This study was designed to explore children's understanding of formative assessment and its effects on their learning, in order to establish what learners perceive as important to help them improve their learning. The study found that children have a good understanding of the concepts of feedback, and can articulate clearly the elements most…

Discusses how a fourth-grade language arts teacher (who had moved from basal instruction to a program based on students' selection of literature) used "circle discussions" to satisfy, in part, the accountability concerns of parents and administrators. Notes that these discussions of literature among the students became an integral part…

Observes four sixth graders composing nonfiction projects for an integrated unit on Canadian studies, using hypermedia. Ponders issues raised when students compose in hypermedia including evaluating nontraditional projects, developing a sense of audience, conventions of the medium, use of visuals to convey information, engaged students, and…

This paper summarizes and discusses the findings from interviews of 10 fifth graders conducted before and after each of their six U.S. history units. Special reference is made to potential curricular and instructional implications from the findings. The 10 students began the year with little historical knowledge and they displayed numerous…

Forty prototypical descriptions representing 4 aptitude domains and 4 talent fields were rated by 2,343 intermediate-level pupils and their teachers, and indices of interpeer agreement were computed. A majority of the prototypes maintained acceptable interpeer agreement levels. Interpeer agreement depended primarily on the specific aptitude or…

Sixth-grade students (n=22) with learning disabilities were administered a curriculum-based reading measurement over 18 weeks and attitudinal and self-perception measures as pretests and posttests. Students' self-perceptions of reading competence improved. Attitudes toward oral reading, while not improving, were positively related to fluency.…

The 69 instruments in this bibliography describe a variety of attitude measures designed to assess teacher-student relationships and attitudes toward various school subjects, peers, and other school concerns. (Separate bibliographies on attitudes toward reading and mathematics are available.) Although all ages are represented, the tests target…

The evaluation of the first year of the ESEA Title III Reorganized Junior High Program at Jordan and Marshall University Junior High Schools is reported. The product objectives of the program were: (1) increased counselor effectiveness, (2) positive student attitude towards teachers, counselors, and school, and (3) increased parent and student…

An action research project was conducted in a fourth-grade classroom (21 students) to determine whether collaboratively created rubrics and authentic assessment strategies such as simulations, portfolios, and models are valid, authentic, and equitable measurement tools that will raise a student's self-esteem through the assessment process. An…

Describes how a teacher who taught the same group of students for fourth and fifth grades taught her students to set reading goals, work to achieve them, reflect on them, use self-evaluation to set new goals, and use portfolios to assess their results. Notes that her students used these tools to learn to be critical thinkers as well. (SR)

This study found that use of a dependent group evaluation system effectively decreased the group's inappropriate verbalizations and that the 9 students (ages 11-13) with disabilities had positive reactions to the system. The system involved delivering reinforcement based on an identified student's rating and congruence of the student's rating with…

Presented is the 1976-77 evaluation report of the Alexandria Program for the Gifted and Talented, a multi-dimensional approach to the differentiated education of children in grades 4 through 6 with exceptional abilities in both the cognitive and artistic areas. In Section I, an overview of the program is provided and it is explained that special…

Reports a study of a gifted and a learning-disabled sixth grader and their constructions of and responses to their physical education teacher's grading practices. Interviews indicated they experienced similar emotional reactions to the physical education environment (frustration and disappointment over their grades and desire to eliminate grades…

Eight highly structured fifth- and sixth-grade classrooms were compared with seven less structured classrooms with respect to the degree to which teachers', classmates', and self ratings of ability to read were in agreement. It was suggested that classroom structures may effect perceptions of ability. (CTM)

Describes study of fifth and sixth grade Jewish Israeli students that tested the hypothesis that intrinsic motivation will be differentially affected by task-involving and ego-involving evaluation. Three feedback conditions involving grades and individual comments are explained, and results are discussed in terms of student interest and…