This extensive kit provides guidance materials for use with middle school students. The first five sections of the kit include structural and programmatic component descriptions; directions on implementing the Missouri Comprehensive Guidance Program Model; discussion on involving administrators and teachers; and information on evaluating the…

This panel discussion focuses on alternative teacher certification. Alternative certification is a way of becoming a bilingual education or English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) teacher without completing a preservice college program. It has three areas: formal instruction, school-based supervision, and evaluation. It serves the purpose of more…

This paper investigates technology policy for national governments, particularly the importance of education and training and the role of institutions of higher education as components of such policies for the diffusion and absorption of knowledge, as part of an overall strategy for improving the competitive edge of a nation's enterprises. The…

Creating a relevant integrated multicultural education program in a sparsely populated, rural, mountainous state (Idaho) whose minority residents constitute barely 5 percent of the population poses unique challenges not present in more populated urban areas. The population of Idaho is 94.5 percent White, 5.3 percent Hispanic, 1.4 percent American…

This document is a manual for training personnel working with programs in the New York State Mentoring Program (NYSMP), which promotes mentoring as a way of motivating children to stay in school and make successful transitions to adulthood. Section 1 treats the state program's operating structure, covering general broad objectives, a mentoring…

Using data from 135 sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-graders between 11 and 15 years old attending a middle school in a suburban Southwest Ohio school district, two hypothesized models of the factor structures for the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory were tested. One model represents the original Coopersmith factor structure, and the other model is…

A Monte Carlo study was conducted to compare the performance of three statistical indices of test item bias in small samples of examinees. The statistical indices compared were the Delta method, the Mantel-Haenszel (MH) method, and the Standardization method. Sample sizes of 50, 100, and 200 were examined. One thousand samples of each size were…

A predictive adaptive testing (PAT) strategy was developed based on statistical predictive analysis, and its feasibility was studied by comparing PAT performance to those of the Flexilevel, Bayesian modal, and expected a posteriori (EAP) strategies in a simulated environment. The proposed adaptive test is based on the idea of using item difficulty…

This newsletter issue describes the Community Based Inservice Model (CBIM) of the Teaching Research Infant and Child Center (Oregon). This project provides training to personnel who serve secondary age students with moderate to severe disabilities. The project's has been funded by the Federal Government and is based on the philosophy of teaching…

This research investigated the influence of parental involvement on the academic achievement of 1,714 Mexican-American 8th-grade students, a subsample of the National Education Longitudinal Survey (NELS 88). A structural equation model was used to investigate the direct, indirect, and total effects of parental involvement, previous academic…

A democratic model of educational evaluation and some policy recommendations to develop culturally appropriate evaluation are presented. The traditional hard science paradigm in research must be replaced with evaluation designed to feed back to communities of varying cultural backgrounds. The most fundamental assumption of the new model is…

This literature review focuses on approaches to measuring and improving the self-concept of young children with special needs. Two particular models dominate the debate on the self-concept construct: the perceptual model (in which self-concept is equated with a self-description formed during the preschool years) and an operational model (in which…

Across the field of educational assessment the case has been made for alternatives to the multiple-choice item type. Most of the alternative types of items require a subjective evaluation by a rater. The reliability of this subjective rating is a key component of these types of alternative items. In this paper, measures of reliability are…

The Illinois Community College Board created the Telecommunications Ad Hoc Task Force (TAHTF) to examine the current status of telecommunications in the Illinois Community College System (ICCS), to determine the feasibility of establishing a statewide telecommunications network, and to recommend policies for the development and use of such a…

This executive summary describes a study to identify the concerns and needs of American Indians with disabilities living in the urban area of Denver (Colorado). The study also sought to determine if the Concerns Report Method was useful in identifying needs. The executive summary consists of a brief review of information on the urban American…