This paper provides a synthesis of literature related to communication competency and assessment. The paper concludes that pieces of the communication competency puzzle are scattered all across the communication field--some pieces fit together, others do not. It also asserts that no one in the field has "the picture on the box"--the…

Suggests that telecommunications and multimedia technologies of interactive video have increased possibilities for learners at-risk to become successful. Discusses a portfolio planning guide which contains instructional strategies for creating literacy and diagnostic multimedia assessment information. Discusses how undergraduate elementary and…

Provides an extensive resource list on foreign language Learning in relation to at-risk students and students with foreign language learning problems. (Author/VWL)

The Developmental Inventory of Sources of Stress (DISS) is an instructional tool designed to assist counselors, advisors, and faculty in reducing stress among college students (specifically, high risk college freshmen, although it can be utilized effectively with any college student population). The instrument focuses on sources of stress over…

Discusses how instructors working with at-risk students have effectively used a learning portfolio to increase metacognitive awareness. Describes the learning portfolio as a method that facilitates student participation via a self-assessment of what they have learned about learning. Appended are directions for implementing, monitoring, and…

An academic enrichment program was designed for a large state university and an experiment conducted to test its effectiveness in enhancing high-risk students' academic performance. Students in the enrichment program significantly outperformed control group students but only within the program's scope. The need for continuing support efforts is…

Innovations, Educational Testing Service (ETS's) corporate magazine, provides information on educational assessment for educators, school leaders, researchers and policymakers around the world. Each issue focuses on a particular theme in assessment. This issue explores the question, "What makes a great teacher?" Articles in this issue…

This report describes the evaluation process of Portland, Oregon's Student Mentoring Program (SMP), a program which brought college students from four private universities and at risk eighth grade students from four middle schools in mentoring relationships. The evaluation design is described, as are the various measurements used to assess program…

Student academic motivation and student evaluation of overall faculty effectiveness and instructional techniques at Barber-Scotia College were studied to identify the academically underprepared and unmotivated students. Students provided assessments concerning the impact of the college's course offerings, the effectiveness of their instructors,…

The Student as Learner Inventory, which was developed at Alverno College (Wisconsin), is described. Alverno College is a private, 4-year liberal arts college for women with an enrollment of 2,500 students. The inventory, which is completed by entering and second semester students in an undergraduate program, is integral to the curriculum. The…

Measures used at the Division of Developmental Studies at the University of Georgia in constructing a student profile (specifically, of high-risk college freshmen) are discussed. The areas measured concern: goals; learning styles; career exploration; stress and academic anxiety; developmental tasks; and locus of control. The goals checklist…

This evaluation assesses the impact of New Jersey's Reading Recovery program on first-grade students in the Newark School District. The report presents results from two cohorts and is divided into two main sections. Section 1 deals with the achievement of the students from the 1991-1992 academic year. Their performance at the end of first grade in…

Jersey City State College (New Jersey) developed a local evaluation model to assess all salient aspects of the institution's basic skills program. The college's Academic Foundations Program was implemented to address the needs of urban educationally disadvantaged students. It includes faculty and staff development and research, freshman course…

This graduate-level textbook provides a framework for understanding giftedness, and considers the counseling process and strategies for counseling in the schools. Chapters include: "The Gifted Individual" (Linda Kreger Silverman); "The Quest for Meaning: Counseling Issues with Gifted Children and Adolescents" (Deirdre V. Lovecky); "A Developmental…

This instructional module is part of a project to reform current school curricula, improve instructional services for handicapped and at-risk limited-English-proficient (LEP) and language minority students, and provide innovative leadership in higher education related to programs for LEP persons. The materials contained in the module are designed…