evaluated the course individually, and half evaluated it in three-person groups. Results are discussed in terms of group dynamics theory and the validity of such evaluation methods. (Author/MSE)

This study examined the arithmetic calculation abilities of kindergarten and first-grade children (n=108) with different patterns of cognitive functioning: low language, low spatial ability, general delays, and nonimpaired. Nonverbal, story, and number fact problems were differentially sensitive to variation in cognitive ability. (Author/JDD)

The background of practice and ideology that led to the national curriculum and national assessment in England and Wales is traced, along with the development of national assessment policy. The breakdown, which has resulted in teachers who refuse to conduct the prescribed testing, is described. (SLD)

Discussion of human/system interactions that are fundamental to online searching focuses on studies that examined online searchers' performance on DIALOG when they searched specific users' questions. Cognitive tests that were given to searchers are described; and calculating the odds for relevance, precision, and recall is explained. (four…