Student assessment in science in primary (elementary) schools in the United Kingdom is discussed in the context of the enactment of a National Curriculum. Sample science test items are included. Teachers must develop the skills required to assess students' learning in science and should not rely on external tests. (SLD)

Participating school districts conforming to the standardized dropout reporting system of a pilot project of the National Center for Education Statistics indicate that revising collection and reporting can be difficult but may yield more accurate results. Recognizing long-term payoffs, administrators nevertheless dislike the time and expense of…

The national educational research agenda outlined in the National Academy of Education's report focuses on the following areas: (1) active learning over the lifespan; (2) assessment; (3) bolstering achievement of underserved, minority, and impoverished groups; (4) school organization; and (5) connection to teachers/teaching. Recommendations are…

Implementation of schoolwide projects in Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) illustrates some of the conceptual problems associated with the Hawkins Stafford accountability amendments to the Chapter 1 supplementary education program. Unintended negative consequences are discussed, and recommendations are made to overcome these problems, including the…

Reviews Booker T. Washington's philosophies on vocational and African-American education. Describes his considerable influence during his time, his holistic approach to vocational and applied technology, and his moral force. Offers six recommendations for current education based on Washington's thought, and describes briefly the work of programs…

Studied concurrent and construct validities of the Academic Motivation Scale (AMS) (English translation of a scale developed in French) with 107 male and 110 female junior college students in Montreal (Canada) who completed the AMS and other motivation assessments. Findings support both concurrent and construct validity of the AMS. (SLD)

A four-step procedure is described for using evaluation to contribute to the knowledge that intake staff need to assign clients to treatment programs. The procedure is illustrated with data from the evaluation of a professional development program delivered to 35 teacher consultants in Ontario (Canada). (SLD)

Four studies involving 172 Australian children (133 males and 39 females) were conducted to investigate the usefulness of the British Ability Scales (BAS) as an alternative to the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R). The BAS was found to be a suitable alternative to the WISC-R. (SLD)

Two approaches--Harnisch/Linn and Rasch-based--to comparing district-level student performance to system-level student performance were examined, using results for 3,607 students on a curriculum-referenced mathematics test. Both approaches addressed relative mean performance on categories of common items. A modification of one approach and an…

The authors describe a course intended to produce graduates with a European perspective, fluent in English and Italian, and able to understand and practice the management functions required in high technology areas of the manufacturing industry. Each student will spend two years in England and two years in Italy. (Author/MLW)

Asserts that the current national standards movement is a broadly based discussion and debate about what art educators hope to and should accomplish through their work. Reviews the origins and process of developing national art education standards. (CFR)

The assumption that reliability is a necessary but insufficient condition for validity in assessment is challenged by exploring a dialectic between psychometric and hermeneutic approaches to drawing and warranting interpretations of human products of performance. Hermeneutic alternatives for epistemological and ethical purposes expand the range of…

Discusses two methods for developing and assessing fluid abilities. In the first method, students are asked to solve increasingly unfamiliar problems in a domain; and in the second, students are required to organize knowledge in new ways or view it from different perspectives. (SLD)

Statewide assessment of comprehensive school health education (CSHE) in Pennsylvania surveyed administrators, curriculum supervisors, and teachers from 164 public school districts on curriculum development and professional preparation. Results indicated only 12 districts met the criteria for providing K-12 quality CSHE. Subsequently, Pennsylvania…

Major changes in educational and psychological theories that have come about since the cognitive and affective taxonomies of educational objectives were published in 1956 and 1964 are traced. The changes emphasize the need to understand thinking in the context of students' beliefs and self-directed cognitions. (SLD)