Literature,listening, and young children

“What is that sound?”, “What did the kangaroo say?”, and “What might you hear during a walk?” provide evidence that educators of young children realize that listening represents a necessary ingredient in successful school experiences. Children listen for many hours of the school day, but listening has been a neglected area of instruction. The traditional low priority of listening instruction may have been based upon the myth that children naturally learn to listen or on the misconception that listening skills cannot be taught. Using literature to teach listening can improve learners' listening abilities, provided early childhood educators use developmentally appropriate children's literature.     

Special Needs and the GCSE

What provisions are to be made in the new GCSE examinations for candidates who need special consideration because of their special educational needs? Don Ramsden, Secretary, East Midland Regional Examinations Board, and Mary Thompson, Secretary, East Anglian Examinations Board, describe the background to the new examinations and the proposed guidelines relating to 'handicapped' candidates to be issued shortly.     

Development of Performance Assessments in Science: Conceptual, Practical, and Logistical Issues

What are practical and logistical constraints in developing science performance assessments (SPAs)? What are key components in a framework for conceptualizing the process? What are the major steps in SPA development?     

Learning Outcome Testing Program: Standardized Classroom Testing in West Virginia Through Item Banking, Test Generation, and Curricular Management Software

What conditions stimulated the Learning Outcome Testing Program and what approaches were adopted? What issues need to be addressed in the selection of computer software? What steps should be taken to train teachers to develop item banks and use testing software?     

The Rise and Fall of Criterion Referenced Measurement?

How frequently have articles about CRT appeared? What advances in measurement have been influenced by the CRT movement? What has been the lasting contribution of the CRT movement?     

落实科教兴昭 迎接知识经济的挑战

知识经济扑面而来,引起了世界各国的关注,中国也不例外。什么是知识经济？它的本质和内容是什么？有哪些新现象？给我国带来什么机遇和挑战？本文对此作了阐述,并就如何落实科教兴昭阐述了自己的观点。     

Inflated Test Score Gains: Is the Problem Old Norms or Teaching the Test?

What explanations have been provided for spurious test score gains? Are states and districts narrowing the curriculum and teaching the test? What effect does teaching the test have on the norms themselves? What alternatives must be sought to protect the integrity of instruction and the validity of scores?     

自主 实践 生活 综合--综合实践活动课程破解

综合实践活动是一门什么性质的课程，设置综合实践活动课程的理论依据是什么，其实践基础又是什么，等等。对这些问题，人们首先必须弄清楚，只有这样，才可能对之有正确的认识和积极主动地实施综合实践活动课程，自主性、实践性、生活性、整合性是综合实践活动课程的重要特征。     

The State of NCME: Remembering the Past, Looking to the Future

What are the roots of NCME? What were our initial goals and how well have we attained them? Are we drifting away from our practitioner orientation? What should be our policy on important matters in educational practice and our role in sociopolitical issues in educational measurement?     

A Dangerous Benefit: Dialogue, Discourse, and Michel Foucault's Critique of Representation

Dialogue has been analyzed by educational theorists mainly from a perspective of representation. However, social theory on language has long questioned whether representation is the primary function of language. Thus, educational debates over the uses and abuses of dialogue entail a blind spot. What if dialogue works in ways that are not representational? What if dialogue is, rather, to be understood as both representation and discourse? In this article, the author argues that dialogue must be understood in both ways. As such, dialogue may be a representational benefit, but it is also a discursive danger.     

Psychometric and Social Issues in Admissions to Israeli Universities

How are students selected for university in Israel? What does the Psychometric Entrance Test measure? How effective is the process of translating tests? What studies have been conducted on the tests?     

Classical Test Theory in Historical Perspective

What were the historic origins of classical test theory? What have been major milestones in its development?     

大学：适应，保守，还是超越

大学曾有过对口、适应一类的说法，如适应社会需要等等。大学需不需要适应？大学适应什么？大学有保守的一面吗？它本保守，还是应当保守？大学还能超越吗？它又超越什么？大学究竟应是怎样的呢？     

The Instructional Consecpences of Criterion Referenced Clarity

What has been the impact of CRTs on instruction? What are some dangers involved in specifying instructional targets? Why should we focus on score-based inferences? How should we evaluate the quality of our CRTs?     

Overview of State Legislation to Regulate Standardized Testing

What has been the pattern of state legislatures to regulate testing? Why is testing a legislative issue? What should be the relationship between state legislatures and testing companies?     

What Happened to Test Scores,and Why?

What has happened in recent decades to the test scores of American students? What can be said about the causes of trends in scores? Do these trends provide an indictment of the effectiveness of American schools? How should test scores be used to inform the debate about education policy?     

Criterion Referencd Testing 30 Yeam Later: Promise Broken, Promise Kept

What promises has CRT kept or broken? Why do we need denser tests to make good, criterion-referenced interpretations? What wisdom has grown from experience with CRTs?     

中学数学课程改革的探索

中学数学课程改革究竟改了什么?改革后的数学课堂教学应如何避免常见的教学误区?本文就以上两个问题进行了较为深入的探索,对数学教师的新课程教学具有很好的参考价值.     

Do NAEP Scales Yield Valid Criterion-Referenced Interpretations?

What are some of the ways that the NAEP scales have been interpreted? Are such interpretations valid? What conditions are necessary before valid criterion-referenced interpretations can be made for the NAEP Proficiency Scales? Does the NAEP test development process meet these conditions?     

Facts About Samples, Fantasies About Domains

In past issues (vol.8, no. 1 and vol. 10, no. 1), Mehrens & Kaminski and Cohen & Hyman have addressed test-preparation procedures. On what points is there agreement between these authors? What are points of disagreement? Where have Cohen & Hyman misinterpreted Mehrens & Kaminski? What points made by Cohen & Hyman confuse Mehrens?