Since understanding reading assignments is important to succeeding in school, improving the way that text is arranged in books would be an efficient way to help students better understand the material and perform well on tests. In this study, we asked students to read two original and two rearranged historical passages, in which rephrased…

Teachers of fifth-grade English and physics courses in three schools conducted an experiment that focused on methods of assessment. The objects of the experiment were (1) to reveal problems which arise in making internal assessments, and (2) to search for and apply efficient, economical, and acceptable methods of assessment which might be of…

For the past seven years, Missouri has been administering the Missouri Mastery and Achievement Tests (MMAT) to fulfill the requirements of the Excellence in Education Act of 1985. The MMAT, as a criterion-referenced test, can measure student progress on specific key skills over time. This summary presents results of the spring 1993 administration…

The report "UNO Act Class Profile, 1989-90" in the first of two serial issues presents salient parts of data from "The Class Profile Report" of the American College Testing (ACT) Corporation, which provides detailed information concerning the academic past of 1,359 freshmen entering the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) in…

Portfolio assessment has become a widely cited technique for obtaining a rich demonstration of the skills that students have acquired, and it is often implied that portfolio assessment provides different types of information from that obtained from standardized tests. This paper provides support for the contention that portfolio assessments do…

In 1982, writing was added to the North Carolina Annual Testing Program. Results from the 1990-91 writing evaluations in grades 6 and 8 are reported. Tests were read by two readers, with an agreement rate of over 71%. In 1990-91, sixth-grade students were asked to describe a kitchen so that readers could picture it. Quality was determined on the…

Before a bilingual program can be set up, students who are potential candidates for such a program must be identified. A study was made to investigate the interrelationships of three commonly used measures of "language dominance": the Language Facility Test (LFT), the Home Bilingual Usage Estimate (HBUE), and the Teacher Judgment Questionnaire…

The Milwaukee Bilingual Education Program has been guided by behavioral objectives related to desired pupil, staff, management, parent and community outcomes. The objectives were developed and revised mainly by curriculum supervisors. Frequent references are made to two publications, "Milwaukee Public Schools Bilingual Elementary Program…