Decades of research have documented the positive impacts of cooperative learning on student success: increased learning, retention through graduation, improved critical thinking, and intrinsic motivation. One cooperative teaching technique, however, has received relatively little attention. In the two-stage cooperative, group, or…

Some proponents of science education say they have faced no greater foe over the past few years than federally mandated tests in reading and mathematics, which have forced teachers to devote increasingly bigger chunks of class time to building students' skills in those two subjects. But if testing has squeezed science out, can testing also bring…

Testing students once a year, with data reported many months later, is like using an autopsy to determine how to help a patient, says Cindy Ambrose, chief academic officer of the Horry County Schools in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. In Horry County and many other districts around the country, assessment that monitors vital signs on an ongoing…

Consider test data, a specified set of dichotomous skills measured by the test, and an IRT cognitive diagnosis model (ICDM). Statistical estimation of the data set using the ICDM can provide examinee estimates of mastery for these skills, referred to generally as attributes. With such detailed information about each examinee, future instruction…

While it is generally acknowledged that metalinguistic awareness plays a role in decoding ability (National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, 2000), less is known about the role metalinguistic awareness plays in comprehension. In the present study, structural riddles and ambiguous sentences differing in the source of linguistic…

Speech act theory-based, second language pragmatics testing (SLPT) poses problems for validation due to a lack of correspondence with empirical conversational data. Since conversation analysis (CA) provides a richer and more accurate account of language behavior, it may be preferred as a basis for SLPT development. However, applying CA methodology…

The following paper provides a case study of the resistance of the New York Performance Standards Consortium to the state's unitary high stakes testing policy from 1998 to 2006. After detailing the history of the grass roots actions undertaken by the group of alternative high schools called "The Consortium," the analysis seeks to apply…

Alternatives to the standard statewide assessment often are necessary for valid measurement of students with significant disabilities. These alternate assessments must be carefully developed and evaluated with respect to generally accepted psychometric standards. Ideally, these measures should be sensitive to growth and scaled to state tests that…

This booklet has been written to help persons interested in assessment of education and training programs in general and competency-based vocational education programs in particular. The following topics are covered in the individual sections: the meaning of the term "assessment"; the importance of assessment; curriculum models; percentages and…

A selection of essays on foreign language planning at the national level contains articles on the language planning process, language choice, teacher education, testing and assessment, and transnational planning. Essays include the following: "Foreign Language Teaching Policy: Some Planning Issues" (Theo J. M. van Els); "Foreign…

Although by traditional measures of test validity, the verbal section of the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) is not culture biased, it, along with the English Composition Test and the Test of Standard Written English, reinforces a narrow view of academic excellence that excludes culturally different youths. Designed to prevent admission errors, the…

A handbook for University of Georgia graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) is presented that provides practical information about teaching for inexperienced GTAs as well as experienced teachers who seek new ideas. Attention is directed to: responsibilities of assistantships; relationships with faculty and with students; policies, procedures, and…

In the spring of 1979, the National Institute of Education, in collaboration with the United States Office of Education, the UCLA Center for the Study of Evaluation (CSE), and members of a nation-wide network of research and development agencies, sponsored a national colloquy on the theme that testing could have an important impact in improving…

Many of the evaluations summarized in state and local Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) Title I reports have been negatively affected by methodological errors or the use of different, incompatible formats. Although new, detailed evaluation and reporting procedures have been developed for Title I research projects, two problems remain:…

A project was undertaken to develop a catalog of professional and technical competencies needed by a teacher to teach all areas of industrial arts given in the Texas State Board of Education-approved revised curriculum as well as to define and recommend guidelines for implementation of competency testing for industrial arts. Following a research…