In the 1989-90 school year, POINT (Parents and Organizations in North Toronto) and Social Work Services, Toronto (Ontario) Board of Education, conducted six peer-support groups for those elementary school children (grades 5-8) in North Toronto whose parents were divorced or separated. Topics covered in 10 weekly 1-hour sessions included parental…

In response to newly revised enrollment projections, the defeat in November 1990 of a $450 million higher education bond issue (Proposition 143), and the California Governor's proposed 1991-92 budget, this report provides an update on the long-range planning activities of the California Postsecondary Education Commission and its segments. The…

This is a report of a statewide study of kindergarten practices in North Carolina in 1988 which involved classroom observations (N=103 randomly selected classrooms) and questionnaires returned by 218 elementary school principals (an 86% response) and by 375 kindergarten teachers (an 81% response). Several questions were addressed by the study. (1)…

Instructional technology is defined as a systematic way of designing, carrying out, and evaluating the total process of learning and teaching in terms of specific objectives, based on research in human learning and communication and employing a combination of human and nonhuman resources to bring about more effective instruction. The main question…

This guide presents interviewing techniques for managers who hire young and/or entry-level workers in small businesses. The guide is designed to help managers (1) give the information the applicant needs in an employment interview; (2) keep personal biases from entering into the hiring process; (3) ask questions that will get the information they…

Dutch secondary schools offer educational programs on four tracks, vocational and nonvocational. At the end of each program, a final examination is administered, with the test content areas determined by law, by the schools, and by the student's individual program. Assessment is by means of a written, nationally administered exam and…

Three major issues in the second language instruction of migrant primary school children in Brussels are discussed: (1) how to develop communicative competence; (2) how to ensure correct pronunciation; and (3) how to improve nonverbal communication. In the case of pronunciation, a "soft" method without explanation about articulation or…

Eighteen international futurists present their views concerning separate major world issues. The book includes a prologue which discusses the optimistic nature of most futurists; an introduction which describes the book's contents; 14 chapters arranged into 3 major parts; an epilogue; and conclusion. In part I, which examines the basic necessities…

During the last 20 years, the relationship between reading instruction and assessment has been framed by the logic of mastery learning. The ultimate goal of mastery learning is assuring a given achievement outcome across students by varying input characteristics such as the amount and kind of instruction and practice, or the attention paid to…

Project AIMS (Activities that Integrate Mathematics and Science) produces a variety of curriculum materials that deal with the integration of learning experiences, problem solving activities, and the use of cooperative learning. This document is a compilation of the AIMS newsletters published during the 1986-87 academic year. Each of the ten…

This study compares the fit of the 3-parameter model to the Ability Removing Random Guessing (ARRG) model on data from a wide range of tests of cognitive ability in three representative samples. When the guessing parameters under the 3-parameter model are estimated individually for each item, the 3-parameter model yields the better fit to…

Two major issues related to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) are explored: (1) the roles and responsibilities of federal and state education agencies in reformulating NAEP to facilitate comparisons among states; and (2) problems and solutions in aligning or accounting for differences between national assessment objectives and…

Issues in designing valid tests for the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) are discussed. Test scores are often provided without any information on the nature of the tasks represented. Because test domains are defined by individual item writers, the generalizability between tests and items is suspect. While typical content…

This paper evaluates the procedures and results of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in science. A brief description of the 1981-82 assessment, funded by the National Science Foundation, precedes a discussion of strengths and weaknesses of the current science assessment program, conducted by Educational Testing Service. Major…

Ethnographic research (1) observes human behavior in its natural setting over a substantial period of time, (2) claims that classes of events are better understood through intensive examination of carefully selected particular cases, (3) incorporates as many of the complexities and variables into a setting as possible, and (4) is usually comprised…