Identifying Prepared and Competent Teachers with Professional Knowledge Tests

Paper–pencil teacher tests of professional knowledge typically are organized around the conventional dimensions that define state teaching standards, such as classroom management and assessment. We examined if such tests could be partitioned into three other dimensions (general knowledge, academic or textbook knowledge, and functional teaching knowledge), and if these dimensions (1) identified between those who did and did not receive teacher preparation, and (2) predicted teaching competence. A teacher test was given to advanced and beginning education majors, and non-majors. We found that advanced education majors and non-majors differed mostly on academic knowledge, but that functional knowledge predicted competence to the greatest extent. A variety of useful information can be gleaned from teacher tests if subscores of these dimensions are generated.     

Educational/Instructional Media

Sheila Mahony, Nick DeMartino, and Robert Stengel's Keeping PACE with the New Television (New York: VNU Books International, 1980---price not given, paper)

Don Agostino and Jayne Zenaty's "Home VCR Owner's Use of Television and Public Television: Viewing, Recording & Playback" (CPB, 1980---free on request, paper)

The Communications Revolution and the Education of Americans (Council on Learning, NBW Tower, New Rochelle, N.Y. 10801---$6.95, paper)

Ted Carpenter's Calling the Tune: Communication Technology for Working, Learning, and Living (National Institute for Work and Learning, Suite 301 1211 Connecticut Ave. NW, Washington 20036---$12.00, paper)

The Economics of New Educational Media: Vol 2, Cost and Effectiveness (Paris: Unesco/New York: Unipub, 1980---$18.00, paper)

A Guide to Rules and Regulations for Public Radio (National Federation of Community Broadcasters, 1000 11th St. NW (3rd floor), Washington, D.C. 20001---$50.00, loose-leaf format in notebook)     

Conceptualizing Teaching to the Test Under Standards-Based Reform

Teacher and school accountability systems based on high-stakes tests are ubiquitous throughout the United States and appear to be growing as a catalyst for reform. As a result, educators have increased the proportion of instructional time devoted to test preparation. Although guidelines for what constitutes appropriate and inappropriate test preparation exist, they are outdated and need revision. The current article proposes new guidelines within the framework of standards-based assessment. It also examines the test preparation practices in 32 third- and fifth-grade classrooms and examines the relationship between student test performance and test preparation activities using a two-level Hierarchical Linear Model. Instruction on tested objectives using items like those presented on the state test, decontextualized practice, and teaching test taking skills offered no student achievement benefit relative to general instruction on the state standards leading us to conclude that test preparation was not beneficial.     

Measuring Social Capital as an Outcome of Service Learning

Service-learning has been put forth as one of the proposed solutions to increasing social capital. However, service-learning research has not significantly addressed the impact of service learning on social capital. Unlike most previous studies, this research used quantitative analysis to measure the effect of university service-learning programs on social capital by examining the question: What impact do service-learning programs have on social capital post-graduation? This study showed that service learning addresses the civic engagement problem by providing evidence suggesting that service learning predicts social capital post-graduation.     

Circulations,Revenues, and Profits in a Newspaper Market with Fixed Advertising Costs

This article investigates a model in which 2 newspapers compete between them for readers with differentiated preferences and advertise new products at a cost per reader that decreases as the circulation increases. The model can account for the empirical regularity that the revenues from advertising and the profits of the newspapers increase more than proportionally with the circulation. A complementary finding is that a larger number of potential advertisers lowers the profits of both newspapers.     

Structural engineering and geology applied to the static problems of the Etruscan “Tomba dell’Orco” (Tarquinia,Central Italy)

The Etruscan Tomba dell’Orco was discovered in 1868. However, soon after discovery, part of its ceiling collapsed. An investigation was thus conducted with a view to assessing its safety conditions and permitting visitors’ access. Petrographic and physico-mechanical features of the local weak sandstones and mechanically more resistant calcareous sandstones “macco” were determined. Field mapping, drill-holes and geophysical prospecting helped reconstruct the stratigraphy of the volume where the tomb was excavated. The stability of the tomb basement is given by a thick macco layer. A few dm macco layer was identified above the ceiling. A model was then prepared with the Plaxis 2D V8.6 software. The safety coefficients calculated along two cross-sections of the tomb indicated that the margins for the tomb stability are reasonable.