Educational reform efforts to date in the United States have not been germane or responsive to the social problems of African American children. The reform efforts advanced to date have only been exercises in tinkering around the educational edges. Our educational focus, the origin of which is outlined, must shift in at least two major ways.…

A review of the recent literature has yielded a number of concerns about the validity, reliability, cost, efficiency, generalizability, utility, and cultural sensitivity of performance based assessments. The resulting conclusion was that continuing the performance based assessment initiative should be rethought. Suggested alternatives included…

This report reviews assessment issues from a British perspective with particular regard to the implications that the National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) Framework will have for assessment in higher education. It considers assessment in relation to the various purposes of higher education and puts forward a number of practical suggestions for…

The Early Childhood Teacher Education Program at Vaxjo University in Sweden and Early Childhood Studies Program at the University of Minnesota, Duluth, have established a three-part, collaborative, research-based international project to improve early childhood teacher education. One aspect of the program is a two-tiered student exchange.…

A study was conducted to provide a current data profile on Georgia's middle grade schools that could serve as a baseline for periodic reassessments of the state's middle grade schools. A 19-item questionnaire was mailed to Georgia's 284 public middle grade schools in October 1990, requesting information on administration organization; grade…

The main problems facing city school districts as recognized by urban school leaders, school boards, superintendents, and school administrators are described and forecast. Results are based on an August 1992 survey of the leadership of the Council of the Great City Schools (GCS) about enrollment trends, supply and demand of teachers, financial…

A 3-year action research study was conducted by the Spirit River School Division in northwestern Alberta to develop and validate a set of indicators to assess teacher effectiveness in a formative process. Focusing on professional development and staff inservice, the Educational Quality Indicators Project (EQI) sought to determine if the 26…

The results of an evaluation of Vermont's statewide assessment initiative are presented, with information about the implementation of the program, its effects on educational practice, the analytic challenge presented by the portfolio scoring process, the reliability and validity of portfolio scores, and the tensions between assessment and…

In 1992 the University of South Alabama instituted a doctoral program in Instructional Design and Development. A survey was designed to help assess entry competencies of incoming students, monitor student development through the educational program, and assess program effectiveness. Students were also asked to choose 10 competencies that they…

The primary purpose of testing in early childhood is to identify children who may be at risk for learning problems so they may be placed in appropriate educational environments. Testing is popular because educators take at face value the claim by test developers that using standardized test instruments to classify, retain, or promote children is…

Performance-based assessment provides an alternative identification method for young gifted children. A performance-based identification process was developed and implemented to select three-, four-, and five-year-old children for inclusion in a school for gifted children. Literature regarding child development, characteristics of young gifted…

Standards-based assessment, or at least the concept of standards-based assessment, will provide a key strategy for the implementation of the New Zealand National Qualifications Framework. This paper considers the meaning of standards-based assessment and its role in New Zealand's assessment for nationally recognized qualifications. Standards-based…

The current status of education for 1994 is presented in the form of education "indicators"--key data that measure the health of education, monitor important developments, and show trends in major aspects of education. The 60 indicators have been divided into 6 areas: (1) access, participation, and progress; (2) achievement, attainment, and…

This report explores the issues and concerns related to the development of a process to assess college student learning. Its primary focus is the attainment of National Education Goal 5.5 by the year 2000 which reads, "The proportion of college graduates who demonstrate an advanced ability to think critically, communicate effectively, and…

This proceedings summarizes a conference sponsored by the Center for Rural Education and Small Schools at Kansas State University. Included are the keynote speech and abstracts of 46 conference presentations. The keynote speech, "Invisible and Silent along the Blue Highways," by Patricia A. Schmuck, examines problems of ethnic, racial, and gender…