Evaluation of prior learning for the External Degree Program at Florida International University is described. Efforts in the following areas are presented: (1) implementation and evaluation of the competency-based assessment tool, (2) integration of the assessment process with other processes of the External Degree Program and the entire…

Investigations into item bias provide an empirical basis for the identification and elimination of test items which appear to measure different traits across populations or cultural groups. The Psychometric rationales for six approaches to the identification of biased test items are reviewed: (1) Transformed item difficulties: within-group…

The issue addressed by this paper is the lack of empirical research on the class theories of Karl Marx and Ralf Dahrendorf. In order to bridge this gap, data are analyzed on the theoretical and statistical implications of Marx's theory (which focuses on ownership of the means of production) and Dahrendorf's theory (which focuses on authority in…

Patterns of problem-solving activity in one middle-class urban high school are examined and a problem solving model rooted in a conceptual framework of contingency theory is presented. Contingency theory stresses that as political, economic, and social conditions in an organization's environment become problematic, the internal structures of the…

Fifteen teachers from grades one through twelve and sixty pupils were sampled using a contextual approach to the investigation of teachers' verbal and nonverbal behavior. Pupils were categorized as accepting, concerned, indifferent, or rejecting by their respective teachers, and the student-initiated question frame was selected as a suitable and…

This material provides a discussion of the construction and analysis of tests prepared for classroom use by teachers. The initial discussion is concerned with the purposes of evaluation and the specification of objectives. This is followed by an examination of theoretical and practical considerations in planning a test. The material on test item…

This paper provides information on working with parents of culturally different youth. Four topics are discussed: 1) general information on culturally different paretns, 2) parenting culturally different children during the preschool years, 3) parenting elementary school youth from culturally different homes, and 4) parenting culturally different…

Designed to provide basic information on the linkages achieved under the Youth Employment and Demonstration Projects Act (YEDPA), this report focuses on education/Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) linkages, the vocational education/CETA connection, and the role of postsecondary institutions (particularly minority colleges) in…

Designed as an aid for staff at Gateway Technical Institute, this manual provides step-by-step instructions for the implementation of competency-based education (CBE) in occupational and general education programs. After presenting a CBE model and listing the functions of Gateway's CBE curriculum advisors, the manual details procedures for each of…

Experiences in developing a Career Passport project are described for three pilot communities. (A Career Passport is a listing similar to an adult resume that describes a young person's experiences, skills, abilities, knowledge, and work-related attitudes.) An introduction describes the concept and its three essential ingredients as they were…

While the initial phases of instructional program development are heavily dependent on knowledge sources outside the classroom, knowledge developed in the classroom by the individual teacher is usually vital to program implementation. Interviews with teachers, principals, and district administrators connected with four urban elementary schools…

Model programs are described for two areas of adult education--the preparation of adult educators and the training conducted by adult educators. In Chapter One, Phyllis Caldwell reviews the literature concerning the preservice training of adult educators, concentrating on the competencies of adult education administrators and teachers. In Chapter…

This evaluation manual consists of information pertaining to the program evaluation process and the Washington Community College Evaluation Model. Following a discussion of evaluating vocational education programs, an annotated bibliography of nine works on vocational program evaluation is provided. Covered next are legal implications of program…

Practitioner papers and research papers on higher education planning and budgeting are presented. "Before the Roof Caves In: A Predictive Model for Physical Plant Renewal" by Frederick M. Biedenweg and Robert E. Hutson outlines a systematic approach that was used at Stanford University to predict the associated costs of physical plant…

This manual is designed to aid volunteer tutors to use the LEX [language experience] Process for English Reading Instruction Manual (see note) to provide survival and functional English as a second language (ESL) to immigrant and minority people. The Process employs the methods of "language experience" in response to the widely varied language…