Addresses the challenge of finding or creating alternatives to tests and traditional grading systems. Reflects on and describes the experience of creating an assessment tool and cautions against choosing alternatives that merely camouflage the grades. Encourages educators to find authentic alternatives to describe children's growth. (BAC)

Explores how practitioners might evaluate the merits of various curriculum integration formats. Provides a rationale, followed by an outline of prominent integration forms (interdisciplinary curriculum, integration around skills, and integration of students' experiences, internal life, and curricula) and criteria for establishing their merit.…

Discusses the importance of professional preparation and training of early childhood educators and the role of the National Institute for Early Childhood Professional Development. Suggests that reflection, self-evaluation, and self-direction are critical to the process of professional development. Provides an instrument designed for…

States that the author had an interesting experience serving on the IRA Book Award Committee, beginning with her dog eating her application. Outlines the criteria for judging books in two categories, preschoolers to 10 years of age, and 10 to 16 years of age. Explains the difficulties in reading the many boxes of books that came and filling out…

The use of portfolio assessment in special education is considered. Initially it is important to decide on types of work samples, who selects the samples, and how they will be evaluated. A list of 34 possible uses of portfolios and a 42-item bibliography on portfolio use are included. (SW)

A unified theory of visual recognition and attentional selection is developed by integrating the biased-choice model for single-stimulus recognition with a choice model for selection from multielement displays in a race model framework. The theory is applied to findings from previous studies and quantitative fits are encouraging. (SLD)

Describes how students learn and how they are evaluated at the secondary level in the Hungarian school system. Notes also the process and standards for university admission. (SR)

Reviews a study conducted at the University of Alabama that compared two bibliographic instruction programs by using the Kohl and Wilson criteria to evaluate each method's effect on student term paper bibliographies, discusses the application of evaluation criteria, and offers suggestions to increase the effectiveness of evaluation criteria.…

Problems and illustrations are presented from a meta-analysis of crime reduction programs. Eight criteria are specified for including studies in a meta-analysis, and some problematic studies are discussed using the criteria. Rules for handling problem studies in order to retain consistency throughout the analysis are discussed. (SLD)

Although many proposals were disappointing and the New American Schools Development Corporation (NASDC) did not achieve its multimillion dollar funding goal, the contest sparked an unprecedented collaborative process across the nation. The evaluation and selection processes were problematical, as judges seemed to favor well-known educators with a…

The history of grading offers little support for current grading practices. Alternative methods such as mastery, student self-comparison, contracting, multiple grades, and the point system should be examined in the context of philosophical issues to determine new grading policies. (SK)

Effective managers learn to delegate responsibility without compromising their authority. Administrators can easily delegate work that can be done by others, operational and recurring tasks, information collection, meeting attendance, and tasks in the subordinate's job area. Administrators should not delegate performance evaluation, disciplinary…

Discusses a concept of quality in vocational education and training in the United Kingdom that emphasizes the role of the learner in the learning process. Total quality management is described, criteria for quality in vocational education and training are suggested, and implications for National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs) are discussed. (12…

As part of the American Psychological Association's centennial, this article presents a reprint of an original work published in 1952 in the "Journal of Consulting Psychology" examining the evidence relating to the actual effects of psychotherapy. (NB)

In Scotland, recent legislation has increased parents' right to select the schools their children attend. Too often, schools are attempting to influence parental choice based on unsupported assumptions about parents' selection criteria. This paper reports findings of a study to determine what parents mean by happiness, a frequently cited…