In order to address concerns about the intellectual quality of students' work under various "active learning" formats appearing in education reform efforts, this study developed a model of authentic pedagogy and assessed its presence in 23 restructured schools. The proposed authentic pedagogy is consistent with an active learning perspective and…

The research reported in this paper was conducted to gain information to guide the selection of standard setting procedures for use with polytomous items to set achievement levels on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) assessments in U.S. History and geography. Standard-setting procedures were evaluated to determine the relative…

Authentic evaluation of educational achievement directly measures actual performance in the subject area. Standardized multiple-choice tests, on the other hand, measure test-taking skills directly, and everything else indirectly or not at all. Also called performance assessment, appropriate assessment, alternative assessment, or direct assessment,…

This study examined the expressive communication and language of seven hearing mothers and their deaf infants. Total communication intervention programming was begun before 9 months of age, and communication behaviors were observed during free play when infants were 12 and 18 months old. Other data were obtained in structured interviews with…

This study examined the impact of "moonlighting" on student teaching and the student teachers' final evaluations. A survey of 250 student teachers at a large midwestern university found that 49 percent received supplementary income while they were student teaching. Elementary education and special education student teachers worked an…

This publication reports on the general condition of K-12 education in the state of Colorado. It summarizes current efforts to restructure the educational system based on student and national goals, and provides information on Colorado's educational performance, school district personnel, and major state programs. Section 1 describes the need for…

The Clark County (Nevada) School District introduced performance assessments into its assessment program for grades one through six as part of an effort to bring the assessment program in line with the revised curriculum. To study the effectiveness of these assessments, reading performance assessment results for grades three through five were…

In this 2-year collaborative research study, ethnographic and quantitative methodologies were used to explore the nature of professors' classroom teaching contexts and the relationships between classroom actions and student teachers' classroom climate perceptions. Data for case studies of four College of Education professors associated with the…

This packet contains four separate documents designed to help elementary schools develop their own action plans for implementing the KERA (Kentucky Education Reform Act) Primary Program, a developmentally appropriate program for young children supported by the Kentucky Department of Education. Fully implemented primary programs are to include the…

This tip sheet provides information on key educational reform issues and advises education writers on covering vocational education. Part one, Key Educational Reform Issues Areas, addresses three issues: integrating academic and vocational education, tech prep, and performance standards and measures. Eight integration models are described:…

Reflecting an integrated, constructivist approach to teaching, this book presents the content of the language arts curriculum and effective teaching strategies for teaching this content so that elementary and middle-school teachers can help students develop communicative competence. This third edition emphasizes the multicultural classroom,…

This booklet examines national and state educational reform in the 1990s, noting the ways in which performance assessment is being presented as a mechanism of reform. Three reform initiatives are examined: national education goals, standards, and reform legislation. In conjunction with these reform movements, new methods of assessment are being…

In 1992, a survey was conducted of employers of former students at Pima Community College (PCC), in Arizona, to assess graduates' on-the-job performance and provide data for program review. Questionnaires were mailed to 125 supervisors of 1991-92 PCC graduates who had given permission for their supervisors to be contacted, asking the employers to…

This article reports on a study of a new performance-based test mandate in the state of Arizona. The measurement-driven reform provided an opportunity to examine the interplay of policy and practice, specifically the use of testing to effect educational change. Attempts to reform schools through mandating assessments are categorized as behaviorist…

This book was designed to help citizens evaluate and improve their local schools. It contends that the solution to the potential end of America's progress is through positive school reform--the public management of schools. It presents a system of participative and results-oriented management that is implemented by boards, administrators, and…