Surveys 35 library school professors to provide a summary of current practices in teaching children's literature. Course objectives, topics introduced, instructional methods used, and determination of final course grades are highlighted. Two references are listed. (EJS)

The elimination of traditional courses in favor of student-originated, self-graded projects in the Department of Geology and Geography at St. Lawrence University in Canton (New York) proved too radical for the entire faculty. The program eventually became two-tracked, offering students both traditional and student-generated learning situations.…

Shares successful strategies for encouraging future English teachers to think deeply and seriously--but not rigidly--about grading. (RL)

Discusses the fundamental principles of evaluation to show that the conventional approaches to testing have led to a situation where procedure requirements overshadow the objectives of the learning process. Advocates instruments that address realistic communication goals and states criteria based on the learner's need for continous, constructive…

Describes a method of evaluating writing that encourages students to become writers and that rewards their compositions. Notes how the evaluation method examines four major characteristics of good writing: surprise, truth, detail, and depth. (RL)

A business administration program in England introduced the use of formative (20 percent) as well as summative (80 percent) evaluation in assessing student performance. Since the practice began in 1974 it seems to have helped improve student grades in all subjects it affects. (MSE)

A survey of problems in assessment and examinations in modern languages is offered, focusing in part on lack of consensus among teachers on relative weighting of qualities sought in student answers. Developments in standardized examinations are noted. (MSE)

Problems in improving the reliability of essay marks are examined in this Australian study that considers the markings of 338 essays, each marked by one of 13 graders. It is concluded that improvement is needed but the changes necessary for the improvement are not feasible. (LC)

The importance of assisting students to be realistic judges of their own performance is discussed. Implications of self-assessment are examined, based on a study of the self-appraisal abilities of 23 engineering students, the majority or whom were found to be competent. Less assessment for marks and more for diagnostic feedback is advocated. (LC)

Discusses a study in which data regarding the relationship between grades and student evaluations of teacher performance were analyzed. Findings indicated that there exists a grade-evaluation tradeoff and that, consequently, administrators should take grade distributions into account when using teaching evaluations as a measure of faculty…

The author provides a personal account of the actions taken by several teachers at Naperville High School to individualize a traditional Freshman English course through learning modules and a credit/no credit grading system. (Editor/SJL)

The grading orientation of college faculty who assign high grades focuses on the individual student rather than the comparative aspects of grading. (JD)

Contending that present measures of student gains resulting from changed teaching methods are ineffective, the author proposes on "automated examining machine" that would enable students to monitor their own progress. This system would allow teachers to become friendly consultants instead of bosses or judges. (Author/WB)

Presents a flexible plan for scoring straight-copy timed typewriting in any typing class, secondary or postsecondary, which is particularly useful for classes where the students have varied backgrounds in typing. (MF)

The harm done to slower pupils by an elementary school life of Ds and Fs may forever deprive them of the substantial affective gains possible in mark-free elementary schools. (Author/IRT)