This investigation sought to learn about the oral and written language behavior of students from kindergarten age through grade 7, and to determine the validity of different analytic techniques for measuring children's development in control of syntax. Language samples were collected from 180 children (grades K-3, 5, and 7) by having the children…

This is the third National Assessment report on the writing of children aged 9, 13, and 17, and young adults. The three exercises used in the writing assessment were: Age 9: The Forest Fire Exercise; Age 13: The Famous Person Exercise; and Age 17: The Famous Person Exercise. An exercise for young adults (Adults: The Commissioner Stroud Letter)…

In response to requests for information on a city day-care program, a demonstration project for infants and toddlers, the Demonstration Nursery Center at the University of North Carolina, is reported. Physical makeup of the facilities is described, along with daily procedures and staff activities. To study the effects of day care on babies, a…

Examines the performance of ethnic minority students on Rubin's CCAI, with a view toward discovering potential cultural biases embedded in the instrument. Concludes that such biases appear to exist. (MS)

The Worker Profiling and Reemployment Services (WPRS) program requires states to establish systems for identifying Unemployment Insurance (UI) claimants likely to exhaust their UI benefits and refers them to reemployment services. An evaluation was conducted to assess the reliability of the impact estimates provided in the evaluation of the WPRS…

Presents the key findings of an evaluation of an Integrated Learning System in nine United Kingdom primary and secondary schools. The evaluation design was based on the comparison of outcome performance in mathematics and reading and on student behavior, including attendance, in experimental and control groups. (Author/LRW)

A study of the faculty evaluation system at Nene College (England) is reported and compared with studies in other British universities. Evaluator, faculty, and administrator views of the program were generally positive, particularly concerning the opportunities the evaluation interviews present for discussing issues. Assessment by line manager…

Reports on a program developed in Indiana public schools to hold software evaluation workshops that would compare teacher and student evaluations of the same software. The evaluation process is discussed; tutorials, drill and practice programs, simulations, and games are examined; and tests for correlation are described. (21 references) (LRW)

A survey of 365 Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University faculty investigated undergraduate grading policies and practices across disciplines. Results reveal patterns in teacher treatment of absolute vs. relative standards, grade recording and averaging, unexcused absences, late work, class participation, and non-achievement-related…

Describes the ImpacT study that was conducted in England and Wales to evaluate the effect of information technology (IT) on elementary and secondary school students' achievements in English, geography, math, and science. Research design and methodologies are explained, and results are compared with students not using IT. (Contains 15 references.)…

To explore the effects that changing to performance-based assessment has had on sex differences in science achievement that had been observed with traditional tests, 3 studies involving more than 906 elementary school students compared scores of males and females on performance-based tests. Few gender differences were found. (SLD)

Methods of teacher evaluation in public school districts in Ohio were studied in a 272-district sample. Comparison of data with seven theoretical models from the literature on teacher evaluation indicates that 84 percent of responding districts use a traditional Trait Model (teaching in terms of traits) to evaluate the teacher. (SLD)

Describes a study that compared two information retrieval systems on a full-text medical database: one featured concept-based automatic indexing and statistical retrieval techniques, and the second used traditional word-based Boolean techniques. Evaluation of search results by calculating relative recall and precision is discussed, and user…

A study found that the admission interview scores for 62 Dartmouth Medical School (New Hampshire) applicants correlated positively with dean's letter ratings given 4 years later and that interview scores were better predictors of ratings than were total Medical College Admission Test scores or science grade point averages. (Author/MSE)

Evaluates the performance, between 1980 and 1990, of 12 supposedly revitalized cities on the basis of objective indicators of the economic well-being of their residents and compares the cities' performances to those of other cities that were equally distressed in 1980. The evaluation, with three exceptions, reveals no evidence of revitalization.…