This study was conducted to identify characteristics of the most academically successful graduates of a teacher education program at the University of Alberta (Canada). Graphical data provide information about all of the graduates; tabular displays provide more specific information about those who graduated with distinction. For example, students…

This study focuses on the possible relationships between cognitive preference scores of algebra students and level of algebra, sex, and performance rank in algebra classes. The sample consisted of 162 students from a high school in the Denver area. The instruments used were the Cognitive Preference Test: Mathematics (Revised) (CPTM) and the…

A series of six models were devised and tested to address the structure of elementary school achievement in language, work study, reading, and mathematics skills. The models were based on two assumptions: first, that information processing strategies of children would govern their basic skills performances; and, second, that the basic skills would…

The purpose of this study was to compare students enrolled in an alternative school with students in a traditional school on the bases of academic achievement and attitudes toward school subjects. The subjects were 33 sixth-grade students who attended an open education school modeled after the British infant school. The control group consisted of…

One of a series of experiments attempting to overcome practical constraints on testers is described. This test was based on rehearsed communicative situations that were recorded by groups of students. The subjects of the experiment were 250 students in their first year of study for a joint language degree who were following a 12-week spoken…

Oral proficiency tests were constructed for French, German, and English by the Dutch National Institute for Educational Measurement to determine how well students could cope linguistically with daily living situations, after 3 years of foreign language instruction. Originally the rating scale featured six categories. Because of difficulties in…

In October 1989 Alaska conducted its statewide student assessment. Over 23,000 students in grades 4, 6, and 8 completed the reading, mathematics, and language arts sections of the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS). At the same time, a series of questionnaires asked building principals about their schools' philosophy, climate, and problems; asked…

This booklet describes the characteristics of 16 Chicago-area schools designated as winners in a 1982-83 contest to develop student character and academic learning. Out of the 80 schools competing, the 25 finalists were reviewed for evidence of school effectiveness and outcomes. Schools were asked to assess students' prosocial activities and the…

Based on Larry Hutchins' analysis of the school effectiveness literature, the Profile of School Excellence (PRO-S/E) is a diagnostic tool keyed to 11 instructional and organizational variables which are positively related to effective/excellent schools and which are alterable. The variables are: needs basis; objectives; expectations; roles and…

To assess the productivity of 167 Houston elementary schools, researchers applied a fractional linear programming procedure called Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to each school's inputs and outputs. School output was measured by third- and sixth-graders' scores on the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS). Input resources comprised pupil…

The research literature on the psychometric properties of self-appraisals of work performance summarizes many results in terms of leniency, variability, halo, and construct validity. Comparisons with appraisals tend to show more leniency, less variability, more bias, and less discriminant validity. Different factor structures are found among self-…

This study compares self-instructional mastery and nonmastery treatments of a specially developed geography unit to determine if there were differences in learning, retention, and time-to-testing of high, middle, and low aptitude students. Mastery learning is an alternative which gives lower performing students the necessary additional time to…

During the 1989-90 school year, Tennessee established Project Challenge in 17 of Tennessee's poor and educationally low-performing counties. The program applied the results of Project STAR, a longitudinal experiment causally linking class size to student achievement. This paper presents findings of a study that evaluated Project Challenge by…

Louisiana is one of the few states that uses indicator data to produce school report cards for statewide distribution to parents. The system, the Progress Profiles Program, produces report cards that must be accessible, meaningful, and understandable to a lay audience. An evaluation of the 1991-92 report cards was undertaken in 1993. In Phase 1…

An array of qualities exists that distinguish the schools of Canada. Three qualities that constitute achievement are discussed in this paper. First, schools have generally acquired a place of high regard in the eyes of the public. Second, this country has built a teaching corps the quality of which is unmatched in the English-speaking world.…