In order to study for citizenship tests, amnesty students need to be able to read U.S. history material, although they usually have no background knowledge for it. According to schema theory, background knowledge is important for reading comprehension. Research has shown significant improvement in the reading comprehension of intermediate level…

The e-rater® system has been used by ETS for automated essay scoring since 1999. This paper describes a new version of e-rater (v.2.0) that differs from the previous one (v.1.3) with regard to the feature set and model building approach. The paper describes the new version, compares the new and previous versions in terms of performance, and…

To comply with state law, the results of the South Carolina Basic Skills Assessment Program (BSAP) are reported for the 1989-90 school year. Accomplishments included: (1) administering the readiness test--the Cognitive Skills Assessment Battery (CSAB)--to all first graders; (2) administering criterion-referenced basic skills tests to all students…

Two studies investigated the performance of Florida high school seniors on the Tests of General Educational Development (GED Tests). The GED Test Battery, as revised in 1980, consists of 290 items in 5 subject areas (writing, social studies, science, reading, and mathematics). In the first study, the performance of 1,200 Florida students was…

Selected papers from the conference on the future of second language teaching include: "Reasons for Shame, Reasons for Pride: Foreign Languages and Democracy in America" (Mary Hatwood Futrell); "Present's Tense but Future's Perfect: A Twenty-First Century Case for Foreign Language" (Alan Garfinkel, Holly Schrank);…

This paper provides a very brief summary of the first three years of study of the court-ordered desegregation effort in St. Louis (Missouri). It examines differences in the reading and mathematics scores from the Stanford Achievement Test along with a performance-based writing assessment for four groups of African-American students. These groups…

The Ohio sixth-grade proficiency test is intended to measure a student's literacy level and basic competency in writing, reading, mathematics, citizenship, and science. This guide is designed to help parents prepare their fifth- and sixth-grade children for this proficiency test. An introduction, "Important Information," outlines three…

The Minnesota Board of Teaching adopted the Pre-Professional Skills Tests (PPST) for initial teacher licensure as required by the State Legislature. A 1987 validation study set qualifying scores for reading, mathematics, and writing. This report evaluates the 4-year administration of the PPST, using data from 1987-91 that were analyzed according…

In the spring of 1992, all students in the elementary schools and middle schools of the Cherry Creek Schools (Colorado) participated in Read-On Write-On (ROWO). A random sample of 20 percent of the 3,542 papers from grades 1-8) from each school was collected and sent to the Assessment and Evaluation Office for scoring. Each paper (above grade 1)…

This study has investigated the comparability of computer-based testing (CBT) writing prompts in the Test of English as a Foreign Language™ (TOEFL®) for examinees of different native language backgrounds. A total of 81 writing prompts introduced from July 1998 through August 2000 were examined using a three-step logistic regression procedure for…

Practices for improving adolescent literacy--which includes reading, writing, and speaking--are much discussed and debated among secondary school educators and researchers. At Discovery Middle School in Madison, Alabama, the debate has ended after teachers and administrators implemented several practices that elevated student achievement from…

This PowerPoint report summarizes AISD student demographic and performance results at high schools as of the end of the 2007-2008 school year.

This report summarizes Austin Independent School District's (AISD's) 2005-2006 bilingual and English as a second language programs.

This handbook contains information for high school educators--teachers, curriculum coordinators, counselors, and principals--as they prepare students to take the Prairie State Achievement Examination (PSAE). The first section explains the purpose of the PSAE, gives timelines and test-day schedules, and shows how the PSAE is constructed. The rest…

The purposes and methods of testing in bilingual and English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) education are discussed. Different instruments, including specific published tests, are listed and described briefly. They include language proficiency assessments, achievement tests, and assessments in special education. Introductory sections address topics…