Data from the ALEKS-based placement program at the University of Illinois is presented visually in several ways. The placement exam (an ALEKS assessment) contains precise item-specific information and the data show many interesting properties of the student populations of the placement courses, which include Precalculus, Calculus, and Business…

The article "Thinking About Linking" by Newton (2010) presents a novel philosophical perspective on the way that educational assessments should be linked. Newton starts by describing the linking framework as it was characterized in various publications and identifies a cross-cultural dimension in the definitions and uses of test…

In textbooks, foreign (second) language reading proficiency is often evaluated through comprehension questions. In case, authentic texts are used as reading material, such questions should be prepared by teachers. However, preparing appropriate questions may be a very demanding task for teachers. This paper introduces a method for automatically…

A wide variety of potential indicators of graduate student performance are reviewed. Based on research literature, experience with recent and current research projects, and conversations with graduate faculty members and administrators, the various indicators are considered in two ways. First, they are analyzed within the framework of the…

The author defends I.Q. tests as being beneficial to students from low-income homes against detractors who insist the tests are hopelessly biased by social class and, hence, are useless. (HMV)

Proposed a method of predicting the mean rating of the cooperating teacher and college supervisor of student teachers on the Teacher Observation Rating Scale. Direct observation and operationally defined personality measures predicted student teacher performance more accurately than the prediction of academic performance in education. (Author/JAC)

Mounting pressure in the policy arena to improve teacher productivity either by improving signals that predict teacher performance or through creating incentive contracts based on performance--has spurred two related questions: Are there important determinants of teacher productivity that are not captured by teacher credentials but that can be…

This paper reviews research literature and research projects of the John F. Kennedy Center for Research on Education and Human Development, on the topics of the utility of dynamic assessment for predicting learning ability, its utility for generating educationally relevant prescriptions, and factors associated with the implementation of dynamic…

Listening and reading comprehension tests were administered to 180 children in grades 3-8. A regression equation was derived and applied to listening comprehension scores of seven children with reading difficulties. The procedure was determined to be useful in predicting reading comprehension and attributing it to poor decoding, poor…

The study examined a group of third grade students from Kuwait, considered gifted based on their mental ability, to determine if intelligence is a meaningful predictor of gifted behaviors. The gifted behaviors studied were learning, motivation, creativity, and leadership. Three hundred students, their mothers (N=300), and teachers (N=142)…

This newsletter summarizes the work of a committee, set up by the Ministry of Education, which sought to define the objectives and the methods of student evaluation and to draw up a proposal for reforming and standardizing student evaluation in the comprehensive and the secondary school. Deficiencies of current methods of student evaluation are…

The results of the Pennsylvania Educational Quality Assessment program, Phase II, are interpreted. The first section of the manual presents a statement of each of the Ten Goals of Quality Education which served as the basis of the assessment. Also included are the key items on the questionnaires administered to 5th and 11th grade students. The…

The study examined the frequency with which specified prediction-related and skill-deficit vocational assessment procedures were administered by 55 secondary level teachers of students with disabilities and 64 employment training specialists. Although both types of procedures were used, the more contemporary skill-deficit procedures were used more…

This critique discusses conceptual and practical issues raised in a paper by D. Marston (EC 210 837) on choosing the most technically adequate graph for measuring progress on individual education plans. The critique argues that the Standard Behavior Chart is a technically adequate and useful measurement tool. (JDD)

This article responds to a criticism (EC 231 964) of a paper that discusses graphs for measuring progress on individual education plans (EC 210 837). It notes that the type of chart used is not a major issue; the important point is that teachers repeatedly gather data on educationally relevant tasks and evaluate intervention effectiveness. (JDD)