Six item bias detection techniques (distractor analysis, the Mantel-Haenszel procedure, Angoff's delta plot, Angoff's modified delta plot, Stricker's partial correlation index, and direct comparison of item difficulties) were compared for their ability to identify biased items at three stages of test development. The techniques were applied to…

Teacher attitudes toward the high school proficiency test were identified through a 15-question survey distributed to 39 secondary school teachers representing various demographic school populations. The subjects were selected from five graduate education classes and a small city high school. The median number of years of teaching experience was…

A study compared the historical awareness of 2,000 East and West German children in the sixth, ninth, and twelfth grades. Because of differing school systems and the general design of the study, researchers analyzed ninth grade data. The study was conducted during the disintegration and reunification of Germany. Students from the two regions…

Chapter 188 of the Massachusetts Acts of 1985 established a statewide testing program that began in 1986. The Massachusetts Testing Program functions to improve curriculum and instruction in the public schools and districts, identify students needing assistance in mastering basic skills in the classroom, and make results available to the public.…

This interim guide, a component of the Northwest Territories (Canada) School Health Program, includes instructional strategies, lesson plans, reproducibles, and teacher background materials for ninth grade classes. The material is organized around the three curriculum units: (1) the mental and emotional well-being unit which has three lessons on…

To answer several questions about the Ohio statewide high school proficiency testing program, correlations of student performance on the ninth-grade proficiency test with other measures of reading and mathematics were studied for approximately 4,600 students in the Cleveland (Ohio) City School District. The performance of students from higher…

A survey was conducted in Illinois to identify the risk of certain health problems among adolescents; to determine the health status of Illinois youth in relation to the Surgeon General's "Healthy People 2000 Objectives" and monitor progress toward national and state goals; and to help those working at national, state, and local levels…

Higher order cognitive development and success in the study of high school mathematics and science require an understanding of rational number concepts and facility with proportional reasoning and computation. Proportional reasoning is an essential schema for developing formal operational thought. This study involving 16 ninth-grade students was…

This unit focuses on the school integration case of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (Kansas), and its immediate aftermath. The Supreme Court's 1954 decision was a catalyst for civil rights activism along a broad front over the ensuing decades. The decision and its implementation have stood as a model for similar social and political action…

This paper evaluates STRIVE, an alternative program designed to provide a nurturing, caring, and intensive academic environment for over-age, low-performing ninth grade students attending the Barbara Jordan High School for Careers in Houston (Texas). STRIVE operates in isolation from the regular student population and has a counselor and four…

This semester-long curriculum is designed to increase the self-esteem, leadership skills, and communication, decision-making, and problem-solving abilities of eighth and ninth grade students who are at risk of dropping out of school. The manual offers procedural suggestions for organizing a Going Places class. Individual sections address…

Understanding and reporting students' affective experiences with mathematics is difficult if those experiences do not resonate with personal experiences. Utilising fiction-writing in narrative reporting can be a technique that helps both the researcher and the reader of the research report to immerse themselves in the student's experiential world.…

Use of item response theory (IRT), the delta plot method, and Mantel-Haenszel techniques to assess differential item functioning (DIF) across racial and gender groups associated with the Maryland Test of Citizenship Skills (MTCS) is described. The objective of this research was to determine the: effect of sample size on results from these three…

A practicum was designed (for grades 7-9) which implemented a speech, drama, and communications course (18 students) at a nonpublic Christian school. The goals of positive student self-image and peer acceptance were emphasized through teacher-made and religious-oriented materials as well as through written and oral student presentations evidencing…

This booklet describes a number of activities initiated in the State of New Jersey to improve academic standards and to help teachers prepare their students for taking New Jersey's High School Proficiency Test (HSPT). The HSPT, administered to all public school ninth graders, is more demanding than the previously used Minimum Basic Skills Test.…