Demographically, mainland Hispanic Americans constitute a population that is economically and educationally diverse. Nonetheless, a cluster of related findings indicates that Hispanic students are more poorly prepared for college than non-Hispanic White students. More Hispanic high school seniors than White non-Hispanics are enrolled in vocational…

The Georgia Teacher Certification Tests were developed and validated to be job-related and to reflect the minimum content knowledge that is necessary to teach in each certification area in Georgia classrooms. Three assessment instruments are used in evaluating the performance of preservice students and beginning teachers. The Teacher Performance…

High school social studies students (n=160) were each assigned to 1 of 8 groups defined by possible combinations of 2 teacher uncertainty conditions (uncertainty vs. no uncertainty), 2 teacher "bluffing" conditions (bluffing vs. no bluffing), and 2 lecture notes conditions (students receive lecture notes handout vs. students do not…

A study examined the reading skills of minority and bilingual auto mechanics and office workers in the Los Angeles metropolitan area in order to determine the relationship between the reading skills tested in competency-based exams given in high schools and those required for on-the-job performance. The first phase of the study included both…

A guide to evaluating teaching, courses, and programs of study is presented. Basic considerations in planning and conducting evaluations in higher education are reviewed, including information sources, methods, and data reporting. The processes of self-evaluation by teachers and evaluation by colleagues and students are examined. Sources of…

This is a guide to help teachers at all grade levels to improve the quality of their student assessments. It is designed for preservice and inservice teacher education to assist in conducting performance assessments to evaluate student learning. Performance assessment requires a student to analyze a problem, synthesize information, and attempt to…

What users of student ratings of instruction know about ratings and what they need to know to make valid and reliable use of ratings data were studied. An item bank of 153 multiple-choice items was developed from sources of information about student ratings. The full item bank had five subsets: (1) knowledge of ratings concepts; (2) knowledge of…

The professional development and evaluation of university academic staff members is discussed in an attempt to clarify the processes by which evaluation and professional development activities may become acceptable and helpful. Also presented are the student evaluation of teaching and the interrelationship between evaluation instruments and the…

A study focused on teachers' developing knowledge about their work, particularly the thinking of eight elementary school teachers from a racially mixed San Francisco Bay Area school district about the use of literature contracts in the classroom. The study examined ways in which teachers' prior beliefs influence their use of a new teaching…

In the San Jose/Evergreen Community College District (California), course and basic skills prerequisites have been established for all courses. Students with no record of completing these prerequisites cannot enroll unless they have been assessed by a counselor, have had their prerequisites verified in alternate ways, and have been granted…

In 1989, a study was conducted of the performance of Redwood High School (RHS) graduates at the College of the Sequoias (COS), in California. The study analyzed information provided by the high school and data available from COS's student information system, including RHS grade point average (GPA), college GPA, units attempted and passed, first…

This study investigates the role of textbooks in secondary geography instruction. In chapter 1, the origins and purpose of this study are outlined, and chapter 2 is a literature review of English and U.S. research that mentions geography textbooks while focusing specifically on content analysis. Chapter 3 outlines the broad case study approach…

The methods used by the General Educational Development Testing Service (GEDTS) to establish and maintain score stability and reading reliability on its direct assessment of writing are described. Using the 1988 site certification and monitoring results of several scoring sites, the focus is on describing how the score scale was established and…

This report favors a systems-oriented evaluation for improving minority student achievement, an inclusive approach, which may require funds to be (at least temporarily) withdrawn from other research activities. When financial resources are limited, such an evaluation may focus on a relatively limited range of related evaluation issues. In…

This report examines the relationship between affective variables and academic success among high-risk college freshmen. It summarizes research conducted on the impact of student goals, learning styles, mathematics and test anxiety, other sources of stress, and level of development on achievement among Developmental Studies students. Results are…