This demonstration booklet illustrates the kinds of exercises or test questions and tasks used in the assessment of student achievement in reading and writing by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Each student will be asked to complete the background section and the cognitive sections for one subject, and the assessment will…

This state of Missouri guide to content specifications for social studies assessment is designed to give teachers direction for assessment at the benchmark levels of grades 4, 8, and 11 for each standard that is appropriate for a statewide assessment. The guide includes specifications of what students are expected to know at the benchmark levels…

This album addresses how civic education should be taught in Romanian schools. Civic education, like any other form of education, must be gradual and adapted to the specifics of the respective age. The album can be used by any person involved in developing future citizens. The document includes drawings and texts made by students who were apart of…

Considers how to "unfix" certainties about students' potential and their performances in class; uses three middle school students dealing with language arts as case studies. Describes how learning occurred over the school year. Includes responses that offer a record of success and comments on fighting "fixity" in teacher education. (PA)

This handbook, intended for English language arts teachers, principals, curriculum and testing specialists, superintendents, and all educators interested in preparing students for the grade 8 California Assessment Program (CAP) writing assessment, provides the practitioner with information about the content of the test, the rationale underlying…

This manual contains a description of the procedures to be used when administering the Nevada fourth- and eighth-grade Proficiency Examinations in Writing, along with detailed instructions to be read to students. Test administrators should make sure that students understand these instructions thoroughly before the testing session so that students…

Answers questions about the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and the new assessment in the arts. Reports that NAEP arts assessment confirms large-scale assessment in music is possible and stresses that arts education is for all students. Urges music educators to use the NAEP results to defend arts education when challenged. (CMK)

Developed for two grade 8 English classes in a large metropolitan high school in British Columbia (Canada), this paper presents the procedures for implementing and evaluating a 6-week unit on lifewriting, the composing of stories based on personal experience. The Lifewriting Curriculum is provided--six lessons including activities in which…

This report provides information on how Hawaii's students performed on the 1987 and 1988 administrations of the Stanford Writing Assessment (which was adopted as part of Hawaii's Statewide Testing Program). Included in the report are a state summary of the performance of students in grades 3, 6, 8, and 10 and an analysis of the assessment results…

This curriculum resource guide allows students to interpret key historical events and trends from the perspectives of a variety of cultural, linguistic, and ethnic groups. The 35 learning activities represent suggested approaches for teaching Units 7 and 8 of the New York State Grades 7 and 8 syllabus. Each unit is comprehensive, divided into…

This document presents a sample of the Arkansas science curriculum and identifies the content standards for physical science systems, life science systems, and Earth science/space science systems for eighth grade students. Each content standard is explained and includes student learning expectations, eighth grade benchmarks, assessments, and…

This booklet prepares a student to take New Jersey's Grade Eight Proficiency Assessment (GEPA), a test that measures the knowledge and skills that will be tested later in the state's High School Proficiency Assessment. The GEPA has three test sections (content areas): Language Arts Literacy, Mathematics, and Science. The booklet tells students…

Describes an eighth grade reading program that includes a requirement to read a diary. A questionnaire to determine students' favorite diaries and feelings about the genre is described, activities for students to try after reading a diary are suggested, and an annotated bibliography with 10 fiction and 10 nonfiction books is included. (LRW)

This booklet provides suggestions for possible sources of information for each of the student performance indicators listed in the National Center on Educational Outcomes' conceptual model for eighth-grade students, including students with disabilities. The model has eight outcome domains, each with several outcomes and indicators of outcomes. For…

Developed as part of the Arkansas Minimum Performance Testing Program (MPT), these item specifications relate to the eighth grade reading minimum performance test. There is one item specification for each instructional objective included in the MPT. Item specifications are intended to provide an overview of the general content and format of test…