The goal theory of achievement argues that the goals stressed by schools have dramatic consequences for whether children develop a sense of self-efficacy, or whether they avoid challenging tasks, giving up when faced with failure. It is commonly believed that the goals stressed by Western-oriented schools are inappropriate to indigenous minority…

A study of 398 young adults (ages 21-26) with severe disabilities who had been out of school for 1.75 to 5 years was conducted to validate a four-factor model of quality of life for youth with severe disabilities in transition from school to community and from youth to adulthood. Information was gathered on life satisfaction, employment-economic…

The North Carolina End-of-Course Testing Program is based on the assessment of higher level skills in the context of specific subject-area content. These tests inform students, parents, the community, and educators about the achievement of North Carolina students in given areas. This report describes the development and psychometric properties of…

In light of debate about the developmentally inappropriate and culturally questionable use of standardized testing for placement of preschool children, alternative approaches to screening and assessment are required. The impact of a Head Start program upon children must involve documentation of physical and mental health, speech, hearing, vision,…

This study is second in a series demonstrating that achievement tests are multidimensional and that using psychologically meaningful subscores in national educational surveys can enhance test validity and usefulness. National Education Longitudinal Study 1988 (NELS:88) 8th- and 10th-grade science tests were subjected to full information item…

A substantially revised Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) was introduced in spring 1991. The new examination is designed to assess critical thinking skills, basic concepts and problem solving facility in science, and writing skills. This paper reports preliminary findings on the factor structure of the revised MCAT, which consists of four…

Locus of control is a construct that reflects an individual's perception of control over his or her own destiny. The thesis is that people adopt either an internal or an external orientation. Internally oriented persons consider success the result of ability and effort. Externally oriented individuals attribute success to luck, fate, or powerful…

In response to a legislative requirement, Redlands Community College (RCC) initiated a requirement in 1991 for students to take the Assessment of Skills for Successful Entry and Transfer (ASSET) test. The only exemptions were for those students enrolling in fewer than 6 hours of classes and not taking either English Composition or a college-level…

This study compared the acquisition of an initial place value skill when presented in a concrete, semiconcrete, abstract teaching sequence to acquisition of the same skill when presented at the abstract level only. The 24 subjects were elementary and middle school students (ages 8-13) with learning disabilities who were randomly assigned to…

In spring 1992, a mid-term assessment of English 10 students was conducted at Golden West College, in California, in order to compare four course placement methods. English 10, "Writing Essentials," is a nontransferrable course which focuses on paragraph writing and grammar review in order to prepare students for entry into English 100.…

This study was conducted to pre-validate the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ), the Learning and Study Skills Inventory (LASSI), and the Test of Reactions and Adaptations to College (TRAC) on a sample of students (N=103) from the population of psychology majors at Champlain Regional College, Saint Lawrence campus. The purpose…

One year before the National Education Summit, Congress had reauthorized the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and created a National Assessment Governing Board to develop and oversee policy for the NAEP. In conjunction with the call to establish national education goals, efforts are being made to establish standards for…

The following papers are presented in this book: "Self-Directed Learning: Consensus and Conflict" (Long); "Challenges in the Study and Practice of Self-Directed Learning" (Long); "A Conceptual Model of Autodidactism" (Tremblay, Theil); "Functional and Dysfunctional Uses of Self-Directedness in Adult…

Development of an instrument to measure baseline levels of applied Total Quality Management (TQM) practices in South Dakota before the introduction and dissemination of TQM theory to the state's educational leaders is described. Using the interpretation of Deming's 14 points that was developed by J. J. Bonstigl, a 115-item initial item pool was…

Procedures are described to determine reliability and validity of the Brockton (Massachusetts) Battery's Tests of Reading Readiness and the Adaptive Behavior Scales, which were developed to assess performance levels of Hispanic, Portuguese, and Cape Verdean normal and high risk children. Among reasons given for development of the instruments are…