The predictive value of secondary school honors-type courses for the college admissions process was studied, with attention to the proposition that an honors-type course grade should be promoted one full level (e.g., from a "B" to an "A"). The sample consisted of 950 freshmen at Pennsylvania State University in 1979. The…

Based upon prior research in the College of Business and Public Administration and the first year of the university testing program at an upper division, midwestern university, implications for testing of older transfer students are drawn. Students should be tested before, or during, their first term of academic history. If remediation is not…

Drawing upon experimental work in different history departments, Mark Cottingham explores "assessment for learning" principles in practice. He raises the problem of a clash between these approaches and the progression model inherent in the National Curriculum Attainment Target, and, crucially, the way in which history departments are…

Withdrawn and disruptive students can make progress in an alternative school where they receive individualized instruction and attention with a system of earned credits and fines. The student body in an alternative school may be hetereogeneous, ranging from the borderline mentally retarded and learning disabled to the emotionally disturbed. Their…

Over 240 secondary school principals, guidance counselors, and teachers were interviewed to determine the relative degree of emphasis that should be placed on various topical areas in evaluation during the preservice training of teachers. The specific topical areas included writing behavioral objectives, developing objective tests, developing…

A study examined the effects of gender on academic achievement in speech communication courses. In order to test the research hypothesis that females would receive higher grades than males, 2,190 grades given by 74 speech communication teachers over a five-year period were examined. The analysis of variance placed gender of the instructor, gender…

Instructors who develop classroom examinations that require students to provide a numerical response to a mathematical problem are often very concerned about the appropriateness of the multiple-choice format. The present study augments previous research relevant to this concern by comparing the difficulty and reliability of multiple-choice and…

Experiments at three community colleges were conducted to examine the relationships among anxiety, performance, and two different methods of informing students of their instructor's evaluation of in-class speeches. Subjects were 77 students in six speech classes. The three teachers of the classes gave traditional letter grades and comments on the…

Intended for instructors and administrators setting up a college reading and study skills program, this paper presents eight issues that should be carefully considered when developing a program structure that will suit the needs and framework of each institution. Discussions, resolutions, and rationale are provided for the following issues: (1)…

Contained in this volume are six papers, each focused on a different area of research in science education, in which the authors attempt to identify the implications of research findings for classroom practices. The areas discussed are grading and evaluation practices, interaction of science and mathematics at the elementary level, field…

The prevalence of grade inflation was analyzed from over 125,000 final grades, representing 144 undergraduate courses and 9,338 students. Grade inflation was defined as a systematic increase in grades for the same course over a five year period, statistically controlling the student's major and academic and demographic background. There was no…

A STUDY OF FIVE DIFFERENT ESSAY EVALUATION PROCEDURES WAS CONDUCTED TO DETERMINE THE INTRARELIABILITY OF EACH AND TO USE THESE RELIABILITY SCORES AS A BASIS FOR COMPARING THE FIVE PROCEDURES. TEN THEMES WERE ASSIGNED TO FIVE RATING GROUPS, EACH USING A DIFFERENT EVALUATION PROCEDURE--(1) THE CALIFORNIA ESSAY SCALE, (2) THE CLEVELAND COMPOSITION…

Instructional objectives and performance requirements are outlined in this course guide for Welding IV, a competency-based course in advanced arc welding offered at the Community College of Allegheny County to provide students with proficiency in: (1) single vee groove welding using code specifications established by the American Welding Society…

To determine the correlation between unit test performance and retention on final examinations, scores of 68 secondary level teaching candidates enrolled in a general methods course were studied. Unit tests were administered frequently to determine student achievement of the 38 course objectives. Two retests per student were allowed, with…

A major reason for the public's concern about curriculum and instruction at all levels of education has evolved because of the serious decline in student academic achievement. After two decades of innovation in teaching styles there are increasing complaints about academic grade inflation, functional illiteracy, and student inability to read,…