The determination of assessment content is often made on the basis of cost, political "clout", and relevance, in that order. Three areas of assessment content are discussed: Broad areas, specific areas to be measured, and non-test information. The broad areas and non-test information are policy issues, while the determination of specific…

This study investigated sex differences in counselor credibility as perceived by high school girls. A quasi-experimental method was used in which four tape recordings presented identical career information about women by female and male counselors. Fifty-three career-oriented and 53 home-oriented girls rated the counselor-narrators on a…

A sample population of students from seventh grade through college, seen as a special audience rather than a mass of autonomous individuals, responded to the question: "If you got conflicting reports of the same news story from radio, television, newspapers, magazines, and other people, which one of these sources would you be most inclined to…

The nature of the problem investigated deals with the perceived value of student credentials by organizations since the enactment of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. The study investigates correlation between organizational size and perceived value, as well as determination of significant difference between social and industrial…

Studies the impact of children's verbal style, age, and sex, on social perception and concludes that the speaker with a dialect most similar to the listener will be perceived as the most credible. (MH)

To justify expenditures for art programs, art teachers should stop using platitudes about the by-products of art education, such as fun and self-expression. They should present art as a serious intellectual discipline which has content of value for students. (SJL)

Examines the meaning of the term "ethos" in a rhetorical context, proposing a way to differentiate among the different forms of ethos. Explores the implications of such an examination for composition teachers. (RL)

Discusses a study designed to investigate people's conceptions of what believability should entail and how these conceptions differ over topic-situations. (MH)

Career counselors are, in a sense, professional communicators. They help students acquire information, learn decision-making, express feelings, clarify values, identify skills, meet needs. To neglect the context in which the spoken word takes place is to ignore that part of the iceberg which lies beneath the surface. (Author)

Discusses a study designed to measure the effects of message threat level, message quality, and initial receiver attitude on attitude change and evaluations of source credibility. (MH)

Discusses difficulties of consulting overseas, describes some essential overseas consulting skills, and suggests strategies for beginning employment in the international field. Highlights include cross-cultural differences, language and communication problems, establishing credibility, consulting styles (i.e., directive, collaborative, and…

Bob Beyers, director of the Stanford University News Service, sees chasing after the national media as a waste of time. A university news service must be concerned about its own audiences first. Ideas, credibility, and professionalism are necessary for a successful media operation. (MLW)

To assess client expectations and evaluations of self-involving statements, subjects read transcripts of a counseling session in which the counselor used either positive or negative statements. Subjects rated counselors using positive self-involving statements as more expert, attractive, trustworthy, and appropriate, and they expressed a greater…

Results revealed that inducing women to be more argumentative had a favorable effect on their credibility. (PD)

The rewards and sanctions accompanying performance-based pay and promotion programs will not be valued or given credibility as long as teacher evaluations are not approached professionally. The effect of treating teachers as bureaucrats or professionals, the limits of bureaucratic evaluation, and the demands of professional evaluation are…