This essays in this book contain valuable and up-to-date information about current issues and developments in assessing special educational needs. The context of the book is the mainstream setting in the United Kingdom. The aim of these chapters is to consider special needs in inclusive education, consistent with British special needs legislation.…

This paper examines the direct relationship between curriculum, instruction, and evaluation, suggesting that following a national curriculum and preparing students to take national examinations requires diverse teaching materials, teaching methodologies, and testing techniques to train students to apply their cognitive skills to thinking,…

This report presents the results of a survey of teachers', parents', and the general public's views on the impact of the National Curriculum on Primary Education in Great Britain since the passage of the 1988 Education Reform Act. Chapter 1 of the report introduces the survey and presents a general review of the survey's findings, while chapter 2…

The Educational Reform Act (ERA) of 1988 reflects the most comprehensive restructuring of education in Britain in this century. This paper discusses the implementation of the National curriculum, the innovation at the heart of the ERA. The first part of the paper offers the views of educational commentators on changes resulting from this law.…

Describes how a unit on drinking water from the Association for Science Education's (ASE) project, Science across Europe, is used as the basis for incorporating assessable key skills into GNVQ Science assignments. Provides examples of worksheets and data analysis. (DDR)

A Canadian art teacher informally observes art education curricula and assessment methods in England, Wales, Scotland, and Holland; and compares these with North American and Canadian practices. Discusses issues concerned with art history, national curricula, and multicultural education. Suggests that systematic assessment of students' work and…

This paper summarizes a British study which examined the opportunities available for pupils with special educational needs and low attainment to gain examination qualifications at Key Stage 4 for the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE). Findings are discussed in terms of access to courses, changes in patterns of student placement,…

In recent years, public dissatisfaction with education has led educators, citizens, and policymakers to consider creating a national system of standards and assessments. This dissatisfaction resulted in movement to establish national standards and assessments in U.S. education. These standards are designed to raise the achievement levels of all…

This paper offers a brief overview of the Australian education system and compares it with the United States system of education. The Australian economy presents no threat to U.S. hegemony, but its education system presents an interesting contrast. The paper describes the following features of the Australian education system: governance; school…

Among the provisions of the British Educational Reform Act of 1988 are arrangements for a national system of student assessment using nationally provided tests (SATs) in most subjects and formal teacher assessment to complement information from the externally provided assessment tasks. How teachers are reacting to these reforms was studied through…

Describes a means for determining student knowledge in science. Written in student-level language, WALLS contains statements about science knowledge within bricks on a worksheet. Students shade in bricks they know or activities they have done and part-shade any they are unsure about, giving a differentiated starting point that allows them to plan…

This document refines and develops a 1992 proposal by Great Britain's Further Education Unit (FEU) that all kinds of student achievement be documented within a common framework involving the following procedures: describing adult learners' achievements in terms of learning outcomes; grouping the learning outcomes into coherent units; defining the…

This report on education standards considers national educational reform, New Hampshire initiatives, and implications of education standards for students with special needs. Included is information on national curriculum standards projects for mathematics, art, history, civics and government, geography, English and foreign languages, economics,…

A program for national educational evaluation was established in Sweden in 1989. In 1992, a second data collection was carried out. The program is designed to serve national and local purposes of evaluation. One concept that has been emphasized strongly is an "explorative way of working." Evaluating an explorative way of working is a…

The National Education Standards and Improvement Council (NESIC) was established in the Goals 2000: Educate America Act. One of NESIC's duties is to identify areas in which specific educational standards ought to be developed. Several complex issues arise in carrying out this duty, such as: the need for standards in such non-content areas as…