This report describes various strategies which were implemented to increase reading vocabulary and comprehension on consistently below average test scores of first grade students. A targeted group of 25 students were selected for this process. The objectives included increasing comprehension and reading vocabulary, developing a more positive…

The manual is designed to help Peace Corps language teachers design simple evaluation procedures that will: (1) help them select appropriate classroom activities; (2) encourage students to self-monitor their progress and take responsibility for learning; and (3) give insight into student aptitudes. An introductory chapter examines the relationship…

A study evaluated different approaches to placing students in adult literacy classes using 168 adult basic education (ABE) and General Educational Development (GED) students. Students in classes at Rochambeau School in White Plains, New York, were given the Tests of Adult Basic Education (TABE), the Tests of Adult Literacy Skills (TALS), an oral…

This study was conducted to determine whether the educational degree of mathematics instructors at New York City Technical College was a significant factor in students' perceptions of teacher effectiveness. A 10-item student opinion survey was distributed to 738 students enrolled in 44 mathematics classes. Instructors with doctoral degrees taught…

This booklet provides parents, teachers, administrators, and policymakers with information about achievement testing which is relevant to their needs. The first section presents an overview of the current market for standardized achievement tests and provides key definitions, distinctions between ability and achievement testing, comparisons of…

The standards-based educational reform initiatives of the 1990's call for assessment innovations to support high standards. To document state assessment policies and to develop policy recommendations for assessment innovations, the George Washington University Center for Excellence and Equity in Education surveyed state assessment directors in…

This handbook provides teachers and administrators with strategies to construct, adapt, and use rubrics. A rubric is defined as a tool for assessing instruction and performance according to predetermined expectations and criteria. The chapters in this text contain guidance on formulating, applying, and reviewing the pros and cons of this form of…

This document (two manuals combined) offers a practical, straightforward means of evaluating the reading level of students in French immersion classes at the elementary level. The evaluator's manual features a good review of the relevant publications in the field and provides clear, detailed descriptions of each of three reading levels, the…

The proceedings of a working group conference on proficiency testing of Japanese as a second language contain a brief background paper distributed to conference invitees, a list of items included in the pre-conference portfolio, an advance organizer of potential discussion topics, a 77-item annotated list of bibliographies on second language…

A system to provide objective measures of institutional effectiveness was implemented at the Roswell branch of Eastern New Mexico University to determine whether the college was accountable to students, staff, and taxpayers; to improve the curriculum and programs; and to prepare for accreditation review in 1991. A task force spent the summer of…

This letter is an interim response to the October 7, 1991 request from the Committee on Education and Labor and the Subcommittee on Elementary, Secondary, and Vocational Education of the House of Representatives asking for a review of the National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB) achievement levels for the National Assessment of Educational…

This study compared the use of three instructional organizers--the advance organizer (AO), the participatory pictorial graphic organizer (PGO), and the final form pictorial graphic organizer (FGO)--in the design and use of computer-based interactive video (CBIV) programs. That is, it attempted to determine whether a less generative or more…

This study was conducted at the University of Windsor (Ontario) to determine whether an intensive introductory course in filmmaking cultivates spatial visualization and abstract reasoning, and whether success in filmmaking is directly related to one's level of spatial visualization and abstract reasoning. In order to test the research hypotheses,…

This document provides the following 13 conference papers: (1) "Introduction: Where Do We Go From Here?" (D. J. Bateson); (2) "The Context of Classroom Procedures in Evaluating Students" (R. J. Wilson); (3) "Student Evaluation in the Ungraded Primary School: The SCRP (Systematic Cumulative Record of Performance)…

This report summarizes a joint session held by the Indian Nations At Risk Task Force and the National Advisory Council on Indian Education to hear testimony about the concerns of the parents of Native American students. Issues and problems were in the areas of: (1) the decline of Native enrollment in teacher education programs; (2) the…