The purpose of the present study was to investigate the preliminary structural, convergent, and incremental classification validity of responses to the Subjective Academic Problems Scale (SAPS), which is a seven-item self-report behavior rating scale intended for use as a triaging tool within secondary-level school mental health screening…

While measurement precision is relatively easy to establish for single tests and assessments, it is much more difficult to determine for decision making with multiple tests on different subjects. This latter is the situation in the system of final examinations for secondary education in the Netherlands and is used as an example in this paper. This…

Anchored instruction and anchored assessment are described and illustrated through a mathematics problem from the Jasper problem solving series developed at Vanderbilt University in Nashville (Tennessee). Anchored instruction is instruction situated in a context complex enough to provide meaning and reasons for why information is useful. Problems…

Addresses the problem of defining the high school economics course and notes the consequent difficulty of measuring teaching and learning effectiveness. Identifies a two-step factor analysis/regression procedure as an effective technique in economic education research. (KC)

These three learning activities are on measuring accessible distances, designing a wind powered generator, and designing a hot dog heater using solar energy. Each activity includes description of context, objectives, list of materials and equipment, challenge to students, and evaluation questions. (SK)

An experienced observer and educator maintains that some of the best minds in education and psychology were involved in the development and use of standardized tests, and that a rejection of standarized testing is also a rejection of the principles of learning and true measurement of educational progress. (Author/LBH)

Upon learning that a form of the Sequential Tests of Educational Progress was incorrectly distributed to an unidentified number of high school students along with an answer sheet pregridded with an alternate test form, the Austin Independent School District performed the following research analyses: (1) scored the tests using the key for each…

There is currently no way to determine whether educational benefits of arts programs are myth or reality because the learning experiences have never been verified. Art educators, instead of aiming for vague general goals, must develop specific educational objectives and undertake the research to validate them. (Author/JM)

A scheme was developed for discovering what "moral" means among a given group so that moral incidents used to investigate their moral development would conform to their own meaning. Based on this scheme, an instrument was developed and field-tested with Haitian and U.S. American respondents. (BW)

Discusses the problems associated with the assessment of art and design. Identifies criterion-referenced assessment practices within the British General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) program as central to the development of a system of examination which is more fair to participants. (KO)

Of three methods (free recall, verbally prompted recall, and visually prompted recall) for eliciting understanding of a folk tale by 35 adolescents with intellectual disability, none proved significantly better in eliciting story understanding. All measures correlated with short-term memory, suggesting that subjects' difficulty encoding stories…

Describes a random effects discrete time survival model that addresses problems of measurement error and sample design complexities. Demonstrates the effectiveness of the model in an analysis of retrospective report data on the age of onset of smoking from two cross-sectional school-based studies. (JPB)

Describes two studies conducted in the United Kingdom that tested the effectiveness of flowcharts versus contingency statements for solving complex problems, one with secondary school students and one with senior citizens. Two measures of effectiveness are considered, speed and accuracy; and the effects of practice upon using the materials are…

Reinterprets Betts and Shkolnick's results in an article appearing in this "EER" issue. The data do not allow accurate classification of tracked and untracked classrooms. There appears to be little difference in student performance and resource allocation between schools that formally and informally group students by ability. (MLH)

Discusses some of the ways in which interviews, questionnaires and classroom observation may be used to explore the extent to which curricular innovations are being implemented in schools. The focus is on exploring the problems of implementation of the Scottish Integrated Science Scheme used in Scotland. (HM)