"Options in Education" is a radio news program which focuses on issues and developments in education. This transcript contains discussions of federal money for colleges and universities; the high school proficiency test in California; the writing problems of college students; letters from listeners about schooling and jobs; the Arts…

In an investigation of the relationship between teacher analytic questioning skill and student performance, 69 preservice teachers were assigned to one of three treatment conditions designed for questioning training: (1) written model, protocol form; (2) written model, transcript form; (3) placebo, control group. Two hundred ninety-five eigth…

Educational accountability is examined from the viewpoint of (1) history--the development of the concept from that of cost accounting to one of the educator's responsibility to parents and taxpayers; (2) new requirements of the Ohio state government for yearly reports on student skills in various subject areas according to sex, race, size of…

Analyzes an innovative and optional French language proficiency certificate designed to test proficiency in oral and written language on the undergraduate level at the University of London. (AM)

The effects of elaboration instructions and imagery characteristics of verbal material on learning of Malay--English word pairs were investigated, as well as the moderating effects of individual differences. Results reflect aptitude X treatment interactions and the importance of individual differences in planning instructional methods. (Author/JAC)

Reading comprehension exercises are used more effectively as a teaching device than as a testing device. They can be used to teach students a variety of skills, such as the ability to discover specific facts, to see the writer's point of view, and to visualize what is described in words. (CFM)

Under given conditions, conventional testing and computer-generated repeatable testing (CGRT) are equally effective for estimating examinee ability; CGRT is more effective for estimating the mean ability level of a group and less effective for estimating ability differences among individuals. These conclusion are drawn from domain-referenced test…

The Coleman Report demonstrated that family background is correlated with achievement in school. This research examined this relationship for different sexes and social classes. Family background included whether or not a child was living with both natural parents as well as the ordinal position of the child and the number of children in the…

The rationale and development of a new measure of five methods of handling interpersonal conflict (competing, collaborating, compromising, avoiding, and accomodating), which attempts to control for the social desirability response bias is described. The instrument--the Management of Differences Exercise, or the MODE instrument--is briefly compared…

Factors influencing academic achievement in a school or school system were examined, using data from studies of mathematics and science achievement of high school and college bound students in Australia. Two curricular factors, opportunity to learn and time spent in learning, were related to achievement. (GDC)

Notes that the most common educational research methods (large-scale surveys and field observations) have failed to examine the processes by which school participants create school structures. Advocates constitutive ethnography as a new approach and presents examples of its application in examining classrooms, lessons, educational testing, and…

Vocational counseling is often undermined by misconceptions regarding vocational concerns. Myths which hinder good vocational decision making are discussed. These faculty beliefs included misconceptions about the timing and finality of choice, about vocational test results, and about causal relationships between interests and abilities. (MPJ)

Separate factor analyses of the results of the Rotter Internal External Locus of Control Scale administered to separate Anglo American and Chicano groups indicated cross-sample equivalence on two of the five factors. Implications for investigations of the cultural differences between Anglos and Chicanos are briefly discussed. (Author/CTM)

This article addresses criterion-referenced vs. norm-referenced tests. Its purpose is to help the reader become acquainted with the uses, accountability, advantages, and statistical differences between these two types of tests. (Author)

Presents guidelines for constructing tests which accurately measure a student's cognitive skills and performance in a particular course. The advantages and disadvantages of two types of test items are listed (selected response and constructed response items). Both poor and good examples are given and general rules for test item writing are…