Investigated relationship between Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale: Fourth Edition (SB:IV) abbreviated batteries and complete battery among 38 college students. Findings suggest that school psychologists who use abbreviated versions of SB:IV with older adolescents and young adults should be aware that these short forms may underestimate students'…

Presents criteria teachers can use when evaluating software designed to teach grammar to students of Italian-as-a-Second-Language. The importance of collaboration between programmers and academic experts is stressed in creating software and the need for teachers to choose software as carefully as they select textbooks. (CFM)

The chair of the 1998 Caldecott Award Selection Committee discusses the two-year process of choosing the winning picture book. Describes aspects of the 1998 Honor Books and the Caldecott Medal Winner that make each distinguished in its own way. (AEF)

Examines Bloom's ideas on reading and books, suggesting that his stance on determining greatness is philosophically flawed and arguing that his prime criterion for selecting great texts is premised on a problematic theory of legitimation and greatness, leading to a restrictive view of possibilities for university-level reading. The Freirean notion…

A set of conditions is presented for the validity of inference for Item Response Theory (IRT) models applied to data collected from examinations that allow students to choose a subset of items. Common low-dimensional IRT models estimated by standard methods do not resolve the difficult problems posed by choice-based data. (SLD)

Presents brief descriptions of 38 children's books that are "inspiring." Organizes books in six sections: inspiring lives; inspirational characters; inspirational family times; inspirational celebrations; inspiration rising from adversity; and "too good to miss." (SR)

Discusses the importance of books that combine quality illustrations with quality stories of a multicultural world that are suitable for elementary school students. Includes suggestions for librarians and teachers who are selecting books and evaluating collections. (LRW)

Explored how allowing examinees to select test questions affected examinee performance and test characteristics for a measure of ability to generate hypotheses about a situation. Results with 2,429 examinees who elected the choice condition on the Graduate Record Examination suggest that items are differentially attractive to examinees. (SLD)

Discusses textbooks and the myth of the homogeneous classroom, differentiated reading assignments (DRAs), locating sources for DRAs, evaluating appropriateness of reading sources, collecting and organizing DRA sources, creating individualized student assignments, providing content exposure for students who cannot read available materials, and…

Offers advice about interviewing at the Modern Language Association (MLA) convention: practice or rehearse issues; allow enthusiasm about teaching to show; model good teaching practices in the interview; and listen thoughtfully and resist the temptation to talk too much. (RS)

Used Monte Carlo simulations to compare Type I error rates and the statistical power of three tests in detecting the effects of a dichotomous moderator variable in meta-analysis. The highest statistical power was shown by the Zhs test proposed by J. Hunter and F. Schmidt (1990). Discusses criteria for selecting among the three tests. (SLD)

Offers "A Modest Proposal" to assist teachers and other school personnel in their attempts to anticipate censorship trouble directed most particularly at middle school language arts teachers. Suggests the creation of a "Published Materials List," and outlines steps for creating and disseminating a list. Discusses several benefits with the use and…

Suggests guidelines, taken from adult reading groups, for teachers to use when establishing reading club groups in the classroom which include discussing the purpose for reading clubs, demonstrating how to choose a book to read, and establishing rules for the reading club groups. (NH)

Examines some of the issues related to evaluating and selecting picture books, informational books, and multicultural literature. Discusses historical trends in each of the three genres from before the 1950s through the 1990s. (RS)

Identifies key elements in a Florida university's year-long search and selection process for a provost. Highlights three narrative views of the process as integrated, differentiated, and fragmented. Concludes that search-committee members used differing interpretations as rhetorical resources for performing arguments to various audiences. (SR)