A study investigated linguistic, rhetorical, and strategic variables of the writing processes and products of 3 groups of graduate and undergraduate students: 28 native English-speaking Americans; 28 Koreans studying in the United States; and 90 Korean students in Korea. The last two groups were learners of English as a Second Language (ESL). Data…

This publication is a reference document meant to accompany other National Skill Standards Board (NSSB) publications that describe the development of skill standards, including Built to Work: A Common Framework for Skill Standards. This companion guide provides the NSSB Complexity Rating Skill Scales. Chapter 1 explains briefly how this tool fits…

Four simulated mathematical and verbal test forms were produced by test assembly procedures proposed in legislative bills in California and New York in 1986 to minimize differences between majority and minority scores. Item response theory analyses of data for about 22,000 black and 28,000 White high-school students were conducted. (SLD)

A university teacher of English as a Second Language describes the use of CNN Newsroom materials to teach listening skills. The basic news broadcast materials, including video and audio tapes, are provided by CNN, and have been developed by the teacher into instructional units. A classroom guide is available on the Internet. The instruction is…

This paper documents student, teacher, and administrator attitudes toward the initiation of performance-based tests on a statewide level in Mississippi. The initial study surveyed approximately 620 test participants in grades 1 through 10 during the period between the fall test administration and the receipt of the test results in January. The…

The guide contains a competency-based English-as-a-Second-Language/literacy curriculum, including coordinated lesson plans for three instructional levels (beginning, intermediate, pre-literacy) and an employability counseling component. The curriculum is arranged in an order reflecting the job search process. The competencies in the curriculum are…

A Dutch study of the relationship between different student cognitive styles and foreign language achievement focused on the development and analysis of a grammar test for English as a second language. The test consists of ten subtests requiring the student to manipulate aspects of English syntactic, morphosyntactic, and morphological structure.…

This report was designed to respond to two major methodological shortcomings in the item bias literature: (1) misfitting test models; and (2) the use of significance tests. Specifically, the goals of the research were to describe a newly developed method known as the "plot method" for identifying potentially biased test items and to…

A collection of papers of directions in second language education includes: "The Improvement of Foreign Language Competency in the United States" (Richard D. Lambert); "The Measurement of Foreign/Second Language Proficiency" (Lyle F. Bachman, John D. Clark); "Advanced Technology in Foreign Language Instruction and Translation" (John Fought);…

Fourth, seventh, and ninth grade students in Elementary Secondary Education Act (ESEA) Title I programs were tested with the reading comprehension subtests of the Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills, at each of two levels: on-level for each respective grade, and an easier out-of-level form. Approximately half of these students were found to be…

The reading portion of the Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP) was equated to the reading comprehension subtest of the Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills (CTBS) using the Rasch Model. Both tests were administered to 366 low achieving fourth grade students. MEAP was treated as both a 95-item test and a 19-item (number of objectives…

The National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) documents dimensions of quality in undergraduate education and provides information and assistance to colleges, universities, and other organizations to improve student learning. Its primary activity is annually surveying college students to assess the extent to which they engage in educational…

"Straight A's: Public Education Policy and Progress" is a biweekly newsletter that focuses on education news and events both in Washington, DC and around the country. The following articles are included in this issue: (1) Budget Impasse Continues in the House of Representatives: Moderates' Push for Additional Domestic Spending Postpones…

A study investigated influences on attrition in Japanese second language instruction in one U.S. university. Subjects were students enrolled in the fall semester of beginning (n=134 students) and intermediate (n=79) levels of Japanese courses. In the fifth week of classes, students were administered a series of questionnaires to gather data on…

The six issues of this newsletter for teachers and tutors of adult English as a second language (ESL) contain articles on classroom teaching techniques and activities, including dictations, presentations, hints for teaching beginners, multi-level crossword puzzles, conversation activities, reading exercises, guessing and describing games, use of…