Reviews social studies trends and objectives from 1939 to the 1980s and predicts some possible directions which social studies might take after 1981. Topics discussed include visions of various social studies leaders, the emphasis on citizenship education, and modern assessment procedures. Journal available from P.O. Box 189, Olvedo, Florida…

Discusses the results of the 1975 Examination for General Chemistry, and summarizes descriptive statistics as well as ten different subsets of instructional topics. The major results and conclusions are reported in three separate profiles. (HM)

Proposes a systems approach for educational organization and planning comprised of six processes based on open-systems theory. This approach sets up the structure for discovering what teaching styles best manage certain learning styles by using particular methods. (DC)

A member of the research team that reported characteristics of unusually effective London (England) high schools discusses how educators can use the findings to improve their own schools. (Author/MLF)

Looks at four sources for measuring national student performance: (1) the National Assessment of Educational Progress study of basic skills; (2) competency testing in reading, writing, and arithmetic; (3) college entrance examination scores; and (4) rates of educational attainment by sex, race, ability level, and socioeconomic status. (SK)

The success or failure of educational reform is discussed using Public Law 94-142 as a case study. Constraints on reform arise from the dominant ideology. Education is fundamentally a dependent institution, and efforts to reform it become an attempt to resolve issues in the broader social domain. (FG)

The item bank (Rasch model) has serious limitations for the national assessment of subject performance: it requires agreement about the scope and organization of each school subject and about the difficulty level of each test item; and items tend to focus on factual knowledge, ignoring other desirable learning outcomes. (SJL)

Responses by academic department heads in higher education institutions are reported regarding the current situation and recent trends in assessment purposes and practices; problems observed, improvements favored and suspected barriers to those improvements; and rules, policies, controls and review procedures are included. The author's comments on…

The emphases of this investigation were to outline procedures to assess the effectiveness of instructional materials and to examine those procedures. Methods for determining sample size, constructing instruments, and modifying data are described. (SK)

Quality assessment of a nontraditional degree program for adults at Saint Louis University includes assessment of impact as perceived by alumni and their employers. Also considered is practical use of these findings in the college. (CT)

Performance was better for children above six years of age and better in Spanish than English. It is suggested that the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test never be used to assess the general intelligence of Mexican American children, because it likely underestimates their ability. (Author)

Compares selected United States history and civics textbooks from the 19th century with textbooks written from 1960 to 1980. Findings from this comparison indicated that despite differences in size and emphasis, stress and artistic appearance, United States history and civics texts of the present are essentially what they have always…

Examines historical roots of major trends of the New Social Studies--social sciences v social studies, inquiry, ethnic and global perspectives, and future studies. The major objective is to improve social studies by helping social studies classroom teachers become aware of and understand the contributions of these trends to their discipline. (DB)

The relationship between inservice education and educational change in a large comprehensive secondary school is examined. Teachers contrasted inservice education with other professional activities and assessed the usefulness of each in the development of the school's curriculum. (Author/JN)