The relationships between examinee background characteristics and performance on the Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) General Test were appraised by a structural equation modeling analysis. The initial characteristics of 3,145 examinees (i.e., sex, ethnicity, parental education, geographic region, and age) had modest relationships with their…

This study asked preservice and inservice teachers about their views on the characteristics of an effective teacher and sought to discern whether the gender of the participants influenced the responses. In Fall and Spring semesters, 1993-1994, undergraduates (preservice) education students and graduate students (most were inservice teachers)…

In March 1992 the Arizona State Department of Education and educators across the state conducted a pilot study of 67 performance assessments developed for the Arizona Student Assessment Program (ASAP). This report describes various aspects of the reliability and validity of the 67 assessments (primarily constructed response) developed by The…

In the Dutch Educational Assessment Program, the students' language proficiency is measured in grade 9, at age 15. Writing performance is measured through several performance-based writing tasks, rated on numerous aspects such as content, style, organization, punctuation, spelling and grammar. As a consequence, national performance levels are…

The National Center for Restructuring Education, Schools, and Teaching is working with the New York State Education Department to develop an assessment system that addresses both instructional and accountability concerns. The new system is intended to move the state to a system of performance assessments used in the service of ongoing teaching and…

Research has supported the idea that the use of computers in the education of young children promotes social interaction and academic achievement. This resource booklet provides an introduction to computers in early childhood settings to enrich learning opportunities and provides guidance to teachers to find developmentally appropriate software…

Intended for teachers of students in grades 4 through 8 and beyond, this book offers a simple process for teaching students to think critically and write logically. Each lesson in the book provides three different writing templates: the beginning template is intended for third- and fourth-grade students; the intermediate, for grades 4 through 6;…

This book offers a variety of forms to help the college instructor obtain feedback concerning instructional quality and improve instructional effectiveness. Two preliminary charts match specific forms to specific instructor concerns and compare the forms for sources of input, value, and limitations. Each form is introduced by a discussion of the…

Conventional research dealing with education finance in general and resource allocation in particular has focused on the raising of revenues at federal, state, and local levels and the subsequent apportionment of these resources across schooling systems, typically school districts. Concern about productivity and equity, however, cannot be…

The Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) monitors the South's education reforms through "Benchmarks" reports, tracking progress toward 12 goals for elementary, secondary, and higher education that were endorsed by the SREB in 1988. The board collects state-by-state data every 2 years and compares how states are doing on over 60…

This paper first evaluates discipline classification schemes and general differences between disciplines associated with the natural sciences and those associated with the humanities. It then reviews research which either asked students how professors in these fields teach, observed teachers in their classrooms, or asked students to describe their…

St. Augustine College (SAC), in North Carolina, has undertaken four studies to gather data on factors related to student persistence, transfer, and withdrawal from the college. In the first study, graduating students from June 1990 to December 1992 were surveyed to determine influences on their decisions to transfer to a university. Three major…

This book contains a set of authentic performance assessments that offer students the opportunity to demonstrate knowledge and multiple science abilities through communication, problem solving, inventiveness, persistence, and curiosity. The specific knowledge and science abilities are drawn from those identified in Benchmarks for Science Literacy…

This study sought to discern the extent to which a sample of talented math and science students displayed domain-relevant skills possessed by those expertly trained in history. Subjects' experiences varied in terms of their exposure to primary source materials. The students were presented with five different kinds of documents related to the…

The development and use of Oregon's Proficiency-Based Admission Standards System (PASS) are described and results of some evaluations of the PASS system are presented. PASS is to be used for college entry in Oregon and is designed to promote the seamlessness of high school and college education by guaranteeing that students would have the…