Consistent with its mission, the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) has adopted an integrated set of comprehensive standards for the preparation, credentialing, and professional practice in school psychology. Standards for training and credentialing, ethical principles, and guidelines for practice have undergone review and…

Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition (PLAR) is a new field, but it has a long history, since children have always learned from adults and demonstrated their competence by observation of their work or by the quality of their products or services. Later, formal learning became more valuable and recognized school credentials paved the way to…

This paper reviews and evaluates methods for conducting job analysis. The paper begins with a discussion of the purpose of licensure and certification and the dimensions of job analysis. The following four dimensions along which job analysis methods vary are discussed: types of job descriptors; sources of information; data collection methods; and…

Granting of licenses to practice has long been linked to academic credentials, but this system offers more protection to the professions than to the public. There is an immediate need to break the credentials monopoly by opening up alternative routes to obtaining credentials. (Author/MLW)

Examines effects of a Supreme Court decision (Gribbs vs Duke Power Co., 1971) stating that job applicants need neither pass an intelligence test nor possess particular educational credentials unless they are directly related to the requirements of the job. Journal available from Georgetown University Law Center, 600 New Jersey Ave., NW,…

Some broad problems involved in the assessment of competence in the health professions are defined. They include defining competence, the continuum of health professions education, the process of credentialing, internal/external evaluations, elements of controls on physicians' performance, monitoring process, and maintenance of competence. (MLW)

A brief history of developments in the assessment of the reliability of credentialing examinations is presented, and some new results are outlined that highlight the interactions among scoring, standard setting, and the reliability and validity of pass-fail decisions. Decision consistency is an important concept in evaluating credentialing…

Examines grading systems in undergraduate education at a large university, using data from a 12-month ethnographic study. Identifies how grades determine student movement from college to other organizations. Questions relationships of grading systems to students' perceptions of their own knowledge and grading's role in educational outcomes. Finds…

Three major models of adult English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) literacy professional development are discussed: craft or mentoring models, applied science or theory to practice models, and inquiry or reflective practice models. Each is outlined, examples are provided, and innovative K-12 teacher development practices are suggested. (Contains 50…

AASA's 2000 survey indicates that women are poorly positioned for superintendencies, lack appropriate credentials, have little fiscal management experience, eschew pursuit of superintendencies for personal reasons, face boards' reluctance to hire them, have higher teaching motivations than formerly, and enter the administrator preparation…

Outlines current methods, criteria, and procedures for evaluating foreign academic credentials in Europe, the role of the national recognition centers, international cooperation among them, and the evolution of internationally agreed-upon standards. Traces development of the Draft Recommendation on General Procedures and Criteria for Evaluation of…

Examines the current diversity of early years qualifications in Scotland and looks critically at the factors that are now enabling a more coherent framework of qualifications to emerge. Highlights the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF). Concludes by offering a number of recommendations to those involved in similar work in other…

The UK's National Learning Targets for Education and Training, embracing 11- to 21-year-olds, adults, and employers, promote a credentialist approach to economic and social development. This article shows how the steel industry measures up. Using qualifications-based targets as a proxy for adult workforce capability is misguided. (Contains 40…

In spring of 1999, as the centerpiece of a school-wide evaluation of the credential programs of the School of Education at Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park, California, the school of education faculty conducted a self-study involving graduates of the credential programs. To assess how well students were prepared for the reality of teaching,…

Service learning aims to promote academic learning and meet community needs. When students interview elderly residents in a nursing home about their experiences during World War II, they gain eyewitness historical information and provide company to persons who otherwise may have few visitors. Such situations are designed to be "win-win." Students…