When a state seeks to improve the quality of higher education through mandatory assessment of student learning, it is necessary to examine existing quality-assurance mechanisms and to consider the utility of models providing more comprehensive data. (MLW)

Changing demographics, public expectations, and economic circumstances mean that traditional measures of postsecondary educational quality may need to be supplemented. The California Commission for the Review of the Master Plan for Higher Education is looking at options for responding to the demand for better programs and teachers. (MLW)

Comparison of a standardized production format measure, the Measure of Epistemological Reflection and an open-ended interview resulted in a high positive correlation to support the potential of standardized assessment of intellectual development. (Author/KS)

Assessment programs designed to improve instruction should be based on strong theoretical models of student learning, motivation, and instruction. A taxonomy of learning strategies is provided. (MLW)

Several important issues to improvement of teaching and learning are identified: accountability, assessing effectiveness, increasing demands for data, expanding technology and research, and minority participation in higher education. Useful tools for institutional researchers emerging from work at National Center for Research to Improve…

Examines the dynamics of integrating the realities of cultural pluralism and socioeconomic diversity into the framework of day care programs. Covers beliefs about diversity; what makes diversity a positive force; and personnel policies. Finally, looks at what day care programs with a pluralistic focus can teach children about diversity. (RWB)

Outlines influences on evaluation: demand for more highly skilled graduates, reduced availability of public funds, mixed educational concerns, gap between evaluation knowledge and practice, simplicity/complexity dilemma. Proposes categorization of types/levels of evaluation: basic research, program evaluation, student learning assessments, process…

Educators must realize that expectations should be appropriate and positive. Teachers who are not familiar with the culture of their students may not know what to expect. Schools may unknowingly promote failure by basing expectations on middle class norms. Two exemplary case studies of bilingual students are presented. (VM)

This article considers various kinds of probability and non-probability samples in both experimental and survey studies. Throughout, how a sample is chosen is stressed. Size alone is not the determining consideration in sample selection. Good samples do not occur by accident; they are the result of a careful design. (Author/JAZ)

One of the most important stages in evaluation is the reporting process. A variety of reports may be prepared, each serving a different function, including: progress report, final report, technical report, media report, and executive summary. The reporting process continues throughout the conduct of an evaluation. (Author/JAZ)

Two approaches, the minimax approach and the Rasch procedure, are described for the simultaneous determination of passing scores for subtests when the passing score for the total test is known. (Author/LMO)

Reviews the activities and the involvements of the Center for Environmental Communication Studies (CECS) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Summarizes its contributions in the areas of teaching, research, public service, and publications. (ML)

Present four policy statements on issues of scope and sequence, values, lobal education, and the Michigan Educational Assessment Program. Of the four statements, the response to the assessment program was the most critical, noting inadequate assessment of social studies content and the negative effects of comparisons made by parents and the press.…

Examines the extent and nature of America's need to know whether the nation's educational outlook is improving, considers the contributions of the Scholastic Aptitude Test and the National Assessment of Educational Progress to the information effort, and proposes a more effective testing system to be administered by the Census Bureau. (PGD)

Staff developers can use the national reports on education to turn current public interest into positive action to improve schools. Strengths and weaknesses of these reports must be understood in order to be used effectively. (DF)