The National Goals for Education signal a new paradigm. To strengthen this paradigm, a 20-year apprenticeship, starting in the fifth grade, is proposed for all future teachers and professors (in fact, all students, regardless of career goals at that time). Twelve years of peer tutoring experience for virtually all students would begin this…

The development of a process to assess higher order thinking skills associated with thinking in real world situations raises questions about the domain of assessment, the skills and dispositions to be assessed, and the purpose of the assessment. It is argued that existing critical thinking courses and instruments may be of limited value in…

In March 1993, the Goal 2 Technical Planning Subgroup on Core Data Elements was convened to focus on identifying information that could be obtained from local student data systems for monitoring local and state progress toward the National Education Goals. The Goal 2 Resource Panel had previously described the need for a national student data…

This 1992 annual report provides evidence of changes being implemented in Kentucky school districts and individual schools. Information is provided on the following: educational finance, assessment, the Education Professional Standards Board, exceptional children, extended school services, family resource/youth services centers, multicultural…

This paper describes fourth-year outcomes of the Brooklyn New School (BNS), a parent/staff-run alternative public elementary school located in Brooklyn, New York's Community School District #15. The BNS used a self-study process, in which an external researcher collected school data through document analysis, interviews, and participant…

This second annual report card on the status of Oregon public education describes the implementation of the Oregon Educational Act for the 21st Century. Information is presented in the following areas--school finance, staff characteristics and salaries, student demographics and achievement, student participation in programs and services, and…

This 1993 annual report describes how Tennessee's education system, from preschool through graduate school, works to improve teaching and learning for all citizens. Following a list of State Board of Education and the Tennessee Higher Education Commission members, a preface, and an introduction, the first part details cooperative programs between…

There is increasing pressure on teachers in higher education to provide assessment systems that are fair, valid, reliable, efficient, and effective. Funding bodies, students themselves, and public opinion have higher expectations, and there is a new emphasis on competence-based systems. Growing numbers of students and financial constraints make…

This report is a summary of research that was recently conducted with instructors of distance learning programs. Sixty-two professors from 10 categories of courses completed an e-mail survey. The advantages and disadvantages of assessments seemed to revolve around the key issues of time, synthesis or knowledge acquisition, subjective or objective…

New York City's public school system was challenged during the 1990s by fiscal pressures that coincided with a surge in student enrollment. The focus of this report is how the City's schools performed under these combined pressures. There were four major conclusions relating to disappointing school performance: school buildings grew more crowded;…

Responsive assessment is explored in this book in terms of its ability to support people who learn. This book represents a search for assessment practices that are relevant and responsive. Part 1 introduces responsive assessment as a set of guidelines and as a theoretical foundation for assessment and instructional planning. Chapter 1 explores the…

The goal of this revised edition is to describe and illustrate the process of implementing ecological assessment in classrooms. The focus is on the process of change. Teachers who assess ecologically create classroom environments that are small ecosystems representative of the larger literacy system outside the classroom. New developments in…

This report discusses the findings of a study that attempted to investigate the participation rates of students with disabilities in the Oregon statewide testing program. The study joined individual student data from the Oregon Statewide Assessment Program and the Oregon Special Education Child Count to examine participation rates. The report…

This video is designed to help parents assist their children's educational success by assessing a child's learning strengths and weaknesses. The video first presents five potential problems areas and symptoms that may be manifested by the student: (1) unchallenged; (2) passive learning; (3) skill gaps; (4) behavioral concerns; and (5) learning…

This theme issue addresses school reform, focusing on accountability, attrition, public-supported private education, equitable education, and schoolwide reform. "School-Student Performance and Accountability" (Jose A. Cardenas) discusses what constitutes good performance in school; the shifting emphasis among the input, output, and…