The Media and Educational Testing: In Pursuit of the Truth or in Pursuit of a Good Story?

The measurement community needs to better understand how to interact with the media to effectively disseminate important findings from educational testing efforts. To this end, the current paper will review media coverage of educational testing and related issues and elaborate on areas of concern and opportunities for improved communication between measurement professionals and the media. Common misinterpretations of test results and measurement concepts will be discussed and suggestions for the clearer presentation and explanation of such information will be offered. Also, practical advice and strategies for handling different types of interactions with the media will be provided. The implications of focusing on this topic in the measurement profession and the inherent public value of this focus are highlighted throughout the paper.     

Reliability and validity of speech rating scales: Some error effects

Validity and reliability are important criteria in speech rating scale development and use. This investigation explores the effects of certain rater errors, compares a newly devloped scale to a widely used instrument, and suggests the existence of specific factors as crucial elements in evaluation.     

Current Issues in Pastoral Management

REVIEW ARTICLE

The Health-Related Behaviour Questionnaire Service from the Schools Health Education Unit: Some Comments on the Review by Lambourn, reviewed by Davis Regis

REVIEWS

The Effective Teacher, by Cedric Cullingford. London: Cassell, 1995. 205pp. pb ISBN 0 304 33177 5, £13.99, hb ISBN 0 304 33180 5, reviewed by Don Baines

Cooperation in the Multi-Ethnic Classroom: The Impact of Cooperative Group Work on Social Relationships in Middle Schools, by Helen Cowie, Peter Smith, Michael Boulton and Rema Laver. London: David Fulton Publishers, 1994. 214+viiipp. pb ISBN 1 85346 284 5, £14.99, reviewed by Andrew Wright

Areas for Growth, by James Hanratty. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994. 108pp. pb ISBN 0 521 46910 4, £25.95, reviewed by Joy Widdows

Refugee Children in the Classroom, by Jill Rutter. Stoke-on-Trent: Trentham Books, 1994. 288pp. pb ISBN 185856 008 X, £13.95, reviewed by Caroline Lodge     

Creating,implementing and integrating a first‐year statistics requirement

We present the process our institution used to create a statistics requirement for almost all incoming first‐year students. From conception and planning, to hiring and acceptance by the university community, we offer lessons learned should you consider making such a shift in your own curriculum.     

A NEW LOOK AT PRESERVICE TEACHERS' CONCEPTIONS OF CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION: UNCOVERING COMPLEXITY AND DISSONANCE

This article examines preservice teachers' conceptions of classroom management and organization in light of their training and beliefs about good teaching. Students in their final year of a 5-year program discussed their definitions and conceptions of classroom management, organization, and rule systems through an open-ended questionnaire. Researchers analyzed responses using a grounded approach. Findings revealed a portrait of student perceptions more complex than those in previous studies, with conceptions often changing according to the nature of the question asked. Respondents exhibited a preoccupation with behavior management previously recognized in other studies; however, findings also revealed underlying conflicts between respondents' theoretical orientations and conceptions of management, a lack of attention to developing student independence, and a conceptual schism between organization and management. Findings suggest a need for teacher educators to clarify the role of management, clarify relationships between organization and management, and help students to bridge specific theory–practice gaps.     

The ideal speech department in the second half of the twentieth century

A nonpartisan pressure group, Common Cause seeks to play an important role in political campaigns by forcing issues upon candidates which they would otherwise avoid, by providing information to shape public opinion on special issues, and by scrutinizing compliance with laws applying to campaign activities.     

Looking for love in all the wrong places: Accessing sexual and reproductive health information via the Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature

The Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature has been described as a cultural barometer. It supports scholars of history and culture by providing access to ideas circulated via the mass media in earlier times, but its own coverage and indexing practices also reveal attitudes and values toward issues of the time. The Progressive Era (1900–1924) coincides with the founding and growth of the Readers' Guide. Examining how the Readers' Guide directed readers' attention to matters of sexual and reproductive health in its first quarter century demonstrates changes in social attitudes and has implications for scholarly work. The array of index terms required to locate information on this topic indicates both barriers to information access for contemporary readers as well as challenges for present-day scholars concerned with recovering information of the era.