This handbook: (1) describes the educational research program of the Planning Services Branch of Alberta (Canada) Education; (2) outlines projects underway for 1986-87; and (3) describes projects completed between April 1985 and July 1986. Section 1, "The Educational Research Program," describes priorities, guidelines, and procedures for…

The process of revising and validating two English language tests used by the United States armed forces in hiring foreign nationals overseas is described. Development of the item banks and classification of items are outlined, and field testing in the United States and overseas is described. The tests were the basic and intermediate level…

The issue of how to react quickly to the educational needs arising from technological change has been deemed a central problem facing Technical and Further Education (TAFE) in Australia. Therefore, a national study examined various curriculum research methods that hold promise for speeding up the curriculum research and development process. The…

Four school boards in Ontario, Canada, were selected for intensive case studies to examine the models, policies, procedures, and practices used to stimulate, support, coordinate, and assess the effectiveness of curriculum changes within their jurisdictions. The data collection consisted of (1) documents such as organizational charts,…

During 1985 the Education Department installed two-way radios in 44 remote secondary schools in Victoria, Australia, to improve turn-around time for correspondence assignments. Subsequently, teacher supervisors at Melbourne's Correspondence School sought ways to further augument audio interactivity with computer networking. Computer equipment was…

A great number of students, and a particularly high proportion of females, do not study mathematics beyond minimum high school requirements. Research indicates that segregation of mathematics classes may help reduce the incidence of female students dropping out of that subject. In an attempt to redress this situation, A. Y. Jackson Secondary…

This three-part document provides strategies for evaluating the impact of a province-wide testing program in Ontario (Canada) and reviews the literature on the impact of testing. Part One identifies the effects of province-wide examinations for selected high school courses and proposes four studies to monitor these effects: (1) an analysis of data…

Statistics on Canadian universities are presented in 30 tables in both English and French. The data cover: total population and age group 18-24 by province for 1971, 1976, 1981, and 1985; full-time enrollment rates by educational level; graduation rates for secondary schools, community colleges and universities; unemployment rate by educational…

This five-part paper examines the role of teacher unions in Australian education at the state level. An overview describes the organizational strength of Australia's teacher unions. Part 1, "Teacher Union Growth," presents a history, and part 2, "Teacher Unions and State Education," interprets issues involving unions and…

From the approximately three dozen reports that describe the crisis in American education, the president of the Canadian Educational Researchers Association briefly describes four: "A Nation at Risk" (National Commission on Excellence in Education); "High School: A Report on Secondary Education in America" (Ernest L. Boyer);…

This paper reviews changes in the philosophy of student evaluation over time as reflected by the elimination of the standardized testing program originally administered by the Ontario Ministry of Education. It presents the development of a more student oriented approach to evaluation as reflected in recent Ministry issued curriculum documents. It…

A study examined the relationship between occupational advancement among women and their participation in the training offered at the enterprise level in West Germany. Women from four firms, a department store company, a large bank, a computer firm, and a public sector service undertaking, were studied. In all four firms, the internal recruitment…

Intended to give Canadians a general overview of the country's day care services, the study was undertaken by the Social Service Programs Branch, Health and Welfare, Canada. Begun in 1971 and updated yearly since 1973, the national survey provides an inventory of day care spaces which can be used to measure future growth in day care and to…

The stability of Rasch test item difficulty parameters was investigated under varying conditions. Data were taken from a mathematics achievement test administered to over 2,000 Australian students. The experiments included: (1) relative stability of the Rasch, traditional, and z-item difficulty parameters using different sample sizes and designs;…

To assess the impact of the 1984 Alberta Education teacher evaluation policy, this study investigated the formal teacher evaluation practices of superintendents, other central office staff, and principals in Alberta (Canada) in 1983-84. A three part, mailed questionnaire based on existing instruments collected: (1) demographic data on the…