The validity of various procedures for rank ordering school districts throughout a state on the basis of statewide test results was studied. Data were drawn from the 1987 administration of the Kentucky Essential Skills Test (KEST), which is given each spring to all children enrolled in public school grades kindergarten through 12 in 178 school…

This report focuses on the achievement in basic skill areas attained by participants in compensatory education activities in New York State, which has established the priority areas of reading and mathematics. Over 200,000 pupils participated in Chapter 1 reading programs, and over 86,000 participated in Chapter 1 mathematics programs. Ten tables…

In an effort to align high school and community college child development courses, child care education curriculums of Norwalk Community College and Brien McMahon High School in Norwalk, Connecticut were analyzed. Goals, behavioral objectives, learning activities, acquired skills, methods and materials of instruction, and weekly lesson plans were…

This study explores the usefulness of a creativity construct for arts education. It is hypothesized that an arts orientation is a valid personality construct, that this orientation is correlated with contrasting cognitive skills, and that these skills are manifested in creative behaviors. Sixty-five high school seniors were given the ACT Interest…

A loglinear item response theory (IRT) model is proposed that relates polytomously scored item responses to a multidimensional latent space. Each item may have a different response function where each item response may be explained by one or more latent traits. Item response functions may follow a partial credit model (D. Andrich, 1978; and G. N.…

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of animated instruction and levels of practice on application learning in a computer-based instructional (CBI) science lesson. A total of 119 fourth and fifth grade students participated in an introductory lesson covering Newton's Laws of Motion. Three levels of visual elaboration (static…

This is a project in an emerging line of research investigating children's informed knowledge of mathematics questions. The purpose of this study was to analyze the ability of students who had not received multiplication or division instruction to solve multiplication and division word problems. The study consisted of videotaped interviews with 89…

Synergistic psychology has been proposed as a meta theory for synthesizing different psychological theories into an explanation of how social, cognitive, and biological factors interact in human behavior. The basic theoretical assumption in synergistic psychology is that internalized social interactions become higher mental functions that regulate…

Part of a volume which explores current issues in service delivery to infants and toddlers (ages birth to 3) with handicapping conditions, this chapter provides an overview of the relationships among screening, assessment, and curriculum in programming for this population, with attention to the potential impact of Public Law 99-457 and the…

The primary purpose of this study was to develop and pilot a needs assessment instrument that could be used to identify teacher inservice programs of value to specific Mississippi school districts. A survey of the literature led to the identification of 82 relevant items; a content validity check resulted in reduction of the list to 66 needs…

A description is given of a project in which elementary school teachers acted as researchers in collaboration with a graduate school. The project began when in a meeting of educators a discussion centered on teachers' discontent with standardized test scores. A commitment was made to explore alternative indicators of student achievement. Although…

This monograph about the college selection process is desigend to help students explore choices and options. It contains 20 articles, designed to complement the counselor's guidance efforts. These are: (1) "Getting the Most from Your High School Counselor," (James Warfield); (2) "The Use of the SAT at Selective Colleges,"…

This document acquaints teachers and curriculum directors with the reading, mathematics, and problem solving indicators assessed by the Georgia Basic Skills Tests, initially given in grade 10. Students who fail initially in grade 10 have at least five other opportunities to take the test and must pass it in order to graduate. In reading, skill…

This teacher's guide is designed to aid teachers in leading students through a module on airframe building and repair, including fabric covering, painting, and finishing. The module contains two units that cover the following topics: (1) inspecting, testing, and installing aircraft fabric coverings and (2) applying dope, paint, and trim. Each unit…

The 1988 assessment of U.S. history objectives by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is the first such assessment in U.S. history. This booklet presents a framework of objectives for U.S. history courses, including: (1) the chronology of people, events, documents, and interrelationships that form U.S. history; (2) the context…