This booklet examines national and state educational reform in the 1990s, noting the ways in which performance assessment is being presented as a mechanism of reform. Three reform initiatives are examined: national education goals, standards, and reform legislation. In conjunction with these reform movements, new methods of assessment are being…

In 1992, a survey was conducted of employers of former students at Pima Community College (PCC), in Arizona, to assess graduates' on-the-job performance and provide data for program review. Questionnaires were mailed to 125 supervisors of 1991-92 PCC graduates who had given permission for their supervisors to be contacted, asking the employers to…

This article reports on a study of a new performance-based test mandate in the state of Arizona. The measurement-driven reform provided an opportunity to examine the interplay of policy and practice, specifically the use of testing to effect educational change. Attempts to reform schools through mandating assessments are categorized as behaviorist…

This book was designed to help citizens evaluate and improve their local schools. It contends that the solution to the potential end of America's progress is through positive school reform--the public management of schools. It presents a system of participative and results-oriented management that is implemented by boards, administrators, and…

A study was conducted at John C. Calhoun State Community College (JCSCC), in Alabama, to determine whether there is a significant difference between the grade distribution in sections taught using the telecourse format and in sections taught by the same instructor in the same term, but utilizing traditional classroom format. Data for courses were…

These training standards for transmission mechanics are intended to be used by apprentice/trainees, instructors, and companies in Ontario, Canada, as a blueprint for training or as a prerequisite for accreditation/certification. The training standards identify skills required for this occupation and its related training program. They are designed…

Traditional methods for task analysis have been largely based on the Instructional Systems Development (ISD) model, which is widely used throughout industry and the military. The first part of this document gives an overview of cognitive task analysis, which is conducted within the first phase of ISD. The following steps of cognitive task analysis…

This report describes an ongoing longitudinal study in Kauai (Hawaii) begun in 1955, which is following the course of all births to adulthood and assessing the long-term consequences of perinatal complications and adverse child-rearing conditions. Specifically reported is a subset of data on 22 children (diagnosed as having learning disabilities…

This paper presents findings of a study that examined young adolescents' motivational processes and use of strategies with expository text. Specifically, the study sought to determine how their attributes, self-efficacy, intrinsic value, anxiety, and goal orientation related to their use of cognitive and self-regulating strategies needed to…

This qualitative study examined factors that have contributed to the educational success of nine college students with learning disabilities and explored how these students manage their disabilities in the educational arena. Data came from student academic records, interviews, and classroom observations over a 6-month period. Factors studied…

This report presents the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) performance results to state officials and the public as required by state law. Compiled in two volumes, TAAS results are aggregated and reported for the state as a whole, for education service centers and individual districts, and in district demographic groupings. This volume…

Faculty status for librarians at academic institutions has been an unresolved issue for many decades. In 1991, the Office of Management Services of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) conducted a survey of the 107 members on the topic of faculty status. Ninety-nine responses were received. Responses clearly reveal that the term…

American Indian students generally have not done well on traditional standardized tests. Such tests have been criticized because their ability to predict academic success is questionable, and they correlate with socioeconomic class, reward superficial learning, encourage classroom practices that fail to provide high-quality education, and are…

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) has developed a new generation of assessment tasks for assessing student achievement in the visual arts. Using paper-and-pencil and performance formats, these tasks draw on the concepts, skills, and processes used to create and understand visual images from a variety of world cultures and…

A study was conducted to investigate the difference in student performance on multiple choice (MC) and constructed response (CR) items relative to the achievement levels of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The study included an investigation of how estimates of student performance were affected by item response theory (IRT)…