This study examined whether the level of academic achievement changed when deaf pupils in Sweden were introduced to sign communication at the preschool or kindergarten level. The study compared performance of 40 deaf students, attending a school for the deaf, on a comprehensive testing program (covering Swedish language and mathematical and…

This document contains 88 authentic task development records that were selected from those developed by teams of secondary and postsecondary teachers at a conference to familiarize educators with Wisconsin's new performance-based assessment system. Presented first is an annotated list of the 17 Wisconsin Learner Outcomes that served as the…

The adoption and impact of curriculum innovation are most commonly researched in terms of roles that teachers and school administrators are expected to play. A study in New Zealand focused on the responses of students. This integrated studies project developed alternative approaches to the traditional junior secondary school curriculum. It…

Standardized testing for large-scale assessment in Mississippi has changed to include both selected-response and performance-based formats for the past 3 academic years. The purpose of this followup study was to examine the perceptions of practicing teachers who belonged to a professional reading organization in the state with regard to this new…

Emphasizing that language arts and reading are "binding agents" for all kinds of learning and should be integrated throughout the elementary curriculum, the guiding philosophy of this book is that the best teachers are those who continue to learn along with their students. Each chapter in the book ends with a "Teacher as…

Given the restructuring of curriculum and instruction and the changing state of assessment in Virginia and nationally, a study group of 22 Virginia teachers from elementary schools, middle schools, and high schools throughout the state chose to examine and revise their assessment practices. They wanted to reflect changes in thinking and practice…

The National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing (CRESST) has been laying the groundwork to explore fundamental questions of the implementation of alternative assessment. The CRESST has been working collaboratively with school practitioners to help them implement performance assessment strategies so that the CRESST…

Project EXCEL, a workplace literacy project involving four small business enterprises in San Francisco, is evaluated. The project focused on literacy and basic skills training for limited-English-proficient (LEP) workers. The businesses included the following: a communications and mass mailing firm; a dessert wholesale company; a Mexican…

This research investigated whether computer anxiety is different if the measure is administered by computer rather than by paper and pencil. The study compared two groups of students (N=83) who were gathered from three undergraduate sections and one graduate section of a required computer class for in-service and pre-service teachers using anxiety…

In an effort to examine the usefulness of adult learning research for improving college teaching, this study investigated tenets of adult learning research which may be manifest in effective college teaching and sought the perceptions of administrators, faculty and students. The study incorporated a multi-site, integrated research design combining…

This curriculum framework provides a model for developing appropriate and meaningful language arts curricula for high ability learners in kindergarten through grade 8. It is intended as a guide to making decisions about traditional curricular emphases within the language arts areas of reading, writing, speaking, and listening, as well as…

At Mozart Elementary School, a predominantly Latino pre-kindergarten through grade 8 Professional Development School in Chicago that is linked with Northeastern Illinois University, the upper grades have been transformed in a way that has proven beneficial to the students and the university's teacher candidates. Frustrated with their inability to…

The first of four issues in this volume consists of four review articles. "Tech Prep Quality" reviews a guide to total quality management and tech prep. "Specific, Ocean to Ocean" reviews a publication that identifies 10 preliminary plans for implementing tech prep. "...No Single Option" is about a monograph that evaluates tech prep and other…

This paper describes the development of a criterion-referenced, performance-based measure of third grade reading comprehension. The primary purpose of the assessment is to contribute unique and valid information for use in the formative evaluation of a whole literacy program. A secondary purpose is to supplement other program efforts to…

This paper reports on a study investigating the effects of studying alone or in cooperative-learning groups on the performance of high and low achievers. The effects of completing computer-based instruction using either learner or program control are also examined. A total of 92 sixth-grade students were classified by Stanford Achievement Scores…