This year the Center on Education Policy (CEP) analyzed data on the achievement of different groups of students in two distinct ways. First, it looked at grade 4 test results to determine whether the performance of various groups improved at three achievement levels--basic and above, proficient and above, and advanced. Second, it looked at gaps…

The web has the potential to offer an environment that can support standardized medical education to students dispersed in time or place and, in the process, respond to reduced availability of patients for practice. This exploratory article describes how we evaluated critical thinking in an online collaborative Problem-based Learning (PBL)…

This paper provides background information on school reform and describes efforts to implement an assessment system for students with disabilities in 12 nongraded primary classrooms. Background information briefly covers the school restructuring movement, the history of nongraded primary education, alternative assessment strategies which focus on…

A meta-analysis examines the predictive validity of three methods for evaluating the education and experiences (E&E) of applicants for entry and full-performance level jobs, focusing on federal white-collar jobs. The following are methods of rating education and experience: (1) Point, assigning points to the duration and type of past education…

This training and resource manual is intended to provide needed information to interpreters and translators who assist in providing assessments and other types of educational services to students or clients in numerous primary languages. Guidelines focus on assessing students or clients, requesting information from the client's family, and…

This paper provides a transcript of a videotaped roundtable discussion on recognition for learning in adult literacy programs in Canada. Participants discussed the need to provide credentials for learners who have acquired various "chunks" of learning. Recognition was thought to be a motivator for adults even if they did not need the…

This manual presents the trainee's workbook and the trainer's guidelines for the second of six modules in a teacher inservice series developed to promote the unified effort of both regular and special education personnel in understanding and applying nationally recognized practices to implement fully inclusive education for students with diverse…

The 1993-94 school year was the first year of the Accelerating Literacy Program (ALP) of the Austin (Texas) Independent School District. The ALP used a grant from the Texas Education Agency to train elementary educators in the methods of a short-term reading intervention program based on the Reading Recovery/Whole Language theory. A group of 367…

Not since the development of the objective paper and pencil test early in the century has an assessment method hit the American educational scene with such force as has performance assessment methodology in the 1990s. Performance assessment relies on teacher observation and professional judgment to draw inferences about student achievement.…

The main objectives of this study were to combine professional development plans and portfolios for use in undergraduate teacher education courses and to assess the effectiveness of this practice in two independent but related efforts. Participants in this study included 70 preservice teachers who were enrolled in either a 300 level early…

This paper discusses a study that sought to design an instrument for assessing the nonverbal ability of foreign language learners. The subjects were 28 educated Japanese non-native speakers (NNS) of English and 20 educated North American native speakers (NS) of English. Materials used were the institutional Test of English as a Foreign Language…

This report describes alternative assessments in vocational education, reviews examples from extended case studies, and discusses criteria to use to choose among assessment alternatives. Chapter 1 is an introduction that contains brief summaries of each of the six assessment alternatives to familiarize the reader with the range of the sample and…

This book offers consumer information for parents who are considering enrolling their child in a private school. Beginning with a descriptive overview of private schools, the guide discusses advantages of private schools, how to finance a private school education, and how to determine a child's educational needs. The book offers criteria for…

The current trend toward site-based management in education, with its accompanying shift toward decision making at the individual school level, means new responsibilities and roles for principals. Principals are now required to be intimately involved in budgeting, personnel recruitment and hiring, selection of curricula and textbooks, and many…

CNU Online is the computer-managed instructional delivery system of Christopher Newport University. Fully functioning to deliver wholly online courses since fall 1994, CNU Online has been using an officially approved assessment plan since January 1995. The plan is presented as a useful example for others developing online instructional delivery.…