Suggests that how we interpret the history of assessing student outcomes and what directions inquiries take in the future will be influenced by what criteria is used, how outcomes are defined and what evidence is accepted. Reviews the background of outcome measurement and presents suggestions for evaluators. (JAC)

Senate Bill 813, the broadest and most expensive school reform bill in California's history, is anchored in a set of seriously flawed assumptions about teaching, schooling, and the role of the state in generating change. (Author/DCS)

The autonomy of local education authorities and teachers in England and Wales is being carefully and inexorably restricted. There is a move toward centralization of education. A new system of assessment is also being introduced. (RM)

The process of developing goals for boards and school systems includes formulating broad goals, making sure system employees and community members are familiar with the goals, making a commitment to the goals, setting yearly board objectives, and tying the superintendent's evaluation to yearly objectives. (MJL)

Reports on a study that compared the potential validity, reliability, and costs of several direct and indirect measures of writing. (HOD)

Presents a short summary report of the results of a national survey, commissioned by the SCA Committee on Assessment and Testing, to determine the range and degree of assessment occurring in colleges and universities and to evaluate the methods used to assess the communication skills of college students. (PD)

Results from a 1982 follow-up study of student perceptions of science instruction are presented and compared with data from the 1977 national assessment. Data were obtained from 700 students in Iowa aged 9, 13, 17, and young adult. (MNS)

An examination of the technical and theoretical strengths and weaknesses of three British research studies on the effectiveness of selective and nonselective schooling shows that the reorganization of British schools has not produced the lowering of educational standards that politically motivated groups would like people to believe. (RM)

Laments the trend toward the use of management and administrative jargon as the language of school analysis. Endorses a new discourse and mode of analysis of the nature of schooling that would indict the shortcomings but also reveal new possibilities for organizing school experiences. (HTH)

Education lost status and support in the United States after 1950 because formal education was less essential to an individual's success in an affluent society that itself functioned as an educator. An urgent public concern for quality education has recently emerged because education and future success are again linked. (MJL)

The future economic value of college-going is examined in a reply to the pessimistic view offered by Freeman and Hollomon in a 1975 article. It is shown that the issue will remain urgent for years to come, but that the social return on the college investment has not declined. (LBH)

Ways that educators can improve the campus environment to promote student learning are examined, with special attention on collecting the correct facts before trying possible remedies. (Editor/LBH)

A historical review of teacher education development in Nigeria from 1890 to the present covers periods of experimentation, reorganization, and consolidation and independence. The lack of progress as well as the national potential for solving the problems are noted. (LBH)

Advancements in higher education for women since colonial times, during the appearance of female academies, and as a result of the establishment of land grant colleges are reviewed. (LBH)

The relationship between size and effectiveness of educational unit is examined from two viewpoints: how size has been used in political controversies over educational organization, and research evidence on the effects of different sizes of unit. It is suggested that size has not been used independently of historical or social context to explain…