Four studies are reported that used a metacognitive evaluation procedure that can be group-administered and objectively scored. The procedure assesses the knowledge monitoring component of metacognition by evaluating the discrepancy between students' estimates of how well they are likely to perform on a task and their actual performance. The first…

The development and validation of a test of English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) proficiency are described. The measure is a multiple-choice test based on translation of a literary text from English to Arabic and vice versa. Intended for rapid student placement, it is seen as overcoming most of the defects inherent in traditional translation tests.…

This study investigated the efficacy of noncognitive variables and academic background as a function of student ethnic group for the prediction of college grade performance and persistence. New freshmen during four consecutive fall semesters were administered the Cooperative Institutional Research Program Freshmen Survey. The sample included 251…

During the 1994-95 program year, the staff of Even Start, a family literacy program in Lincoln (Nebraska), and an evaluator collaborated to create a low-stakes, small-scale portfolio assessment to collect information on program impact. The small scale of the evaluation offered opportunities to involve the staff in each step of the portfolio…

This policy paper outlines the impact that recent Title I legislation, which requires states to hold all students to the "same expectations," will have on state and local district evaluation plans, especially as regards students with disabilities. It notes the conflict between two educational goals: that of full inclusion of students…

This study examines correlations between the Metropolitan Achievement Tests, seventh edition (MAT-7), and analogous portions of the 1995 Ohio Ninth-Grade Proficiency Tests. The MAT-7 scores of 156 eighth-grade students who had completed both test batteries were paired with complementary sections of the Proficiency test. Correlations between the…

If teachers are teaching a set of standard content and assessments are made consistently, the relationship between these various assessments and the curriculum should be of interest. The purpose of this study was to explore the consistency of the mathematical measures of three prominent forms of mathematics assessment: standardized tests,…

The nine readings in this monograph focus on ways to improve the social skills of students with emotional/behavioral disorders. The following readings are included: (1) "Analysis of Literature on Social Competence of Behaviorally Disordered Children and Youth" (Sarup R. Mathur and Robert B. Rutherford, Jr.); (2) "A Validation of Social Skills for…

This handbook, which was written by researchers with expertise in Australia's technical and further education (TAFE) system, provides background information about the following: approaches to research in vocational education and training (VET); the range of methods normally used in research and their the application to VET; and procedures for…

School culture has recently emerged as a framework for the study and interpretation of the structure and development of schools. A work culture productivity model is described, and the development of a culture instrument is reported. The concept of school work culture, a subset of systems culture, refers to the collective work patterns of a…

This study represents the first to empirically validate the structure of social self-concept (SC) as proposed by the Shavelson model. For each of three age groups--preadolescents (252 3rd graders), early adolescents (290 7th graders), and late adolescents (335 11th graders)--analyses of covariance structures were used to test: (1) that social SC…

A study confirmed the need for an ambulatory nursing experience as part of the vocational nursing (VN) program at the Long Beach City College (LBCC). Information on which to base the revision of the ambulatory care (AC) experience was obtained from a literature review and interviews with the following: AC administrators, California Board of…

The status of assessment in terms of federal policy, the social or economic climate related to education, the role of testing in counseling, assessment as an intervention in its own right, and assessment as it is affected by technology are important components of the context of issues and challenges related to assessment at the edge of the 21st…

One potential approach to the authentic assessment of what students know and can do in science is concept mapping. A concept map is a graph consisting of nodes representing concepts and labeled lines denoting the relation between a pair of nodes (concepts). The external concept map constructed by the student is interpreted as representing…

As the first paper in a series of policy papers on high-stakes student assessment programs, this paper examined high school graduation tests. High stakes refers to the use of test results to make important decisions about the test taker. Whether to use a high school graduation test is an essential policy question that will be addressed in a…