The most familiar models of item response theory are defined at the level of individual subjects. It is possible, however, to define such models for groups of subjects. This paper discusses group-level item response models, their uses, and their relationships to subject-level models. (Author/JKS)

Reports the results of a experimental study designed to determine the impact of alternative sequences, macro followed by micro, or vice versa, on students' learning and attitudes in economics. Results showed a micro/macro sequence produced higher economic understanding, but did not influence students' attitudes. (Author/JDH)

An introduction is presented to three articles introducing readers to evaluation in the employment and training field. (LMO)

A historical perspective of the role of school psychologists is outlined, including a discussion of recent developments that encourage a reconceptualization of school psychologists' traditional assessment activity. (Author/LMO)

Comments on current efforts to evaluate and improve United States schools, especially the conclusions and recommendations of national education reports, tendencies in responding to them, and issues inadequately addressed by them. Both equity and excellence are important, it is suggested, and excellence may be achieved through challenge of familiar…

Calls three lessons to be learned from John Goodlad's book, "A Place Called School," to the attention of Catholic educators: public schools are doing a satisfactory job, school climate is an important factor in satisfaction, and researchers' personal biases may influence their recommendations. (DMM)

Two aspects of educational improvement are addressed: (1)do we have more education than in the past; and (2)are standards of attainment rising. While some research evidence is less conclusive than is thought, there are major findings that could be directly applied to improve the educational system. (BS)

A framework for reflecting on, assessing, and improving institutional quality in higher education focuses on internal and external approaches to educational quality and their implications for designing for quality and continuous quality assessment. (MSE)

This article surveys the teaching of evaluation in education by discussing the roles that evaluation has played in education; important evaluator competencies, and topics and materials currently used in educational evaluation courses. A sample outline for a typical one-semester core course in educational evaluation is given. (LMO)

Questionnaires were sent to local education authorities in England to determine what the advisory/inspectorial staff and the working groups of teachers and schools know about the national assessments of science education conducted by the APU and how they were being used. (RM)

The APU was set up in 1975 in England to conduct national surveys of science performance and to make the findings available to a variety of audiences. The research reported here was carried out from 1979 to 1982 to investigate how people make judgments about the APU science results. (RM)

In an interchange conducted with Ernest Howe, Kenneth Strike advanced the argument that models of social justice can be used to discover the implicit moral commitments associated with evaluation practice. This paper extends that argument. Two responses are offered to this paper. (JMK)

Contending that art should be considered a component of basic education, the director of the National Art Education Association identifies some national task force reports' proposals for art education that have been neglected by media coverage. (MJL)

Article explains why personal evaluations by experienced observers may be more accurate assessment tools than standardized tests and statistical studies. A system of recording observations and impressions, through the use of grids, is presented. (RW)

Reports the efforts of an evaluation consultant and the teachers and administrators of two vocational centers to establish measurable objectives and establish an evaluation system to measure how well the objectives were achieved. Steps are outlined for determining the success or failure of a vocational program to meet established levels of…