When the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges compiled best practices for serving basic skills students in 2002-2003, assessment practices were notably absent. In this paper, problems with current assessment and placement practices with regards to basic skills are explored. The paper begins with a review of the matriculation process…

This book highlights the problems that drive many special educators out of teaching and outlines practical recommendations that leaders can use to increase retention. Drawing on field experience as well as research findings, the author provides a comprehensive framework for supporting special educators. This book provides effective ways to: (1)…

An increasing percentage of college students are perceived by faculty as underprepared in the basic academic skills, study skills, commitment, and disposition toward learning needed to succeed in college. This report presents background information and findings of a campus-wide survey of Santa Barbara City College (SBCC) students to identify and…

Describes the award-winning technology endeavors and parent involvement programs developed in the Mine Hill School District (New Jersey). Topics include the multiyear plan, community and board of education support, funding, measuring student learning outcomes, and evening computer education programs for parents and children. (LRW)

Presents a study of 87 second graders to demonstrate that achievement tests in primary mathematics emphasize pupil's lower-order thinking by comparing answers to interview questions from constructivist and traditionally instructed groups. Results indicated that constructivist instructed students demonstrated superior higher-order thinking on tasks…

This article describes the development of an instrument to measure the multiple dimensions of student-faculty interactions. The sample consisted of 318 students (114 males, 203 females; 58% White, 16% African American, 9% Hispanic Americans) who completed the Student-Professor Interaction Scale (SPIS). Eight dimensions were identified, with…

This paper reports a study contrasting dyslexic children against a control group of children without special educational needs (SEN) and a group with varied SENs. Children's abilities were compared on tasks assessing phonological processing, visuo-spatial/motor coordination and executive/inhibitory functioning; being targeted for assessment based…

In a previous study, a conceptual model of wisdom was created (Brown, 2004a) to better understand integrated learning outcomes. The purpose of this study is to develop a scale to measure this wisdom construct. This article discusses salient aspects of the extant professional literature regarding the measurement of wisdom and details the efforts to…

This publication, the result of a series of conferences held between April and October 1989, is a guide to assessing the competence of prospective art teachers in the California public schools. The guide was developed as part of a state-wide response to legislated entry and exit standards for teachers in elementary and secondary schools. An…

One of nine competency-based training modules for personnel preparation in early childhood special education, this guide focuses on assessment concepts involving the evaluation of preschoolers for possible disabilities. All modules are adaptable for use with a general audience, direct service personnel, or administrators and are based on the…

This book has the following objectives: (1) to sharpen the skills of interviewers to increase the quality of the interview process used with diverse populations; (2) to describe the dynamics of the occupations that use a brief interview in the education and training service-producing industry; and (3) to provide measurement for statistical process…

The use of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, Third Edition (WISC-III) and its interpretation in educational use are discussed. To measure intelligence, Wechsler believed one must measure the various aptitudes that contribute to the total behavior of the individual. The WISC-III has six verbal subtests and seven performance subtests.…

This document contains two sections: implementation of the performance-based Occupational Affective Behavior Analysis (OABA), and supporting research. Section 1 presents OABA, an analytic procedure designed to identify those affective behaviors important to success in an occupation, and gives directions on how to implement the procedure. The…

This self-instructional module, one of 16 on techniques for coordinating work experience programs, provides preservice and inservice educational materials for teacher-coordinators supervising on-the-job training. The two goals for this module are to understand student rules and regulations for on-the-job training and to understand how to orient…

This report presents the results of a New Jersey school district field test of a comprehensive administrator training program. The program's main objectives were to develop a knowledge-utilization approach to the improvement of instruction and student achievement in basic skills, and to develop and test strategies for installing and disseminating…