Computers are revolutionizing almost every aspect of society and testing is no exception. Delivering tests on a computer often improves exam security, testing efficiency, and scoring, and it often allows for measurement of knowledge, skills, and abilities that cannot be measured using traditional assessment formats. One of the most widely cited…

Academic institutions are caught in a position of needing continued commitment to assessment and yet dealing with strong faculty sentiment on the subject. This paper proposes that faculty assessment activity be re-conceptualized according to Ernest Boyer's (1990) "scholarship of teaching"--as a scholarly process whose products make a…

Great improvements in student learning can be facilitated if teachers and administrators set goals, work collaboratively, and keep track of student achievement data from many sources. Many examples are presented of schools and districts that have achieved both short- and long-term success. The seven chapters are: (1) "Effective…

This article provides a general background of evaluation considerations and, as a model study, a summary of the procedures used to evaluate the Experienced Teacher Fellowship Program in Economic Education. It examines evaluation with respect to its purposes, its benefits, its definition, an appropriate model, and procedures. (Author)

To test interrater reliability on the Infant Rating Scale (an assessment instrument for screening educationally "at risk" young children), two teachers completed the scale for the same group of pupils. The reported level of interrater reliability was considered very satisfactory. (Author/MJL)

Discusses a study undertaken to determine how 12 elementary school classroom teachers planned social studies curriculum. Topics discussed include planning processes, influences of planning on the curriculum, and implications of the study. Findings indicated that planning does not necessarily follow the objectives-first model taught in many…

This paper considers the insights that can be gained into the 'actual' curriculum, as compared to the 'intended' curriculum, by using an approach which probes the structure of children's understanding. This approach, known as the clinical interview, can be used by teachers and curriculum evaluators to help children understand curriculum content.…

As a means of shedding light on the virtue of the legal system, this article investigates the role and nature of professional legal training on the development of the law and the legal profession in the United States. Topics discussed include curriculum, intellectual premises, values, case method teaching, and the role of the American Bar Society.…

Focuses on issues in evaluating educational change. Topics include what should be evaluated, management of reform and evaluation, evaluation as a threat, attitudes toward evaluation, factors in drawing up an evaluation plan, management information systems, evaluation techniques, financing evaluation, and indicators of success. (KC)

Analyzes student enrollment in college level geography courses on conservation as a means of determining how important conservation courses are in United States colleges and unlversities, where conservation has been an important geography course recently, and whether conservation has increased or declined in student popularity since the 1960s. (DB)

Israel's main strategies for managing conflict in its educational policymaking system include ignoring or veiling differences, deferring decisions, and exchanging financial resources for political consensus. Among the costs of consensus are rigid fixation on consensual ideas, concealment of conflicts and disagreements on behavioral and operational…

Describes an attempt to develop a method for predicting success in learning shorthand skills. Results indicated that complex perceptual psychomotor skills, like shorthand, are predicted better when a complex multitask battery is used than when traditional methods of testing are used alone. (BM)

Performances of two sections of a college-level experimental psychology course were compared. Each class worked on a computer simulation and an independent experiment, but in reverse order. There are benefits from both methods. If both are to be used in a given course, the simulation experience probably should be given first. (DB)

To obtain information on the efficacy of college essay tests a study was undertaken to determine strategies used by students in answering essay tests. Expressing a similar opinion to the teacher's is the most common strategy. This finding casts doubt on the assumption that essay tests provide opportunity for students to exercise creativity and…

Discusses a study which examined the effect of an introductory course in microeconomics on the college level on student attitudes toward liberalism and conservatism. The sample consisted of students enrolled in courses in microeconomics, psychology, and sociology at North Texas State University in 1978. Findings indicated that students who have…