A battery of reading tests designed to identify the component skills involved in reading comprehension was administered to 624 sixth grade students in the metropolitan Sydney (Australia) schools. Factor analysis of the data showed that knowledge of word meanings, sentence comprehension, and semantic context are experimentally identifiable…

The report investigates the problems of assessing the availability of fertility regulation methods in the household and the community. The study originated from the need to evaluate a number of proposed additions to the data collection instruments used by the World Fertility Survey (WFS). The core questionnaire was modified to add the following…

The Japanese high school entrance examinations were examined in detail for social studies, mathematics, and science test items. Most items measured knowledge and comprehension rather than synthesis, analysis, or scientific thinking. Implications for middle school instruction were discussed. (GDC)

This study analyzed the Tertiary Admission Examination and Australian Scholastic Aptitude Test results for 264 pairs of 17-year-old monozygotic and dizygotic twins in Western Australia to determine if examination performance is influenced by environmental or genetic factors. Purely environmental models are rejected as inadequate explanations of…

This annual report combines the November, January, April, June, and August provincial results in diploma examination courses in Alberta, Canada. The graphs, tables, and text describe student performance for the entire school year. The report is designed to assist school personnel in identifying patterns of student achievement in Alberta and…

This paper reports on a study that analyzed the links between child labor and poor school performance. Using data gathered in Ghana in recent years through the administration of tests, the study measured reading achievement and mathematics achievement to about half of the individuals surveyed as part of the Ghana Living Standards Survey. The paper…

The implementation of the National Literacy Strategy (NLS) began in English primary schools at the start of the autumn term, 1998. It was intended to bring about "a dramatic improvement in literacy standards," so that, by 2002, 80% of all 11 year olds should reach level 4 in English at the end of Key Stage 2 national curriculum tests.…

The investigation reported in this paper was prompted by discrepancies between the published outcomes from two international tests of science achievement: (1) the Second International Assessment of Educational Progress (IAEP2), administered in 1991; and (2) the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), administered in 1995. One…

Focuses on the assessment of writing skills of incoming English-as-a-Second-Language college students in the United States and Canada. The article discusses the traditional impromptu essay and its alternatives, portfolio assessment and the Undergraduate Academic Writing Assessment (UAWA). The UAWA reveals students' previously unknown strengths and…

Achievement and ability of 135 retained elementary school students (grade 6) in Canada were compared with those of 103 matched continually promoted students. Reading comprehension, cognitive ability, and achievement test scores indicate that grade retention is ineffective in improving achievement and ability. (SLD)

The results from the testing of practical skills in science in the six participating countries of the Second International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Improvement Science Study are presented. The emphasis is on descriptive reports without extensive statistical tests. Some clear patterns of findings are evident. (SLD)

Test data from 1,305 Israeli fifth graders involved in the Second International Science Study were analyzed to assess the role of in-school versus out-of-school activities on scientific knowledge. Most of the knowledge that children master within the school is the same as that which they master outside the school. (TJH)

Educational achievement and its relation to college admission were studied for 482 high school seniors in Athens (Greece) in mid-1985, whose grades and college entrance examination scores were reviewed. Consistency in the grading system and social equity in college admission were found. Pedagogical, socioeconomic, and policy implications are…

The impact of frequency of classroom testing on achievement was studied for nearly 2,000 tenth grade male biology students in Saudi Arabia tested monthly or semimonthly. Students tested more often outperformed others on end-of-semester and delayed recall (three months) tests. (SLD)

The influence of test wiseness on the performance of 736 high school seniors in British Columbia on provincial school leaving examinations in English, algebra, geography, history, biology, and chemistry was studied. The performance of many students on the multiple-choice sections was spuriously enhanced by test wiseness. (TJH)