This study compared two instructional methods for teaching spelling to elementary students with learning disabilities (LD). Forty-two elementary students with LD were randomly assigned to one of two instructional groups to teach spelling words: (a) a rule-based strategy group that focused on teaching students spelling rules (based on the…

The New American Schools Development Corporation (NASDC) supports seven design teams that develop and implement comprehensive designs for high-performance schools. By 1995 plans had been developed for over 200 participating schools. This paper presents findings of a study that explored the elements of school-accountability systems that aid or…

This two-part study was done to investigate the effectiveness of the University of Chicago School Mathematics Project (UCSMP) Transition Mathematics Program implemented by Lexington School District (South Carolina) during the 1993-94 school year. Results on four mathematics subtests of the Stanford Achievement Test, 8th Edition are considered in…

Recommendations for educational change are not focused just on curriculum. Recently a great deal of attention has been focused on reforming the evaluation and assessment of students' mathematical knowledge. Since standardized tests determine what topics will be taught in schools, it seems sensible to refine assessment prior to instituting major…

This final report describes the accomplishments of a 2-year study designed to adapt and standardize the Eighth Edition of the Stanford Achievement Test (SAT-8) with a national, randomly drawn sample of 6,932 students (ages 7-20) with deafness and partial hearing. The project also assessed changes in achievement levels of students with deafness and…

The perceptions of various educators (N=495) of the effectiveness of practices related to the dissemination of the results from their schools' standardized testing programs were collected and analyzed. Contrary to what might have been expected from prior research, these educators rated the effectiveness of their schools' performance in…

Adolescents today have to live with incoherence for longer periods than before, and that makes ambiguity tolerance a socially significant personality dimension. Studies of the development of ambiguity tolerance in adolescents are reported. The pilot study, "Adaptation of MAT-50 for Use with Bulgarian Population," involves translation and…

Recent battles over proposed national testing programs do not tell the important political story about high-stakes tests. An overview of the politics of school-accountability systems is offered in this World Wide Web journal article. Politically popular, school-accountability systems in many states already revolve around statistical results of…

Using identified factors that affect students' musical outcomes, this research study examined how instrumental music students attending "good" rural Appalachian high schools compared to other instrumental students. "Good" refers to those 12 Appalachian rural school districts identified as the best out of 46 rural county school…

This report describes the strategies, accomplishments, and outcomes of a project designed to identify intermediate level disadvantaged rural gifted children and develop curriculum practices appropriate for their use. Project objectives are outlined, along with evidence of their accomplishment. Findings of the project include: (1) the…

The merits and disadvantages of standardized and informal reading tests for limited English proficient readers are discussed. A growing reliance on standardized ("formal") tests due to their ease of administration and scoring is criticized because the tests are seen as: inadequate for describing students at high and low ends of the scale; not…

Some of the issues regarding the estimation of reliability for performance assessments are explored, and a methodology is suggested for determination of reliability. In performance assessment, the magnitude of the reliability coefficient may be less than that obtained for a standardized test, since part of the potential use of performance…

Equating studies using item response theory (IRT) are reviewed. The most well-known papers, as well as a sampling of lesser-known studies, are included. Accompanying tables list the papers and classify them according to the test used, models used, test length and type, sample size and type, method of assessment, equating design, and kinds of…

The Mooney Problem Check List, College Form, was administered to 2,261 students from six Louisiana universities, for standardization purposes. Usable protocols were obtained for 1,929 subjects. Comparisons among schools, school classes, sex, race, and marital status were made for the 11 Mooney categories. Norm tables were developed for all groups…

The Austin Independent School District (AISD) office of Research and Evaluation presents Basic Skills Achievement, 1981-82 (BSA). The BSA answers the following questions: (1) How does AISD student achievement compare to student achievement nationwide? (2) How does AISD's 1981-82 student achievement compare to the achievement of students in past…