Research shows that teachers are the single most important factor in student learning in schools. Students who have access to highly qualified teachers achieve at a higher rate, regardless of other factors. Teachers to be highly qualified must be well prepared, especially in improving the quality of education facing global challenges. For this…

Empirical norms are a traditional and accepted tool for reporting performance. Other methods (e.g., statistical regression) are used more often in a research context to make conditional statements about performance given a certain demographic context. This paper illustrates a method for the construction of differentiated school norms and the…

Students (n=358) completing the teacher admissions process at a university in the southeastern United States were asked to rank the characteristics of their best teacher and their worst teacher in grades K-12. They most frequently reported that personal relationships formed between teacher and students greatly influenced the effectiveness of the…

Potential influences on the student teaching experience relate to the characteristics of the placement site, the supervision of the student teacher, the requirements of the program, and the abilities of the student teacher. This study of the ecological factors that influence a student teacher's development examined the evolution of student…

The purpose of this study was to develop a testing method for the assessment of various types of writing at the elementary school level that would meet acceptable standards for educational measurement instruments as well as standards of utility and feasibility within a given educational system. The study was conducted within the framework of an…

This descriptive, longitudinal study investigated the emergent literacy skills of 45 children 4 and 5 years of age who were enrolled in an enrichment program for the gifted and talented. In two 10-week sessions conducted in subsequent years, children were requested to write a story and then read it aloud. Of central interest were four questions:…

Seven short articles on the use of standardized tests in the United States are presented. Topics include: (1) the effects on school restructuring during the 1990's of the backlash against standardized tests; (2) the movement to replace multiple-choice standardized testing and its relationship with curricular goals; (3) the influence of…

This document provides the case studies for an original report on the status of coordination among job related education and training programs. The document contains case studies of state-level coordination in Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Tennessee, and Washington. It also includes a section on coordination in selected California…

The effectiveness of a state-mandated set of at-risk criteria to predict which students are likely to become dropouts is evaluated in this study of the Austin Independent School District (AISD). Descriptions of the district information delivery system, state criteria, and criteria operationalization are provided. Discriminant function analysis…

The ways in which a rating scale developed for problem-based medical curricula provides information that is useful in the area of curriculum reform were demonstrated in a study involving 95 first-year medical students at the University of Sherbrooke in Quebec (Canada). The rating scale, based on the theory of problem-based learning of W. H.…

This document contains 15 chapters on various topics related to elementary science assessment. A comprehensive description of efforts to introduce alternatives to multiple-choice, paper and pencil tests to assess science learning is provided. The monograph includes an analysis of assessment issues, descriptions of current practice, and suggestions…

The Rasch model for test analysis is a latent-trait model, which specifies the relationship between observable test performance and the unobservable traits or abilities assumed under test performance. In most cases, the test constructor has no clue as to whether the latent traits postulated by the model are indeed the abilities he wants to…

Arts education and its assessment are discussed, with particular emphasis on the visual arts. Suggestions are made concerning the role of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in the arts. The curriculum which is presented in art education varies a great deal among schools. The assessment of art should include production,…

Educational quality and the organizational structure of the nation's educational system are examined in relation to the call for reform in American public education in this symposium paper. In "Introduction and Problem Statement," Robert H. Beach states that problems in American education stem from a structurally dysfunctional system,…

Designed to help rural students find employment and adjust to life in urban areas, the handbook provides basic information in six subject areas. Part I focuses on getting to know yourself by assessing past activities, preferences, abilities, personality, limitations, and values. Part II explores aspects of jobs and careers: being career oriented,…