Reviews approaches for identification and diagnosis of specific learning disabilities and assessment strategies for elucidating functional and vocational deficits associated with specific learning disabilities. Discusses recommendations for provision of comprehensive assessment services. (Author/CM)

Presented is a case study of a Science/Technology/Society course. Described are the specific goals and objectives of the course and the design of the study. The results of the study and the validity and transferability of this type of assessment are discussed. (CW)

Results are summarized from 14 fields of research that elucidate the relationships between classroom evaluation and student outcomes. Conclusions from the individual fields are merged to produce an integrated summary with clear implications for effective education. Classroom evaluation has powerful direct and indirect and positive and negative…

The effect of the United States Agency for International Development on the Lesotho Distance Teaching Center's (South Africa) attempt at internal evaluation is discussed. Internal evaluation is especially important as the Lesotho Center attempts to educate people to overcome some of the effects of poverty. (TJH)

Presents final two chapters of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) report, "Toward Civilization: A Report on Arts Education." Examines the part leaders in the governance, education, arts, and business-producer sectors can play in the cause of arts education and looks at the role of the National Endowment for the Arts. (LS)

Discusses the problems of and some solutions presented by the American mathematics education reform movement. Describes ideas concerning criteria for curriculum, assessment, learning, teaching, and teacher education. Proposes several recommendations for a new agenda. (YP)

Personality profiles for 364 civil engineers were compared to the British Norms for the 16PF Questionnaire. Civil engineers differ from the British norms on 5 of the 20 factors derived from the questionnaire. These factors indicate the questions on which to concentrate when selecting students for civil engineering courses. (Author/MLW)

Offers seven criteria for developing mathematical thinking, plus suggestions for teaching and assessing students' progress that are compatible with each learning criterion. Provides evaluation sheets that help the teacher assess and grade students on the criteria. (10 references) (MDH)

A pull-out desk reference of key school statistics, this 11th annual edition provides key indicators of school performance and progress in areas such as test scores and educational technology, school construction and school bond issues, demographic profiles of school board members and school administrators, and education indicators by region and…

Parental attitudes about standardized tests and performance assessments were studied through interviews with 60 parents or parent dyads in schools involved in a project to develop new assessments and through questionnaires completed by parents from control schools. Parent approval of standardized tests did not imply disapproval of performance…

The Tennessee value-added assessment system (TVAAS) is described. TVAAS is a statistical process measuring the influence which school systems, schools, and teachers have on indicators of student learning. Initially, TVAAS will furnish information at the system level for grades three through eight in math, science, reading, language, and social…

Major changes underway with regard to educational assessment include an increased role for the federal government; increased emphasis on standards; and increased reliance on performance assessment. These changes are the context for the effort to revise the "Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing." (SLD)

This article gives a comprehensive description of a theory for efficient assessment of knowledge. The essential concept is that the knowledge state of a subject, with regard to a specified field of information, can be represented by a particular subset of problems that the subject is capable of solving. (SLD)

Shares some lessons learned from performance-based assessment in the health professions, using four performance-based assessment methods as examples: (1) written clinical simulations (patient-management problems); (2) computer-based clinical simulations; (3) oral examinations; and (4) standardized patients (live simulations). (SLD)

The five articles of this theme issue focus on new developments in the evaluation of science education programs that have both substantive and theoretical implications for the field of evaluation. Past and current evaluation approaches are reviewed, and an overview is given of new assessments consistent with new curriculum developments. (SLD)