The perceptions of school climates at high- and low-performing schools were studied in 11 elementary schools from a large, multicultural urban school district selected for their high or low achievement. The sample consisted of 151 teachers from the 5 high-performing schools and 146 from the low-performing schools. School performance was determined…

The Educational Testing Service is preparing to introduce a new generation of teacher assessments, the Praxis Series of professional assessments for beginning teachers. At one level, the assessments will be used to decide whether prospective teachers possess an acceptable level of competence, while at second and third levels the tests will measure…

This report describes the development and testing of two measures of job-related social behavior of adolescents and young adults, ages 14-21, with behavior disorders (BD). Following an introduction of the concept of job-related social behavior, detailed descriptive information and data are provided on development and field testing of the…

Key pieces of information that are currently available and relevant to setting targets for achievement are organized to help inform goal setting. These include levels of academic proficiency during elementary school, middle school, and high school; rates of high school completion; and levels of literacy of young adults. Much of the information is…

This report presents performance data and the standards of performance that form the basis of school improvement in Maryland. The report reflects an accountability system that is central to the Maryland School Performance Program (MSPP) and that is designed to move the state toward high quality education. The report includes Maryland School…

Three fact sheets provide parents and educators with basic information on Tourette Syndrome (TS). The first sheet is titled "Learning Problems and the TS Child" and is by Herman Davidovicz, a neuropsychologist. It notes the high frequency of attention deficit disorders and learning problems in children with TS and provides information…

This study investigated the efficacy of noncognitive variables for predicting college student achievement in an introductory psychology course. The sample included 102 new first-year students at a private urban university and 233 new first-year students at a rural public university. Data were collected on self-ratings of overall academic ability,…

This study examined the relationship between intelligence as defined by a verbal and nonverbal combined score, obtained on the Otis-Lennon School Ability Test and final grades received in the following six academic subjects: reading, math, spelling, science, English and social studies. The sample for this study consisted of 159 elementary students…

A job analysis was conducted of the knowledge important for newly licensed or certified physical education teachers. The results of the analysis were to be used to develop specifications for The Praxis Series: Professional Assessments for Beginning Teachers and to support the content validity of the assessment. An initial draft domain of knowledge…

Practicality is the "Achilles heel" of alternative assessment in middle school science. This 5-year study of an "early adopter" school explores factors that enable alternate assessment to thrive in spite of practical problems. Interviews with five seventh-grade life science teachers and five eighth-grade physical science teachers who initiated and…

On-line performance assessment was developed to maximize the usefulness of performance assessment and to minimize the time and labor costs incurred. This paper reports on the development of an on-line performance assessment instrument, focusing on the establishment and validation of the scoring rubric and its implementation in the Rasch model, the…

A pilot validity study was conducted of the use of eighth-grade language arts portfolios for ninth-grade English placement decisions (academic or general) in a school district that consists of a city and an independent borough. Portfolios offered an opportunity to collect and examine multiple measures of performance for decisions previously made…

Gender and ethnic group differences on the Analytical Writing Assessment that is part of the Graduate Management Admissions Test were evaluated. Data from the first operational administration for 36,583 examinees in October 1994 were used. Standardized differences from the White male reference group were computed separately for men and women in…

California was a pioneer in new forms of student assessment through a system entitled the "California Learning Assessment System" (CLAS). For different reasons, several interest groups objected to the CLAS, which has been discontinued. The history of the CLAS program sheds light on the future of testing policy in California and perhaps…

A statewide evaluation of the mental health technologies programs of Texas' community colleges was conducted to determine the extent to which the programs use the principles of competency-based instruction (CBI) and performance standards and to establish whether competencies being taught have been evaluated in the workplace. The following were…