Some previous research results imply that women tend to perform better, relative to men, on constructed-response (CR) tests than on multiple-choice (MC) tests in the same subjects. An analysis of data from several tests used in the licensing of beginning teachers supported this hypothesis, to varying degrees, in most of the tests investigated. The…

There are students whom teachers always seem to remember, primarily because they provide special insight into teaching and learning. These students, most of whom usually have learning difficulties in school, teach important lessons to teachers about determination, survival, and about becoming readers and writers. One such student is Kimberly,…

Several factors are related to adult students' completion or noncompletion of reading assignments before class--lack of study time, their motivation for taking college classes, their need to feel involved in the learning process, and their expectations for success in the classroom. One of the biggest fears of adults returning to a school…

Social studies and language arts teachers can enliven and enrich history studies through personalization. This approach can empower children to see history itself as having a spirit as well as a body. Reading and writing activities should allow students to see history as the kind of study that opens the individual up to different visions. Children…

Intended for researchers and students in mass media theory, this paper examines the development of the concept of meaning in media studies. It considers the epistemological and sociological roots of the concept, arguing that such an analysis is pivotal in understanding the differences in current research perspectives. The notion of meaning in…

This study investigated the effects of heuristically based assignments and tests on adolescents' written responses to literature. In order to examine both tests and instruction, two separate but related experiments were conducted. Experiment 1 investigated whether the inclusion of guided prewriting on essay tests for two poems and two short…

The six articles in this focused journal issue are concerned with literature teaching on the secondary and college level. The titles and authors of the articles are as follows: (1) "Aesthetic Reading and Teaching: 'Candide' Revisited" (Michael G. Gauthier); (2) "Discovery: The Role of Subjective Response in Initiating the Literature…

Intended for students taking the Grade 12 Diploma Examination in English 30 in Alberta, Canada, this test contains (1) general instructions, (2) two minor assignments consisting of literature readings to which the student must write a personal response, and (3) a major assignment requiring students to show how the authors they studied in senior…

Designed to examine the relevance of television news programming, a study examined the application of a "group use" videodisc in a communication curriculum. Using a computer controlled videodisc, 60 communication students at a large midwestern university were shown the agenda-setting function of television and asked to evaluate the…

Representing the views of persons from a variety of fields including parents, educators, authors, librarians, and publishers, the papers in this journal issue explore the fine line between censorship (with an eye toward silencing ideas) and selection (with the recognition that just as literature can enlighten it can also degrade). Following an…

Intended for students taking the Grade 12 Diploma Examination in English 30 in Alberta, Canada, this test contains (1) general instructions, (2) two minor assignments consisting of literature readings about which the student must write a personal response, and (3) a major assignment requiring students to show how the authors they studied in senior…

Intended for students taking the Grade 12 Diploma Examinations in English 33 in Alberta, Canada, this test on writing contains general instructions and three sections: (1) a personal response to an aspect of literature, (2) functional writing requiring a written response within a given situation or context, and (3) a response to visual…

Intended to serve as a general model for the teaching of poetry writing, and written from the perspective of one individual teacher's thinking and experience, this guide, although originally written for teachers of seventh and eighth graders, is adaptable to other levels--elementary, high school, and college. Chapter 1, "Students and…

Intended for students taking the Grade 12 Diploma Examination in English 30 in Alberta, Canada, this test contains (1) general instructions; (2) a minor assignment consisting of a literature reading to which the students must write a personal response; and (3) a major assignment requiring students to show how the authors they studied in senior…

One question regarding the utility of adaptive testing is the effect of individualized item arrangements on examinee test scores. The purpose of this study was to analyze the item difficulty choices by examinees as a function of previous item performance. The examination was a 25-item test of basic algebra skills given to 36 students in an…