Discusses minimal criteria, the importance of written performance objectives, process and product evaluation, quantitative measurement, and objectivity in vocational student evaluation. (SK)

Because teachers' oral directions for group achievement tests assume that children understand numerous basic concepts, the construct validity of subtests assessing abilities other than language is questionable. Implications for teacher administration of primary level tests and suggestions for future test construction are described. (JD)

Suggests that attempting to define an all purpose literacy that does not vary with subject matter, personal experience, and occasion is an illusory task. Presents data on standards of literacy among the Australian population that tend to refute claims about declines in literacy standards. (AEA)

Innovations in undergraduate medical education, such as integration of disciplines and problem based learning, have given rise to concerns about students' knowledge of anatomy. This article originated from several studies investigating the knowledge of anatomy of students at the eight Dutch medical schools. The studies showed that undergraduate…

Configurational frequency analysis is suggested as a technique for longitudinal research in educational psychology. Testing for types of change of ratings (grades) and for ratings of change is illustrated by data from three courses in statistics from a cohort of 128 students at Marburg University in West Germany. (TJH)

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) must use sampling techniques that produce data which are representative on national, state, and local levels. The validity of findings is enhanced when state and district comparisons are made. Multiple measures will allow the diagnosis of strengths and weaknesses. The data should be…

This study investigates educational research productivity in institutions of higher education in the United States based on contributions to American Educational Research Association annual meetings and 14 leading educational research journals over a seven-year period: 1975-1981. Data were analyzed along two dimensions: total productivity and…

Uses 227 elementary education majors to investigate the effect of past musical training on students' present ability to perform on music achievement test items. Investigates if a difference existed between students with training and those without training, and if a difference existed in the type of training. (Author/AH)

Reports the findings of a questionnaire survey that elicited the reactions of 216 school publications advisers on the performance of the national rating services. (FL)

This study investigated how college students decide the amount of reward or punishment a problem solver deserves. Persons engaged in solitary tasks were evaluated differently than those in cooperative tasks. Inferences of causality influenced evaluations, whereas other factors did not. (Author/DB)

Discusses some results of the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and responds to criticisms of that study. (WRM)

This article uses four data sets to assess changes in the relative weights of test- and performance-based merit criteria on college enrollment during the 1980s and 1990s and considers their significance for affirmative action. Our results support the "shifting meritocracy" hypothesis, revealed by selective postsecondary institutions'…

A quantitative procedure is presented for identifying effective schools, those producing superior student test performance (grades 2-11), in 1983 in Dallas. Stipend awards were given to teachers in schools ranked in the top quarter of each grade level category using the lower bound statistic based on individually standardized gain scores to rank…

The purpose of this study was to elucidate the psychological concomitants of discrepancies between fourth- to sixth-grade children's perceptions of academic competence and two measures of their competence (teacher ratings and achievement test scores). (PCB)

Questions the support of John Holland's hypothesis that person-environment congruence relates positively to achievement. Evidence is provided in a study that Holland claims supports his hypothesis, in Holland's (1985) book, in Holland's (1968) data, and in the authors' finding of a negative relationship between the annual incomes and conventional…