Institutional researchers must bring measurement theorists and assessment practitioners together to develop new and more suitable methods for assessing developmental changes in groups of students. (Author/MLW)

Points out that art in U.S. community colleges is important and enduring but not obviously central to institutional mission. Discusses results from a survey indicating students reported much greater gains in self-confidence, respect for other people, openness toward new ideas, employable skills, and an awareness of alternatives in education and…

Presents the National Endowment for the Arts' summary of educational needs, program emphases, and future directions as contained in its "Five-Year Planning Document, 1990-1994." Provides an overview of the 1988-1994 planning document, as well as a comparison of previous and current observations regarding the National Endowment's…

The development and use of microteaching are discussed briefly. Research on modeling, practice, and feedback is reviewed; and studies of the overall outcomes of microteaching and conceptual models underlying microteaching are discussed. Few conclusions can be drawn about the effectiveness of microteaching. (TJH)

An interview with the Illinois State director of research and evaluation, covers issues related to commissioning and using evaluators. Pancrazio's position is with the State Board of Education. Focus is on the preparation of research reports to facilitate decision making and policy making. (TJH)

Five faculty members were interviewed about the impact of campus assessment activities on their roles and responsibilities. Three areas of concern were students (what they need to know and what can be expected of them); teaching (how classroom methods follow from higher expectations of students); and faculty roles and responsibilities. (MLW)

Eight issues in planning and implementing outcomes-focused assessment are presented including: multiple measures are more desirable than a single standardized examination, faculty involvement is essential, performance-based funding should be derived from additional resources, etc. (Author/MLW)

Examines the Carnegie report in terms of three themes: (1) distrust of teachers; (2) commitment to teacher autonomy that is conditional on achieved results; and (3) a conception of teacher accountability focusing on student performance rather than professional practice. Concludes that the implicit view of the teacher is one of an assembly-line…

Maintains that the major dilemma of the Holmes Group Report is that improving teachers both is, and is not, by itself, the way to improve education. Raises several questions which the report ignores and offers a synopsis of scholarly literature regarding teacher education. (DH)

Criticizes "A Nation at Risk" as an agenda for conservative reaction, not reform. Comments on the underlying assumptions and implications of the Holmes and Carnegie reports. Concludes by suggesting alternatives for more substantive reform. (DH)

Attempts to understand educational quality have created an ever-increasing set of measures and approaches. Issues regarding assessment of student learning, teacher effectiveness, and school effectiveness are discussed. (MT)

Recognizes the need to monitor the actions of schools toward ethnic minorities and outlines ways in which it can be done. Discusses the planning, problems, and techniques of monitoring, concluding that schools must offer action beyond access and must study whether minority students are being well served. (GEA)

Five priorities on the national agenda are detailed: language competency among adults, the need for a common metric for language skills, determination of the most effective language teaching method, more integrated language instruction, and critical examination of the practice of teaching European languages to the neglect of other languages. (AMH)

The ultimate concern that faces teachers of economics in Great Britain is how their pupils will fare in the externally assessed examinations at the secondary level. This article puts in historical perspective the recent moves toward centralized control of the assessment of the curriculum. (RM)

An assessment of educational quality involves the selection of the relevant elements of the educational system, the assessment of their quality, and the weighting to be attached them. The concept of educational equality can be interpreted at three levels: equality of educational provision, educational opportunity, and group educational outcomes.…