In "Harrington v. Louisiana State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education," a Louisiana appellate court ruled that Delgado Community College in New Orleans was liable to a student who was raped by her instructor because the college did not investigate the instructor's background. Discusses implications of this ruling for colleges…

Showed how Taylor approximation can be used to generate a linear approximation to a logistic item characteristic curve and a linear ability estimator. Demonstrated how, for a specific simulation, this could result in the special case of a Robbins-Monro item selection procedure for adaptive testing. (SLD)

Explains how schools and students are selected for the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and why high participation rates are important. Describes the multistage sampling method, which allows the National Center for Education Statistics to give an accurate picture of student performance while keeping the burden on schools and…

Discusses how the switch to PCs by administrators at Dartmouth College, a historically Apple-centric campus, highlights the higher education challenges facing the computer company. (EV)

Discusses the difficulty of creating recommended reading lists, examining the development of California's recommended reading list and suggesting that lists succeed or fail not because of a book that is or is not included but because of the range they suggest. Concludes that in order to be successful, a list needs constant revision by teachers,…

Describes how new technical standards are allowing colleges to customize distance-learning programs by blending online-learning software from several companies. (EV)

Offers tips from furniture manufacturers to keep classroom furniture looking good for many years: (1) select quality furniture(2) pay careful attention to the surface material(3) stack it and roll it (ease of portability and storage); (4) clean it properly; and (5) choose good a partner in maintenance. (EV)

Argues for the use of nonfiction in classrooms. Presents three passages from sources usually far removed from the typical secondary language arts classroom to help make the point. Concludes that just as the study of fiction, drama, and poetry help students explore their thoughts and feelings, nonfiction can offer a reality check with which to…

Invites readers to extend the metaphor of roots and flowers to include all relationships--from those we are born into to those we choose. Considers that all relationships involve give and take, with some resulting in warm feelings and understanding, and others ending up frayed and worn thin. Presents annotations of 30 works of children's…

Discusses four books that carry out the theme of critical literacy and social justice. Notes that three of the four are edited collections and represent many voices. (SG)

Evaluates a method for item selection in adaptive testing that is based on Kullback-Leibler information (KLI) (T. Cover and J. Thomas, 1991). Simulation study results show that testing algorithms using KLI-based item selection perform better than or as well as those using Fisher information item selection. (SLD)

Presents brief descriptions of 36 children's books, all "good books" with the potential to linger in the hearts of readers. Organizes the books into categories: those that withstand the test of time, relate to common experiences, explore family relationships, extend readers' knowledge, inspire readers to follow their dreams, and invite readers…

Discusses the use of job-screening techniques to help in custodial-staff hiring process. Describes the screening techniques and explains their positive effects on costs and productivity. (GR)

Examines issues related to selection and censorship in five public libraries in Southern California in order to document public librarians' selection practices and to determine whether library policy and procedure assist librarians when confronted with challenges from the community. Explores issues of self-censorship in selection and community…

Examined the influence of item parameter estimation errors across three item selection methods using the two- and three-parameter logistic item response theory (IRT) model. Tests created with the maximum no target and maximum target item selection procedures consistently overestimated the test information function. Tests created using the theta…