The design of vocabulary tests, particularly for English as a Second Language, is discussed. The discussion is intended to help language teachers with little or no knowledge of testing gain a better understanding of vocabulary testing. First, a set of principles for guiding the writing of vocabulary tests are outlined, presented in the form of…

The Thomas B. Fordham Foundation has commissioned studies of state academic standards in five core subjects. This is the fourth of these studies, focusing on state standards for mathematics. For this evaluation of mathematics standards, researchers developed nine criteria under the four areas of: clarity, content, reason, and negative qualities.…

Preventing the spread of the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) among sexually active adolescents and adults has become a primary social concern. This study was designed to investigate the following areas relevant to safer and unsafe sexual behavior among college students: knowledge and practice; personal risk assessment; and risk…

Human sexuality programs or sex education programs have been a controversial issue for many years. This study assessed the effectiveness of human sexuality programs within Catholic secondary schools. This study investigated the effects of comprehensive or non-comprehensive sexuality programs upon students positive sexual attitudes, awareness of…

This study, which examined children's understanding of machines, focused on how children decide which objects are machines and which are not, and how they group machines as similar or different. Brainstorming sessions involving two groups of four kindergarten children and one class each from the second, fourth, and fifth grade, were conducted.…

Selected cognitive science methods were used to modify existing test development procedures so that the modified procedures could in turn be used to improve the usefulness of job knowledge tests as a proxy for hands-on performance. A plan-goal graph representation was used to capture the knowledge content and goal structure of the task of using a…

In 1989, the Colorado Department of Education, in cooperation with the Centers for Disease Control, administered the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome/Human Immunodeficiency Virus (AIDS/HIV) Student Survey to randomly selected Colorado students (1,851), excluding the Denver Public Schools, grades 9-12. The sample was fairly equally divided by…

The paper reports on interviews with three profoundly deaf, college educated young men who are moderately to very politically active in the deaf community. Responses are grouped into the following categories: political issues; barriers to political participation; and personal perspectives on the attitudes of deaf people. Among issues and needs of…

In response to public health concerns and the adverse health consequences of alcohol abuse, a national sample of junior and senior high school (7th through 12th grade) students (N=956) was surveyed to determine their knowledge about alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. Alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages from stores close to each school were…

The relationship between interaction with the caregiver and the emergence of play activities during the one-word period was examined. In particular, investigation centered on Vygotsky's views regarding the importance of social interaction as the source of the child's knowledge of the world. To empirically examine the role of the caregiver,…

A study identified correlates of selected beliefs about drugs, personal drug use, and expected drug use among kindergarten children. As part of a state-wide drug education project, 112 kindergarten children from 5 elementary schools were individually interviewed. Analysis of the data indicated significant relationships between personal use of…

Article evaluated the place of structuralism as a mode of literary criticism. (Author/RK)

The Substance Education Program of the Iowa Department of Education began a series of tri-annual studies of youth substance behaviors, attitudes, and knowledge in the fall of 1975. The youth studies have continued with data collections in 1978, 1982, 1984, and 1987. A survey administered in 1987 to Iowa students in grades 6, 8, 10, and 12 focused…

There has been considerable variation in reports of how much people know about Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). This study explored empathy towards persons with AIDS. The first part of the study involved pretesting subjects on two scales. Data were collected from 125 male and 125 female college students. A factor analysis revealed there…

A brief report is given on the results of a study based on the study by E. D. Hirsch, "Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know." A sample questionnaire of 25 items from the work was submitted to 108 graduate students, of whom 85 were teachers and 23 were nonteachers. Overall, the respondents scored 24 percent out of a…