A content-oriented analysis of written solutions to test items in Israeli high school graduation examinations in mathematics yielded six error categories: misused data; misinterpreted language; logically invalid inference; distorted theorem or definition; unverified solution; and technical error. (Authors/MNS)

Describes a study that was conducted to determine how error patterns and a clinical approach to assessing third grade students' mathematical knowledge interrelate to design a computer diagnostic system for subtraction. Error patterns are examined, and computer diagnostic systems and analytical testing are discussed. (34 references) (LRW)

Designed to analyze systematically the relative effects of different types of oral reading errors on comprehension, this instrument consists of a basic set (each with an easy and a hard version) of six stories. Every story is transformed so that it contains simulated errors of a particular type: (1) correct, (2) semantically related visually…

Describes a study that compared the effectiveness of screen designs for system interfaces by tallying keyboarding errors during online searches. The methodology is described as an unobtrusive means for obtaining objective and empirically based data for interface comparisons. A questionnaire used to determine users' reactions to screen designs is…

Error profiles for the Fall Enrollment Survey of the Higher Education General Information Survey (HEGIS) were developed as part of an assessment of the quality of survey data. Three statistics were of particular interest: the count of full-time equivalent students, the breakdown by race/ethnicity, and the count of unclassified students. Attention…

This study examined the effectiveness of a metacourse consisting of eight lessons interspersed over a semester-long beginning course in BASIC and aimed at providing mental models, problem-solving strategies, key concepts, and other heuristic structures. The experimental group consisted of 6 teachers who taught 9 classes of a total of 132 high…

This paper describes the Qualitative Analysis of Silent and Oral Reading Instrument (QASOR), which was developed to provide an alternative to the Reading Miscue Inventory for observing the oral and silent reading of students in the middle and secondary grades. An overview of QASOR shows that it is designed for use by reading specialists and…

Data from the Stanford Test of Academic Skills Level I, administered to 10,910 tenth graders in Hawaii in Fall, 1985, are analyzed. The purposes of this report are to provide information on the effectiveness of the mathematics program in the high school, including the identification of deficiency areas and recommendations for improving…

This collection of four papers deals with problem solving and the measurement of problem solving. "Climbing Up the Competence Ladder: Some Thoughts on Meaningful Assessment of Problem-Solving Tasks in the Classroom" by K. C. Cheung uses the metaphor of a competence ladder to represent the problem-solving continuum with progressive…

The chemical content knowledge of secondary science teachers is seldom measured directly in developed countries as there are practical, ethical and political problems involved that would be likely to be insuperable. In Papua New Guinea (PNG), the author assisted in some of the work involved in the second IEA Science Study (SISS), where the PNG…

Reports on a study of the information searching behavior of 35 high school students. Problems that the students had searching an online catalog are identified, and implications for instruction are considered. (EAM)

This report: (1) describes the mathematics test given to Year 8 students in the Mt. Druitt Longitudinal Study in 1986; (2) describes and discusses the results; (3) analyzes errors made by the students; and (4) suggests some possible interventions to address the errors made by students. The study dates from 1975 when funds were obtained to provide…

This report: (1) describes the mathematics test given to Year 9 students in the Mt. Druitt Longitudinal Study in 1987; (2) describes and discusses the results; (3) analyzes errors made by students; (4) analyzes the responses to items common to the 1986 and 1987 tests; and (5) suggests some interventions to address the errors made by students. The…

The purpose and direction of the quality improvement program of the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Student Financial Aid (OSFA) are described. The improvement program was designed to develop a systematic approach to identify, measure, and correct errors in the student aid delivery system. Information is provided on the general approach…

In the first report, dated August 1991, assessment of three language tests is reported. The tests were developed and are used as part of a Los Angeles Unified School District (California) program to teach mainstream American English (MAE) to speakers of African American Language (AAL). The tests include a writing assessment (grades 3-6) and two…