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The Hawaii Learning Project (HALP) has produced an Algebra I curriculum that stresses student learning through problem solving, communication, connections, development over time, and challenging tasks. The HALP curriculum is used by more than 16,000 students in 13 states. Scores on standardized algebra tests for HALP graduates have been about the same as for students who have gone through a more traditional algebra program, but teachers of HALP students have strongly suggested that their students were doing better than students they had taught with more traditional approaches. Whether a standardized, norm-referenced commercially available test would be sensitive enough to show growth on the part of students using the HALP curriculum was studied. The most promising test available was the Harcourt-Brace GOALS: A Performance Based Measure of Achievement, which also had the advantage of having national norms and being equated scale-wise to the Metropolitan Achievement Test. GOALS scores were obtained from 190 Algebra I HALP students in Hawaii and Mississippi. Results show that this commercial, norm-referenced standardized performance-based test can reveal large gains beyond normative expectation, even though virtually no gains were shown with a more traditional standardized norm-referenced test. It is concluded that to assess the effects of an algebra program that reflects the new paradigm of curriculum recently espoused by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, commonly used algebra tests may not be valid. A test like GOALS may better reflect achievement in student-driven curricula. (Contains six tables and five references.) (SLD)

An analytical procedure that uses fall kindergarten assessment data to retroactively create equivalent comparison groups for longitudinal research and evaluation studies was designed and tested, and then analytically and empirically compared with random assignment to treatment. Students entering kindergarten in Hawaii are administered the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (Revised) and the Missouri Kindergarten Inventory of Developmental Skills. In 1990, 8,909 matched pairs of students (i.e., students with 1986 fall kindergarten data and 1990 third-grade data) with data on these tests and on the Stanford Achievement Test in grade 3 were identified, and retroactive equivalent groups were created to compare a group who had received some sort of specific treatment with equivalents. Given the distribution of pretreatment scores for the treatment group, along with socioeconomic data and ethnic distribution, an equivalent distribution was created by filling the slots with appropriate individuals, also choosing the schools so as to ensure equivalence in distribution of school attrition rates. The net result was two groups with equivalent distributions. Had the design relied on random assignment to treatment, there would have been non-trivial probabilities that the groups would differ substantively on one or more of the variables. The method appeared feasible for conducting reality-based research when data allow for selection of a comparison group retroactively. Three tables present study data. (SLD)

The purpose of this study was to determine the needs related to nutrition education in the state of Hawaii. Twenty-four-hour diet recalls were obtained from 932 students in grades 5, 8, and 11. Larger percentages of older children than younger children reported diets poor in nutritional quality. Cholesterol intake of males increased with age and was higher than the intake of females. The mean intakes of sodium among junior and senior high females were within the recommended range, but the average intake in other groups exceeded the recommendation. Candy was a major contributor of sugar in the diets of teenage girls, whereas soft drinks accounted for a substantial portion of the sugar consumed by teenage boys. The energy value of between-meal snacks increased dramatically with age. Senior high students consumed nearly 40 percent of their total energy intake as snacks. Ethnic differences in food intake were also noted. Additional data were collected from teachers, parents, community agencies, school administrators, nurses, food service managers, and food service workers. That part of the needs assessment yielded additional "unhealthy" findings. These results provide a firm basis for development of nutrition education curricula oriented toward the specific needs of the target population. (BW)

Using items from the Second International Study of Mathematics (1984) and the "effective teaching" literature, this study found differences between Tokyo and Hawaii junior high school teachers in terms of background, instructional behavior, teaching load, use of time, emphasis of objectives, and use of calculators. Hawaii teachers spent more time explaining homework. Classroom discipline was a greater concern for Hawaii teachers than for Tokyo teachers. Calculators were used much less in the Tokyo classes than in the Hawaii classes. Several other significant differences were found. It was noted that the instruments given to the Tokyo and Hawaii teachers were similar but several questions differed. Also, the comparisons were based on both public and private schools in Tokyo and only public schools in Hawaii. Finally, a random sampling of the Tokyo schools was used whereas all Hawaiian schools were invited to respond. (MVL)