This paper presents findings of a study that examined young adolescents' motivational processes and use of strategies with expository text. Specifically, the study sought to determine how their attributes, self-efficacy, intrinsic value, anxiety, and goal orientation related to their use of cognitive and self-regulating strategies needed to…

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is a congressionally mandated survey of educational achievement of what American students know and can do, it also includes a yardstick that can be used to evaluate that performance. Results, presented here for the states and the nation, indicate that just over 60 percent of the students in…

An innovative intermediate music programme was instituted at an elementary school in a middle class suburban area in Canada. The music teacher at the school designed a unique curriculum, the Technology in Music Programme (TIMP), for a classroom equipped with microcomputers, sequencers, drum machines, music instrument digital interface (MIDI)…

These item specifications were developed as a part of the Arkansas "Minimum Performance Testing Program" (MPT). There is one item specification for each instructional objective included in the MPT. The purpose of an item specification is to provide an overview of the general content and format of test items used to measure an…

Curriculum mapping activities can be useful in analyzing curriculum goals and planning curriculum revision. This document is specifically designed using the Science Education Curriculum Goals articulated by the State of Oregon for grade 8. The goal areas include concepts, processes, manipulative skills, interests, values, interactions and…

Students' abstract reasoning abilities can differ from one society to another. Students' profiles play significant roles in these differences. The aim of the study is to determine the relationship between middle school students' cognitive development levels and their profiles (age, gender, and science achievement) using the Science Cognitive…

A locally revised measure of self-concept and racial attitudes was used to determine if factor analysis could detect possible item bias. Participants were 2,800 Hispanic Americans, Whites, and Blacks in fifth or eighth grade. A classical factor analysis (using commonality estimates) with Varimax rotation defined the factor structure of all…

A study focused on 41 eighth-grade students from a south Texas middle school who read self-selected books for 30-minute periods 5 times weekly from October 1996 to May 1997 to determine if increased reading time and book self-selection would improve their reading achievement. The study also sought to determine the students' attitudes towards…

Investigated gender-related differences in the process of solving routine word problems using a nine-step strategy in (n=153) sixth- and (n=149) eighth-grade students. Females were slightly better than males at following the prescribed problem-solving process. Includes test items. (39 references) (MKR)

This document outlines the framework and assessment design for the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS) sponsored by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA). Over the past 50 years, IEA has conducted comparative research studies focusing on educational policies, practices, and…

These item specifications were developed as a part of the Arkansas "Minimum Performance Testing Program" (MPT). There is one item specification for each instructional objective included in the MPT. The purpose of an item specification is to provide an overview of the general content and format of test items used to measure an…

The Austin (Texas) Independent School District was awarded a grant by the state to establish a program for middle school students who are pregnant or parents. The Pregnancy, Education, and Parenting (PEP) program was started at Robbins Secondary School to provide maximum academic and support services, as well as licensed day care, for male and…

Examination of the first two graduating classes of students who had attended suburban Chicago's School District 151 (which was the first Northern school district to be desegregated by court order after desegregation was ordered in 1968) revealed that black students, whether from desegregated or from all-black elementary schools, enter high school…

This manual is designed to accompany Pennsylvania's Educational Quality Assessment (EQA) intermediate school reports to assist in their interpretation and understanding. The normative sample is described as stratified on two dimensions: district enrollment and wealth. Administration procedures are summarized. The cognitive and non-cognitive areas…

Approximately 20,000 eighth-and eleventh-grade students in Texas were tested on nine career education objectives; (1) career planning and decision making; (2) occupational information; (3) job acquisition and retention; (4) work attitudes; (5) human relations skills; (6) self evaluation; (7) personal responsibilities; (8) economic factors; and (9)…