Discusses a study that examines the effects of paired tutoring and mentoring on academic achievement of college freshmen in a probationary program. Results show that students with mentoring and tutoring services by the same person show greater academic gains as measured by compliance and academic achievement than do those students who were…

Asserts that testing is widely accepted and politically supported in Canada. Examines why there should be testing in the arts; what should be tested; who makes the tests, takes the tests, and benefits from them; and how frequently students should be tested. Concludes by outlining issues for consideration by policymakers. (PAL)

Examines relationships among tests for numerosity, measurement, and computational estimation, and recognizes tests for numerical facility and quantitative reasoning using principal components analysis. Identifies two components. The first component aligned computational estimation with numerical facility and general quantitative reasoning while…

Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) scores and grade point average in graduate core courses were compared for 190 male and 144 female business administration students. No significant differences in course performance were found, but males had been admitted with significantly higher GMAT scores, suggesting a bias against women. (Contains 27…

Explores association between pupil mobility and attainment in national end of Key Stage 1 tests for 6000+ pupils in an English urban education authority. Indicates pupil mobility during the early years is associated with significantly lower levels of pupil attainment in reading, writing, and mathematics tests at age seven. (BT)

Reviews the findings of a committee formed by the National Research Council (NRC) to rethink assessment. Proposes that recent advances in cognitive and measurement sciences should be the foundation for developing a new system of student assessment. (DDR)

Focuses on experimental bilingual programs in Guinea-Bissau and Niger, West Africa where transitional bilingual programs were introduced in pilot schools. Compared test results and teacher-pupil interaction between bilingual and monolingual (ex-colonial language) schools. Test results in Niger demonstrated that pupils who started in their mother…

Discusses the use of portfolio assessment strategies for more lengthy, complex, and authentic student assessments. Reports on an investigation to determine the effectiveness of portfolio strategies. Also discusses two group comparisons, student perceptions of portfolio assessment, and concerns. Concludes that portfolio assessment procedures…

Presents a study that compared examiners' judgments of the grade-worthiness of candidates' A-level examination work at question paper level and at subject level. Suggests that examiners may have compensated to some extent for the different aspects of the subject tested in different question papers when they made holistic judgments. (CMK)

Describes a statistical method for evaluating the translation equivalence of language test items that are scored dichotomously. Provides an illustration of the method to a portion of the verbal subtest of the Psychometric Entrance Test, which is a large-scale postsecondary admissions test used in Israel. (VWL)

Describes reasons and objectives for expanded role of federal government in education inherent in the 2002 reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) called the No Child Left Behind Act. Asserts that reauthorized ESEA also means an expanded role in educational reform for state and school districts. (PKP)

Investigates the relationship of test-takers' use of cognitive and metacognitive strategies to English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) reading test performance. Results suggest that use of cognitive and metacognitive strategies had a positive relationship to reading test performance; highly successful test-takers reported significantly higher…

Investigated the impact of extensive reading on an adult's self-study of Japanese over a 20-week period. Data were collected from a learner diary, audio recordings from several private tutorial sessions, and vocabulary tests. Results show extensive reading can enhance vocabulary acquisition and reading comprehension and promote a positive attitude…

Describes the development and testing of a multifaceted Foreign Language in the Elementary School program evaluation instrument that would efficiently provide essential data regarding such aspects as teacher qualifications, goals and objectives, pedagogy, articulation, homework and grades, parent support, workload, at-risk students, and student…

Results are reported from a study that investigated the correspondence between two methods used to assess differential item functioning (test item bias). The study also explored the influence of sample size on the two procedures. Although agreement between the two procedures was generally good, the Rasch procedure was more reliable. (IAH)