Describes two short lessons on individual objectives (main idea and fact/opinion) to prepare 10th graders for the Spring exit test. (SR)

The notion of washback, that testing influences teaching, is explored and a series of possible hypotheses are advanced. The empirical research in general education and in language education is reviewed to determine whether washback actually exists, how it can be measured, and what accounts for its form. Proposals for future research are suggested.…

We compared two formats for optional study sessions offered to students in a research methods course. Study sessions alternated between a game format (e.g., Behavioral Jeopardy) and a student-directed question and answer format, presented in counterbalanced order across different sections of the same course. The results of the alternating…

This study examined the effects of teaching a test-taking strategy to 4 fourth- and fifth-grade students with mild mental disabilities on reading and math achievement. The intervention consisted of a direct and explicit instructional method using a mnemonic strategy. The participants' acquisition and application of the test-taking strategy on…

Outgoing "Voices from the Middle" ("VM") editor and incoming Vice-President Kylene Beers remembers the origins of the National Council of Teahers of English (NCTE), the long struggle to establish the best curriculum and assessment practices possible, and the frustration with the current emphasis on teaching to the test. Leaders…

One of the most striking developments in Italian higher education in recent years has been the growth of commercial tutoring schools, which help college students prepare for the oral examinations on which their grades are based. By far the largest of such schools, the European Center for University Preparation, known by its Italian abbreviation,…

Specific and detailed instructions to implement an environmental engineering approach to the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) Subject Test for Psychology are outlined. Focus is on helping students prepare for this test. Some universities use the GRE as a measure of achievement and aptitude and as a criterion test. In truth, such a test does not…

Whether coaching for standardized admission tests such as the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) is effective was investigated. The Bureau of Consumer Protection of the Federal Trade Commission evaluated the effectiveness of two commercial coaching schools that offered preparation courses for the SAT. The researchers concluded that one of the two…

Piedmont High School is a small high school in rural Alabama, which serves a primarily white population and has a high dropout rate. PLATO computerized instruction has been used by almost 200 skill-deficient students, and 4 teachers have used it. After using PLATO, Piedmonts struggling students are much more likely to pass the Alabama High School…

This book is designed to help the adult learner overcome test anxiety and become an effective test taker. A survey to determine what the reader knows about test formats is followed by facts on many types of tests, help with real-world problems in test taking, reviews of writing skills for essay tests, and practice test questions. Some resources,…

Three computer software packages from Krell, Borg-Warner, and Edu-ware are reviewed in terms of their improving users' vocabulary, verbal analogy, and mathematical skills in preparation for the SATs. Students benefitting most are those who know the subject but do poorly on tests. (MBR)

Surveyed law schools to see if they offered bar preparation courses or other programs and whether they were effective. Detailed findings include that about 39 percent do offer such courses. (EV)

Analyzes Georgia high-stakes testing case involving administrative law judge's recommendation (subsequently approved) that fifth-grade science teacher's teaching certificate be suspended for giving his students pretest copies of the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills. Suggests No Child Left Behind Act will spawn similar litigation in the future. (PKP)

It was during the early 1990s that the author began to suspect that teenagers were reading less--and less deeply--than they had been 10 and certainly 20 years ago. He found this paradoxical, because it was during the 1990s that SAT scores seemed to soar along with the economy. Students talked about them constantly, like securities traders in a…

A-levels in Travel and Tourism are unitised qualifications that should take a minimum of two years to achieve. Successful completion of year one results in the candidate achieving a qualification in its own right: an AS level. This AS level will be deemed a single or a double award depending on how many units have been assessed. A single award…