This paper reviews three distinct research programs in performance-based assessment. It also shows the technical qualities of performance-based assessment, and discusses the major problems, strategies, and emerging new directions for performance-based assessment. This review provides information for further consideration using such assessment in the educational system in Hong Kong.

In attempting to adopt exit controls over tertiary graduates' language proficiency, this paper outlines difficulties encounter in implementing such policy; feasible solutions are also suggested, provided with its advantages and disadvantages.

The establishment of a common ability scale is discussed by the author, of which aims at defining the range in English language ability of Hong Kong secondary students and providing English language teachers a reference point for assessing their students' competence.

文章探討幾種代表學生不同程度主動性的中文作文評改方法對高中學生作成績及寫作態度的影響。作者的研究重點在比較教師精批細改法、教師符號批改法、同輩量表互改法、學生量表自改法四種改文方法對學生寫作在效應上是否有顯著的不同。結果顯示，同輩量表互改法在刺激學生修改作文、改善學生寫作習慣及加強學生對評改的記憶等方面，有較佳的表現。（何文勝整理）

作者檢討自1984年開設的中學會考美術課程習作卷，發現當中存在一些值得改善的地方，其中包括：此卷平均分偏高；考生在此卷考獲的成績與節一部份素描卷的成績關係數甚低；評核工作受時間限制；不少有經驗的評審員的離職影響評分水準；此卷並無規限作品形式，因而部份作品未能真正反映學生基本技巧和能力。

作者比較和分析1984至1993年參加香港中學會考美術科各卷的應考人數。從繪畫、平面設計、書法、美術史和課程習作各選卷看，最受歡迎是平面設計，其次是繪畫；最不受考生歡迎的是美術史卷。比較兩份素描卷後，作者發現選考植物寫生卷的人數遠比人物寫生卷為多。從整體會考人數與選考美術科的人數比較，1984至1993年的多年中，祇有1.2%上升。作者認為，這現象可歸咎於課程不均衡。

The purpose of this study was twofold: to examine how attitudinal and instructional variables differentiated 4th-grade students in Cyprus, Hong Kong, and the USA; and to determine how those variables were related to math performance on the TIMSS test. A discriminant analysis was performed to examine how those variables differentiated the students in the 3 countries. The most striking result was that the students from all 3 countries, who were similar to the average students in Cyprus, had the highest achievement within their countries. Thus, 4th-grade students who liked math, who thought it was important to do well in math for their friends, who did not need private instruction, and who had not been taught using computers or small group procedures, tended to be the better students. However, students who were similar to the average USA student had the lowest achievement within each of the 3 countries.
[Copyright of Educational Research & Evaluation is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1076/edre.8.1.129.6919 ]

This study uses data collected from children in Hong Kong for the PIRLS international reading survey of 2001. A total of 4867 students aged 9 to 10 years from 147 primary schools were assessed. The aim of the study is to investigate the observed differences in comprehension skills displayed in the test results from students at three ability levels. Affective factors (attitudes and reading self-concept) are also compared for the three groups. Results indicate that the lower-ability students performed very poorly in all four processes of comprehension even at the most basic level of retrieval of facts. This weakness at the lower level greatly impaired the students' ability to operate at higher levels of comprehension involving inference, prediction, integration of ideas and critical evaluation. The weakest readers had extreme difficulty with test items requiring an extended written response. Even on simple multiple-choice items their performance was inferior to the average and higher-ability groups. Data from the supplementary questionnaires indicates that across all ability groups the children's attitude toward reading is correlated positively with reading achievement. However, data collected on the students' reading self-concept produced anomalous results that cast some doubt on the feasibility of using self-evaluation and self-report questionnaires with this age and cultural group. Practical implications from the findings are discussed.
[Copyright of Australian Journal of Learning Disabilities is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19404150509546781]

The procedure for the development of a measure of humour appreciation among a convenience sample of 53 primary school children attending a one-week summer program held in Hong Kong is described. Two sets of visual stimuli depicting pictures of local celebrities portrayed either veridically (congruously) or incongruously were established from a pool of 30 pictorial items. The pictures were ranked for their humour properties yielding a 16-item test battery. Analyses of children's responses clearly indicated that incongruous pictures were rated as significantly funnier than congruous pictures.
[Copyright of Australian Journal of Educational and Developmental Psychology is the property of University of Newcastle, Faculty of Education.
Access via Directory of Open Access Journals: http://www.newcastle.edu.au/journal/ajedp/]