A study investigated the effects of the Directed Reading Thinking Activity on Egyptian first-year secondary stage EFL students' referential and inferential reading comprehension. The study utilized a pretest-posttest control group experimental design. The subjects consisted of 72 first-year secondary students in Menouf Secondary School for Boys at…

In 2003 the University of Cape Town introduced an anonymous examination policy. This article reports on a study of the impact of the implementation of this policy on student performance. Comparisons of student results pre- and post policy implementation showed no evidence of negative or positive discrimination of students in the examination…

This study tested two theoretical models of perceived understanding as a potential mediator of perceived teacher confirmation and students' ratings of instruction. Participants included 651 undergraduate students who completed survey measures. Results of structural equation modeling provided greater support for the confirmation process model,…

This paper provides a summary of the authors' attempts to uncover links between their measures, classroom mathematics instruction, and student learning. This paper also provides evidence regarding one central critique of their measures: that multiple-choice assessments cannot validly represent the knowledge, skills, and judgment involved in actual…

The Stability of Self Scale has been used to infer the stability of self-concept from responses collected on a single occasion. Using the large, nationally representative Youth in Transition data for 10th grade boys in public high schools in 1966, Stability of Self responses were related to the variability in self-esteem responses collected in 4…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 19 titles deal with a variety of topics, including the following: (1) the relationship between the use of intonation and reading comprehension; (2) developmental and information processing factors in second and third graders'…

The reading learning objectives for ninth graders contained in this volume are congruent with the Texas "State Board of Education Rules for Curriculum." These objectives and the measurement specifications are provided for use by teachers and other educators responsible for student instruction and for test development specialists involved…

Students must be actively involved in the process of learning for it to have personal meaning and importance in their lives. Teachers must also become critical thinkers, creative individuals, and decision makers in order to create more challenging learning environments. Teachers need to blend structure and spontaneity into meaningful learning…

One of the most appropriate quasiexperimental approaches to compensatory education is the regression-discontinuity design. However, it remains underutilized, in part because of the need to clarify the link between the mathematical model and administrative decision-making. This paper explains the derivation of a program efficiency index congruent…

Compares inferences about story characters' behavior, perceptions, and goals made by eighth graders, eleventh graders, college freshmen, and college seniors. Concludes that from early adolescence to young adulthood, readers shift from conceptions of characters in terms of immediate surface feelings and behaviors to conceptions in terms of…

Rectifies the unsatisfactory textbook treatment of the finite-sample proprieties of estimators of regression models with a lagged dependent variable and autocorrelated disturbances. Maintains that the bias of the ordinary least squares estimator is determined by the dynamic and correlation effects. (MJP)

The Texas Educational Assessment of Minimum Skills (TEAMS) was developed by the Texas Education Agency (TEA), in response to Texas House Bill 72 (1984), which mandated a new basic skills assessment program for mathematics, reading, and writing at grades 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 and 11. This is one in a series of Instructional Strategies Guides designed to…

The results of this study conclude that there is a multidimensional basis for test score inferences on the mathematics and critical reading sections of the SAT. Results from the exploratory analyses indicate that the data are multidimensional, as mathematics displayed two dimensions and critical reading displayed three dimensions. The correlations…

Presents a two-day activity for middle school students, focusing on freedom of assembly and the difficult balance between individual rights and community needs to ensure safety. Stimulates discussion on the right to assemble using an American Bar Association poster (included in the issue). Suggests inviting a lawyer to class to further explore…

In 1985, for the first time, Pennsylvania's student assessment program included measures of a higher order thinking skills goal termed Analytical Thinking. These tests utilize a decision-making model to assess such skills as drawing inferences, identifying appropriate information to gather before making a decision, analogical reasoning,…